Arthur Nelson, the first library director, had been accumulating books for the collections since 1963 in a warehouse in San Bernardino. When the first three buildings constructed on campus were ready, the library of 50,000 volumes moved into Sierra Hall.
The Main Building - 1971
The $4.4 million dollar project was funded January 19, 1966.
The ground breaking ceremony was held on August 28, 1968.
Designed and built by the James I. Barnes Construction Company of Claremont, California; completed on February 12, 1971, and fully occupied in June 1971 (even though the year displayed on the exterior of the building near the front steps is 1970).
Square feet: 166,000 (expected to accommodate up to 300,000 volumes).
Number of volumes in 1971: 150,000.
The Library Addition Project - 1994
CSUSB's Physical Planning and Development office, under director William Shum, provided renovation planning.
The project cost $22.6 million.
It was designed and built by Rosetti Associates Architects of El Segundo, California; begun May 1992 and completed in 1994.
Square feet: 128,000.
Number of volumes in 1992: 500,000.
The finished project won a coveted construction industry award, the 1994 Charles Pankow Award for Innovation. View the John M. Pfau Library floor plans.
Seismic Retrofit Project -1998
A seismic retrofit project which focused primarily on the older portion of the building was completed in 1998.
