Zimmerman Library is the historic main

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

of the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

, located near the center of the university campus in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. It is one of the largest and most notable buildings designed by New Mexico architect

John Gaw Meem John Gaw Meem IV (November 17, 1894 – August 4, 1983) was an American architect based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is best known for his instrumental role in the development and popularization of the Pueblo Revival Style and as a proponent of a ...

and is the centerpiece of the UNM Libraries, the largest library system in New Mexico with almost 4 million print volumes. It was built in 1936–38 with funding from the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...

and

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

, with further additions completed in 1966 and 1973. The building was named for former university president

James Fulton Zimmerman James Fulton Zimmerman (September 11, 1887 – October 20, 1944) was an American historian and professor of political science. He was the seventh president of University of New Mexico and played a central role in its development and expansion. He ...

in 1961. It was added to the

New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties The New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties is a register of historic and prehistoric properties located in the state of New Mexico. It is maintained by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural ...

and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2016. The library is a nine-story, Pueblo Revival style building constructed from reinforced concrete, brick, and structural clay tile. The original 1938 section of the library consists of a great hall, five reading rooms, and the central nine-story stack tower, which was designed to hold 225,000 volumes. The interior trim and furnishings were handmade by local artisans employed by the WPA, including hand-carved

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...

s, vigas, and heating register covers, wrought-iron banisters, door handles, and gates, and punched-tin light fixtures. Four murals in the great hall were created by Kenneth Miller Adams. To the east of the original section are two additions, completed in 1966 and 1973 respectively, which brought the total size of the library to approximately .

Zimmerman Library Fire

On April 30, 2006, a fire in the basement of the building triggered the fire alarms and alerted staff and patrons to evacuate the building quickly. Although the Albuquerque Fire Department arrived within minutes, the fire destroyed 30,000 bound periodicals and melted light fixtures and shelves. The incident caused smoke damage throughout the entire library, and the efforts in putting out the fire caused even more damage to the materials, prompting the removal of water-damaged materials beyond repair. Investigators on the scene suspected arson as the cause and confirmed that an accelerant was used to start the fire. In the days following the disaster, the University Libraries (UL) staff relied on their emergency plans and developed protocols with the intent to recover as much of the material as possible. Because of the damage from the fire, the basement at Zimmerman Library was promptly redesigned to be more patron-friendly and incorporate more study areas. The remodel also included the installation of fire suppression sprinklers, which Zimmerman did not have when the disaster occurred.

References

Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico National Register of Historic Places in Albuquerque, New Mexico New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties University of New Mexico buildings and structures University and college academic libraries in the United States University and college buildings completed in 1938 1938 establishments in New Mexico {{NewMexico-NRHP-stub