Helm Library was originally constructed as the Health & Physical Education Building. Designed by Brinton Davis, it contained a gymnasium with a 5,000 person capacity as well as classrooms, offices and a shooting range for the Physical Education and ROTC / Military Science departments. It has occasionally be confused with the Red Barn which was the gymnasium it replaced in 1931.
Plans were made to convert the building for a library while Diddle Arena was under construction. In 1963, renovations began which created a 70,000 square foot library that could accommodate over a 1/2 million books on three floors with a seating capacity for 1,000 students. The building also provided space for Library Science and Industrial Arts departments. It was dedicated on October 14, 1967 and named for librarian Margie Helm.
Unidentified Event
Statement Made at Meeting of the New Library Steering Committee
Material on the Margie Helm Library
Moving Library Books, Materials & Furniture
Margie Helm Library Guide to Location of Materials
Margie Helm Library Guide to Location of Materials 2
Margie Helm Library Guide to Location of Materials 3
Margie Helm Library General Arrangement of Areas
WKU Turns 25-Year-Old Gym into Complete, Modern, Well-Carpeted Library
Vacated Gym Becomes a Library
1940 - Basketball - 1941
Jump Circle 2