University of North Carolina Wilmington Library Records

Wilmington College Library began in New Hanover High School. In 1948, the two-year college expanded to the Isaac Bear Building on 13th and Market Streets, using the former elementary school for administrative offices, classrooms, labs, and a library. In 1961, the college moved to its own campus on Highway 132, and the library went into the Administrative Building that later became Alderman Hall. In 1965, the North Carolina General Assembly approved funding for the school's first stand-alone library building. This construction was needed to meet the requirements for a four-year college. Named for the college's third president, William Madison Randall Library opened in 1969. In 1987, the library completed an addition toward the center of campus, more than doubling its original size of 70,000 square feet. With the expansion came an integrated library system, making the card catalog obsolete. Over 300,000 volumes were moved as part of this expansion. Randall Library and the university's Technology Assistance Center established the Learning Commons in 2008, offering an enlarged footprint of learning spaces, technologies, and tools designed to support student success. An expansion to the library is opening in 2024.