New library for sacred history
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Conscious of the divine mandate to preserve the sacred records of the Church, the First Presidency broke ground Oct. 7 for a state-of-the-art Church History Library in Salt Lake City at a site that had been used as a parking lot at the northeast corner of Main and North Temple streets, east of the Conference Center.
"This is a day of history in the history of the Church," President Gordon B. Hinckley declared in remarks to a gathering of invited guests and news media representatives just before giving a prayer "to dedicate the structure unto thee and the processes by which it may come into being."
President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, and President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency, also gave brief remarks. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve conducted the half-hour program, and Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy, who holds the position of Church Historian and Recorder, gave the invocation. Rebecca S. Olpin, vocal soloist, sang "O Ye Mountains High," accompanied by Richard Elliott.
Describing the building to be constructed, President Hinckley said, "It will contain 250,000 square feet. It will occupy five levels, much below the ground. It will include the Historical Library collection of books, pamphlets, etc., that will occupy almost 24 miles of shelving. It will include journals, patriarchal blessings, photographs, etc.
"It will provide administrative offices for the Church Historian, Family and Church History Department. It will be temperature- and humidity-controlled in many areas to preserve the very fragile documents which will be kept there, and it will be constructed to the highest seismic standards so that it should be safe and secure if 'the earth begins to tremble,' which we hope it will not do."
President Hinckley said that since the Church was organized in 1830, it has had historians who have kept complete and detailed records, Oliver Cowdery being the first, with John Whitmer appointed in 1831 to join him. "That was reiterated again in 1832, the next year, when the Lord said, 'It is the duty of the Lord's clerk, whom he has appointed, to keep a history, and a general Church record of all things that transpire in Zion' (Doctrine and Covenants 85:1). That is all inclusive. It leaves nothing out."
He expressed gratitude and appreciation to the custodians of the records of the Church throughout its existence.
"Now we go forward," he said. "The Church grows, and the volume of records continues to increase in large numbers. I don't know that we'll ever build a building large enough to hold them all, the way they're accumulating them, but this is an attempt to do so." He recalled that when the commodious Church Office Building was constructed, space was provided for the historical records. Then he quipped, "And they've accumulated so much that if we don't move it out of there, it will break the floors!"
President Hinckley displayed a small shovel he said had been crafted by Brigham Young and was used by Elder G. Homer Durham when ground was broken for the Museum of Church History and Art, which opened in 1984. "I'm going to dip it in the ground when I have the opportunity," he said, "and then go to a sturdier shovel."
In his remarks, President Monson said, "It is very essential that our history be preserved — and preserved appropriately — so that future generations can benefit from what takes place today and what has taken place in years gone by." He added, "We benefit from what our fathers have done for us, and we have the privilege, through the sacred records which will be maintained here, to provide a legacy for those who follow."
President Faust recalled from the Book of Mormon that Lehi prized records so much that he sent his sons back to Jerusalem to secure the brass plates and that Jesus, as recounted in 3 Nephi, directed the Nephites to include in their records a prophecy of Samuel the Lamanite that had been neglected. "I believe that the principle benefit for the making and the keeping of records is to strengthen faith," he remarked.
In his invocation, Elder Jensen prayed that the new facility "will enable us to be even more effective and efficient in keeping that record and in sharing it with thy children across the world."
According to information provided by the Church, the library will increase archival storage capacity for records, including printed materials, manuscripts, publications, photographs and audiovisual items. It will also house general-use reading rooms and a special collections area open to the public, and researchers will have enhanced access to the Church's historical collections.
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