1. PSU LIBRARY SYSTEM BUILDINGS, 1946-2015
Bryce Henry AEC Archives - Capital Projects & Construction
April 28, 2015

2. 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

3. Vanport – library #1, 1946-1948 Jean Black, PhD – First Librarian
Jean Black, the Librarian, in the Vanport Extension Center Library, circa From Gordon Dodds, The College that Would not Die, (Portland, OR: Oregon Historical Society Press, 2000), 17.
Portland Hall during Vanport flood, June From PSU Digital Gallery:

4. Old main library #2,
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:

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

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

7. Smith center – broadway entry, 2015

8. Library east – broadway entry, 1960

9. 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

10. 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

11. Library West – Library #4, 1966-1989
Students in front of Library West, September PSU Digital Gallery:

12. 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

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

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

15. 2015 Millar Library floorplan

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

17. The protest to save the tree Fact or urban legend?
Library West administrative offices, first floor, 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 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.

18. 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

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

20. 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.

21. PSU HISTORY Resources Online
University Archives Digital Gallery
College District photos, (part of Digital Gallery)
PDXScholar: Special Collections and University Archives,
Includes films, public speakers, campus publications, and more
Current Periodicals, Library West, circa Image courtesy of PSU Special Collections and University Archives