The new building will offer substantially more space for the Church History Department than it has now, spread over over four floors in the east wing of the Church Office Building. When Church History moves across the street, it will free up considerable Church Office Building space for other, yet undetermined uses.

Elder Jensen credited late-LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley for providing a tremendous boost to church history. He said current President Thomas S. Monson, too, is keen on church history and preservation.

Facts on the new LDS Church History Library

• Purpose: Provide public access to and archival storage for materials chronicling the history of the LDS Church.

• Location: Corner of North Temple Street and Main.

• Opening: Early 2009

• Size: 230,000 square feet, five floors

• Collections: 270,000 books, pamphlets, magazines, newspapers and other published items; 240,000 collections of original, unpublished records (journals, diaries, correspondence, minutes); 23,000 audiovisual items; 13,000 collections of photographs; 3.5 million patriarchal blessings for LDS Church members

• Access: The public will be able to access some historical materials in a large open library area, while other materials will be located in archival storage rooms and brought to a reading room upon patron request.

• Hours: The Church History Library will offer extended hours of operation for the public. Exact times have not yet been determined.

• Operations: The building will provide work space for Church History staff responsible for research, publications, historic sites, conservation, collections development and Web content.

• Storage: 10 main storage rooms, kept at 55 degrees Fahrenheit with 35 percent relative humidity; two special rooms, kept at minus 4 degrees for color motion-picture films, photographs and records of special significance

• Architect: MHTN

• Contractor: Jacobsen/Swinerton

• Tours: Public open houses will be held when the building is finished in 2009.

• More information: www.lds.org/churchhistory

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com