Inner fire

The last of the University's four original Gothic buildings to be constructed, Bapst Library has served the University as an assembly hall and the neighborhood as a parish church. It was used as the campus’s main library until O'Neill Library was built in 1984. During O'Neill’s construction, Bapst underwent a major renovation that cost $6.9 million (the original building cost $800,000) and included the creation of the Burns Library at the building's north end, which houses the University's rare books, special collections, and archives.