University Library records

Collection

Identifier: 00.UL

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The University Library records collection contains administrative records such as files of various previous directors and administrative units, information on library buildings on campus as well as files of various conferences and events held in or by the library. The collection spans from 1892 until around 2013 with the majority of the records being administrative files dating from the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's.

The collection is divided into four series. The first series, Administration, contains files of budget information, organizational charts, as well as various forms, manuals and policies. This series contains the subseries Director's files which contains the files of four previous directors of the library, E. Walfred Erickson who took over the position in 1952, Morell D. Boone, Rachel Cheng as well as a few files from the current University Librarian, Tara Lynn Fulton. The General Files subseries contains administrative files from 1892 until 1979. This series includes the subseries Annual Reports, which contains Divisional Reports with files dating from 1930 to 1989, as well as Reports of the Librarian which houses files from 1933 to 2006. Collection Holdings is a subseries which contains files of journal holdings lists as well as accession books and files pertaining to Collection Development. The subseries Committee Meeting Agendas and Minutes contains the outputs of committees housed under the library such as the Library Coordinating Council and the Library Advisory Council. Additional subseries in the Administration series includes Publications and Publicity, e.g. bibliographies and newsletters published by the library; Units which documents various service areas in the library, e.g. University Archives, Technical Services, and Circulation.

The second series Buildings contains information on the two newest library buildings in campus, the now Porter College of Education Building and the Halle Library building and contains records of renovations and remodeling projects as well as the planning and opening of the Halle Library Building. The third series Conferences and Events contains files of conferences held by the library as well as records of retreats and other events.

The final series Realia are materials distributed to promote events, services, and the library as well as items used in the library. While not a complete collection, it is a very good representation of the library, library staff and faculty, as well as library services.

Dates

1892 - 2013

Creator

Boone, Morell D. (Author, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Researchers are asked to request materials 24 hours prior to visiting the the University Archives.

Biographical note

When Eastern Michigan University opened its doors as Michigan State Normal School in 1849, the "Library" was one room in the Old Main Building housing about a thousand volumes. This small collection was managed by Genevieve Walton who served as Head Librarian for 40 years starting in 1892. It is thought by some that there was essentially no library on campus until Walton arrived. She was the first to train student assistants in the library and organized the collection to meet contemporary standards including the use of the Dewey Decimal system.

It wasn't until 1930 when then President Charles Mckenny recognized the need for a larger library that the first library building was built on campus. This new building provided seating for 400 students and shelf space for up to 150,000 volumes. Originally just called the Library, the building was renamed the Mark Jefferson Library in honor of the head of the Geography Department. Starting in 1952, the library was run by E. Walfred Erickson who took the position from Elsie Andrews who had served for 20 years. When the library's collection eventually outgrew the Mark Jefferson library building, the now Porter College of Education Building was built in 1967 and the former library building was repurposed as a classroom building, now Ford Hall.

This new building housed the Center for Educational Resources (CER), as the library was called, from 1967 to 1998. This new building housed seating for around 1,800 students and 300,000 volumes arranged so that students had direct access to the books, not previously possible in the old library. During this time the CER was managed first by Dean Fred Blum who served during the 1970s. The position was then taken over by Morell D. Boone who was Dean from 1980 to 2001 and oversaw the planning, construction and move into the Bruce T. Halle Library.

When it was determined that the library's collection had once again outgrown the building in which it was housed, plans for a new, modern library were taken up. This new library would feature a state of the art Automatic Storage and Retrieval System, only the second of its kind in a university library at the time. A donation of $2.5 million dollars was made by Bruce T. Halle, the founder and CEO of Discount Tire, Co. and an Eastern graduate. In honor of his generosity, Halle became the namesake for this new modern library. The Bruce T. Halle library opened in 1998.

Extent

68.6 Linear Feet (18 record center cartons, 39 archive boxes, 2 halfsize boxes, 30 oversize folders, and 26 objects)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The University Library records collection contains records pertaining to the Eastern Michigan University Library from 1892-2013 with the majority of the records dating from the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's. The collection includes records on library reorganization, new library buildings, faculty or staff meeting minutes and memorandum, library goals and objectives, library publicity, budget information, scrapbooks, handouts on library information, annual reports, staff bulletins and directories, circulation information, Director's files, accession books from the 1920s through the 1950s, library policies as well as all other general library business. It is a comprehensive collection, but does not include the most recent records of the University Library that were created and are maintained in an electronic format on the Library's Intranet.

Accruals note

University Archives continues to add materials to the collection. To reflect additions, edits to the finding aid will occur at the end of each calendar year.