In 1909, the Nebraska state legislature authorized the construction of a new normal school in what was then the Sixth Congressional District.

[2] The old library building then became the Media Center, housing the campus print shop and educational television studio.

[6] Most of her subsequent works of fiction and nonfiction dealt with the history of the High Plains and its Native Americans, explorers, and settlers.

Additional manuscripts, correspondence, notes, and other papers are preserved by the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Also in keeping with the usual design of Carnegie libraries, the building's Neoclassical style is simple, with few decorative details.

The front entrance is flanked by Doric columns supporting a pediment; there is a simple stone cornice, and a hipped tile roof.

[3] Adjoining the library building on the south is the Chicoine Atrium, which provides an additional 2,400 square feet (220 m2) of space.

[11] A life-sized bronze statue of Sandoz by artist George Lundeen stands in front of the 1929 library.

[13] Permanent exhibits include a gallery dedicated to Sandoz's life and literature; one for the history of cattle ranching on the High Plains; and one devoted to the paleontology of the Sandhills.

The statue of Sandoz is surrounded by Sandhills prairie plants, some of which were collected near her grave in Sheridan County.