College and Research Libraries


By H. DEAN STALLINGS 

College and University Library 
Buildings: A Ten~Year Forecast, 
195o~r96o 

Mr. Stallings is librarianJ North Da-

kota Agricultural CollegeJ Fargo. 

THE ACRL Buildings Committee has 
made two studies on college and uni-

versity library buildings recently. Three 
reports on the first study, issued by the 
chairman, Dr. Robert H. Muller, have ap-
peared in College and Research Libraries.1 

The information on future library build-
ings, reported on by Dr. Muller, was 
limited to I03 libraries of accredited insti-
tutions. The information collected on a 
small scale seemed to justify a more ex-
haustive second survey of some I86o colleges 
and universities in the United States as 
listed in the United States Office of Ed~ca­
tion Directory, I950-5I. 

A questionnaire consisting of twelve 
questions was prepared by the committee 
and mailed to these I 86o colleges and uni-
versities. As of August I5, I95I, there had 
been received I555, or 84.6 percent of the 
returns. (A few are still coming in) . A 
complete report on the returns is expected 
~o be published later. The present report 
1s presented now because it contains timely 
information on the buildings to be built in 
the near future or buildings completed 
within the past year or so. 

According to the findings in . Question 
IO of the questionnaire, IOO libraries are 
planning to build before I 960, or have 
completed during the past year. Although 

1 October 195o; January & July I gSI. 

many of the libraries listed here were on 
Dr. Muller's list in the January issue of 
College and Research LibrariesJ very few 
have listed the same estimated cost. For 
example, the University of Indiana jumped 
their estimate from $4,00o,ooo to $6,ooo,-
ooo, and increased the capacity from 
I ,ooo,ooo to I ,500,000 volumes, and seats 
from 2,000 to 2,8oo. The University of 
Pennsylvania changed their estimated cost 
from $2,ooo,ooo to $6,ooo,ooo, and 
changed their capacity from 6oo,ooo to 
2,ooo,ooo volumes. Many other changes 
in thinking in just a few months' time show 
up by comparing the two lists. 

Some libraries are on Dr. Muller's list 
but did not answer the questionnaire for 
this compilation. For instance, the U ni-
versity of Chicago appears on the Muller 
list as proposing a $6,ooo,ooo building, but 
not on this list, since they did not answer 
the questionnaire. Thus a comparison of 
both lists is necessary to obtain a complete 
story. It is interesting to note that of the 
I03 libraries planning a new building, 29 
of them~plan to spend over a million dol-
lars, I 5 of them over two million, and 2 
of them as much as 6 million. Th other 
74 libraries will cost between $50,000 and 
$I,ooo,ooo, with the median construction 
price at about $5oo,ooo. 

A brief summary of the other questions 
on the questionnaire is as follows: 

Question I : "Does your library occupy 
a separate main building?" 

Yes 590 No 846 

136 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



LIBRARIES COMPLETED OR TO BE COMPLETED I95o-I96o 

Est. Cost 
Inc. Equip. 

$6,ooo,ooo 
6,000,000 
(no equip.) 
4.750,000 
4,'250,000 
4,000,000 
3,5oo,ooo 
(addition) 
3,2oo,ooo 
'2, soo ,ooo 
(addition) 

'2,500,000 
(extension, no equip.) 

'2,020,273 
2,ooo,ooo+ 
'2,000,000 
'2,000,000 
2,000,000 
'2,000,000 
I ,625,000 
I ,500,000 

I ,500,000 

I ,500,000 
I ,500,000 

I ,408,000 
I ,35o,ooo 

I ,250,000 

I ,I60,I05 
I,ooo,ooo 
I,ooo,ooo 

I ,000,000 
I ,000,000 

(building in which 
Ii brary is one wing) 

No. of 
Vol. 

I,soo,ooo 
'2,000,000 

I ,500,000 
'2,000,000 
I ,500,000 
'2,500,000 

350,000 
I ,6oo,ooo 

I ,200,000 
6oo,ooo 

I25 ,ooo 
700,000 
8oo,ooo 
soo,ooo 
350,000 

750,000 
6oo,ooo 
soo,ooo 
375,000 

250,000 
200,000 
400,000 
450,000 
400,000 
400,000 

450,000 
350,000 
soo,ooo 
250,000 
225 ,ooo 

I25-I50,000 

soo ,ooo-I ,ooo ,ooo 35o-4oo ,ooo 
200,000 

900,000 I 50-200,000 
(I948 est.) 

88o,ooo 

85o,ooo 

850,000 

85o,ooo 
85o,ooo 

6oo, ooo-8oo, ooo 

775 ,ooo 
750,000 

750,000 

200,000 
8o,ooo 

IOO,OOO 

I8,ooo 

I35 ,ooo 
'250,000 

250,000 

No. 
Readers 

2,8oo 
I ,900 

'2,500 
3,65o 
I ,'200 

I, 5<Xr-'2 ,000 

I ,'200 
I ,8oo 

'2,'200 
I,6'23 

500 

9I7 
I 1 200 
2,000 
I ,000 

I ,700 
I ,200 

675 
900 

6oo 
570 
soo 
900 
75° 
223 

I,253 
450 

260 
300 

200-250 

6oo-8oo 
8oo 

8oo 

400 
6oo 

8oo 
soo 

Sq. Ft. 

I45 ,ooo 
'2I3,665 

II6,2oo 

54,000 
I33,700 

IOO,OOO 

IOOIOOO 

so ,ooo 

J4,I75 

Cu. Ft. 

3,000,000 
3, 1'25 ,ooo 

3,5oo,ooo 
3,000,000 
I ,700,000 
I ,800,000 

'2, I68 ,000 
'2,904,3I'2 

I ,487,000 
I'27,500 

I ,500,000 
I ,205,000 

I ,25o,ooo 

628,000 

66o,ooo 

49,600 
749,000 

750,0oo 

1 A blank indicates that no information was given on the questionnaire. 

APRIL, 1952 

Library 

Indiana U., Bloomington, Ind. 
U. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 

U. of Wisconsin, Madison 
Michigan State College, E. Lansing 
Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. 
U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor 

So. Illinois U., Carbondale 
Ohio State U., Columbus (completed) 

Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge 
Brooklyn College, New York 

E. Illinois State College, Charlestob. 
U. of Georgia, Athens 
U. of Hawaii, Honolulu 
Purdue U., Lafayette, Ind. 
Ga. Inst. of Tech., Atlanta 
U. of Maryland, College Park 
City College, New York City 
Va. Polytech. Inst., Blacksburg 
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass. 
N. C. State Coil. of Agric., U. of 

N. C., Raleigh 
Colgate Univ., Hamilton, N. Y. 
Siena College, Loudonville, N.Y. 
Pa. State College, State College, Pa. 
U. of Wyoming, Laramie 
DePauw Univ., Greencastle, Ind. 
Theological Seminary, Princeton, 

N.J. 
U. of Mississippi, University, Miss. 
Carleton College, Northfield, Minn. 
Alabama Polytech., Auburn, Ala. 
Marietta College, Marietta, 0. 
St. Lawrence U., Canton, N. Y. 
Municipal Washburn U., Topeka, 

Kan. 

U. of Vermont, Burlington 
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chi-

cago (now in temporary building) 
W. Mich. College, Kalamazoo 

U. of Maryland, Baltimore 
N. Y. State Cfllege for Teachers, 

Buffalo ' ·· 
., West Carolina eachers College, Cul-

lowhee, N. C. 
Kansas S.T.C., Emporia 
Central Michigan College, Mt. Pleas-

ant 
Long Beach State College, Calif. 
Bucknell U., Lewisburg, Pa. 
Lewis & Clark College, Portland, 

Ore. 
S.T.C., St. Cloud, Minn. 
N. Mex. A. & M., State College, 

N.Mex. 
Oklahoma City University, Okla-

homa City 

137 



LIBRARIES COMPLETED OR TO BE COMPLETED I95o- I96o-(continu ed) 

Est. Cost 
Inc. Equip. 

750,000 
7SO ,OOO 
750 ,ooo 
7SO ,OOO 

soo ,ooo-7SO ,ooo 

700,000 
700 ,000 
6so,ooo 
6so,ooo 
6oo,ooo 
soo ,ooo 

soo,ooo 
soo ,ooo 
soo,ooo 

soo ,ooo 
soo ,QOO 
soo,ooo 

(very tentative) 
47S ,ooo 

400,000 
3SO,OOO 

310,000 

300,000 
300,000 

300,000 

'288 ,ooo 
2 7S ,ooo 
'165 ,000 

'lSO,OOO 
'lSO,OOO 
228,ooo 

'lOS ,ooo 
'200,000 
'200 ,000 
'200,000 

'200,000 
'200,000 

'200 ,000 

No. of 
Vol. 

'lSO,OOO 
ISO,OOO 
I'lS ,000 
I'lS ,000 
?.oo,ooo 

'200,000 

'200,000 
1'1S ,ooo 
'lSO,OOO 
300,000 

'lSO,OOO 
'200,000 
ISO ,OOO 

ISO,OOO 
8o,ooo 

64 ,ooo 

'200,000 
I'lS ,000 

100 ,000 
100,000 
I 10,000 
100 ,000 

100 ,000 

6o,ooo 

6o,ooo 

40,000 

100,000 

9S ,000 

100,000 

7S- IOO,OOO 
8o,ooo 

100,000 
so,ooo 

4S,OOO 
ISO,OOO 
1oo,ooo 
100,000 

6o,ooo 
3S ,ooo 

30 ,000 

No. 
Readers 

'28 7 
6oo 
400 
340 

5oo-6oo 

'288+ 
100 
sso 

'200 
'200 
6oo 

'200 
ISO + 

3S0 

100 

'260 

6oo 

'200 

IIS 
so 

sao 
130 

1'20 

Sq. Ft. 

4'2 ,000 

32 ,000 

ss ,8oo 

45 ,ooo 

8,'2'28 

'lS,OOO 

IS- IS ,ooo 

I9,'200 

9,5oo 
IS,9IO 
38.38S 

I'l,OOO 

Cu . Ft. Library 

Kenyon College, Gambier, 0. 
U. of California, Riverside 
E. Carolina College, Greenville, N. C 
Goucher College, Baltimore, Md. · 

500 ,ooo Rensselaer Polytech. Inst., Troy, 
N.Y. 

42o ,ooo La Salle College, Philadelphia 
U. of Richmond, Va. 
Mills College, Oakland, Calif. 
Principia College, Elsah, Ill. 
General Theological Seminary, N.Y. 

556,ooo N. D. Agricultural College, Fargo 
(completed) 

Harpur College, Endicott, N. Y. 
Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind. 
College of the Pacific, Stockton, 

Calif. 
269,896 Rollins College, Winter Park, Fla. 

C9llege of St. Rose, Albany, N. Y. 
U. of Santa Clara, Calif. 

81 S ,ooo Fairmount State College, Fairmount, 
W.Va. 

Bethany College, Bethany, W.Va. 
North Central College, Naperville, 

Ill. 
L ycoming College, Williamsport, Pa. 
St. Mary College, Xavier, Kansas 
Hampden, Sydney, Va. 
Lowell Textile Institute, Lowell, 

Mass. 
Conception Seminary, Conception, 

Mo. 
State Teachers College, Edinboro, 

Pa. 
S. W. Medical School, U. of Texas, 

Dallas (now in temporary build-
ing) 

Oregon Coli. of Educ., Monmouth 
E 0 C E Library, LaGrande, Oregon 
New Orleans Baptist Theol. Semi-

nary, New Orleans, La. 
Middle Tennessee State College, 

Murfreesboro, Tenn. 
Western Maryland College, West-

minster, Md. 
I9o-2oo,ooo Seton Hill College, Greensburg, Pa. 

Panhandle A. & M. Goodwell, Okla. 
State U. of N. Y., Albany 
Western Theol. Seminary, Holland, 

Mich. 
Concordia, St. Paul, Minn. 
Crozer Seminary, Chester, Pa. 
Howard College, Birmingham, Ala. 
St. Paul's Polytech. Inst., Lawrence-

ville, Va. 
105 ,ooo So. State College, Magnolia, Ark. 

Chicago Lutheran Theol. Seminary, 
Maywood, Ill. 

Connors State Agric. Coli., Warner, 
Okla. 

1 A blank indicates that no information was given on the questionnaire. 

138 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



LIBRARIES COMPLETED OR TO BE COMPLETED Igso-Ig6o-(continued) 

Est. Cost No. of No. 
Inc. Equip. Vol. Readers 

Sq. Ft. Cu. Ft. Library 

I7S ,ooo 30,000 I70 

I72,0J8 42,000 8oo (size of 
student body) 

I6o,ooo 75 ,ooo ISO 
ISO,OOO so,ooo I20 
I20,000 IOO,OOO IJO 

IOO,OOO Ioo,ooo 200 

73 ,ooo JO,ooo g6 
so,ooo 
so,ooo Ioo,ooo ISO 

2S ,ooo IOO 
I S--20,000 IOO 

II ,8oo 

Io,266 
8,ooo 

La Verne College, La Verne, Calif. 
(completed) 

I86,750 Southwestern College, Winfield, Kan. 

I04,236 Elizabethtown College, Pa. 
8o,ooo Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich. 

St. Paul's Polytech. Inst., Lawrence-
ville, Va. 

S.W. Bible Institute, Waxahachie, 
Tex. 

York College, York, Neb. 
McPherson College, Kan. 
Gammon Theol. Seminary, Atlanta, 

Ga. 
Siena College, Memphis, Tenn . 
Ferris Institute, Big Rapids, Mich. 

1 A blank indicates that no information was given on the questionnaire. 

Since our study plans to deal only with 
separate buildings, more information should 
be obtained from the other 846 libraries 
that operate in a building occupied jointly 
with some other agency on the campus. 
None of the information here pertains to 
those libraries. 

Question 2 deals with the year of orig-
inal construction, th~ number per year, and 
shows that the oldest library building still 
in service was built in I84r. High years in 
library construction are: I945-50, I03 
libraries; I935-40, go libraries; I925-30, 
9 I libraries, etc. A total of 57 3 buildings 
were built from I84I to I95I, according to 
the questionnaires. 

Question 3 reads: "If your building was 
originally built for some other purpose, 
check here ---." Ninety checked, in-
dicating the possibilities of a study on what 
problems have been encountered in connec-
tion with converting some building designed 
for another purpose into a library. 

Question 4 deals with additions built to 
the original building. I 38 have had ad-
ditions built. 

Question 5 stated, "How many volumes 
could your present building accommodate 
if it were completely filled?" The answers 

APRILJ 1952 

range from 3,500,000 down to 3,500, with 
the greatest frequency from Ioo,ooo to 
200,000. It is of interest that I I of the li-
braries reporting have a capacity of I,ooo,-
ooo or over, and 32 more have a capacity of 
between one-half million and one million 
volumes. 

Question 6 asks: "Is your library com-
pletely or almost filled?" 267 reported 
"yes," and 30I reported "no." Although 
267 reported that they were filled and only 
I 02 reported they planned to build before 
Ig6o, it must show that many more will 
have to build soon or be heavily over-
crowded before I g6o. 

Questions 7 and 8 related to seats in the 
library as related to the size of the student 
body, and whether or not the seating was 
ample, barely ample, or insufficient. Some 
interesting information was brought out 
here, and the Committee plans to analyze 
this information in the near future. 

Questions 9 and IO relate to new build-
ings before Ig6o, and this information is 
tabulated herein. 

Question I I shows that I I4 libraries are 
planning to construct an addition, and 28 
plan to construct ·a departmental library, 
and I I plan some other construction, pre-

139 



sumably adding stacks within a building 
already built. 

Question 12 stated, "If the above ques-
tions do not fit your situation, please ex-
plain and describe your building problems 
and plans below." No accurate count has 
been made, but a safe guess is that com-

ments on problems were made on two-thirds 
of these that have separate buildings. The 
Committee has no definite plan for tabulat-
ing these, but perhaps will turn them over 
to some library school for a wo;th while 
term report. 

Library Research in Progress 
In its October issue College and Research Libraries, acting in conjunction with the Re-

search Planning Committee of the A.C.R.L., will publish a list of "Library Research in 
Progress." Only such research that bears directly on the problems of college and research 
libraries will be included in the list. 

Except for those who are preparing theses in library schools, all librarians engaged in such 
research as is described above are invited to participate in this listing. Each item sent to 
the editor should include -the title of the research in progrss, and the name and library ad-
dress of the author. 

Dayton Collection to West Virginia 
A gift to West Virginia University of the 

book collection of the late Arthur S. Dayton 
of Charleston has been made by his widow, 
Ruth Woods Dayton. 

The 7,000-piece collection, famed for its 
Shakespearean and other volumes dealing with 
the Elizabethan period, was unveiled to the 
public at a reception which marked the first 
use of the new "Rare Book Room." It is 
located in the addition to the library, which, 
completed this year, doubles the book capacity 
and increases considerably the student reading 
space. 

Included are copies of all four Folios, the 
most highly-prized and sought-after of all 
editions of Shakespeare. The First Folio, 
initially printed edition of the Bard's collected 
plays, appeared in I 623 and is the greatest 
rarity. The Second Folio, printed in 1632, is 
a rare Smeth.wick variant, while the Third 
Folio, 1664, was formerly the property of 
Julia Marlowe, and has the joint bookplate 
of the famous Shakespearean actress and her 
husband, E. H. Sothern. The Fourth Folio, 
1664, completes the quartet. 

In addition to the Tonson quarto editions 
of the separate plays, issued in I 734 and I 735, 
the Shakespeare group includes rare examples 
of subsequent collected editions of the plays 
and poems-approximately 65 different edi-
tions-ranging in date from I 709 to the pres-

ent, and representing the editorship of such 
eminent figures as Alexander Pope, Samuel 
Johnson, James 0. Halliwell, and Furness. 
A serious student of Shakespeare and his 
times, Mr. Dayton collected rare editions of 
various chronicles of the period and hundreds 
of volumes of critical and biographical studies, 
not only of the poet but of his contemporaries 
as well. 

One of the oldest volumes in the Dayton 
collection is the "Nuremberg ·Chronicle," 
printed by Anton Koberge1 in 1493. Con-
sidered one of the finest works of the 15th 
century, it contains nearly 2,000 woodcuts by 
Wolgemuth and Pleydenwurff. The text of 
the book is a full chronicle of the world's 
history from its creation to the time the work 
was printed. 

Included also are first editions of Milton's 
"Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained," 
the First Folio edition of Ben Jonson's works, 
all of Jane Austen's novels, first of works by 
Dickens, Thackeray, Tennyson, Kipling, Cot-
ton Mather, and other celebrated authors. 
There are more than 200 volumes of Sir 
Walter Scott's works, including all of the 
Waverly novels in their original bindings. 

In American literature, the Mark Twain 
collection is probably the most important. It 
contains almost 300 items, including first edi-
tions of all of Twain's writings. 

140 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES