Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library at CSUMB
100 Campus Center, Seaside
(831) 582-3733, http://library.csumb.edu
When the university opened in 1995, there was a library… of sorts. It was a set of old former munitions storage buildings that had been put together, a remnant of CSUMB’s Fort Ord history. It was dark, ugly and had an occupancy of a whopping 100. Good thing the university ended up building the Tanimura & Antle Family Memorial Library in 2008. The new library, a gleaming work of architectural ingenuity and environmental conscience, can hold more than 10 times the people that fit in the old one – and more books too. It’s rated LEED Silver, built partly with recycled materials, and designed to let in abundant natural light. With 90,000 patrons a month – people come looking for books, lectures, counseling and a bite at the coffee shop – it’s a lifeline for the university community.