Wellesley College Library
The Wellesley College page is a little shy on historical material. It is a women's liberal arts college established in 1875, so was just barely up and running when the Report was written. The present main library, Clapp, was built in 1909. In some kind of foreshadowing my maternal ancestor worked as a shelver there while she was an undergraduate in the 1920s. Clapp was considerably expanded in the mid 1970s. One of the features of the current building is a set of portraits of all the presidents of the college. My mother was giving her granddaughters a tour shortly after the 1975 renovation. She pointed at one of the portraits and told my daughters: "That woman was president when I was here." The long slow double take of a young woman filing catalog cards was wonderful to behold. But I digress.
The Report devotes two pages (93-94) to the Wellesley library. Notable is this passage:
The number of books already on the shelves is about 10,000 arranged in the alcoves according to the simple division of subjects--English poetry and dramatic works, French classics, Italian classics, German classics, Greek and Roman authors, ancient history, modern history, works of reference. The first characteristic of the library which strikes the eye is the external dress of the books, which are, to a very large extent, bound in calf and morocco. The greatest care has been taken to select editions of books which are the best, and then to put them into durable and tasteful bindings.
Wouldn't you love to have a budget like that?
According to material sent by Wilma R. Slaight, Wellesley College Archivist, the library was actually one wing of College Hall, the original building on the Wellesley campus. At least one commentator thought the wing was designed to hold 100,000 volumes. In practice it never held anywhere near that many. By 1880 the collection had doubled to roughly 20,000 volumes, and by 1905 had outgrown the original room and several more besides, reaching 58,000 volumes. Clapp Library was built just in time as College Hall burned down in 1914. Clapp Library itself was expanded in 1916, only six years after opening, and again in 1959, prior to the above mentioned 1975 expansion.
Wellesley College Library, 1875-1910
