Hiram College Library
By 1858, the Delphic Library had grown modestly to include eighteen volumes, marking the beginning of a more concerted effort to provide access to literature.
Between 1854 and 1855, church members established a library in the southwest corner of the Lower Chapel, where a modest collection of seventy-five volumes was stored in a single bookcase.
According to the first catalogue published by the Eclectic Institute, the trustees had considered early efforts to acquire a library, which eventually led to a total tally of 2,528 volumes across various literary societies.
The introduction of a comprehensive curriculum, encompassing a broad range of subjects, significantly increased the demand for books, while the rise of extracurricular activities, particularly the formation of literary societies, became a defining characteristic of this era.
Members of these societies paid dues and fees—typically around twenty-five cents each—to build up their individual libraries, sparking competition among the groups to assemble the largest and most impressive collections.
In addition to these society collections, a small, private library was maintained by the President in the college’s church chapel for personal use, though it was not made accessible to the public.
[1] The inauguration of James A. Garfield as U.S. president in the 1880s brought widespread attention and publicity to Hiram College, leading to a significant rise in student enrollment and financial donations.
The library's establishment greatly enhanced the academic infrastructure of the college, providing students and faculty with an essential resource for study and research.
One of the library's most notable features was an observatory, complete with a high-quality telescope donated by Christian minister Lathrop Cooley, which remained a prominent part of the building until 1939.
[5] Societies' access was usually members-only, with the college's depository collection of federal government publications (established in 1874) being the only common library, which were stored in the original Hinsdale Hall.
[1] The need for a library to be built was the result of several factors, including an increase in the number of books to about six thousand volumes, along with becoming a repository for U.S. Government documents.
The most important factors were the financial aid received from Abram Teachout, for the express purpose of building a library; together with an observatory and telescope donated by Lathrop Cooley.
Jessie Smith's thirty-one year tenure was dominated by The Great Depression,[6] a devastating fire in February 1939, and World War II.
The fire destroyed most of the original library and with it thousands of books, a major portion of the files and records of Professor John S. Kenyon and the furnishings of the Vachel Lindsay Reading Room.
Despite all these disasters, administration officials, members of the board of trustees, faculty, students, alumni, and friends of Hiram maintained optimism that much better times were ahead in the future.
Hiram College President Miner Lee Bates initiated a six-year growth plan that doubled student enrollment, donations, and the endowment fund.
During this time the college, under the direction of President Paul F. Sharp, conducted a ten-year six million dollar capital expansion program for construction of new buildings.
The Alumni Newsletter, From Hiram College, quoted President Sharp's statements in 1963: "Our enrollment has increased from 543 students five years ago to 835 at the present time.
[1] The continued growth of the collection, the demand for more study space, and the need to incorporate new technologies led to the decision to plan for a new building by the late 1980s.
Funding came from hundreds of contributors and friends, prominently the Kresge Foundation, however no single donor contributed enough to confer a name to the building, and so it remains the Hiram College Library.
