Using Scalar in the Classroom

About the Perry-Castañeda Library

How did PCL get its name?The Perry-Castañeda Library is named for two former University professors, Ervin S. Perry and Carlos E. Castañeda. Professor Perry was the first African American to be appointed to the academic rank of professor, and Professor Castañeda played a central role in the early development of the Benson Latin American Collection.

In an effort to recognize the contributions of these distinguished faculty members and to express the University's lasting commitment to educational opportunities for all Texans, President Lorene L. Rogers recommended to the UT System Board of Regents that the new facility be named the Perry-Castañeda Library. By unanimous vote the Board of Regents adopted this proposal at their meeting of September 12, 1975.

The Perry-Castañeda Library is one of the largest academic library buildings in North America and is a major research center in Texas. Three years under construction, the six-level, open-stack facility was designed to serve as the main library of UT Austin.


Size: 500,673 square feet, gross area
        413,168 square feet, net assignable area
        6 levels
        9.3 acres of carpet
        70 miles of book stacks
       (74 miles from Austin to San Antonio)

Cost: $21,700,000 including landscaping, furniture, and furnishings
       ($92,706,000.00 in 2013 dollars)

Capacity: 3,200,000 volumes
       (2,500,000 volumes in 2002)
  
  
  

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