For many years the library was known as the Norton-Peck Library and was housed in the Lafayette Foster building. Lafayette Foster was head of the United States Senate when Lincoln was President, and was an early supporter of the Academy when it was founded in 1854.
In 1992 a new four-million-dollar addition was added, creating the Latham Science and Information Center. The building is named for Allen Latham, Sr. who was head of the Science Department for seventeen years. His son, Allen Latham, Jr., graduated from the Academy in 1926, was an early associate of Edwin H. Land, and went on to become a successful inventor and businessman in his own right. Allen Latham, Jr. generously supported the efforts to build the new library/science center in honor of his father.
The library is named after Edwin H. Land, also a 1926 graduate of the Academy, and the inventor and founder of Polaroid. Edwin H. Land discovered his passion for science and technology while a student at the Academy and went on to become one of America's most respected scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs. The Land family gave generously to the building of the new library and continues to be very supportive.
Both Land and Latham are fitting role models for students today as scientists, businessmen and citizens. Their generous support is providing resources and facilities that will enable students to be successful well into the 21st century.
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