The one-room Peabody Memorial Library was the first free-standing campus library in Texas; it was constructed in 1901 with funds provided by the George Peabody Foundation. According to the Normal Institute's catalogue, the library was "a very handsome structure, and especially designed for the purpose for which it is to be used. It is said that no school of this kind in the South has a Building equal to it."[3] Fully restored, it is now used as a venue for special university events.[citation needed] When the university first opened, students received a certification to teach in the state's elementary and secondary schools.