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Library Use and Borrowing Policies
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIBRARY
Wheaton Female Seminary was founded in 1834 by the Judge Laban
Wheaton family, as a memorial to his beloved daughter, Eliza Wheaton
Strong. The family proposed to educate the daughters of an upwardly
mobile, ambitious and financially successful middle class. The
curriculum reflected the Wheaton family's conviction "that
women not only had the right, but indeed ought to be educated
in all things useful to them." Writing and public speaking,
science and mathematics, and the development of the students'
spiritual life and physical well-being were emphasized.
The regular curriculum was demanding and rigid: Algebra, Plane
Geometry, Geology, Chemistry, Astronomy, Logic, Moral Philosophy,
English Grammar, Rhetoric, Natural History, Natural Philosophy,
and Evidences of Christianity were requirements for the Seminary
certificate. Instruction in Latin and on occasion Greek, plus
drawing, piano, and French was also provided, but only on a special
fee basis, without degree credit, and depending upon the availability
of appropriate teachers. The subjects taught, and in many cases,
the tests used, were the same as those at men's colleges such
as Harvard, Amherst, or Bowdoin. Neither men's colleges nor female
seminaries offered English literature.
What were the implications of this curriculum for the library?
The answer lies in the design of the curriculum in the early years
of the Seminary: all students earning seminary certificates took
the same courses and used the same textbooks, which were listed
in the catalogues and were required purchases. In view of this
rigid curriculum, and the teaching methods of the period, it should
not be surprising that during its initial six years the Seminary
had no library. At first, students learned by rote memorization,
by compiling extracts from readings, and by copying from textbooks.
The Wheaton College Library was born in October 1840, when Mrs.
Fanny Wheaton, wife of Judge Laban Wheaton who founded the Seminary,
donated $100 "to commence the purchase of a Library."
The new library was established in the Boarding House. The first
purchases included titles from Harper & Brothers' Family Library
series, and Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the
Soul. From its earliest years, the library included newspapers
and periodicals, but it grew slowly; by 1860, it still contained
fewer than 600 volumes.
Library holdings were divided into three sections. The "general"
collection and the "class shelves," or what are now
called "reserves," were used in relation to the curriculum.
The "Sunday Library" of "books of good literary
style, which may be at the same time profitable, interesting"
and appropriate for the sabbath, contained such titles as Lapsed
but not Lost by Mrs. Elizabeth Charles, and Sunday Echoes
in Weekday Hours by Mrs. Frances Brock.
Caroline Cutler Metcalf, who became Principal in 1850, expanded
the curriculum, and improved the caliber of the teaching staff.
Among the able teachers she hired was the poet Lucy Larcom, who
both introduced the study of English literature and founded the
student literary magazine The Rushlight in 1855. Her desire
to teach her subjects and authors from the library, and her concern
about its small size, prompted her to create its first catalog
in 1857. Under her influence, large additions were made to the
collection, particularly of standard authors, during the 1860s.
The use of textbooks and compendiums was discouraged. By 1867,
the collection had outgrown its quarters in the Boarding House,
and was moved to the remodeled gymnasium, a small free-standing
building between the Boarding House and Seminary Hall.
By 1873, the Library was in the care of teacher and librarian
Annie Kilham, Class of 1870. The collection had grown to 2238
books, and the annual appropriation had been overspent because
of periodical subscriptions. In 1879, use of the library collections
had become such an established part of the teaching process that
new Principal Martha Sprague was dismissed by the Board of Trustees
after one semester, partly because she was "unwilling to
have teachers assign topics that would require students to use
the library, in fact she discouraged use of the library and believed
that students should not be encouraged to go beyond their textbooks."
In that same year of 1879, Eliza Baylies Wheaton, who viewed
the library as a facility for "gaining knowledge & thus happiness,"
donated $1000 to the Library, and provided it with new quarters
in the renovated and expanded Seminary Hall (now Mary Lyon Hall).
The books were numbered, stamped, and shelved according to the
"Amherst College System." Fifty cents was required from
each entering student as a "library fee," and students
were encouraged to take books to their rooms for general reading.
Administration of the library required an assistant by 1880; Caroline
Smith W1881 was hired during her senior year as the first student
assistant.
While the growing collection spilled over into three additional
rooms in Mary Lyon Hall, there were only 8000 volumes by 1912,
the year Wheaton Seminary became Wheaton College. That the library
collection remained tiny during Wheaton's 78 years as a Seminary
was due to several factors. First, the early curricular dependence
on required textbooks precluded administrative interest in developing
a library. Second, sufficient money simply never was available.
The Seminary operated continuously on a shoestring budget due
to the firm desire of the Wheaton family, and particularly Mrs.
Wheaton, to use only their family funds and tuition income to
operate the Seminary. Third, a succession of 19 librarians over
50 years could not provide the strong advocate needed to command
institutional support. Finally, few women of that era pursued
professional careers; most seminary alumnae had neither large
personal libraries nor large sums of money to bequeath to their
alma mater.
The 1897 appointment of Samuel Valentine Cole as President brought
general agreement that the survival of the institution depended
upon the successful transition to college status. Dr. Cole began
to recruit faculty with improved academic credentials and to upgrade
course offerings. In 1900, he created a new position of Librarian
and Registrar as part of his transition program.
President Cole's plans for expanding the physical plant show
the library's central role in the transition to a college. Cole
discussed a campus plan with Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram,
who sketched a "Court of Honor" surrounded by groups
of named structures. He placed the library at the southern end
or "head" of the green, directly opposite the Wheaton
homestead. Eighteen years were to pass before the new library
was built in 1923. In the intervening years, a chapel was built,
and the growing library collections were moved to its basement
in 1919. The library had joined a local system of interlibrary
loan with local colleges and public libraries in 1916.
Cram designed a Georgian style building that reflected a revived
interest in Greek architecture. Indeed, the stone portico was
designed for the presentation of Greek plays, with a small balcony
above the door to suggest the abode of the gods. Ground was broken
in 1922. The building cost $150,000, contained 13,500 volumes,
received 150 magazines and newspapers, and was served by a staff
of five. The main floor reading room and two balconies were arranged
according to the alcove system, and could seat about 300 students.
Cases along the center of the room held the reference collection.
The Library immediately became the focus of a number of student
traditions. These included Greek plays, the Senior Daisy Chain
and Hoop Roll, Senior Steps, Senior Step Washing, May Day, and
ghosts. The Alumnae Association sold Wedgewood plates featuring
the Library in 1932.
The Library's services and resources continued to grow at a
rapid pace. Special Collections were first established in 1882.
The Cole Memorial Room was founded in 1926. A 1930-31 grant from
the Carnegie Corporation greatly increased the book holdings.
By 1936, the Library owned 1200 Victrola records, and periodicals
over 10 years old were stored in Cragin basement. That same year,
the size of the collection was 37,019 volumes. In1936-37, staff
began a program of bibliographic instruction.
These developments seriously strained the building, and a series
of additions began in 1941, with the Jackson Wing. Designed by
Caleb Hornbostel and Richard Bennett, it was featured in the Jan.
1943 Architectural Forum. By 1947, however, the recently
expanded building was already overcrowded. Study space was reduced,
and The New York Times was purchased on microfilm to conserve
space.
Expanding enrollment and growing collections forced another
addition to the Library in 1960. A modern two-story wing added
to the east contained a new periodicals room, additional study
carrels, typing rooms, a listening room, a smoking lounge, and
faculty studies. Only flooring over the original atrium allowed
additional stack space, however.
The College's enrollment was again increased during the 1960s,
until it had grown to 1200. Library collections were expanded
to meet the need. A Library Visiting Committee, chaired by Emerson
Greenaway, Director Emeritus of the Philadelphia Free Library,
was established in 1967, and encouraged many improvements in services.
Librarians began to automate their records: punch cards of the
SMCL (Southeastern Massachusetts Cooperating Libraries) Union
List of Serials were created, and the first union list was printed
in 1969-70. The Cataloging Department inaugurated automated operations
in 1974, and a 1980 Pew Memorial Trust grant funded retrospective
conversion of catalog entries from cards to computer records.
Largely at the urging of the Library Visiting Committee, the College
responded to the Library's space problems by funding the renovation
of, and an addition to, the Library in 1979-80. The classic beauty
of the original atrium was restored, a dramatic stairtower lounge
and underground stacks created, and a separate archives and special
collections facility built. Total capacity was raised from 260,000
volumes to 340,000 volumes. The Science and Art Libraries were
integrated into the main library collection. In the mid-1990s,
the Music Library was also consolidated into the main collection.
Since 1980, Library services have continued to expand. On-line
searching of remote databases, funded by a Pew grant, began in
1985. Administration of the Language Laboratory and Audiovisual
Services were placed under the Librarian in 1987. The First Year
Seminar, inaugurated in 1987, and the 1989 Dana Foundation-funded
Faculty/Librarian Partnership Program, have proved the efficacy
of including information technology and library and research skills
directly into the classroom curriculum. Critical assessment of,
and thinking about, sources are encouraged in both of these programs.
New technologies have provided both the impetus and the means for improved Library services in the 1990s. Mellon Foundation grants in 1988 and 1994 have provided a satellite dish, improved language lab facilities, computers, and video equipment, serving to update the teaching of languages, political science, and international issues. The Library has participated in the development of the College's worldwide web site, and continues to enhance access to electronic information resources, such as databases and ejournals, both on- and off-campus. An on-line integrated library system was launched in 1993, funded by a Davis Educational Foundation grant. The on-line catalog is named "ELIZA" (Electronic Library Information from Z to A) in honor of the two Eliza Wheatons who were instrumental in the founding of Wheaton Seminary.
In 1996, recognizing that present storage capacities and the
configuration of space no longer accommodated growing collections
or related services and use, the Library staff began planning
for another renovation and expansion. Its first phase (1998) included
the construction of the state-of-the-art Mabel Tingley Woolley
Class of 1924 Electronic Classroom and installation of extensive
compact shelving systems for periodicals backfiles and archival
and special collections. In the next phase (1999) circulation
services were moved to the front of the building, and the lobby
and the second floor Jackson Wing reading room (now housing the
Cole Memorial Collection) were renovated. In 2000, the reconfiguration
of reference has returned it to the renovated Atrium, and has
increased and improved electronic access and reading spaces. Future
phases will include the renovation of periodicals and technical
services, as well as the rest of the Library building.
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