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BSC Library History

  • 1939 - Bismarck Junior College (BJC) Library began as part of the Bismarck High School Library with a collection of 500 books.

  • 1955 - BJC moved from the high school building to a location near the capitol grounds that today is the Water Commission and Geological Survey Building.

  • 1959 - Harold Schafer, a local entrepreneur and founder of the successful Gold Seal Company, offered the College a tract of land overlooking the Missouri River at the northwest edge of the city.

  • 1961 - The Library moved to Schafer Hall on the new BJC campus. Schafer Hall housed the Library as well as classrooms, offices, faculty, and BJC administration.

  • 1968 - The first Library building was constructed on the BJC campus. Over the years, the Library building also housed academic classrooms, English and History faculty offices, a faculty lounge, the North Dakota Curriculum Library, the Gannon Gallery, and the Learning Skills Center.

  • 2015 - During the summer of 2015, the Library moved to its current location on the ground floor of a new building, LEA Hall, and opened its doors to the public on August 17, 2015. Demolition of the former Library building began on August 26, 2015, and the work was complete on September 29, 2015.