In 1975, Candler librarian Channing Jeschke persuaded Dean James T. Laney to purchase the Hartford Theological Seminary library collection, which grew the library's holdings from 90,000 volumes to more than 300,000. That same year, the theology building began renovations to serve as a library for the new collection. In 1976, the building was renamed Pitts Theology Library in recognition of Margaret Pitts and her father, William I.H. Pitts, and the Pitts Foundation's assistance in purchasing the Hartford collection.