By Daniel Wilson

March 19, 2025

Walking into Lassen Hall today, you’d probably never know it once held thousands of books and served as the campus library.

Though Sacramento State dates back to 1947, it wasn’t until Jan. 27, 1975, that the University redefined the center of campus by opening the current University Library building, which dominates its namesake quad and has served as the backdrop for countless events, activities and milestones as well as everyday campus life.

Fifty years later, the library is celebrating its rich history of serving students not only as a space for books, journals and other collections but as an all-encompassing resource for student success. The exhibit “Celebrating 50 Years at the Center of Campus” – displayed on the library’s first floor and second-floor mezzanine – runs through April 11.

“On our 50th anniversary, we continue to be a resource, a haven and a social setting for our students, faculty and staff,” said Amy Kautzman, University Library dean. "Our success is represented through others with the building enabling our academic dreams, time spent with friends and memories of library support and assistance."

While the library’s mission has remained the same, the physical space has evolved dramatically through the years to respond to changing student and campus needs. Space once used for books on reserve, studying and copy machines now houses the Multi-Cultural Center, International Programs and Global Engagement office, Grumpy Mule coffee shop and more.

Library staff and faculty have consistently modernized resources to meet student needs, from computer labs in the early 2000s to study spaces that accommodate growing class sizes and group projects.

Recent upgrades reflect the ever-changing nature of studying and learning: setting aside “Zoom rooms” for online courses, creating family study areas where student-parents can crack the books while their children play nearby, and replacing most desktop computers with tables with electrical outlets for students’ laptops and tablets.

“We're kind of at the point where we can't grow the building, but that doesn't mean that we haven't stopped growing,” said Lynn Sanborn, University archivist in the Donald and Beverly Gerth Special Collections and University Archives. “(That includes) new resources and updated resources for those who are Hornets and those who will become Hornets.” 

(Story continues after the gallery.) 

In 1990, the University Library’s south side addition opened, expanding the building by nearly 90,000 square feet. The building now spans about 300,000 square feet throughout six floors.

Other recent updates include energy efficient lighting, rooftop solar panels and new signage at the north and south entryways to help students and campus visitors better identify the building.

Beyond its more than two million volumes, the University Library offers a Japanese tea room and garden, the StingerStudio Makerspace, the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection, instructional spaces, a Faculty Seminar Room, the newly launched faculty Data | Tech Lab, a presentation practice room, outdoor study tables in the breezeway, gallery space and more.

The building also houses non-library centers and offices, such as the Community Engagement Center, Peer and Academic Resource Center, and the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

In addition to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, and fellows and researchers, Sac State’s library also serves the public. Members of the community as well as local K-12 and community college groups regularly visit, Sanborn said.

During the summer, for example, junior and high school students visit Sac State’s StingerStudio to learn about cutting-edge technology, said Maria Ramirez, University Library event coordinator and communications strategist.

“They not only learn about campus and get to spend a week on the campus, but they come to our library every day, and they learn the principles of design and 3D printing,” Ramirez said. “They then try and fly a rocket. It's a lot of fun to watch them do that, and then hopefully go, ‘Yeah, I want to go here when I graduate from high school.’”

The 50th anniversary exhibit includes photographs, newspaper clips and historical details. One way it connects the campus’s history with its future is by including a modern physical 3D-printed model of a 1960s-era Herky, whose real counterpart is in the University Archives.

Student assistant Bo Lawson, a Graphic Design major, assisted Sanborn and Ramirez in crafting the exhibit, including formatting, printing and trimming dozens of photos as well as writing captions and preparing items for display.

“It's already a building that people are pretty much going to every single day, … so it's just nice to sort of learn a little bit more about the place that you're in all the time, considering how many changes it went through,” Lawson said. “Those little newspaper parts were a lot of fun because I think it really helps (people) understand the timeline.”

Going forward, the library’s dedicated faculty and staff will continue adapting the library to meet students where they are, Sanborn said. Part of that work involves making sure library resources are available online.

“Obviously, we started with books and it was always accessible for people who came into the building, but we have a lot of people, especially during COVID, who couldn't come into the building,” she said. “We’re putting our resources online, whether they are e-books or our digital collections or our Special Collections for people to use, so that anyone, anywhere, at any time, can use these things.”

Kautzman said regardless of why members of the campus community visit the library, its mission is to ensure everyone has access to the resources needed to achieve their goals.

“All of our work is dedicated to research, instruction, and learning,” Kautzman said. “From Lassen Hall to the location of our current Brutalist campus centerpiece, our library building's 50-year journey continues.”

To learn more about the University Library at Sacramento State, visit the library’s website.