History of the IUP Libraries

History of the IUP Libraries

Eric Bonner, Courtney Dennis, Amy Loch, Wendy Lynn, Todd Miller, Amanda Yasczak

Hist 606: Topics in Public History

5-7-04

It was the academic year of 1981-1982, the Year of the Library. On a cool and breezy autumn afternoon a small crowd gathered on the Esplanade of the brand new Stapleton Library, on the campus of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. While a new building itself, Stapleton had been joined onto the old library, Stabley, creating a larger facility for the campus. The group gathered there, on October 10, 1981, had come to witness the dedication of the new library and to tour the building after the ceremony. Nearby, in front of Fisher Auditorium, the University Marching Band, under the direction of Dr. Charles Casavant, cheerfully played a variety of music while the crowd waited with eager anticipation for the ceremony to begin.

The new building had been a long time in coming, over a decade for this particular building while the library itself had struggled for a place on campus. The University had its beginnings as a Normal School in the 1870s. Over the years the library had moved from location to location, usually an afterthought in placement, having to share its space with other departments. Eventually it would occupy six different locations between 1875 and 1981. With the opening of Stabley library in 1960the library finally had a home of its own. And now the size had grown to the point where an additional building had to be constructed and it would be the largest academic library between the one at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State’s own Pattee.

Construction had begun in December 1978. Nearly a year before the dedication the library had celebrated the acquisition of it’s 500,000 volume on September 3, 1980, The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell. Excitement was high as, at precisely 10:30 a. m. the band ceased playing and the first speaker, Dr. John Worthen, President of the University, stepped forward with the opening, followed by Monsignor Louis Doychak, who gave the invocation. The keynote speaker that day was Richard Daniel Altick, a well-known scholar of 19th century English literature and social history and at the time Regents’ Professor of English at Ohio State University.

The library was then presented to University and to the people by Dr. Robert C. Wilburn, Secretary of Budget and Administration and an acceptance speech was given by Senator Patrick J. Stapleton, Jr., for whom the building was named.

And then Scott Andreassi, President of the IUP Student Government Association and other honorary representatives, cut the ribbon. A portrait of Senator Stapleton was unveiled, the benediction given and tours of the new facility began, including a periodicals room, government documents area and an area for special collections being headed by newly hired Phil Zorich, who would be the library and university archivist.

But the library, as mentioned, had its beginnings long before that October day. In 1857 an act was introduced to create the Indiana Normal School, though the school itself would not be built until 1875. The Board of Trustees donated “a fine reference library” and the books were housed on the second floor of Sutton Hall, a location that is now the home of the Vice President for Administration.

Unfortunately little is known about the university library in the early years. What is known is often not fleshed out with much detail. The library had a humble beginning, as most institutions do. Still, for a university in its fledgling years, the Indiana Normal School boasted of 1,000 volumes in the 1884-85 academic year. The collection consisted mainly of choice works of history, biography and various departments of literature. It was a humble beginning to what the library would one day become. But, it was just that, a beginning.

In the summer of 1895, the Normal Herald reported a new program of the library. July welcomed the beginning of the “Y Library.” The Y library was a program that allowed young women access to 200 volumes every Sabbath. It was a time for young ladies to further refine themselves.

The library was growing at this time and its growth was duly noted in the Third Catalog of the State Normal School. It was referred to as a fine reference library that was established mainly from donations by the Board of Trustees. The students had free recourse of the materials free of charge. The reading room, the catalog went on to say, held the leading daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, journals of education and church and Sunday School weeklies.

Merely one year later, in the 1888 catalog, a new need for the students was being drawn. “Experience shows that student [sic] is almost helpless in the presence of an abundance of the very material he desires.” The students had what they needed; they were just not equipped to use what was available.

The library aligned itself with the three purposes with which Henry Ward Beecher read. First, one must have a definite purpose in reading. Second, one must examine current magazines and current information that is available. Third, one should read with a dictionary and atlas in hand. Simply put, Beecher’s purposes could be summed up as: Whatever you read, read it thoughtfully.

Also, at this time, the books of the collections were organized first by department, then by case. As the library was getting organized, it still continued to grow in its general collections, as well. By 1890, Philadelphia newspapers were also added to the collection.

In 1896, the Y Program that had begun the year before finally had a permanent home. The Y Library now consisted of two oak bookcases, which flanked the mantle in John Sutton Hall’s reception room. With programs such as this, the Normal School library was becoming more a library and less a repository of reference materials.

Over the next fifteen years, the collection at Indiana Normal School grew steadily and rapidly. A look at the collection from 1902 to 1910 shows this increase.

YearVols. AddedTotal Vols.

19022884650

1903 5155165

19042105375

19053115586

19063645950

19072061656

1908??

19093006715

19101156803

Some problems persisted as the library continued to grow. One of the more persistent problems was getting students up to a level where they knew how to use the library and the resources within it. As early as 1912, the school catalog offered a “brief course to each student in the use of the library.” Later, in 1930, this course was expanded into a ten hour, one semester course outlined by the State Commission on Curriculum Revision. It should be pointed out that this same course is still offered today in 2004.

Despite any problems the library may have been having, it was still defining itself in scope and in word. The 1911-12 Annual Catalog of the Indiana Normal School offers this description:

“A good reference library is accessible everyday to all students. Here are found the leading encyclopedias, dictionaries and other standard reference books, historical charts, map and conveniences so essential to successful student life. There is also a large library of choice works of history, biography and literature free to all students.

It is also the aim to mass books merely for the sake of making a large library during the year will aggregate about 500 volumes.

In connection with the library is a reading room, supplied with newspapers and periodicals . . .”

In 1915, the library added another new dimension to itself. This new program was called the Red Star System. It was simply three shelves of books marked with Red Stars. The star was a “badge of honor.” The system was developed by Theo Koch from the University of Michigan. Its purpose was not just to increase the standard of reading, but also the joy of reading. The Red Star system pointed out books that were admired for their humor, attractive stories, and beauty in thought and expression.

1917 saw a significant change in the college. It was the beginning of the transformation from the Normal School to a State Teachers College. Despite this step forward in the university, 1917 saw many of the library’s books being sold. Three possible reasons (or combination of reasons) accounts for the selling of the books. First, it could have come about as a result of the change to a State Teachers College. Second, it could have been due to a decline in enrollment because of World War I. Third, it could simply have been because of financial problems. It must be pointed out, however, that even more books were discarded between 1918 and 1930. Another reason for selling books during this period could have been the Great Depression.

For it’s first fifteen years, the library worked without a librarian on the faculty roster. Very little is known about these first librarians. The first librarian was George Feit who served from 1890-1891 and was the most popular writer in Indiana. Miss Aramita McLane became the librarian in 1907. Before coming to the Indiana Normal School, she had been the former public librarian in East Liverpool, Ohio. Throughout this period there were several other librarians listed on the faculty roster including Ella M. Doutthit, Jermome Clark Feyzer, Mrs. Walter Mitchell and Evelyn L. Matthews. Several full time assistant librarians were also employed during this time.

The First librarian of whom we do know somewhat about is a very colorful woman–Mrs. Katherine Jackson Brew. She had a parrot, 48 year old Harry, which she kept in the library. Mrs. Brew was a poor southern lady, but she knew books. Harry was once owned by a sailor and had some “salty speech.” Male students would tease Harry to try to get him to use some of more colorful language. It was times like this that Mrs. Brew threw the cover over the cage.

For a short time Harry was thought to possibly be a Harriet. One time an egg the size of a pigeon egg was found in his cage.

In the 1930s, due to the trials of the Great Depression, the librarians took a 10% cut in pay. 1936 saw the birth of the first library publication. Library Bulletin was used to keep both students and faculty aware of the library and its resources. Such a publication was helpful when Dr. Samuel Fausold, President of the College, began requesting textbook donations from various publishers. Seven publishing houses responded. Among them, Noble and Noble, Charles Scribner’s Sons, Foresman and Co., and the American Book Company.

The textbook collection was begun in 1939. This collection would go on to provide the core of the eventual Curriculum Materials Room. This room would eventually include textbooks, courses of study, testing materials and other teaching aids.

The decade of the 1940s was tumultuous not only for the world at large, with the entrance of the United States into the Second World War in 1941, but also for the university and library as well. Efforts were made throughout the university to make the students aware of world events and the impact on student lives. The library noted that there were changes in the types of information that students were searching for--for their own interest and in relation to assignments from the faculty. The library made use of posters and bulletin boards to draw attention to the materials available, notably magazine articles and books. The emphasis was on the privileges and obligations, which go hand in hand with being a citizen of the United States, as well as being a part of the entire world.

During this time the library began to build a collection of war clippings, pamphlets, pictures and other materials. In this manner, original sources on WWII would be available for future students.

One of the effects of the war was budget constraints. In order to pay for new fiction books a rental library was established in 1944. Students would pay 2 cents per day when borrowing a book until the book was paid for.

1941 was an eventful year with the achievement of accreditation for the State Teacher’s College. This was the year that the library was moved out of John Sutton Hall to Wilson Hall after the Training School Building was remodeled for this purpose. There was space for 500,000 volumes and 255 students. This included four reading rooms on the second floor. The first floor was the home of the circulation desk; a room, which combined reference and reserve books, a room for curriculum materials, and a room for periodicals. The Indiana Historical Society’s collection had it’s own room here, along with material on Pennsylvania History. Extra storage could be found in the basement.

But the students did not use the library as much as the faculty had hoped. It had been expected that the monthly circulation would be approximately 275 books, but in December the circulation was only 143. During the faculty meeting of December 1941 a desire was expressed that the library could be integrated with other educational processes of the college, a desire that is, in some ways, echoed today. As time passed the use of the library did increase. Between 1949 and 1955 there was a 25% increase in the use of the library by the students. Despite this increase, teams from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher education reported in 1949, 1950 and 1951 that the library was under-utilized and inadequately supported.

Still, the library pressed on in its goal of being a resource not only to the student body but also to the public as a whole. In 1950 the book stacks were opened to the public, not just students and faculty. Plans were underway to include more storage space in the basement as well as typing facilities and rooms where patrons could listen to phonograph records. It was also at this time, in November of 1950, that head librarian Robert T. Grazier resigned his position. He was replace by Joseph K. Hall who served for two years before moving onto West Chester. In 1953 William Lafranchi replaced Mr. Hall as head librarian. He would later be named “director of libraries” and would remain in that position for 33 ½ years, until 1985. Mr. Lafranchi, a native of Brookville, Pennsylvania, graduated from Clarion Teachers College in Clarion, Pennsylvania. After a period of time in the armed services Mr. Lafranchi then attended the University of Illinois. After graduating from there he became the librarian for the Clarion area high school and was later offered the job of head librarian at Indiana. He was only twenty-six years old at the time.

In 1954 the Middle States evaluation team recommended a new library. By this point the library contained 40,000 volumes and the reference room had been redesigned and re-furnished.

Two years later the university and the library determined that the collection of the library needed to be expanded and updated. The “60 by 60” program was instituted. The purpose behind this was to fill the library shelves with a total of 60,000 volumes by the year 1960 with emphasis on acquiring out-of-print books, foreign language material, microboard and microfilm periodicals and expanding the humanities and philosophy collections.

Due to the hard work of those involved, the goal of 60,000 volumes was reached a year ahead of schedule, in 1959. That was the year in which the word “Teacher’s” was dropped from the name of the college and plans were being made for a new library. This building, named the Rhodes R. Stabley library, was the first building built specifically for the purpose of being the university library. The actual cost of the new library was $570,000, $30,000 less that the estimated cost when construction began in 1960. Use of this new library, which could accommodate 130,000 volumes, would begin in April of 1961. In 1963 the library would become one of 612 depository libraries in the United States for Federal Government Documents and Publications. Items included publications from various departments including Agriculture; Commerce; Defense; Army; Navy; Health, Education and Welfare; Interior; Labor; Post Office; State; Treasury and the Women’s Bureau. Other items selected for receipt include Census of Manufactures; Home and Garden Bulletins; Soil Conservation; Foreign Agriculture; Children; Higher Education; Education Office Bulletins; Geological survey bulletins; Minerals Yearbook; Monthly Labor Review; Foreign Policy Briefs and reports on committee hearings before both the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

The designation as a repository library greatly increased the opportunities for reference and research for students, faculty and staff in the library as well as for the general public within Indiana and neighboring counties. Some of the items became part of the main collection, but most were separated into the Government Documents section of the library.

Automation finally began to take hold of the library in 1961. It was then that a punch card tabulating system was instituted. Each book had a card, which contained the call number, author, title and publisher for that book.