page_title: The Valley Library
section_title: New library construction
hierarchical_section_title: The Valley Library / History / New library construction
caption_attribution_description: Kidder Hall at Oregon State University
context_page_description: The Valley Library is the primary library of Oregon State University and is located at the school's main campus in Corvallis in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1887, the library was placed in its own building for the first time in 1918, what is now Kidder Hall. The current building opened in 1963 as the William Jasper Kerr Library and was expanded and renamed in 1999 as The Valley Library. The library is named for philanthropist F. Wayne Valley, who played football for Oregon State.
  One of three libraries for Oregon State, The Valley Library stores more than 1.4 million volumes, 14,000 serials, and more than 500,000 maps and government documents. It is designated as a Federal Depository Library and is also a repository for state documents. The six-story library building is of a contemporary, neoclassical style with a red-brick exterior highlighted by white sections along the top and on part of the eastern side. The eastern side includes a white-faced rotunda that features a two-story atrium on the main floor.
context_section_description: In February 1917, the state legislature gave the school $65,000 towards construction of a building to house the library. Oregon Agricultural College opened a new library in 1918, marking the first time that the library had its own building. Prior to 1918, the library had been housed on the second floor of the neighboring Administration Building, now known as Benton Hall. When the new building was completed, the school built a temporary trellis between the two buildings in order to more easily transfer the books to their new location. Initially, the new building also housed offices and classrooms, but within a decade the library expanded to occupy all of the structure. John V. Bennes designed the new building, as well as many of the campus buildings constructed during that period.
  The new library was remodeled on several occasions, with a new wing added in 1941. The 1918 building was located on the southeast corner of Campus Way and Waldo Place and after the 1941 addition, had about 76,000 square feet (7,100 m²) of space spread over three floors and a full basement. Designed in the neoclassical style, the exterior was made of bricks and contained decorative plaques constructed of concrete, with the gabled roof covered with tile. The original design had two-story reading rooms, which were converted to single-story rooms in the 1950s. Construction on the new wing of the library started in 1940 and was designed by Bennes, the same architect who designed the original structure. He also designed a matching wing for the other side, but that wing was never added. At that time the building was open from 7:50 am until 10 pm on weekdays, and 2 pm to 5 pm on Sundays.
caption: Kidder Hall, the former home of the library
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