Cheers to 50 Years: the library building turns 50!

 Fifty years ago Ashland students were welcomed into the newly completed Library building! 

Library interior on the opening day in 1972

The first library was located in Miller Hall (now gone) and was then moved to what is now Patterson Hall. The library and it's collection quickly grew and needed a new space. Making use of a government grant, President Glenn Clayton had the new library designed, funded, and built in less that 5 years! The new space (and current building) would be 75,500 square feet over 10 floors - and claims the title of tallest building in the county at about 130 feet. 

Library building during construction

A new display is up on the Main Floor of the Library if you want to see more photos from Opening Day in 1972. Take a look to see what has changed and what is still the same - 50 years later!

Display on Main Floor of the Library

Over the past 50 years, countless students have used the library and we are happy to still be an important part of the AU community! Do you have any memorable stories about the library? We would love to hear how the library was part of your AU experience!

Library Celebration

    I am excited to share our new Library Display just in time for National Library Week 2021 (April 4th to 10th). 

     Learn more about AU's library with photos pulled from the Archives. There are images from previous libraries where you can sneak glimpses of buildings that have been repurposed or no longer exist. 

     There are images of the construction of the current library in 1971, as well as images from it's opening. Looking through these - it is fun to see what has changed and what is the same.     

   

    Sprinkled throughout are also some fun facts about libraries in general. For example do you know what "Library Hand" is and why is went out of style? Let's just say this Librarian was excited to learn new Library trivia too! Here's a tidbit that didn't make it into the display: Some famous librarians or library workers include: Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, author Lewis Carroll, former first lady Laura Bush and China's Mao Zedong! 

     The bottom is edged with Library posters of yesteryear - some dating back to Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1940s, others from previous National Book Weeks of the 60s and 70s. I think they are some great works of art and its fun to remember all the library posters from when I was younger. 

Libraries are often called invaluable because of the many great services they offer for free for their patrons, and while this can't put a number on everything, the ALA has this calculator for you to try out if you have ever wondered how much money using the library saves you. Give it a try here: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/library-value-calculator. 

I hope you enjoy this display and make sure to celebrate all the libraries in your life!

New Library Display in a New Place

You probably already know about the display cases that are in front of the Library building, but the Library recently added to a Display Case over in Upper Convo to its display possibilities. We are going to use the case to continue interesting displays and the first one is focusing on our favorite interesting thing: the Library!

The first display put in Upper Convo is “Library Snapshot” which is designed to give a glimpse into the history and impact of the Library through ‘snapshots’ of information. 

    

The display includes some little-known facts about the Library accompanied by some historic photographs pulled from the AU Archives. For history buffs or anyone who loves books as much as me, you can also see the old library card stamp cards in some of the displayed books with one even showing its accompanied card from the card catalog as well as some of the yearbooks from the late 1970s. Since opening in 1972, the Library here at Ashland University has undergone many changes, but always remains central to the community and student life. 

I am currently working on future displays to be installed in Upper Convo and the Library cases that will showcase the Special Collections held by Ashland University Library.  If you have ideas about future displays or want to learn more about this display, please feel free to contact me, Jessica Byers, AU Library Curator and Reference Librarian, at jbyers7@ashland.edu.