Tour of the Caltech Sherman Fairchild Library

The Sherman Fairchild Library opened January 1997 uniting Caltech's collections of books, journals, and documents from all engineering fields with state of the art digital information storage and retrieval capabilities. This beautiful library was made possible by a generous gift of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to honor and recognize Sherman Fairchild, a pioneer in the fields of photography, aviation and sound engineering. The structure's design by the architectural firm of Moore Ruble Yudell of Santa Monica blends harmoniously with Caltech's rich architectural legacy typified by simple rectilinear forms, restrained ornamentation, caste stone details, patios, arches and vaulted ceilings. Beyond the warmth and beauty of its architecture, this new library brings to the campus the facilities to support the innovation and collaboration needed for making the transition to the electronic library of the future.

Directions: The Caltech campus begins on the corner of Del Mar Ave and Wilson Ave. The library is located at the center of campus just south of San Pasqual (building 43 on a campus map). See http://www.caltech.edu/map/ for an interactive map of the campus.

Getting to Caltech from the Hilton:

By Taxi: Cab fare from the Hilton costs approximately $5 per cab.

By ARTS bus: a free Area Rapid Transit System (ARTS) bus runs every 12 minutes and can be picked up in front of the Pasadena Convention Center (2 blocks West of the Hilton on Green St.), exit on the Wilson Ave stop.

By MTA bus: Board the MTA 267 bus at Los Robles and Cordova; exit at Del Mar and Chester; cash full fare $1.35.