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The Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library Building

Southwest Collection/Special Collections LibraryThe Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library is a part of the University Libraries. A gallery along the north side of the building houses permanent displays on the Southwest Collection as well as the other units of the SWC/SCL. Other units are the University Archives, the Crossroads of Music Archive, the Rare Books Collection, as well as the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community and the Natural World. Also housed in the building are the Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive and the Remnant Trust. Additionally, the facility is the home for editorial offices of the West Texas Historical Association and its annual yearbook.

Offices in the building open onto a rotunda by the third tower. The Library's 1688 Coronelli Globe is displayed in the rotunda, which was the Libraries’ millionth acquisition.

Behind the offices are the non-public areas of the facility where documents and materials are processed. The building includes an accessioning area where materials are received and logged in. From there materials, whether paper records, photographs or films/audio/video tapes, go to their specific areas for processing before they are taken to the stacks or the appropriate vault for storage.

Upstairs the stacks area offers a climate-controlled environment that provides a constant temperature and humidity as well as a positive ventilation outflow which helps prevent the intrusion of bacteria or fungi which could damage valuable books and documents.

The facility has a conservation laboratory funded by the Hoblitzelle Foundation. The Hoblitzelle Conservation Lab provides an appropriate venue for preservation and conservation of valuable and one-of-a-kind materials within the collections.