Since 1902, the library had been relegated to the second floor of Old Main’s north wing. College Librarians had perennially pleaded for a separate library building to safely “store books and serve an enlarged studentbody” since at least 1912. During the 1920s National Summer School, college administrators seized an opportunity to publicize the institution’s library needs by surveying its visiting scholars. “The greatest handicap which I found was the limited library facilities,” wrote E. Lawrence Palmer of Cornell. Similarly, R.C. McClain wrote, “except for a serious lack of library and reference material, U.A.C. has my highest recommendations.”
Under the chairmanship of B.L. Richards in 1927, the Alumni Association appointed a committee consisting of Paul V. Cardon, George Stewart, Ray B. West, Sr., and W.W. Henderson to conduct a campaign to raise a $50,000 endowment for library support. George P. Barber was appointed treasurer of the fund. In June 1928, Richards reported that “a total of $50,177 in cash and pledges [had] been secured...” Richards went on to report that the association planned to “continue with the work of soliciting subscriptions next year, and to launch out among friends of the college other than alumni... The plan is to conduct a state-wide campaign,” he concluded.
The Alumni Library Endowment never reached a level where it could be used for constructing the new library building. The endowment did generate funds for Library support, however. In 1935, library consultant Charles H. Brown of Iowa State College commended the Alumni Library Fund by noting how “It is not often that such interest is shown in a state institution. Many other institutions are attempting such a program without the results secured at Logan. Both for the sake of the alumni themselves as well as the library, the present program should be encouraged and stimulated on every possible occasion.” As late as 1960, the endowment had provided nearly $15,000 to the Library for the purchase of books and reference materials.
Built with a $175,000 state appropriation, the new library opened in December 1930. The 30,000 square foot structure consisted of a basement, plus three floors, and included an attractive, large, open reading room which would seat nearly 300 students. The closed stack environment could accommodate 80,000 volumes, and included booths and study carrels for faculty and graduate students. Offices for faculty in the departments of English and History, as well as classrooms, occupied the top floor. While the new library was a vast improvement over the previous space in Old Main, it was expected to only accommodate the College’s growth until 1940. Indeed, by 1944 the stacks were filled to capacity, and the library was forced to begin decentralizing its collections into a number of satellite libraries. By 1940, only a decade after opening, the “new” Library was full. The History and English Departments still occupied the third floor, and the basement remained unfinished. Satellite libraries began appearing in the departments of Engineering, Education, Forestry, and Home Economics to compensate for the lack of space in the Main Library.
In 1958, a campus library committee, began developing plans for building a new library. The committee recommended erecting a separate building in the parking lot to the east of the Student Union (TSC), and remodeling the 1930s building for continued academic and classroom use.
Ultimately, the need for additional classroom space, the need to accommodate non-library tenants, and the influence of the State Building Board convinced the University to accept a project which married the old building with a new building by essentially enclosing the 1930s structure in a brick and mortar box.
Despite compromising the original programming plans of the Library Committee, the “shiny bright” new library, admirably served the needs of the University’s approximately 9,000 students and 160 faculty members.
Built in phases beginning in 1961 and dedicated in 1967, the new Library included a Gallery on its west front section. Classrooms and offices occupied the west front portion of the second, third, and fourth floors, as well as the southwest corner.
In 1969, the Library was named for retiring Academic Vice President Milton R. Merrill.
Time of Picture: Mar 22 2006
Time of Picture: Apr 13 2006
Text:
Parson, Bob
University Archivist
Special Collections and Archives
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USU Digital Library
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