052
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Title
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052
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Transcription
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THE LIBRARY
The statute passed by the Nebraska legislature February 15, 1869, which provided for the founding of the University of Nebraska, contained a clause providing for the establishment of a library, through the appropriation for that purpose of certain regularly received University fees. While the amount in the beginning was small it was constant, and growing with the growth of the school it has been the chief source of library income, though for many years added appropriations from the general University funds have been made by the regents.
The successive catalogs of the University refer to the carefully selected collection of books which constitute the library, show its growth. In 1878 there were 2,000 volumes, in 1882, 4,000, in 1886, 7,000, and by 1890, 12,000 volumes. The growth from this time onward has been increasingly rapid. By 1901, 50,000 volumes were recorded, in 1907, 75,000, and accessioning of the 100,000th book in 1912 was made a ceremony. Since then the growth averaged over 6,000 volumes a year, so that at the end of 1918, the library numbers 140,000 volumes.
The original small library was housed first in one room, then in two, in the southeast corner of the second floor of University Hall. In 1888 it was moved to the first floor of the north wing of the same building, the rooms now occupied by the department of rhetoric. In the fall of 1895 the library moved into its present location, the second floor of the then new library building. It had been planned that the remainder of this building should be turned over to the library as it was needed, but there has been absolutely no expansion of space for library use since that time. In fact the space for readers has been much decreased, as the tables which were originally placed in the alcoves in the book room had to be withdrawn in order to make space for the new stacks demanded by the increasing number of books. For several years students have constantly been turned away from the reading room by lack of space to seat them
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Rights
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To inquire about usage, please contact Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. These images are for educational use only. Not all images are available for publication.
