Today, January 20 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the library building’s grand opening. TWU Archives has an extensive online collection of  photos and information about  TWU’s libraries over the years, and here’s a ten-year old clip marking our 20th anniversary.

Long-serving librarian Rick Wiebe recently reminisced about the early days of Trinity Western’s libraries and the opening of what we now know as Norma Marion Alloway Library.

Before the “new library” opened we were at the south end of campus in in the Strombeck building, and before that, the east wing of the chapel, which has since been condemned and razed. Before that … I don’t know if there was a location before the chapel. But that’s a story for another time, and from before my time.

It was exciting to move into the new building: setting up shelves and bringing all of the books over here etc.! There was so much more space, and all of the other advantages. We were grateful for it, and for the Alloway Family foundation coming on board afterwards to help fund it and later the Campanile.

In the spring of 1989, I picked up our copy of American Libraries journal which put our achievement into perspective. It was their annual architecture issue in which they surveyed the new library buildings that had recently come into service. Some of them were architectural marvels. Needless to say, our rather ordinary-looking, rectangular box was not featured but I was not disappointed in our new building.  We came from a cramped space where, for instance, shelving of books was becoming exceedingly difficult (where there was no room, we shoved books on top of those already properly placed). Improving that alone was a huge plus for us.

So, while we may not have built an architecturally inspiring building, it has allowed us to provide a higher level of service to our patrons. For that we are thankful.

Library staff learned recently that the main level of the library will receive a renovation over the summer in anticipation of the integration of TWU Learning Commons into the library in order to provide a higher level of service to library users and TWU students in the years to come.