Prior to the opening of Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Library in 1984, Bapst Library had served as Boston College’s main research institution since 1925. During those years, and under the tenure of Fr. Monan, the University had experienced an “ongoing and sometimes heady evolution” from “a small college for Irish Catholic boys into a national institution of higher learning” (Boston College Magazine, Winter 1985, page 26). Monan helped plan O’Neill Library to accommodate the demands of that transformation and, in many ways, complete it. Shortly after its opening, O’Neill Library began experiencing patron visits at a rate two-and-a-half times higher than its predecessor. Reflecting on his achievements in a 1992 interview with Patricia Delaney, Monan stated that “in terms of something very tangible, I probably get the greatest satisfaction from going to the O’Neill Library at night, when it is absolutely filled with students working, and just recognizing what a great benefit that facility is to the whole learning process, for both students and faculty” (Boston College Magazine, Fall 1992, page 33).