For almost 50 years, the Homer Babbidge Library in the center of the Storrs campus has served as UConn’s central repository for books, scholarly publications, and multimedia of all kinds. But generations of UConn students had spent countless hours in a different library altogether – the Wilbur Cross Building. Today a central hub for student services like financial aid, the registrar, the bursar, and career development, it originally opened in 1939 as the University’s first-ever, standalone, purpose-built library. The school’s library collection had originally been located in the Whitney Building, then the Old Main Building, and then Beach Hall, which also housed the bookstore, central post office, administrative offices, and classrooms. Although the brand-new library opened its doors in 1939, it wasn’t until 1942 that the Board of Trustees voted to name it for the Connecticut governor and Gurleyville native who signed into law the act that changed UConn from a state college to a full university. As the postwar population grew, the Wilbur Cross Library – which was also where students had to go, in person, to register for classes – struggled to keep up with the demands of thousands of students. An expansion in 1964 helped, but it was clear a much larger facility needed to be built to truly meet the needs of a major research university. Today, the recently refurbished golden cupola of Wilbur Cross remains perhaps the most familiar symbol of the University, and with its many student-focused offices and two large reading rooms, it’s still a crucial part of the UConn experience.