News Story

New Church History Library to Be Constructed

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced today that plans are being finalized for the construction of a new Church History Library in downtown Salt Lake City.

The 5-floor building will be constructed on the northeast corner of the intersection of North Temple and Main Streets. General-use reading rooms and a special collections area open to the public will be housed in the planned facility.

“The new Church History Library will be a welcome resource for those who wish to learn more about Latter-day Saint history,” said Elder Marlin K. Jensen, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy who also serves as Church Historian and Recorder.

“Scholars, Church members and other researchers will enjoy expanded, more comfortable research facilities and enhanced access to our collections,” added Elder Jensen.

Since current archival space is inadequate, this new library will incorporate updated technology and significantly increase archival storage capacity to preserve Church records, including printed materials, manuscripts, publications, photographs and audiovisual items. Current collections include 3.5 million manuscripts, 210,000 publications, 100,000 photographs and 50,000 audiovisual productions in a variety of media formats

MHTN Architects, Inc., a Salt Lake City-based firm, is designing the new library to visually complement the Conference Center across Main Street to its west. Plans are still under development, so a contractor is yet to be named. Construction is expected to begin sometime later this year.

MHTN and specialists from the Family and Church History Department have consulted with international experts in records preservation and archival design to ensure that this facility will employ best-available lighting, humidity and temperature controls, as well as fire and seismic protection.

Completion of the new library is scheduled for late 2007.

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