A Brief History of Libraries at Union

Some of this institution's earliest donor appeals focused on acquiring books for a better library.

Following the Civil War, the library had several thousand volumes, but needed additional scientific materials and classical works. According to Union historian James Alex Baggett, book contributors were acknowledged directly in each volume with a special label.

Baggett also found that prior to 1911, the Union librarian was either a senior student or a faculty member who assumed the responsibility as an extra duty. One of Union's initial full-time librarians was Emma Waters Summar, who quickly earned widespread respect and admiration from the Union community. Baggett says she "dealt with 'commonplace things uncommonly'" and showed an interest in the research needs of every visitor.

When the current campus was laid out in the early 1970s, enrollment stood at 1,000 students, and the library space inside Penick Academic Complex was designed to seat about 150 visitors. As Union's academic needs grew, office space and language lab areas along the F-corridor of Penick were converted into library space. Once this was completed, the library became "landlocked" and further expansion in that location was not possible.

That situation has now existed for several years.

Current technologies, relevant book collections, and exemplary staff are hallmarks of the current library experience. But room for significant expansion in its current location simply does not exist.