Elmer E. Rasmuson Library

Elmer E. Rasmuson was born in Yakutat, Alaska, in 1909. He graduated from Harvard University in 1930. Rasmuson returned to Alaska in 1943 as president of the National Bank of Alaska, the first statewide banking system in Alaska. Active in public affairs, Rasmuson was mayor of Anchorage, chairman of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. and a member of the University of Alaska Board of Regents from 1950-1969.

Rasmuson's generosity reflects his commitment to the university. With funds made available by him and his Rasmuson Foundation, the Alaska and Polar Regions collection expanded in the early 1970s. In addition, he has contributed to documenting and preserving hundreds of movies about Alaska and funded the creation of the Rasmuson Fisheries Research Center, to help guide the state's fishing industry.

Elmer Rasmuson died in December 2000, but his support of intellectual life in Alaska continues through endowments from the foundation.

The Library

When the $4.3 million Elmer E. Rasmuson Library opened in 1970, it held 219,000 volumes. It is Alaska’s largest library, with more than 1.5 million volumes including books, periodicals, films, sound recordings, microforms, government documents, maps, archival and manuscript materials.

The Rasmuson Library has one of the world's finest collections of Alaska and Polar Regions (APR) materials including books, periodicals, photography, manuscripts, films, oral histories, rare books and maps. The collections are centered on Alaska but include many items about the Circumpolar North and Antarctica. Subject bibliographers, archivists, anthropologists and historians on the APR staff are available for reference and research assistance.

The online library catalog, Goldmine, can be used to locate what the Rasmuson library owns and all the sites owned by the University of Alaska statewide system. A wide variety of subject-specific databases is available in the library via the Elmernet local area network, which is only searchable within the library, and via the Internet to UAF students, faculty and staff.

Attached to the Fine Arts Complex, the 113,156-square-foot building was designed to house 400,000 volumes, but by 1980, the library held 720,642 volumes. In 1985, the library was expanded; 68,616-square-feet were added to the structure, at a cost of $13.2 million. The new construction allowed the library to reorganize, a move which included the establishment of the Alaska and Polar Regions Department and a large media resources center.

When the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines opened in 1922, the first library, housed in Old Main Building, contained a collection of 2,326 books, mostly government publications acquired by Charles Bunnell, the college's first president. Bunnell’s vision for the library was a collection of "everything that has been published on Alaska by Alaskans." In 1935, the growing library moved to the college's new gymnasium, which is now Signers' Hall. By 1960, the library housed 70,469 volumes, so it was moved into the west wing of the new Bunnell Building.

As the Rasmuson Library tries to live up to the ideal of President Bunnell by obtaining at least one copy of everything published about Alaska, it needs to continue expanding. A recent renovation includes upgrades to existing building systems that have become difficult to maintain, improvements to the interior finishes and the exterior shell, greater accessibility and enhanced security of archival materials. Also included in the two-and-a-half year renovation are improvements in shelving and safety features of materials, the replacement and expansion of the data communications system and lighting upgrades.

Sources: "UAF Elmer E. Rasmuson Library and Media Facility Dedication Program," September 25, 1985; "Alaska and Polar Regions Collections of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library: A Guide and Access Document," by C. Eugene West, Fourth Edition, July, 1991; The Alaska and Polar Regions Collection at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library; "Alaska Journal," Winter 1979, Vol. 9, No. 1; "Alaska Living History Series, Elmer Rasmuson" flier, October 22, 1990; "Elmer E. Rasmuson Library Dedication Program, 1970;" "1994 -95 University of Alaska Fairbanks Undergraduate Catalog;" Rasmuson Library Web page, www.uaf.edu/library/aboutus/aboutus.html

University to Honor Former Regents, UA News release - May 15, 2000

Anchorage Press-April 18-24, 2002-Vol. 11, Ed.16: How the Anchorage Museum, Strapped by a $50 Million Gift, Must Find Its Way, Jeff Brady

Skagway News: Skagway remembers Elmer Rasmuson