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About the Hight Library

All UNC Charlotte students, faculty, and staff are invited to visit the Architecture Library for quiet study, to borrow books about the field and other allied subjects (e.g. engineering, urban planning, etc.), to view exhibits of student work, and to browse periodicals/journals. Our library staff can also assist patrons with using the Library Search System to find print and electronic resources. Seven desktop computers (five Macs and 2 Windows PCs), scanners, and a multi-function printer are also available for the university community. 

Please check with our library staff before planning a visit during evenings and weekends for Storrs Hall building access information. Storrs Hall is open to all non-School of Architecture affiliates typically Monday to Friday until 7 pm during Fall and Spring semesters.

Storrs Hall, which opened in the Spring of 1990, was designed to include an architecture library to support the academic mission of the former College of Architecture (now the School of Architecture, housed within the College of Arts + Architecture). In 1993 a collaborative effort began between the College and Atkins Library to establish what eventually became known as the Architectural Resource Center (ARC). When Dean Charles C. Hight, FAIA stepped down as dean in 2001, the name was changed to the Charles C. Hight Architecture Resource Center, in recognition of Dean Hight’s service to the College and University. In 2007 the ARC became the Charles C. Hight Architecture Library, reflecting its designation as the university’s first branch library.

--Courtesy of Dr. Lee E. Gray, former interim director of the J. Murrey Atkins Library, 2001-2002--

More about Dean Hight’s accomplishments and national impact in the field of architectural education and training can be heard in an oral history interview in Goldmine, a digital collection of the Department of Special Collections at J. Murrey Atkins Library.

The Library space features special artwork from our College of Arts and Architecture (CoA+A) students, faculty and distinguished community collaborators:

  • Painting of Charles C. Hight, former College of Architecture (CoA) Dean, by artist Arthur Egeli.
  • Fragments from the Library of Babel is a mural installation adorning the library walls.
  • A model of Storrs Hall, is displayed in a vitrine or glass enclosed cabinet, courtesy of Ferebee, Walters, & Associates Architects (Charlotte, NC) and Gwathmey, Siegel, and Associates Architects (New York, NY). 
  • An Invisible Discourse by James B. Sikes and Michael Montgomery, (both of BArch Class of 2006) is a model constructed of laser-cut frosted acrylic panels on CNC-milled plywood and a steel bar structure. The piece creatively diffuses light through a window. The design process included a video capture of turning pages of a book!
  • A digital slideshow of the Visual Resources Collection spotlights a sample of 1,180 images!

The Architecture Library operates under the policies of Atkins Library.