In the summer of 1993, after several years of planning, construction began on the fourth floor addition to the Rod Library. Many other parts of the Library were renovated during the same period.

Many staff and faculty members on campus and in the library assisted in the renovation and construction planning process. In the library, the Director of Library Services, Herbert Safford, formed a committee called the Building Expansion Committee. The papers collected by four of these committee members, Cynthia Coulter, Gerald Peterson, Patricia Larsen, and Robert Rose, along with Herbert Safford's materials, are grouped here. The papers include correspondence, newsletters, spatial calculations and other documents types.

Box one and part of box 2 contain a subject file collected by Herbert Safford on the building project. Although some of the correspondence is duplicated elsewhere in the series, the file does include many new documents.

Associate Library Director Robert Rose joined the committee after its inception. His papers, found in part of box 2 and box 3, were kept separate from the rest of the Building Expansion Committee. This was because many documents here reflect his actions and decisions he made in his capacity as Associate Director.

Gerald Peterson maintained a chronological file of materials relating to the building of the library's fourth floor. They do not contain Building Expansion Committee files, although he was a member of the committee. He also served as a liaison to the library faculty and staff, keeping them updated with construction newsletters published several times a month. Also included is correspondence from the Director of Library Services to library faculty and staff regarding the construction.

The Building Expansion Committee materials represent the cumulation of papers from committee members Cynthia Coulter, Gerald Peterson, and Patricia Larsen. Some of the correspondence is again duplicated in the other areas of the collection.