ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque's Special Collections Library in the historic Huning Highlands neighborhood building is turning 100 this week, and to celebrate the milestone, library staff are hosting a public event to replicate the original grand opening. "We're going to have a jazz b and playing, just like they did in 1925. We are going to be distributing a postcard that is a replica of a postcard handed out at the grand opening. We're going to serve the punch, and we have a wonderful display up about the history of this building," said Teri Reynoso, Special Collections Library branch manager. Story continues below DWI Scandal: Another BCSO deputy placed on leave in connection to DWI dismissals Entertainment: Visit these 10 iconic film locations in New Mexico Events: What’s happening around New Mexico March 14-20 The celebration will take place on Saturday, March 22, almost exactly 100 years after the Pueblo-Spanish Revival-style building on the corner of Central and Edith opened as a library on March 23, 1925. However, the building has not always been the home of special collections. "So, it's the 100th anniversary of this building, which at the time in 1925 was the only public library in the city of Albuquerque until 1948, when Ernie Pyle Branch was open," explained Reynoso. As the population grew in the city, so did the building and need for more libraries. "So, built in 1925, like right after we had a huge population boom for people suffering from tuberculosis, their families, their friends, all the businessmen associated with that. This [east] side of the library was added in '47 when the base and the labs were starting. So, another big population boom. And the west side of the library was added in '51 after the baby boom," said Reynoso. The building housed the Main Library until 1975, when a new library was built downtown at 5th and Copper. After undergoing more renovations, the building reopened in 1978 as the Special Collections Library. Since then, it has grown its archival collection to over 100,000 materials and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024. "So, the city of Albuquerque doesn't have a historian; it doesn't have an archive. So, we're kind of like the de facto archive for the city," Reynoso said about the collection. Inside the library, visitors will find various city maps, real estate records, genealogical records, yearbooks dating back to 1910, some historical photographs, and rare books from the mid-1500s. Other materials in the archives include materials from the South Valley's Marigold Parades, papers documenting Rudolfo Anaya's efforts to hold El Kookoóee celebrations in the South Valley, documents about the founding of the Petroglyph National Monument, a variety of editions of "Don Quixote", and many other items. The building also has its own print shop, which is comprised of antique and reproduced printing presses. The library hosts printing workshops there, and it actively uses the presses to print things, including its 100th-anniversary celebration invitations. Albuquerque Route 66 motel to undergo major renovation The community celebration for the building turning 100 is free and will be held from 1:30 to 5 p.m. at the library. More information can be found here. If you are interested in learning more about the building and library's history, the Albuquerque Museum will open a new exhibition on those topics on March 24. "Open to All: A Century of Access at the Special Collections Library" will be open through Nov. 2, 2025. ...read more read less