Q. What is that statue of outside the library?

The statue is called "The Geode" and has been a part of the library front for the better part of a decade. I think rustiness is part of its style. It's been around Huntsville for over 20 years, and there's a lot of humidity and rain here (hmm, at least most years). 

http://libsys.uah.edu/LibraryBlog/wordpress/?p=56

http://spacessculpturetrail.org/uahuntsville/item/geode