Doe Memorial Library


The Doe Memorial Library is the main library of the UC Berkeley Library System. The library is named after its benefactor, Charles Franklin Doe, who in 1904 bequeathed funds for its construction. It is located in the center of the UC Berkeley campus and is adjacent to the Bancroft Library. In 1900, Emile Benard won an architectural competition for the design of the library, and the Neoclassical-style building was completed in 1911. The Doe Library houses both the undergraduate and Gardner stacks collections.

Gardner (Main) Stacks Collection

The Gardner Collection, acquiring its namesake from the 15th President of the University of California David P. Gardner, is a four-story underground structure consisting of 52 miles of bookshelves, housing some of the University's most prized collections. The Main Stacks were constructed in 1997 with four large skylights to allow for natural lighting of the underground structure. The Gardner Main Stacks connect the Doe and Moffitt Libraries by means of an underground hallway.
Prior to the construction of the main stacks, books were held in an eight-story structure inside the main building. Called the Doe Core, this space has been used for temporary libraries displaced under seismic retrofitting on the Berkeley campus. Doe Core is 70 feet tall.

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