John Pearce Library

John Peace Library (commonly shortened to JPL) is often referred to as the “heart of the campus” and is one of the university’s five original buildings. The library is named in honor of John R. Peace II, an active member of the San Antonio community who championed efforts to bring a four-year public university to the local community. San Antonio architect O’Neil Ford designed the building to be a centralized plaza for the university, which at the time was the largest new university under construction in the United States. Fun Fact: When JPL opened on June 2, 1976, it was the largest building on campus and had study space to accommodate only 1,300 students – a far cry from the current number of students at UTSA today.