In 1937, construction began on a new concrete and brick-faced building to house the library. Completed in 1938, the building housed a collection that grew to 35,000 volumes in 1940. Now known as Smullin Hall, the library building was designed by architect Pietro Belluschi in the Georgian style of architecture. In 1965, the school received a $450,000 loan from the federal government for the library. Congressman Al Ullman worked to secure status as a Federal Depository Library in the late 1960s, with status conferred in 1969. In 1980, Willamette began a multi-year fund raising campaign intended to raise funds to renovate academic halls and build a new library, with $18 million total raised during the funding drive. At the time the library held a collection of 143,000 volumes.