Judge Sterling Price Gilbert donated a large sum of Coca-Cola stock to Georgia Tech with the stipulation that the proceeds be used to construct a new library. He later donated more funds to the cause. Ground was broken for the S. Price Gilbert Memorial Library on July 5, 1951, and the building was dedicated on November 21, 1953. The Graduate Addition to the library was opened in 1969, and was renamed Crosland Tower in 1985. Dorothy M. Crosland was the long-time head librarian; initially appointed as Assistant Librarian in 1925, she was promoted to Librarian in 1927 and Director of Libraries in 1953, a title she would hold until her retirement in 1971. Paul M. Heffernan, then a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Architecture, was the lead designer on the S. Price Gilbert Library. In 2017 a large-scale renovation project began with Crosland Tower to modernize it, opening up the space inside and changing the veneer to more curtainwall instead of solid brick to allow more natural light into the building and upgrade the finishes & MEP systems. The Crosland project was finished prior to the start of the Spring 2019 semester. Following its opening, a renovation project began on the S. Price Gilbert Library. The total renovation is expected to be completed in the Spring of 2020.
Collections
The Library’s collections include over 2.4 million books, bound periodicals and serials, including about 900,000 government documents, 2.7 million technical reports, over 197,000 cartographic materials, more than 240 online databases, over 29,000 electronic books and 39,000 e-journals. There is a separate Architecture Library which houses over 45,000 books. The Archives and Records Management department preserves and provides access to the history of Georgia Tech, and includes over 4300 rare books emphasizing the history of science and technology, a 4000-volume science fiction collection, photographic collections, and approximately 1000 manuscript collections. In mid-late 2015, the library moved 95% of its print collections to an off-site service center as part of a partnership with Emory University. This Library Service Center was opened and dedicated in 2016.
Services
The Library's two information commons, West and East Commons, provide computer hardware and software geared to the needs of students, including a multimedia center and computers specifically set up for group study, known as the "collaborative computing" desks. The commons areas are a component of the partnership between the Library and the Office of Information Technology which has also resulted in the creation of the Resource Center in the Library providing technology support, academic advising, and tutoring. The Library’s digital initiatives include the institutional repository, SMARTech, which captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and redistributes in digital form the intellectual output of the Institute’s students, faculty, and researchers. Another digital service is ePage@Tech, which provides assistance publishing electronic books, journals, and conference proceedings; hosting of conferences, symposia, and lecture series, and captures instructional materials and multimedia.
