The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main

academic library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an es ...

of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building was opened in 1968 and named for J. Willard Marriott, founder of

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands that include hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. Marriott International owns over 37 ho ...

, in 1969. After two major renovations, the building is more than and houses more than 4.5 million volumes. The

University of Utah Press The University of Utah Press is the independent publishing branch of the University of Utah and is a division of the J. Willard Marriott Library. Founded in 1949 by A. Ray Olpin, it is also the oldest university press in Utah. The mission of t ...

and Red Butte Press are divisions of the Marriott Library.

History

The first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850, the same year the school was founded. University president John R. Park opened a library and reading room stocked with his personal collection of books on loan to the university in 1874. The library moved to the LeRoy Cowles Building in 1900 and the George Thomas Library Building in 1935, both on Presidents Circle. The current five-story building was opened in 1968 and was named for J. Willard Marriott in 1969 when he contributed $1 million for library collections, the largest single contribution ever received by the university at that time. The library was expanded in 1996, which almost doubled the library's size, and was expanded again during a major renovation between 2005 and 2009. The purpose of this renovation was to improve the seismic stability of the building, provide clearer pathways through the building, improve environmental controls, and allow for more natural light. Several additions were also made to the building including an

automated storage and retrieval system An automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS or AS/RS) consists of a variety of computer-controlled systems for automatically placing and retrieving loads from defined storage locations. Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are ty ...

that can store up to 2 million items, a larger computer lab, additional classrooms and teaching labs, a new indoor café, a rooftop garden, and additional study areas including the George S. Eccles Grand Reading Room.

Collections

The library's Special Collections department collects, preserves, and makes available books, periodicals, documents, photographs, films, and original materials, particularly those documenting the history of Utah, the Mormons, the West, the Middle East, and the University of Utah. These collections include the papers of Marriner Stoddard Eccles,

Chairman of the Federal Reserve The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, and is the active executive officer of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chairman presides at meetings of the Board. ...

from 1934 to 1938; David O. McKay, ninth President of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

;

Leonidas Ralph Mecham Leonidas Ralph Mecham (April 23, 1928 – March 9, 2019) was the former Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, having served in that position from 1985 to 2006. He was appointed to the position by United States Chief ...

, Director of the

Administrative Office of the United States Courts Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a s ...

from 1985 to 2006; and Wallace Stegner, winner of the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

in 1972. Materials are accessible to all patrons, regardless of their status. The library hosts over 100 unique digital collections, many of which include items from Special Collections. Digital collections include USpace, Utah Digital Newspapers, the Western Soundscape Archive, and the Western Waters Digital Library. The library also hosts the Mountain West Digital Library, a digital collaborative program of the Utah Academic Library Consortium. The library provides access to print on demand books via an Espresso Book Machine. The Aziz S. Atiya Middle East Library, which is located in the Marriott Library, is named after the founder of the University of Utah Middle East Center, Aziz Suryal Atiya, and is the fifth largest library for

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

studies in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The Katherine W. Dumke Fine Arts & Architecture Library collection includes

artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...

catalogue raisonné A (or critical catalogue) is an annotated listing of the works of an artist or group of artists and can contain all works or a selection of works categorised by different parameters such as medium or period. A ''catalogue raisonné'' is normal ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

, and other arts books and periodicals. Artwork in the library's collection includes pieces by Anna Campbell Bliss, a Salt Lake City-based artist.

References

External links

*
Marriott Library Special Collections

Marriott Library Digital Collections
{{Authority control University and college academic libraries in the United States Buildings and structures at the University of Utah Libraries in Utah Library buildings completed in 1968 University and college buildings completed in 1968