Most students at Fresno City College walk by the library everyday without noticing its grandeur. The library is a staple of history and is an example of a great architectural achievement.

The detail and architecture are Romanesque, reminiscent of a different time, when intricate patterns and precision were pivotal.

According to Bibliographic Instruction Librarian Donna Chandler, the library was built in the early 1930s and designed to match the style of the Old Administration Building, also Romanesque. It cost $260,000 to build and furnish the library, most of the original furniture such as the solid oak tables and chairs that are so heavy that moving them are nearly impossible.

“Some of the things we like to point out to the visitors are that 100,000 bricks were used to build the library, and there are six different shades of reds in the brick,” Chandler said. “Things were done very ordinate, like the columns out in the front that have three different patterns making up eight different columns.”

The details make the library on campus unique. The reference room, which is the main room in the library, features leather doors with port hole type windows that have real leather and real hot nails that give it character.

As you continue to walk in the reference room, you see all the wooden shelves stacked up on top of each other filled with over 100,000 books that date back to the 1800s.

A Latin quote chiseled over reference room door states, “There is no past, so long as books shall live.” The quote is meant to inspire students as they sit and study in the library. Another Latin quote engraved in another area over the conference room states, “Enter good, leave better.”

The reference room, which is 107 feet long and 50 feet wide, has majestic lighting, which is created by the arched windows shining natural rays of light onto the students as they study, read, and tap away on their laptops. There is also light shining down from 12 solid bell-shaped brass chandeliers, which hang from dark brown chains giving the room a perfect tint of even light.

The ceiling in the reference room, which is 30 feet high, is dark purple and made of burlap wallpaper, which has artwork and designs painted by a Dutch immigrant artist named Anthony B. Heinsbergen. The artist painted the images onto the canvas which was then was put up onto the ceiling in sections. Some of the images on the ceiling have great historical meaning behind them.

“Because of Fresno City College’s origin of being a Normal school (a school that produced teachers), you’ll see this beautiful ceiling that has eight portraits of people that are famous in the field of education,” Chandler said.

“For example, one of them is the one who decided to first start teaching other languages other than Latin; another is the person who invented Kindergarten,” Chandler said.

“Another is the person who thought it would be a good idea to teach girls. That is why they are worthy to be up there.”

Chandler added that the library has has been extended twice since it was first built. Once in 1976 when additions were made to the east end of the building, which now houses the tutorial center and financial aid office. Also in 1996, the size of the library was doubled by adding what is called the West Wing and the Law Room on the Far East side of the building.

The cement bulldog peeking out of the brick wall overlooks another part of the outside of library called the peace garden, which was added about 10 years ago, said chandler.

The idea was to give students a place to go when tragic or overwhelming things occur in the world. The garden has two 8-10 foot white peace poles with eight different languages on each pole.

The poles have “Let Peace Prevail on Earth,” in the 16 different languages that were picked because they are common among the students that come here, so you can see “Let Peace Prevail on Earth” in those languages on the poles.

This area is currently temporarily closed due to staffing, but Chandler said the college is working on making it available so that it can be open for students in times of discord.

The outside of the library building also has some hidden secrets that if you didn’t look hard enough, you would miss. On one of the outer walls, there is a cement bulldog face coming out of the wall, which goes back to when FCC was Fresno State.

“When Fresno City College took it over, they obviously couldn’t take the bulldog face with them, so it is still out, and it is kind of a highlight of some of the elementary school tours,” Chandler said. “We make sure the students see the bulldog, and they think it is kind of cool.”