The Library is at the heart of higher learning. It has been a central feature in the planning, growth, and development of the University of Alaska Anchorage from its earliest days. With origins in the development of Anchorage Community College, the library shared its first collections with West High School until the construction of the ACC campus in 1969. The concept of a joint library to serve the community college and the neighboring private educational institution, Alaska Methodist University, quickly followed and produced an agreement to develop a joint library.
In 1970 the legislature passed a bill funding the construction of the library to be shared by both institutions. The Consortium Library opened in 1973.
The development of this new library in the early 1970s coincided with the changes in the institutions, which it served. When AMU ceased operations in the mid-1970s and was replaced by a new institution, Alaska Pacific University, the consortium agreements remained. The senior college eventually led to the four-year University of Alaska, Anchorage. In 1987 this unit combined with the community college to establish today's University of Alaska Anchorage.
