The Perry–Castañeda Library (PCL) is the main central
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
of the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
library system in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
. PCL is located at 21st Street and Speedway in Austin, TX.
The UT Austin campus library system holds nearly eight million volumes, ranking it as the fifth largest library among academic institutions in the United States, and the eleventh largest overall in the country.
It has long been claimed that the Perry–Castañeda Library was designed to appear, when seen from above, in the shape of Texas. This is officially denied by the University, which stated: "If you look at a campus map the right way and use your imagination, it's possible to think of the outline of the library as similar to the shape of Texas. But this wasn't intentional. Officially it's called a "rhomboid shape," and it complements the similarly designed Graduate School of Business building across the street, which was completed the same year."
The PCL is an example of
brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ...
and has been recognized as Austin's best example of this architectural style.
History
Planning and funding for the PCL were approved in 1972, a construction contract was awarded in early 1974 to Stokes Construction Company, and the facility was opened to the public in 1977.
The Perry–Castañeda Library is named for two former University professors,
Ervin S. Perry and
Carlos E. Castañeda.
Professor Perry was the first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
to be appointed to the academic rank of professor and Professor Castañeda played a central role in the early development of the Benson Latin American Collection.
Shooting
PCL was the site of a shooting on Tuesday, September 28, 2010. Police reports state that student Colton Tooley fired shots on his walk from Guadalupe Street to the library's front entrance. He ascended to the sixth floor where he took his own life in the northeast corner of the topmost floor of the library and thirty feet (9.1 m) from the children's book section. No one else was injured, except for one sprained ankle suffered by a female student fleeing the scene. There were reports of a second gunman and authorities locked down the entire campus for several hours until they were able to determine the reports were false.
See also
*
Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection
The Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection is an extensive map collection owned by the Perry–Castañeda Library at The University of Texas at Austin.
Many of the maps in the collection have been scanned and are available online, and mos ...
References
External links
University of Texas Libraries: Perry–Castañeda Library
1972 establishments in Texas
University and college academic libraries in the United States
Libraries in Austin, Texas
University of Texas at Austin campus
Library buildings completed in 1977
University and college buildings completed in 1977
{{UTexas-stub