Description
Description
The Princeton University Library Records consists of the files of the University
Librarian and other Library administrators and departments, as well as of the
Friends of the Princeton University Library. Materials in the record group
include correspondence, reports, publications, clippings, minutes, press
releases, proposals, statistics, photographs and other audiovisual materials,
and microfilm. The records document the Library's day-to-day operations as well
as its involvement with other departments on campus, other college and
university libraries, and library users.
There is a significant amount of overlap among the series. Series 1 (University
Librarian) in particular contains information that can be found in or
complements material in most other series. Overall, the records of the Princeton
University Library are particularly useful for research into the role and
responsibilities of the University Librarian and other administrative staff; the
structure and operations of the Library; cooperation between the Library and
internal organizations such as the Friends of the Library as well as Princeton
administrators, faculty and academic departments; changes in the field of
library science, including computing and technology, in library architecture and
design, as well as in fields of academic study that have affected the
Library.
Please see series descriptions in contents list for additional information about
individual series.
Collection Creator
History
From its modest origins as a single room in Nassau Hall, the Princeton University
Library has grown to become one of the foremost university libraries in the world.
With collections totaling over 12 million volumes, manuscripts, and nonprint items
spread across fifteen buildings, the Princeton University Library system serves not
only the Princeton University community but the world at large.
The genesis of the Princeton University Library is nearly contemporaneous with the
founding of the University itself. As early as 1750 small gifts of books had been
made to the College by concerned benefactors and in 1754, only two years before the
fledgling institution's relocation from Newark to Princeton, royal governor of New
Jersey Jonathan Belcher donated his entire collection of 474 volumes. Even at this
early point the Trustees clearly considered the acquisition and maintenance of a
suitable library to be of a high priority, going so far as to earmark space in the
new home of the College (the soon to be built Nassau Hall) as a sizable library
room.
The formative years of the Library were marked by a steady growth in the size and
breadth of the collections. By the time the first catalog of the Library's holdings
was compiled by President Samuel Davies in 1760, the college could count 1,281
volumes in the second floor library room. The introduction of this initial catalogue
laid forth a doctrine which would define the ethos of the Princeton University
Library for the next 250 years. Said Davies, "A large and well-sorted Collections of
Books on the various Branches of Literature, is the most ornamental and useful
Furniture of a College and the most proper and valuable Fund with which it can be
endowed." The philosophical leanings of Princeton's longest-serving 18th century
president, the Scottish-educated Dr. John Witherspoon, also contributed heavily to
the Library's early expansion. By the end of the century the catalogue listed 3,000
volumes and students were expected to pay a fee of 67 cents for the privilege of
using the Library each session.
Calamity befell the College in 1802 when Nassau Hall was gutted by fire. Among the
most hard-felt losses was the Library, of which only a handful of books were
salvaged. Vigorous campaigning by the Trustees in the years 1802-1804 enabled the
reconstruction of the collection through gifts and donations, and the Library took
up residence in the newly constructed Stanhope Hall, where it would remain until
1855. Among the most vital changes to the Library in the 19th century was the
increased role of the University Librarian. While various faculty members had held
the position since 1768, it was always in a part-time capacity and subsidiary to
other work. Beginning with Philip Lindsly in 1813, the Librarian began preparing
periodic reports to the President on the status of the Library, outlining
acquisitions, damages to volumes, and other notable information. The formation in
1830 of the Library Committee, a subgroup of the Board of Trustees, further signaled
the Library's growing importance in the academic life of the College, and when
Nassau Hall was again rebuilt after fire in 1860 the Library moved back to its
original home, in what is now the faculty room.
Despite the continued growth of the collections and the support of the Trustees and
the President, the potential of the Library was largely untapped until the
administration of President James McCosh. Until 1868 with several brief periods of
exception the Library itself was open to students only once a week for the
distribution and exchanging of books. It was McCosh who first seized upon the need
for a full-time librarian, and instituted new Library hours every day of the week
except Sunday. These alterations to the Library increased accessibility and brought
it much more in line with the needs of the student body and the institution in the
face of an evolving curriculum.
If any other signifier was needed that the Library had entered a new modern age under
McCosh it was the construction of the first freestanding library building on campus,
the Chancellor Green Library. This striking octagonal structure fulfilled most of
the Library's needs admirably, providing space for the University Librarian,
shelving alcoves, and reading spaces for students. Nonetheless, by 1897 the growth
of the collections necessitated an addition, which came in the form of the adjoining
Pyne Library. Through two World Wars the pair of connected libraries stood as a
focal point on campus while great strides were made inside of them by staff. Some of
the notable University Librarians who called Chancellor Green and Pyne home include
Frederick Vinton, who instituted the Library's first author/subject card catalog;
Ernest Cushing Richardson, who established a unique classification system to meet
the needs of the collection; and James Thayer Gerould, a founder of the Association
of Research Libraries.
At the turn of the 20th century, the Princeton University Library appeared to have
reached a point of stasis. Capable administration, suitable facilities,
well-developed and well-catalogued collections, and ample room for expansion all
seemed to point to a level of stability unseen in the Library's history. Despite
this, by the 1920s shelf space in the libraries was again at a premium and it was
readily apparent that any plan to alleviate crowding would necessitate a new Library
building. The years of planning which preceded the opening of the Firestone Memorial
Library in 1948 were characterized by a newfound recognition of the role of the
University Library in the post-war era. No longer was space for volumes the primary
concern, but rather it was viewed one element to be balanced against the needs of
students and staff. With its open stacks, vast reading room, and many multi-purpose
spaces the Firestone Library was an influential structure among university
libraries.
Though the opening of the new library building was undoubtedly the defining moment of
the Princeton University Library in the twentieth century, other seeds were planted
early on which would eventually blossom to become hallmarks of the Library. Many of
these were related to the diversification and increased specialization of the
Library's collections. The continual growth of the Library's manuscript, rare book,
and graphic arts collections ultimately led to the formation of the Department of
Rare Books and Special Collections in 1948-1949. In particular, the efforts of
mid-century University Librarians Julian Boyd and William S. Dix to acquire the
papers of noted authors and publishing houses, as well as many gifts of private
collections and other donations made possible by the Friends of the Princeton
University Library, helped make Princeton a center for research. Subject-specific
collections such as the Industrial Relations Section also came into being around
this time, and subsequent additions or renovations to Firestone have provided space
for numerous other specialized units.
While the monolithic Firestone stands as the center of the Princeton University
Library, in the second half of the 20th century the University Library has also
expanded into several satellite libraries around campus. These include the Seeley G.
Mudd Manuscript Library, home of the university archives and the public policy
collections; the Fine Hall Library, housing the math, physics, biology, and
geosciences collections; the Engineering Library; the Marquand Library of Art and
Archaeology; the Stokes Library for Public and International affairs; the Mendel
Music Library; and several other annexes and special subject libraries. Notable also
is the ReCAP facility on Forrestal Campus, a vast shelving facility operated by
Princeton in conjunction with Columbia University and the New York Public Library.
All told, the University Library encompasses fifteen separate facilities, all
operating under a single administration and towards the common goal of supporting
the University's focus on scholarship and learning.
University Librarians
Sim, Hugh 1768
Linn, James 1769(?)-1770
Houston, William Churchill 1770-1786
Snowden, Gilbert Tennent 1786-1787
Abeel, John Nelson 1793
Finely, Robert 1793-1794
English, David 1794-1796
Ely, Alfred 1804-1805
Kollock,Henry 1804-1806
Bayard, Samuel 1806-1807
Belknap, Hezekiah 1807-1809
Dunlap, William 1809-1810
Bergen, John 1810-1812
Lindsly, Philip 1812-1849
Maclean, John Jr. 1824-1849
Giger, George Musgrave 1849-1865
Cameron, Henry Clay 1865-1873
Vinton, Frederic 1873-1889
Richardson, Ernest Cushing 1890-1920
Gerould, James Thayer 1920-1938
Heyl, Lawrence (Acting 1939-1940)
Boyd, Julian Parks 1940-1953
Kelley, Maurice (Acting 1952)
Dix, William Shepard 1953-1975
Boss, Richard 1976-1978
Koepp, Donald W. 1978-1995
Klath, Nancy S. (Acting 1995-1996)
Trainer, Karin A. 1996-
Collection History
Acquisition
This collection has been transferred from the Library to the University Archives
in periodic installments.
Archival Appraisal Information
Appraisal has been conducted in accordance with Mudd Library guidelines.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Christie Lutz,
Daniel Brennan, David Ault, Rutgers University
'08, Mercy Chesiror '10, Samuel Clendon '07, Sophia Echavarria ‘09, Christina
McMillan '07, Joshua Muketha '10, Sarah Vitali '11, and Porter White '08 between
September 2006 and October 2007. Finding aid
written by Christie Lutz and Daniel
Brennan in October
2007. Additional material integrated and finding aid updated by Christie Peterson with assistance from Ameena Schelling '12 in November 2010-January 2011. Series 17: John
Foster Dulles Oral History Project Records was added and finding aid updated by
Christie Peterson with assistance from Doug Newton '12, Suchi
Mandvilli '14, and Eleanor Wright '14
in July-October 2011.
Accruals
Periodic transfers of records from the Library are expected indefinitely.
Bibliography
In the composition of this finding aid's history section, the following works
were consulted:
Berberian, Kevork R., Princeton University Library,
1746-1980, 1980
Dix, William S., "The Princeton University Library in the
Eighteenth Century," 1978
Leitch, Alexander, A Princeton Companion, 1978
The Princeton University Library Chronicle
(multiple editions)
The Princeton Alumni Weekly (multiple editions)
Annual Report of the President, 1986
Princeton University Library Finding Aids 
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