University of Minnesota Libraries records

The First Annual Report of the University’s Board of Regents, submitted to the Minnesota Territorial Legislature February 7, 1852, notes that a “valuable donation to the Library has been made by the Smithsonian Institute, consisting of six volumes of the Annals of Congress, previous to 1800. Also books and pamphlets from the Hon. H. H. Sibley.” The early years of the University were marked by fragile economic circumstances, struggling academic programs, and, for a time in the 1850s and 1860s, closure. The 1869 Committee on Organization Report to the Board of Regents, which outlined the academic and administrative structure for the soon-to-be reopened University, calls for “a respectable beginning of a library…consisting of several thousand volumes of the most valuable reference books in the various departments of science and literature.”

William Watts Folwell, the University’s first president, also oversaw the library during his presidency. When he resigned as president in 1884, he began a dual appointment as professor of political science and librarian. During President Folwell’s administration as librarian, the Dewey Decimal System was adopted and the first library building on campus was completed in 1895, later named Burton Hall (1931).

Hired in 1906, James T. Gerould served as the first full-time University Librarian. He is credited with bringing about administrative reorganization for the Libraries and overseeing the growth of the collection from 50,000 to nearly 250,000 volumes. A new library building was opened in 1924, later named Walter Library (1959).

A Division of Library Instruction was approved by the Board of Regents in 1928, and the University Librarian also served as the Director of the Division. In 1953, the Division became the Library School within the College of Science, Literature and the Arts reporting to a separate Library School Director.

Several special collections and archives were established in the 1950s and 1960s, including the James Ford Bell Collection, the Kerlan Collection of children’s literature, the Social Welfare History Archives, and the Immigration History Archives. As the University Twin Cities campus expanded to the West Bank area, University Libraries also expanded, opening Wilson Library on the West Bank campus in 1968.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Library of Congress classification system for books was adopted and over one million catalog records were converted to a machine readable format, making the University of Minnesota Libraries the first major academic library in the U.S. to convert its card catalog to an online format.

Technological advances in the 1990s encompassed electronic course reserves, online tools to help undergraduates locate and use library resources, and an online reference service for distance education students. The Elmer L. Andersen Library opened in 2000 combining an above-ground facility for special collections and archives units and below-ground storage caverns.

In 2004, the Libraries adopted the following mission statement as part of a strategic planning process, “The University Libraries inspire learning and discovery through information resources, collaboration, and expertise.” By the early 2010s, the University of Minnesota Libraries’ holdings included over 7 million volumes and 109,000 serial subscriptions and annual visitors totaled more than 2 million.

University Librarians