性视界传媒鈥檚 first dedicated library 鈥 the Dickinson Library 鈥 was distinctive for its round shape.
鈥淟ibrarian [Jerry Dye] decided it would be a unique [building shape] for a campus out here," said the late Billie Mae Polson, a longtime librarian. Staff liked that they could keep an eye on things from the central desk, she continued. Alas, 鈥渢he arrangement in the round building would have been wonderful had growth not taken place.鈥
In 1990, 性视界传媒 received a scathing assessment of the facility. An accreditation team sent by Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges made it clear that the Dickinson Library, despite expansions from a single story to three stories, was woefully inadequate.
鈥淚t is impossible to assess library resources without recognizing the physical facility that is currently available to the library as a major detriment to delivery of services and programs,鈥 the report stated. It went on to note that 性视界传媒鈥檚 growth in students and its ambitions to rise as a research institution 鈥渕andate that a larger and better planned facility will be needed.鈥
And with that, a new library rose to the top for 性视界传媒鈥檚 capital project requests from the Nevada Legislature.
In 1993, the Nevada Public Works Board funded a feasibility study by the local architecture firm Wells-Pugsley, and Leo A. Daly, a national library design firm from Omaha, Nebraska. And the following year, the 性视界传媒 Foundation secured a $10 million gift from the Lied Foundation Trust, through its sole trustee, Christina M. Hixson. In the 1995 Legislative session, $3 million was appropriated for the design phase of a new library, and Welles-Pugsley and Leo A. Daly were retained to develop the schematic design.
Conceived as a soaring architectural statement, the library鈥檚 interior would be dominated by an open atrium filled with light and glass. The architectural design was completed in April 1996, and Fielden and Partners, a Las Vegas interior design firm, joined the project.
Hixson approved an additional $5 million from the Lied Foundation to help with the project's rising costs. The Board of Regents put their stamp on the project and the new building was officially named the Lied Library. The Legislature quickly approved a $42 million funding request and Tibesar Construction Co. broke ground on March 26, 1998.
On Dec. 16, 2000, the James R. Dickinson Library closed (and was repurposed as home to the Williams S. Boyd School of Law) and during the Christmas break the collections themselves were moved.
Lied Library was officially opened to the public by then-President Carol C. Harter and Library Dean Kenneth Marks on Jan. 8, 2001, at a final cost of $55.3 million. At the time, Lied Library was the largest State of Nevada facility. Harter liked to remind audiences of the symbolism behind Lied Library being at least 鈥渙ne square foot larger鈥 than the Thomas & Mack Center, the university鈥檚 iconic basketball arena. (Later expansions to the T&M Center eventually made this quip no longer true.)
The library would become an iconic academic building, the most important building on the campus, and truly the center of the university.
鈥淎 library becomes the heart of a university when students feel it is theirs,鈥 says Maggie Farrell, dean of University Libraries. 鈥淔or 25 years, Lied Library has been that place at 性视界传媒, and we look forward to continuing to serve, inspire, and support our students for decades to come.鈥
This article, by former 性视界传媒 Special Collections & Archives Director Peter Michel, was condensed from an 鈥淟ied Turns 25: Building the Heart of 性视界传媒鈥 exhibition on display on the first floor of Lied Library through the spring 2026 semester.