It was named after John Casper Branner, first professor of geology and former president of Stanford University, whose book collection was the initial core of the library.
Branner Library contains more than 125,000 volumes, including 2000 serial titles, most of which are related to the earth and environmental sciences.
When he came to Stanford in 1891, he and his wife brought a boxcar full of books, which became the de facto departmental library, with himself also as the university's first librarian.
Between 1968 and 1970, Spencer, Lee & Busse provided architectural design and planning for the building that houses the Earth Sciences library.
The design includes a small, permanent mineral exhibit in the Mitchell Earth Sciences Building open to the public.