Historical Timeline
January 1, 1951
Edwin T. Coman, Jr. arrives on campus as the first librarian and begins to solicit donations and make purchases for the future library.
December 7, 1953
The first library building is complete, and the collection of books can be moved from the crowded house near the Citrus Experiment Station to the new library. The move is completed on Dec. 24, with all 33,000 volumes in place on shelves.
October 30, 1963
A group of students sneak into the main library via the steam tunnels to build a huge pumpkin out of paper and chicken wire. When library workers dismantle the pumpkin on the morning of Halloween, ducks and chickens come out and fly around the library stacks.
February 11, 1964
Official opening of the main library building, which in 1985 is renamed the Tomás Rivera Library.
1969
The J. Lloyd Eaton Collection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Utopian Literature was acquired by UC Riverside in 1969
November 1972
Scenes for the pilot of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's "Genesis II" are shot near the bell tower, but the television series is never produced. At one point, a special-effects "fire" on the roof of the library brings a response from the Riverside Fire Department.
March 11, 1979
A newspaper story describes how rare art history books have been stolen from the library and vandalized. Gervase Donald Cheshire, an instructor, is charged with the crime. The loss is estimated at nearly half a million dollars.
March 29, 1981
The library celebrates the addition of its millionth volume.
February 19, 1985
The library is officially named for the late Tomás Rivera.
November 30, 2001
The library celebrates the addition of its two millionth volume to its collection and celebrated the completion of a $19.3 million renovation and seismic upgrade.
February 9, 2002
The Rededication of the Rupert Costo Library of the American Indian, in the Costo Room of Special Collections, located on the fourth floor of the Tomás Rivera Library.
February 24, 2006
The University of California, Riverside Libraries dedicated the Tuskegee Airmen Archive Friday, Feb. 24 at the Tomas Rivera Library.
Factoids from the UCR News: 50th Anniversary Timeline
