Doheny Memorial Library

Doheny Memorial Library. . , , Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library , , In the years leading up to the University of Southern California's 50th anniversary in 1930, a top fundraising priority was the construction of a library. Even though USC by then had collected some 150,000 volumes, it had never had a freestanding library building. , When the stock market crash of 1919 brought USC's capital campaign to an abrupt halt, it seemed as if the library plans would be postponed indefinitely. Then, in fall 1930, the family of oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny announced a transformative gift. As a memorial to their late son - USC alumnas Edward L. (Ned) Doheny Jr., tragically murdered in February 1929 - the Dohenys proposed to build a splendid new library for the university. , Built at a then-staggering cost of $1 million, the building had no architectural precedent. "It was the aim of the architects to create an original expression... that would harmonize with the other buildings on the campus," said architect Samuel E. Lunden, who worked with renowned Boston-based architect Samael Adams Cram on the design. , Ground was broken on commencement day, June 6, 1931, and the cornerstone was laid December 3. Most of the exterior work was completed by spring. With great fanfare, the Doheny family handed USC President Rufus B. von KleinSmid the key to the new library on September 12, 1933, the first day of school. In his dedication address, von KleinSmid quoted Charles William Eliot of Harvard in calling the Edward L. Dobeny Jr. Memorial Library "the very heart of the university." , Symbols of higher learning abound throughout the building. Statues of William Shakespeare and Dante Alighieri flank the main entrance, and above the cast entrance arch a relief shows two students reading beneath a tree. Inside, great philosophers and universities are represented in the medallions of the first floor rotunda's art-glass windows. Below the ornately coffered ceiling of the Los Angeles Times Reference Room, a frieze depicts early printers' marks. Murals in the Treasure Room illustrate the history of the written word. , Within this "cathedral of knowledge," seekers find books on subjects spanning the vast diversity of the humanities and social sciences, in addition to the university's specialized East Asian, Cinematic Arts and Music libraries. Doheny Memorial Library also houses an impressive assortment of rare books and archives that were consolidated within the Department of Special Collections in 1963. , Exemplifying the state of the art when it was built, the library has undergone many changes over the years to keep up with technological advances as well as USC's rising academic stature. Among the first such adaptations was conversion of the former coat-check room to the xerographic machine room. In 1966, Lunden returned to add over 30,000 square feet of space, more than doubling the original stack capacity to around 1.25 million volumes. The first public computers were installed in 1983, and in 1985, Ned Doheny's children donated funds for refurbishment and climate controls. Between December 1999 and summer 2001, the library was closed for a seismic retrofitting and preservation project that restored its unique artistic details and reconfigured it for the new information environment. , Built in honor of a Trojan, Doheny Memorial Library is the crown jewel of the campus, a gateway to learning and the face of USC at each commencement. The library is also one of USC's best loved gathering places, hosting academic and cultural events ranging from lectures, readings and conferences to special exhibits and concerts. , In the words of Steven B. Sample, 10th president of USC: "All great universities are - or should be - nurtured by a great library. A great library informs the genius loci of a campus, if you will - the very spirit of the place. This is certainly the case with USC's Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library".