Joint Library Facility

New buildings supporting work of the on-site Texas A&M University System agencies have occasionally sprung up through the years at the old Bryan Army Air Field site. In 2012, however, a first significant new construction project took place, one which would become a precursor to the dramatic redevelopment of what would come to be known as the RELLIS Campus.

On May 24, 2013, the $6.3 million Joint Library Facility was opened at the Riverside Campus providing storage space for more than one million volumes, employing a concept called “Resources in Common.” Books housed there are available to academic and medical libraries across both The Texas A&M University System and The University of Texas System.

The former director of the Cushing Memorial Library, David Chapman, explains how the historic collaboration came to be.

David Chapman earned a Bachelor's degree in history from Texas A&M University in 1967. He began working at the school in 1972, starting as a graduate assistant in the Libraries department. He became archivist for the school in 1994 and was named director of the Cushing Memorial Library in 2008. He retired from the school on January 30, 2012, after 38 years of university service. He remains an integral part of the local historical scene.