PSU LIBRARY SYSTEM BUILDINGS, 1946-2015 Bryce Henry AEC Archives - Capital Projects & Construction April 28, 2015 bhenry@pdx.edu

Portland state Library buildings overview Vanport Oregon Ship [not this time though] Old Main (Lincoln Hall) PSC Library (Library East) Library West/Millar Library And, The Copper Beech Protest Library East, Audiovisual services desk, circa 1970s. Image courtesy of PSU Special Collections and University Archives

Vanport – library #1, 1946-1948 Jean Black, PhD – First Librarian Jean Black, the Librarian, in the Vanport Extension Center Library, circa 1947. From Gordon Dodds, The College that Would not Die, (Portland, OR: Oregon Historical Society Press, 2000), 17. Portland Hall during Vanport flood, June 1948. From PSU Digital Gallery: https://archives.pdx.edu/digitalgallery/pages/view.php?ref=11589

Old main library #2, 1952-1960 Library was in the same location as Lincoln High, Second Floor. Today: LH Room 225 is where the main entry would have been. Photo: Head Librarian, Jean P. Black, standing at book cart in "Old Main" (Lincoln Hall) library. From PSU Digital Gallery: https://archives.pdx.edu/digitalgallery/pages/view.php?ref=8626

Library east - Library #3, 1960-2012 Broadway Entrance, July 06, 2010

LIBRARY EAST – The Library, 1960-1966 Library, October 1962 “Students Studying in Library,” October 1962

Smith center – broadway entry, 2015

Library east – broadway entry, 1960

Audiovisual Services desk, 1964 Study Hall area, 1964 Cataloguers, circa 1960s Reference desk, circa 1960s Audiovisual Services desk, 1964 Study Hall area, 1964 Images courtesy of PSU Special Collections and University Archives

N SW Harrison St & 10th Ave - Lunch counter and barber shop, June 1962 SW Park Ave & Harrison St – Unidentified apartment building, June 1962 SW 10th Ave & Hall St - The Hardt apartments with retail space, June 1962 SW Park Ave - Vedanta Society house with copper beech tree, June 1962 N

Library West – Library #4, 1966-1989 Students in front of Library West, September 1980. PSU Digital Gallery: https://archives.pdx.edu/digitalgallery/pages/view.php?ref=1182

LIBRARY WEST INTERIORS, FLOOR 1 First looking towards the front entrance, circa 1980 LIBRARY WEST INTERIORS, FLOOR 1 First floor standing near front entrance, circa 1980 Circulation desk, circa 1980 Images courtesy of PSU Special Collections and University Archives

LIBRARY WEST ADDITION, 1989 Floorplan from showing temporary entry, accessibility ramp, and book drop in preparation of expanding 72,000 ft2 west.

Branford P. Millar Library Addition – Library #4.5, 1989-present Campus aerial photo September, 2001

2015 Millar Library floorplan

The Copper Beech Tree, circa 1890-present Library addition site clearing with beech tree fence, July 18, 1989

The protest to save the tree Fact or urban legend? Library West administrative offices, first floor, 1981. Image courtesy of PSU Special Collections and University Archives. The Copper Beech (Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea) tree in front of the Library was designated a Portland Heritage Tree by the Portland City Council in 1995. It was planted in about 1890. At least one individual (Prof. Emeritus Charles White) was present at PSU during the Library addition project and recalls a protest to save the tree. Unable to locate evidence supporting a protest in extant hardcopy Vanguard, Oregonian database, University Archives, or AEC Archives.

It was a design choice… Library requested 72,000 gross square feet of additional space in October 26, 1979 Capital Construction Request This same amount of space was delivered in 1991 following the completion of construction. Difficult and unusual to alter such a request. The building that would have absorbed the tree would have occupied Schematic diagrams, April 28, 1986 Phase 3, four-level addition

…but, not the only option Schematic diagrams, April 14, 1986

What Changed Over Two Weeks In April 1986? April 10, 1986 Design Meeting Memo, Agenda Item: "5. the tree should be preserved. It is felt that the tree is a major element of how the campus is identified. Many of the university publications use the tree with the library in the background as a focus." April 15, 1986 Design Meeting Memo meeting summary: "It was generally agreed that the European copper beech tree would remain." Later, regarding expansion alternatives, "It was generally felt that alternatives involving vertical expansion or placing the building below grade should not be pursued as well as alternatives which require removal of tree.“ Unchangeable without significant re-design costs by October 1986.

PSU HISTORY Resources Online University Archives Digital Gallery https://archives.pdx.edu/digitalgallery/pages/home.php College District photos, 1962-1966 (part of Digital Gallery) https://archives.pdx.edu/digitalgallery/pages/search.php?search=!collection64 PDXScholar: Special Collections and University Archives, http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/archives/. Includes films, public speakers, campus publications, and more Current Periodicals, Library West, circa 1980. Image courtesy of PSU Special Collections and University Archives