Building things that take painstaking research, careful planning and unwavering patience comes second nature to John Hoffmann, director of facilities and business operations for Cornell Library.

Lindsay France/University Photography

John Hoffmann

These qualities guided the 11 library building projects that have been completed under his leadership, including the Kroch Library; the Library Annex; Africana, music, mathematics and engineering library additions and renovations; and more than 100 smaller library renovations.

They also extend to violin restoration, a passion that Hoffmann intends to pursue once he retires at the end of June.

Hoffmann's interests are a study of contrasts.

"When I joined the library in 1986," says Hoffmann, "the challenge was to design computer furniture for the library's first computer management system and to accommodate acquisitions by installing space-saving compact shelving. Since then, we have spent a lot of time looking at the appropriate infrastructure and design to accommodate future directions in digitization, teaching, study and research. We have installed the infrastructure for thousands of Internet connections and overseen a huge expansion of our information technology group, which began as a small staff of four and now employs approximately 40 technology and digitization experts." The most visible changes, Hoffmann says, are in planning study spaces, electronic classrooms and cafes for social collaboration and expanding offsite library space.

Violin restoration, on the other hand, is a solitary pursuit and a craft still passed down generation to generation. It involves using wood that is about the same age as is used in the original instrument, hand-creating molds to shape it and using precision tools for its crafting. Hoffmann has spent the past 10 years studying with New York luthier Hans. J. Nebel, a fourth-generation violin-maker and a graduate of the Bavarian State School of Violinmaking in Mittenwald, Germany.

"Nebel usually restores one priceless violin each year," Hoffmann points out.

Not that violin restoration will alter the hectic pace of Hoffmann's life. In addition to taking another class from Nebel, Hoffmann and his wife, Randi Beckmann, plan to travel to Ecuador, stopping at the Galapagos Islands and hiking in the Andes. He also will continue working with Cornell librarian David Corson as a library planning consultant to assist architects and academic institutions in developing programs and designs for new or renovated libraries. In addition, Hoffmann enjoys spending time with his son and three daughters, and plays banjo and fiddle with a number of bands locally and in festivals nationally.