A new exhibition and a presentation by Lincoln historian, Jim McKee, highlights a celebration of the 75th anniversary of Love Library’s construction.
The exhibit, “75th Anniversary of Love Library’s Cornerstone,” opens with a special presentation by McKee at 4 p.m. Dec. 2 in Love Library, Peterson Room 221.
McKee, a Nebraska alumnus, will present on Don L. Love, the namesake for Love Library, and its early years.
Refreshments will be served.
Facts about Love Library:
Don L. Love died in 1940 and left $850,000 in his will to build a new library on the University of Nebraska campus. It was planned to be the largest and most expensive building on campus.
Short essays praising Don L. Love’s philanthropy, written by friends and business associates of Love, were placed inside the cornerstone before the cement was poured.
Due to the onset of World War II, when construction was completed, Love Library became home to about 300-400 Air Corps Training Unit in 1943 instead of being used as the library. Love Library opened to students in 1945 and was finally dedicated as a library in 1947.
The library used to have a pneumatic tube and special conveyor to speed up the process of getting books from the stacks to the students.
