Claire T. Carney Library History

• Bradford Durfee College of Technology, Library History, 1948-1965
• New Bedford Institute of Technology, Library History, 1948-1964
• Beginnings of the SMTI Library, 1965-1980
• Library named in honor of Claire T. Carney, October 14, 2006

UMass Dartmouth’s predecessor schools, New Bedford Institute of Technology and Bradford Durfee College of Technology, both had functioning libraries prior to the 1960 merger. When the schools merged to form Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute, planning began for a new library to support the growing number of students and faculty at the new campus in North Dartmouth. The architectural firm Desmond and Lord took on the task of building the Library Communications Center in July of 1966, based on the schematic drawings of architect Paul Rudolph. Rudolph had designed the building to be the center of campus. For several years before the library was completed, the main SMTI (and later SMU) library was housed in Group I (which is now LARTS), with satellite libraries on the New Bedford and Fall River campuses. By February of 1972, staff members were able to begin the arduous task of shifting library materials from the makeshift library located on the third floor of Group I and from the New Bedford and Fall River campuses to the newly constructed Library Communications Center which, on March 13th, opened its doors to the academic community of Southeastern Massachusetts University. The following online exhibit highlights the history of the Claire T. Carney Library. Library records can be accessed during business hours of the Archives and Special Collections via the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives entrance on the side of the library building. Consult the online inventory URC 14 for a detailed list of its contents.

* For more information on the campus architecture and it’s architect, see the Paul Rudolph & His Architecture website.