Thaddeus G. Buckner Building
1945
Formerly known as the E.T. Roux Library
The E.T. Roux Library building began construction in April 1941 and was dedicated on March 17, 1945 to Edwin Timanus Roux, a donor and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. When fire destroyed the Sutherland campus in 1921, Roux let the College use his hotel in Clearwater as a temporary location; Roux was also a key donor in the College's move to Lakeland in 1922. The E.T. Roux Library was constructed with two floors plus a basement. The reading room consisted of three tiers of desks for students with the circulation desk in the center - these desks are still present today. The book stacks were on both floors and were built around the light wells. In theory, these light wells were designed to bring light down to the first floor from the skylights on the roof; however, in reality, they proved to not be that effective in bringing light to the first floor. Similar to the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, the E.T. Roux Building was built using student labor; however, due to World War II causing a sharp decline in male enrollment, female students took on a much greater role during the construction process. Decades later, because of a growing student population, the current Roux Library building was constructed in 1968. The former library building was rededicated to Thaddeus G. Buckner, a donor and the husband of Loca Lee Buckner, Honorary Chancellor and Trustee, with the reading room becoming known as the Hollis Room after donor William M. Hollis, the Vice President of Publix. The Hollis Room became a place of meeting for organizations like the Student Government Association and lectures, while the other half of the building was divided into offices for the Registrar, Provost, and Student Travel. Starting in 1992, the Hollis Room was also the home of the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor's Center until 2013 when the Sharp Tourism and Education Center opened. In 2022, after a donation from the Hollis family, the Hollis Room underwent renovations to update the space. In 2023, the Hollis Room was also used by the newly formed Sixth District Court of Appeals to hold court hearings.
