Prior to 1900

Between 1854 and the following year, a library standing in the south-west corner of the room known at the time as the Lower Chapel, was dedicated by members. The library contained seventy-five volumes stored in a book case. The trustees of the Eclectic Institute contemplated the adoption of early measures for procuring a Library, according to the first catalogue published by Eclectic. 2,528 volumes were counted in the various literary societies. A higher demand for books came as a result of establishing a curriculum containing a variety of subjects. The formation of extracurricular activities, such as literary societies, became one of the more unique aspects of these early times. Students who joined these societies paid dues and fees (about twenty-five cents each) to purchase books along with the establishment of their own libraries. Competing to build up the largest and most impressive library soon became a focus. A small collection was retained by the President in the church chapel of the college for personal use and not available for public use.^[1]

Although the Hiram College had a large collection of books equal to or better than other small Ohio colleges, the students and faculty of Hiram College had to put up with challenges. Students could not access books due to restrictions and barriers such as the lack of a central catalogue or system of arrangement of books, books owned by one society were not available for use by students from other societies along with their own libraries, a minimum of which five existed simultaneously, and only seniors and graduate students were allowed to borrow books on loan, with the length of the loan determined by the number of pages of the book, and not exceeding five weeks.^[1]

The inauguration of James A. Garfield as U.S. President created a nation-wide interest and publicity for Hiram College during the 1880s, resulting in an increase of student enrollment along with financial donations. This additional money helped make it possible for the board of trustees and college president, Ely Vaughn Zollars, to undertake a five-year plan to expand the curriculum (a new business department; an expanded music department; and a four-year, junior college level, literature course in law, medicine, education, and religion for all four courses the college already offered) and completing a building program (Miller Hall, a men's dormitory; Independence Hall, a separate residence for ministerial students; the Christian Association and The Teachout-Cooley Library in 1901).^[1]

By November 1853, not a single library or book belonged to the Institution, with the possible exception of the Bible. In the winter of 1854-5, a library for the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute was, with due ceremony, inaugurated, with "brief speeches by Principal Hayden, Mr. Munnell, and probably Mr. Dunshee, appropriate to the occasion." In 1858, the Delphic Library was made up of no more than eighteen volumes. In the autumn of 1859 the Hesperian Society made its first great effort to found a library. About the same time that the Delphic Library was established, the Hesperian Society began to collect funds for the purchase of books. Its course was somewhat different from that followed by the Delphics. Instead of using money, more or less, that might be in its treasury from time to time, in the purchase of a few books, it allowed time to elapse, and a larger fund was collected, before any books were purchased. And when the new Hesperian Library was installed in the Library room, it was decidedly an event, owing to the number and choice quality of the books that were displayed when the library was opened.

The Teachout-Cooley Library of Hiram College was erected in 1900 with money given by Abram Teachout, a nineteenth-century Cleveland lumber merchant.^[2] Built of brick and wood, consisting of two stories with a three-story tower. In 1923, a supplemental gift from the Teachout family made possible an addition built to the south of the original building, and joined to it by means of a vestibule. The addition of a Greek portico entrance doubled the size of the Library. An observatory with its telescope, a gift of Christian minister Lathrop Cooley,^[3] was a prominent feature of the building until 1939. The observatory was relocated to its present site on Wakefield Road thanks to the generosity of Ella M. Stephens.^[1]

1900 to 1950

Prior to 1900, the library facilities at Hiram College consisted of small libraries corresponding with each of the student literary societies: Delphic, Hesperian, and Olive Branch.^[4] Societies usually limited access to their members, the only common library being the college's depository collection of federal government publications (established in 1874) which were stored in the original Hinsdale Hall.^[1]

The need for a library to be built was result of several factors, including an increase in the number of books to about six thousand volumes, along with becoming a repository for U.S. Government documents. Another factor that also created a need for a library was the fact that the five different literary societies agreed to house their books together in one place. However, these collections would remain separated until 1928, when the literary societies were disbanded and were replaced by fraternities and sororities at Hiram. The most important factors were the financial aid received from Abram Teachout, for the express purpose of building a library; together with an observatory and telescope donated by Lathrop Cooley. To help fill up the empty shelves of the new library, an additional $1,100 was contributed for buying books.

Miss Emma Ryder was appointed as the first full-time, "joint" librarian in 1895. She is attributed with shelving books pertaining to the separate literary societies together, which subsequently saw these societies lose their identity altogether. She has also been credited with establishing the Dewey Decimal system to catalogue the library's collection, along with setting up the organization of a library staff, and the beginnings of "modern" library operations for the college. Miss Ryder served until 1912, when she was replaced by Miss Jessie J. Smith.

Jessie Smith's thirty-one year tenure was dominated by The Great Depression,^[5] a devastating fire in February 1939, and World War II. The fire destroyed most of the original library and with it thousands of books, a major portion of the files and records of Professor John S. Kenyon and the furnishings of the Vachel Lindsay Reading Room. Another financial gift provided in 1923 by the Teachout family helped to rebuild the library, adding a separate fireproof building constructed to the south of the original building. Although most of the books in the original building were destroyed by the fire, library materials stored in this new building were saved. Rebuilding and replacing library materials took about two years to complete. The Cooley observatory, undamaged in the fire, was moved to another location. Despite all these disasters, administration officials, members of the board of trustees, faculty, students, alumni, and friends of Hiram maintained optimism that much better times were ahead in the future. An important part of this optimism came from the success of the adoption and implementation in 1937 of a new, innovative "Intensive Study Plan," or "Single Course Plan of Instruction", a series of educational experiments aimed at providing students with the optimum learning experience higher education would offer.^[5]

The change of the century witnessed changes in the college administration, curriculum, library operations, faculty, and students. Hiram College President Miner Lee Bates initiated a six-year growth plan that doubled student enrollment, donations, and the endowment fund. Although President Bates has been credited for making numerous significant contributions to the financial and academic health of Hiram, Mary Bosworth Treudley, Wellesley College Sociology Professor,^[6] believes that his appointment of Jessie J. Smith as librarian to be his most important achievement. During her thirty-one years as librarian, Miss Smith became: an innovator of new library techniques and training; an advocate for library funding from the college's budget; a leading force in the establishment of a long-term book purchasing program; and an architectural consultant for the rebuilding of the library after the fire of 1939. Miss Smith's most valuable contribution to the library and its operation was the student training program she designed and instituted according to John H. Stein. This library training course consisted of one class hour and two hours of supervised work per week for one school year. Although this course was not required and students received no credit for it, Miss Smith had so many volunteers that she had to choose only the top ten best students to serve as library aids. Besides her work at Hiram, Miss Smith has been credited for founding the Portage County Library, as well as helping to reorganize libraries at Heidelberg and Denison Colleges.^[1] Miss Smith died at the age of 93 in 1964 and left, as a provision of her will, a donation of her land to be used as a future site for a new library building.^[1]

The Library's collections then consisted of those books donated by the literary societies and the depository collection. These were consolidated by the first librarian of the college, Emma Ryder. While a student at Hiram, she was made the librarian of the Olive Branch Society, and did such an excellent job that she was asked to organize the libraries of the other societies. After she graduated in 1890, she went on to study at the University of Chicago and Syracuse University, before returning to Hiram in 1896. She served as the college's librarian until 1907, introducing the Dewey Decimal System to the Library. She also taught Greek and Latin, was the College Registrar and the House Mother for Miller Hall.

A newer, more modern building was erected with a main reading room on the lower floor and a browsing room above. The card catalog was saved from fire damage and much of the lost book collection was replaced. The west end of the browsing room was designated the Vachel Lindsay Room, and the east end as the Adelaide Robbins Rhodes Room. In 1962 this area was converted into the Geidlinger Music Room.

In 1948 a further addition to the south side of the Library was built, again with funds from the Teachout Foundation. Finally, a fourth addition was necessary by 1963. This expanded the building westward toward Dean Street and effectively doubled the size of the Library once again. Included were rooms for the newly planned Archives and Special Collections. It was made possible by a substantial gift from Mr. and Mrs. Harley C. Price, and the Library was renamed the Teachout-Price Memorial Library. During the 1970s the Library came to share space with newer services, the Media Center and the Dray Computer Center, both on the lower level of the building. The Media Center became administratively incorporated into the Library.

1950 to 1995

Library acquisitions increased with additional books, periodicals, government documents, and numerous other "materials of communication." Demands for audio-visual materials such as movie projectors, record players, audio tape players, radios, and televisions led the library director, Ruth Whitcomb Freeman, to request additional space in the library. It is clear from library correspondence that services provided by the library were changing and expanding into new and different areas. Mrs. Freeman considered the establishment of better communication and cooperation between the library staff and faculty, along with greater student involvement, to be her main objectives. She expanded the amount of open stacks for 43 more student access; she drew up library handbooks for both students and faculty; and worked closely with student members of the Library Committee. 46 The additional space that she requested did not take place until after her retirement in 1958. Although additional space had been provided by moving the ever-growing number of periodicals to one location in the basement, along with weeding out many old unused volumes, library acquisitions continued to demand more space.

By 1960, the book collection had grown to more than 80,000 volumes; over 500 new periodical titles were added, and U.S. Government documents totaled about 50,000. The Annual Library Report, submitted by Thelma R. Bumbaugh, noted "a definite pattern of more intensive use of [library] resources," by the students, along with a "43 percent increase," in the circulation of social science books, "while history book circulation more than doubled for the same period. During this time the college, under the direction of President Paul F. Sharp, conducted a ten-year six million dollar capital expansion program for construction of new buildings. The Alumni Newsletter, From Hiram College, quoted President Sharp's statements in 1963: "Our enrollment has increased from 543 students five years ago to 835 at the present time. With an anticipated enrollment of 1,380 by 1970, one of our most pressing needs has been to expand our library facilities." In addition to money received from this campaign, the college received an anonymous gift of $350,000 which was used, along with another substantial gift by Mr. and Mrs. Harley C. Price, to construct a new three-story annex attached to the original library. As a result, the library's name was changed to "The Teachout-Price Memorial Library". This addition became the fourth, and last addition to the original library. The addition of 22,000 square feet of space more than doubled the space in the original building, and provided stack space for 60,000 new volumes. With an increase in enrollment, along with a library collection of near 13,900 volumes, as well as the addition of the Dray Computer Center housed in the library's basement, the 1963 addition to the library was becoming overcrowded.^[1]

The continued growth of the collection, the demand for more study space, and the need to incorporate new technologies led to the decision to plan for a new building by the late 1980s. Construction and opening of the new library building commenced on September 7, 1995.^[7][8][1] A comprehensive fundraising effort by the college featured the construction of a $7.1 million facility as its centerpiece. Funding came from hundreds of contributors and friends, prominently the Kresge Foundation, however no single donor contributed enough to confer a name to the building, and so it remains the Hiram College Library. Completed in 1995, the collections, equipment, and some of the furnishings of the Library were relocated in the new building that summer. Features of the new building included space for a video studio, a redesigned Archives and Special Collections, a Library Instruction Room, group study rooms, and a multi-functional space, the Pritchard Room.

Shortly thereafter, the Library provided access to its new online catalog, and two years later joined the OhioLINK Consortium. Among the more prominent changes since 1995 include:

• The movement of the music collections out of the Chamberlain Room, and its replacement by the Children's Literature and Curriculum Materials Collections.
• Wholesale movement of collections to make room for a new reading area and music recording collections.