© 2006 UNC Asheville One University Heights, Asheville, North Carolina  28804    828-251-6600
Created By, D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections Staff 2006

Cody Bradford, Jessica Wallace, and Andrew Fedynak
360° Sepia Panoramic Photograph of UNCA — James Phelps

One building Highsmith was extremely proud of  was D. Hiden Ramsey Library, where he fittingly spent the last years of his life conducting research for The First Sixty Years (1991), his book on the history of the university.  Like many of the other buildings on

campus, Ramsey Library has changed in the years since its construction.  By 1984, the library owned 140,000 volumes and had exceeded its maximum capacity.  The library was no longer big enough for the university's needs, so an addition was proposed.  This addition would add 67,000 square feet to the library, more than doubling its size.  The addition would wrap around the existing library in order to preserve the boundaries of the quad.  Construction was supposed to start in 1987 but was postponed because the first two bids were too high.  In the course of creating plans for the addition, it became apparent that the old section of the library needed a major renovation, primarily to remove asbestos.  In 1988, construction started on the addition.  The new section of the library, finished in 1990, included the Malcolm E. Blowers Gallery and Cafe Ramsey.  The renovation of the old library building was finished in 1995.  In 2001, the Glass House was added as a multi-functional space, which covered a previously exposed patio adjacent to the library.

The History of the University of North Carolina at Asheville