About the Denison
When the first students arrived at Scripps College in September 1927, the very first library on campus shared a small white bungalow on the then eastern edge of campus with the administration and classrooms.
Denison Library opened in 1931 to its first students, quickly becoming an integral and intimate part of not only theirs but subsequent generations' educational experiences. Designed by the first campus architect Gordon Kaufmann, the building's distinctive architecture — with its central stained glass Gutenberg window celebrating the development of learning through the written word — and the beautiful hand carved wood interiors combined to create an environment encouraging learning and reflection.
Generations of Scripps students have formed personal relationships with the building, its resources, and its pervasive atmosphere of individualized attention. Impressed with the Library's success in engaging students and convinced of the power of primary materials to enrich an educational program, donors have contributed important collections of rare and special materials as well as funds to enhance the collections.
On the Denison Library Reorganization
Scripps College took over full operations of Ella Strong Denison Library on July 1, 2010, as it moves to ensure the beloved library remains an essential academic and ceremonial space on the Scripps College campus. For the past 40 years, Denison Library had been operated by the Claremont University Consortium (CUC).