Library East (now known as Smathers Library) is a historic

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 vir ...

in Gainesville,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is located in the northeastern section of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in the middle of the Campus Historic District. When it was first created it was the largest building on campus at that tim

It is a part of the

George A. Smathers Libraries The George A. Smathers Libraries of the University of Florida constitute one of the largest university library systems in the United States. The system includes eight of the nine libraries of the University of Florida and provides primary support ...

system and home to multiple collections of books and other library materials.

History

This facility was designed by the architect William A. Edwards and was first opened in October 1926. A major addition was designed by

Florida Board of Control The Florida Board of Control (1905-1965) was the statewide governing body for the State University System of Florida, which included all public universities in the state of Florida. It was replaced by the Florida Board of Regents in 1965.

Architect

Guy Fulton Guy Chandler Fulton (October 27, 1892 – October 15, 1974) was an American architect known for his work on numerous buildings at the University of Florida while he was State Architect of Florida. Early life Fulton was born in Warsaw, Illinois ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. On June 27, 1979, it was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. In 1991 after a generous donation by the former

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

George Smathers George Armistead Smathers (November 14, 1913 – January 20, 2007) was an American lawyer and politician who represented the state of Florida in the United States Senate from 1951 until 1969 and in the United States House from 1947 to 1951, as ...

the facility was officially renamed the Smathers Librar

Map & Imagery Library

The Map & Imagery Library makes up a portion of the ground floor of the Smathers Library. It consists of several different collections which, combined, contain roughly 500,000 maps, 300,000 aerial photography, aerial photographs and satellite images, 8,000 atlases and reference books and an increasing number of geospatial datasets. It is one of largest academic map libraries in the United States. It specializes in content concerning Florida, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa and is open to the public every weekday.

Special Collections Grand Reading Room

The second floor of Smathers Library is home to the Special Collections Grand Reading Room. This space provides the primary source of access to many of the George A. Smathers Libraries' Special Collections materials. As many of the materials within these collections are not available to be checked out or loaned, any person interested in viewing them must do so in the Grand Reading Room, under the supervision of library staff. Collections which can be accessed through the Grand Reading Room include, but are not limited to, the University Archives, the Architecture Archives, the P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History, the

Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature The Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature in the Department of Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 130,000 books and serials published in Great Britain a ...

, the Manuscript Collection, the Popular Culture Collections and the Rare Books Collections.

Judaica Suite

In January 2014, the Judaica Suite was opened as an annexing group of reading rooms accessed through the Special Collections Grand Reading Room. The alcoves of the Suite hold books from the university's

Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica ThIsser and Rae Price Library of Judaicawithin the University of Florida LibrariesSpecial & Area Studies Collectionssupports the teaching and research missions of thCenter for Jewish Studiesand the University of Florida. The Isser and Rae Price Li ...

, including many rare copies. Within the Suite, specific books are grouped together in different alcoves to represent various periods in the history of Jewish literature and culture. The Judaica Suite was designed by world-renowned architect and artist, and University of Florida alumnus,

Kenneth Treister Kenneth Treister, FAIA is an American architect, architectural historian, sculptor, photographer, author and lecturer. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and is best known for the Holocaust Memorial he built in Miami Beach, Fl ...

Latin American and Caribbean Collection

The Latin American and Caribbean Collection makes up the third floor of Smathers Library. This collection was founded in 1951, prompted by growing scholarly interest in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and the Caribbean, and has since grown into one of the University of Florida's premier collections. The collection is housed in a newly renovated space and now consists of approximately 500,000 books, 50,000

microform Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. ...

s, thousands of journal titles and a considerable number of digital resources. About 70% of these resources are in Spanish, French, and Portuguese
Most
of the remaining collection is in English, however, there are also materials in Haitian Creole, Dutch, and indigenous languages. Though the collection covers Caribbean and Latin American areas but focuses on the Caribbean and Brazil. Primary sources from the Caribbean are also available, ranging from agriculture to revolution. The library also has its own stacks, reading rooms, and reference services making it one of the few libraries left in the US to do so. The collection is open to the public and is usually open six days of the week.

References

External links

Alachua County listings
a
National Register of Historic Places

Alachua County listings
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Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs

a
Alachua County's Department of Growth Management

The University of Florida Historic Campus
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UF Facilities Planning & Construction

George A. Smathers Libraries
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University of Florida Archives Photograph Collection
{{National Register of Historic Places in Florida 1926 establishments in Florida Buildings at the University of Florida Guy Fulton buildings Libraries in Florida Library buildings completed in 1926 National Register of Historic Places in Gainesville, Florida University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida William Augustus Edwards buildings University and college buildings completed in 1926