Ralph Brown Draughon Library

Ralph Brown Draughon Library

Education; Lee County, AL; Auburn University; Draughon, Ralph Brown; Alabama Polytechnic Institute; Auburn, AL

By the late 1950s, Alabama Polytechnic Institute’s Carnegie Library exceeded its storage capacity. The Board of Trustees recognized the immediate need for a larger facility, and in the early 1960s the university planned the construction of a major new library building. Built throughout 1962 and 1963 and dedicated on November 5, 1963, the 172,000 square-foot building allowed for the housing of all university library resources under one roof. The new library boasted a million-volume capacity, carrels, furnished seating, special reading rooms, a 108-seat auditorium, and special music rooms. In 1965, Auburn University named the facility Ralph Brown Draughon Library after the university’s tenth president, who retired that year. In 1988, Auburn organized a major renovation project designed to double the library’s floor space to 380,000 square feet, increase its capacity to 2.5 million volumes, and add a 345-car parking deck. Ralph Brown Draughon Library is located at 231 Mell Street, Auburn University.

Taylor McGaughy

Image Source: http://www.lib.auburn.edu/about/

Text Sources: History of the Auburn Libraries, http://www.lib.auburn.edu/dean/history.php.

The Heritage of Lee County Book Committee, The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama (Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 74.

Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

2014-11-26

Taylor McGaughy

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English

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