Established 1956 Founded 1956 | Phone +1 848-932-7851 | |
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Website www.libraries.rutgers.edu/alexander Address 169 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA Hours Open today · Open 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hoursFridayOpen 24 hoursSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSundayOpen 24 hoursMondayOpen 24 hours Similar Rutgers Brunswick, Special Collections and Univ, Mabel Smith Douglass, College Avenue Student C, New Brunswick Free Publ | ||
Archibald S. Alexander Library is the oldest and main university library for Rutgers University, located on its New Brunswick campus. It houses an extensive humanities and social science collection and also supports the work of faculty and staff at four professional schools: the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, the Graduate School of Education, the Graduate School of Social Work, and the School of Communication and Information. In addition, Alexander supports major interdisciplinary programs in African studies, Latin American studies, medieval studies, and South Asian Studies.
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The Alexander Library is also a Federal Depository Library, maintaining a large collection of government documents, which contains United States, New Jersey, foreign, and international government publications.
The library is named after Archibald S. Alexander, an American lawyer, civil servant, and politician who was for several years on the university's Board of Trustees.
History
Construction for the library begin in 1953. The building was originally designed to house one-half million books and 12,000 people. Alexander became the main library of Rutgers University when it opened in 1956, replacing Voorhees Hall.
The library was awarded $16 million in funds for renovations and expansion in 1988. The Scholarly Communication Center (SCC) was one of the additions made from this project. Rutgers librarians created the initial concept for the SCC.
From 2011 to 2013, the library housed the a cafe known as the "Scarlet Latte Cafe". The cafe closed due to low sales and was replaced by vending machines for food and drinks.
Special collections
The library contains the diary of Dinah Van Bergh, who was wife to the founder of Rutgers University (originally known as Queen's College). Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, Rutger's founder, married Dinah Van Bergh on 18 March 1756 at Raritan, New Jersey. Born in Amsterdam, Dinah was the daughter of Louis Van Bergh, a wealthy merchant who was "engaged in East India trade." Her diary, dating from February 1746 to late 1747, is held by Special Collections and University Archives, at the Archibald S. Alexander Library.