The AGHS library, located behind the 700s wing, is a popular hangout spot for many students. The library’s comfortable armchairs and tables provide a place for people to read or play games with friends.While it may be a great place to find books and relax, many students don’t know about the deep history of this unassuming building.
Brenda Hoover, a secretary and librarian who retired in 2018, shared the library’s history with freshmen as a part of the orientation, describing it as “The most iconic building on campus”.
Photo Courtesy of Brenda Hoover
“In the 70’s this was the woodshop building. There was a huge machine… they would work down here and have all these tools everywhere,” Hoover said.
After a few years, the building changed from a woodshop into a two story building, with a library and computer lab. There was already a library established in a different place, but it was moved into the building it’s in now.
“In the 80’s, the library was by the 300s wing, where the new courtyard is. On the wall (where it used to be), there is a mural with books on it,” Hoover said.
The mural represents the library’s previous home. Many students walk by it each day and although it may seem to be there randomly, it serves as a little reminder of the library’s past.
“They moved the library here and created this upstairs level, with a beautiful staircase, you would go up and they had an office (and) computer lab,” Hoover said.
Photo Courtesy of Brenda Hoover
The small office served various purposes, ranging from a small career center, to a place for club meetings.
Hoover described students racing to get to the second story, because it was such a popular place for students to hang out during break and lunch. At the second level, there was a balcony, where students would throw pencils at students below, or try to get them stuck in the ceiling. Other students tried putting stickers on the vents connected to the ceiling.
Other than the pencils and stickers thrown around the library, the building remained mostly the same throughout the years, with a few additions and renovations including “TSA-like” metal detectors, which would beep if a book was taken without being checked-out.
“I got rid of the [metal detectors] they hadn’t been used in two years, [because] they weren’t plugged in. They were mostly there as a scare tactic. ” Hoover said.
Hoover described the more simple additions to the library and computer lab building such as flags of foreign exchange student’s native countries, to show the rest of the students where their peers came from.
Photo courtesy of Brenda Hoover
In 2018, the building would stop being seen as a library and computer lab. In spring of 2019, remodeling began to change the building once again. However, students were only able to use the newly remodeled library for a few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The library has been open for three years now, and more students are able to enjoy its many charming features.
