Green Library - History

History

The earliest library at Stanford was in the inner quadrangle. It was housed in one large room capable of accommodating 100 readers. This was replaced in 1900 by a separate building on the outer quadrangle, named the Thomas Welton Stanford library after its major donor. This library was recognized as being too small, and a new larger library in a separate building was begun, but it was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake before it could be occupied.

A major new library was approved in 1913 and completed in 1919. This building forms the older portion of the Green Library. In 1980, a larger annex was added and the library renamed for Cecil H. Green. The original part of the building is now known as the Bing Wing for Peter Bing, who donated a substantial amount of money for fixing it after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.