![\"President](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/MovingBookstoWilburCrossLibrary1940_1-e1538513973369.jpg\")
<\/a>President Albert Jorgensen, left, and Paul Alcorn, university librarian 1934-1959, provided hands-on help with moving books into the new library in 1940. At that time, the building had no name; it was named in 1942 for Wilbur Cross, governor of Connecticut at the time bond issues were approved for construction on campus that included the new library. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
MovingBookstoWilburCrossLibrary1940_1<\/div>
President Albert Jorgensen, left, and Paul Alcorn, university librarian 1934-1959, provided hands-on help with moving books into the new library in 1940. At that time, the building had no name; it was named in 1942 for Wilbur Cross, governor of Connecticut at the time bond issues were approved for construction on campus that included the new library. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div>![\"Crates](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
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<\/a>Crates of books were moved into the new library through the windows. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
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Crates of books were moved into the new library through the windows. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/a>In addition to the library, Wilbur Cross Building was also the place for students to register for class in the 1940s. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
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In addition to the library, Wilbur Cross Building was also the place for students to register for class in the 1940s. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/a>Students waiting in line to register for classes at Wilbur Cross Building in 1945. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
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Students waiting in line to register for classes at Wilbur Cross Building in 1945. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/a>A postcard of Wilbur Cross Building in the early 1940s. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
WilburCrossLibraryexterior1940-1945<\/div>
A postcard of Wilbur Cross Building in the early 1940s. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/a>A postcard of Wilbur Cross Building in the 1940s. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
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A postcard of Wilbur Cross Building in the 1940s. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/a>The portico of Wilbur Cross Library in 1943, showing the North Reading Room with drapes at the windows. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
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The portico of Wilbur Cross Library in 1943, showing the North Reading Room with drapes at the windows. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/a>A winter view of the portico of Wilbur Cross Library and the South Reading Room in 1946. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
PorticoWilburCrossLibrary1946<\/div>
A winter view of the portico of Wilbur Cross Library and the South Reading Room in 1946. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/a>Students walk in front of Wilbur Cross Building in 1950. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
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Students walk in front of Wilbur Cross Building in 1950. (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/a>
<\/a>Before the construction of Wilbur Cross, the campus library was housed successively in Old Whitney Hall (1881-1890), Old Main (1890-1929, shown here in the 1920s), and on the top floor of Beach Hall (1929-1939). (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div>
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Before the construction of Wilbur Cross, the campus library was housed successively in Old Whitney Hall (1881-1890), Old Main (1890-1929, shown here in the 1920s), and on the top floor of Beach Hall (1929-1939). (University Library Archives & Special Collections)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
The first building at the University specifically built as a library, Wilbur Cross \u2013 named for Connecticut\u2019s Depression-era governor \u2013 boasted seven floors of stacks, oak-paneled reading rooms, and air conditioning, which almost no other campus buildings had at the time.\u00a0During the course of its time as a library, the building saw everything from visiting Hollywood stars to a 1974 occupation by African-American students advocating for change<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last month, after restoration, the South Reading Room reopened to students, extending a link that stretches back nearly 80 years.<\/p>\n In this excerpt from the Oct. 3 edition of UConn 360, Tom Breen, Julie Bartucca, and Ken Best talk about the Wilbur Cross Building\u2019s days as a library, and the makeshift libraries on campus that came before it.<\/em><\/p>\n