Since 1986, the Rare Collections Library had been housed on the second floor of the Forum Building (formerly called the Education Building). The Spring of 2007 began a move of the materials to newly-created quarters on the ground floor. The ground floor rooms were first completely gutted and then built into a truly state-of-the-art series of spaces after a lengthy planning and design process that started in 1998.
The leading design principle is that the long-term preservation of the collections is paramount. An architect from the state's Department of General Services researched the environmental requirements for special collections libraries. He then created an integrated series of rooms that focus on maintaining a temperature, humidity, and air quality that will aid in preserving the collections so that they will still be available for use by our grandchildren's grandchildren.
