All students have access to both libraries.
Until the late 1920s, the University of Tulsa had no single building designated as a library. Book collections and other research materials were housed in the administration building and a variety of different classroom buildings. McFarlin, along with his partner and nephew James A. Chapman, were major oil producers in the early part of the 20th century. Their McMan Oil Company brought in wells in the Glenn Pool District and the Cushing Field. The dedication of the new library, named after the McFarlins, took place in 1930.