In the monumental stairwell of the original section of the library are two stained glass windows. In 1952 the UT Chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi presented a window commemorating the 50th anniversary of the chapter’s existence on the Knoxville campus. The symbols depicted on the window are those of the sorority, primarily wheat and the … Continued

In 1955 a rare and valuable Aubusson tapestry (depicting a woman and three children beneath a tree with the children reaching up to catch the birds) was donated by Kappa Alpha fraternity as a memorial to the late E. R. “Ned” Lutz. A 1912 UT graduate, Lutz became nationally known for insurance and manufacturing. He … Continued

The John C. Hodges Library serves as UT’s main library. On its site was first a 110,000-square-foot undergraduate library, built in 1969 and renovated and expanded by demolishing all but the structural members of the building and expanding it to its current 351,000 square feet. Construction on the library began in 1984, and the books, … Continued

In the 1960s college and university librarians espoused the establishment of undergraduate libraries with their own separate buildings. At UT, in 1960, the undergraduate collection was housed on the first floor of Hoskins Library and contained about forty thousand volumes and an open collection of books, periodicals, and current magazines. In 1964 planning began for … Continued

Library Associated Architects, consisting of the firms of McCarty Holsaple McCarty; Lindsay and Maples; and Cooper and Perry, received a 1988 Merit in Architecture award from the Tennessee Society of Architects. In 1987 the Greater Knoxville Beautification Board recognized the building, and the Metropolitan Planning Commission issued an excellence in design and construction award.

The library converted the reserves and periodicals sections on the second floor of Hodges Library into the Commons in 2005, creating a high-tech study and gathering area open 24 hours a day. In 2006 the Office of Information Technology joined with the library in establishing a presence in the Commons. A major renovation and expansion … Continued

The first microcomputer laboratory in the library was dedicated November 13, 1987. Located in room 209, the laboratory contained 11 Apple SE’s, five videowriters, and four printers. Use of the computer equipment and software was available to all students. The library had several software packages, including a word processing package, a creative drawing program, and … Continued

A “copy card” (DARTcard) was introduced at Hodges Library in 1994 as the result of polls that indicated students and faculty wanted a system that did not require carrying around large amounts of change in order to use coin-operated copy machines in the library. Students could either purchase a copy card or have an encoding … Continued

The UT Library announced in August 2004 that the ban on food and beverages in the library, other than in Starbucks, was being modified. Snack foods, such as candy or peanuts, were permitted on the ground, first, and second floors of the library, as were bottles or cups with lids. Hot or messy foods and … Continued

The move and integration of library collections from Hoskins Library, the temporary undergraduate library locations in Dunford Hall and the Humanities and Social Sciences Building, and a storage building were Herculean tasks. Library staff members Pauline Bayne, Sugg Carter, and Paul Trentham measured the collections and made calculations of where each book would go in … Continued