From the Archives: A Library Transforms (Part II)

Frank Melville, Jr. Memorial Library, 1971

The expansion of Frank Melville, Jr. Memorial Library, which began in May 1970, was completed by 1972. Branch libraries for Chemistry, Earth and Space Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, and Engineering were located in their respective academic buildings. Holdings in campus libraries totaled about 700,000 volumes (today, there are more than two million volumes). In this photograph, circa 1975, construction on phase two of the Fine Arts building was underway (center, right). The Bridge to Nowhere (also center, right) was halfway complete.

To view more photographs of the main library’s transformation, please visit the gallery for the “Frank Melville, Jr. Memorial Library, 1964-1975.” -Kristen J. Nyitray, Head, Special Collections and University Archives, University Archivist

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Kristen Nyitray

Associate Librarian; Director, Special Collections and University Archives; and University Archivist at Stony Brook University Libraries

Contact her for research assistance with rare books, manuscript collections, historical maps, and SBU history. E-mail: kristen.nyitray@stonybrook.edu.

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