The Libraries’ Legacy

The history of Ohio University Libraries (opens in a new window) is almost as old as the University itself. In 1811 and 1812, OHIO purchased its first books. The combined $600 price tag was steep—more than it cost to erect the University’s first official building. The Board of Trustees officially established the Library of Ohio University in 1814, but it would be another four years before it got a real home. Read on to learn how that small set of books grew into one of the 100 largest academic libraries in the nation … and the homes it’s had along the way.

College Edifice

1818-1905
(Later the Center Building, now Cutler Hall (opens in a new window))

The collection grew tremendously during its nearly 90 years in the building that also housed classrooms, a dormitory and a museum. In 1901, President Alston Ellis declared the 15,000-plus books a fire hazard and insisted that something had to be done.

Carnegie Library

1905-1931
(Now Scripps Hall (opens in a new window))

Though beautiful, the building funded by steel baron Andrew Carnegie was insufficient from the start; as a result, it was the library system’s shortest-lived home. It featured a card catalog and reading rooms, but the large rotunda and foyer took up precious real estate, and documents were piled throughout the building as a result.

Chubb Library

1931-1969
(Now Chubb Hall (opens in a new window))

The collection had seen both its longest and its shortest-lived homes by the time Chubb Library was completed, with capacity for 250,000 volumes. It featured a children’s room, a smoking/study room, an open stack policy that let patrons locate their own materials, and eventually such modern technology as a Xerox machine and a rentable typewriter. The building was named for Edwin Watts Chubb, an English professor who became dean of the College of Liberal Arts (now the College of Arts and Sciences) in 1907 and who served as acting president on two occasions.

Alden Library

1969-present

When Vernon R. Alden became OHIO’s 15th president, he prioritized a new library to house the University’s half-million-plus books, which were moved from Chubb to their new home via rolling conveyor belts and a tractor. The east and west wings were completed in 1972, but the building exceeded capacity (1.4 million volumes) in 1985; the Library Annex (opens in a new window) opened on Columbus Road in the ’90s to house lesser-used materials and now bears the name of Libraries Dean Emeritus Hwa-Wei Lee. Today, Alden Library (opens in a new window) is home to several material collections (opens in a new window), the Academic Achievement Center (opens in a new window), a multimedia studio (opens in a new window), study and meeting rooms (opens in a new window), a café (opens in a new window), the CoLab makerspace and 3D printer lab, an IT service desk (opens in a new window) and, of course, plenty of books.

Feature photo by XXX; infographics by John Grimwade