History of the MSU Libraries
Our History
The MSU Libraries began in 1857 as a single reading room on the third floor of College Hall, the first classroom building at the Michigan Agricultural College. In the school's early years, students and faculty spent most of the day in the classroom and the fields, so the library was open only a few hours in the late afternoon and early evening. Student assistants were the very first library employees.
Linton Hall
Housed the library from 1881-1925.
The first appointed librarian was Professor George T. Fairchild, an instructor in English literature who was named acting librarian – a part-time position – in 1872. At the same time, the library was moved to larger quarters on the first floor of College Hall and began to be used more heavily. Professor E.J. MacEwan took over as acting librarian in 1880 and funds were allocated for the library to add 50 new periodical subscriptions, covering the fields of agriculture, botany, entomology, chemistry, engineering and literature. In 1881, the library moved to Linton Hall.
By 1883, MAC had grown to more than 300 students. Mary J.C. Merrell, the first full-time librarian, estimated that the library was visited daily by at least one-third of the student body. The collection had grown large enough to require a subject catalog in addition to the author-title catalog, and the library was now open more than 50 hours a week. The first branch library was organized in 1888 when the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station was established on campus. Merrell was succeeded by Mary Mouat Abbot and Jane Skellie Sinclair, both of whom continued her efforts to build the collection.
In 1891, Linda E. Landon was appointed to manage a collection which had grown to 15,000 volumes and was available to students 14 hours a day. The Cutter classification, an early method for shelving books by discipline, was implemented to allow the expanding collection to be browsed more easily. Over the next 25 years, Landon would oversee steady increases in the library's holdings which filled its Linton Hall rooms to the bursting point.
By 1916, the collection had more than doubled and stack space had to be created by excavating underneath Linton Hall. A new building devoted to the library was clearly needed, and in May 1919, the governor of Michigan signed a bill appropriating $300,000 for that purpose. Six years would pass before the new building was ready to occupy, but library services continued unabated from College Hall despite the cramped quarters.
A second full-time librarian was hired in 1920, enabling the library to dramatically expand its public presence and advance MAC's mission of service to the people of Michigan. A "package library" system was developed: small focused book collections on topics of current interest, which were advertised to county extension agents, boys' and girls' clubs, and high school teachers throughout the state. Ninety-five package libraries were loaned in the first year, and the popularity of the service increased throughout the decade. The package library initiative would be only the first of many library programs and services offered to the entire state.
In September 1925 the new library building opened its doors, and circulation figures jumped as students flocked to the new location. "It is certainly a beautiful building, and we are proud of it," Linda Landon wrote with appreciation in her annual report. "Students and faculty alike enjoy using the library for reading and study." With ample room for collections to support new programs of study, and additional librarians to work with students and faculty, the MAC Library was ready to start a new chapter in its history.
MSU Museum
Housed the library from 1925-1955.
Jackson Towne was appointed head librarian of Michigan Agricultural College in 1932, when Linda Landon retired after 41 years of service. Landon Hall, a women's dormitory built in 1947, was named in her honor.
By the 1930s, academic libraries throughout the U.S. had developed to the point where quantitative measures and comparisons between institutions were becoming useful tools for evaluation. Towne drew the College’s attention to emerging standards for library service, which addressed such matters as the number of new books added per student each year and the ratio of library seating to total students on campus. Such measures not only demonstrated the need for continued generous funding of the library, but attested to what the College had already achieved in developing its library. In 1933, for example, the MAC library was ranked seventh in the nation for its holdings in botany and horticulture, in the company of such highly specialized institutions as the New York Botanical Garden and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
The period of Jackson Towne's leadership of the library – 1932 to 1959 – coincided roughly with the era of MSU’s transition from an agricultural college to a nationally-recognized research university. After World War II, MSU’s programs expanded to embrace the full range of arts and humanities, social sciences, and international studies, in addition to the agricultural, scientific and applied fields that were its original emphasis. By 1949, MSU had established doctoral programs in 30 fields and was enrolling nearly 19,000 students. And in only 25 years, the library had outgrown its first building.
MSU Main Library - West Wing
Housed the library starting in 1955.
In 1950, planning began in earnest for a research library on the north bank of the Red Cedar River. The new building, overlooking the Beal Garden, would seat 3,400 students and house a collection of one million volumes, while the old building would become the MSU Museum. The library had reached 450,000 volumes and, with MSU's post-war expansion, was now adding 50,000 volumes a year. The new building was completed in 1955. The next year, MSU attained membership in the highly selective Association of Research Libraries, an organization representing the most important research collections in North America.
Richard E. Chapin was appointed director of libraries in 1959, following the retirement of Jackson Towne. Space issues continued to have a high priority. An addition to the new building -- now the East Wing of the Main Library -- was completed in 1967, tripling the existing shelf space. The collection had reached one million volumes while the addition was being built. It would reach two million volumes in 1973, three million in 1987, and four million in 1995.
In the 1970s, libraries began transforming their collections and operations to take advantage of newly developing technology. Card catalogs were automated; videos and software joined books on the shelves; telecommunications allowed libraries to share information quickly and easily. In 1989, the MSU Libraries' catalog went online, allowing users to perform searches in a few seconds that would have taken hours with the card catalog.
Since the early 1990s, the astonishing growth of the Internet has allowed libraries to dramatically expand the range of services and materials they can provide to patrons. The MSU Libraries are on the leading edge of this movement, providing a comprehensive collection of full-text electronic resources in every discipline, online services that speed materials to scholars, and facilities to create the best possible learning environment for every student.
Significant Milestones for the MSU Libraries
1883 - First librarian appointed
1888 - Collection reaches 10,000 volumes
1925 - First library building completed
1934 - Collection reaches 100,000 volumes
1955 - Library moves to present location
1963 - Collection reaches 1,000,000 volumes
1967 - East wing added to main library
1973 - Collection reaches 2,000,000 volumes
1979 - First automation system introduced
1987 - Collection reaches 3,000,000 volumes
1989 - Online catalog goes public
1995 - Collection reaches 4,000,000 volumes
1999 - Value of library endowments reaches $1,000,000
1999 - Library begins 24-hour operations
2007 - Value of library endowments reaches $5,000,000
All images from Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections except Armstrong and Haka portraits which were taken by Louis Villafranca.