The library at North Carolina Central University.

When the North Carolina Central University School of Law opened in 1940, it had no dedicated space, no library, no established faculty, and a single student, Robert Richard Bond. Bond had to visit other schools’ law libraries at night because as an African-American, he was not allowed access during the day. In the 1970s, the library housed 42,000 volumes, compared to 150,000 at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

The library experienced a catastrophe when, in 1969, a disgruntled former student started a fire that destroyed $500,000 worth of library books. Many of these books were long out of print and thus irreplaceable. Students, staff, and faculty rallied to repair what they could and held a fund drive to raise money to buy the items that could be replaced. The library today houses more than 400,000 titles.

 

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