The colleciton is open for research, except for RG 23h/13 which is restricted due to potential confidential material. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for more information.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Records of the Virginia Tech University Libraries, RG 23, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Records of the Virginia Tech University Libraries were transferred to Special Collections and University Archives over numerous accruals from the 1960s onwards.
Additional materials will be added to the finding aid as they are received and processed.
The description of Records of the Virginia Tech University Libraries was completed in June 2017. Additional items were integrated into RG 23h/6/1 in September 2019.
When the college began in 1872, V.E. Shepherd was appointed as librarian (as well as treasurer, secretary of the faculty and Board of Visitors, and to teach foreign languages). The library started with 500 volumes, which were primarily gifts from congressmen, publishers, and government agencies. Students supervised the library from 1875 until Mary Lacy was appointed as the first full-time librarian in 1903. She was followed by her sister, Ethel Lacy, from 1910-13, and then Eleanor Jones, 1913-23. After two years of acting librarians, Ralph M. Brown was appointed in 1925 and served until 1946. He was succeeded as director by Seymour Robb (1947-61), Frank Shirk (1961-70), Gerald Rudolph (1970-74), Gordon Bechanan (1974-84), Paul Gherman (1985-92), and Joanne Eustis (interim, 1992-94). Eileen Hitchingham began her term as Dean of Libraries in 1995.
The first branch library was established in 1907 in Agriculture Hall (now Price). In 1955, a new building was opened and named for Carol M. Newman, a professor of English at Virginia Tech for 38 years. At that time, two branch libraries (Agriculture and Engineering) and about twenty departmental collections closed and were integrated into the main collection. During Rudolph's tenure, two new branches were created: Geology (1972) and one in Reston, Virginia, for the Northern Virginia Graduate Program.
The University Archives contains a large volume of the records of the University Libraries. This collection continues to grow on almost a daily basis. Records of each department within the library, committees, taskforces, the faculty association, and the staff association are included in this collection. Since the records of past library directors are central to this collection, their descriptions are given below.
The collection is divided by RG subgroup number.
The University Archives also holds newspaper clippings, publications, annual reports, and photographs concerning the library, which have been separated to the Rare Books Collection, Virginia Tech Buildings Architectural Collection, RG 6/3/2e, Record Group Vertical Files, and Historical Photograph Collection.
The guide to the Records of the Virginia Tech University Libraries by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/).
Ralph Minthorne Brown was appointed as librarian in 1925. During his tenure, the library collection doubled in size. Brown retired in 1946.
This collection includes budget material (1943-52), statistics (1928-45), proposed library plans (1935-40), Library Committee material (1925-26), and correspondence (1925-47).
See Brown's personal papers in the Ralph Minthorne Brown Papers, Ms1970-002.
Seymour Robb succeeded Brown in 1947. In an effort to correct some of the deficiencies of the library, Robb called for a library survey. Funds were received in 1949 for a survey to be conducted by Maurice Tauber of Columbia University Library School and William Jesse of the University of Tennessee Library. Their conclusions led to immediate improvement in funding for the library. Beginning in 1951, funds were sought from various sources for the construction of a new library building. Carol M. Newman Library was completed in 1955. After fourteen years of service, Robb died in office in 1961.
This collection includes correspondence (1947-61), the Library Survey (1949), and records relating to the construction of Newman Library.
Frank Shirk assumed the duties of head of the library upon Seymour Robb's death in 1961. Shirk had been with the library since 1948 and had been Associate Library Director since 1955. Accomplishments of his tenure included an increased book budget, beginnings of automation, and adoption of the Library of Congress classification system to replace the Dewey Decimal system. Shirk stepped down in 1970.
This collection contains budget material (1961-70), gifts and memorial funds (1960-71), Library Committee minutes (1962-70), Library Committee self-study reports and memoranda (1966-68), memoranda to faculty (1964-68), policy statements (1965-69), VPI Interschool Library Committee report (1961), and correspondence dealing with the VPI Archives (1949-70). Also included are the correspondences of the Associate Library Director (Frank Shirk, 1955-61, and Robert Stephenson, 1964-70).
Gerald Rudolph became Library Director in 1970. Accomplishments of his administration included: creation of a subject-divisional organization for the library with separate reference desks for science, social sciences, and humanities; formation of two branch libraries (Geology and Northern Virginia); and approval of an addition to Newman Library.
This collection includes annual reports (1970-72), budget material (1970-72), correspondence (1970-74), Daily Bulletin Notices (1970-71), various committee reports (1970), memoranda concerning automated library system (1971), questionnaires on library (1969-70), student surveys and reports on library system (1971), organizational charts and policy revisions (1970), and correspondence and reports of Dr. Stuart Forth (Library Consultant, 1970). Also included are: State Council of Higher Education Library Advisory Committee material (1968-70); Report of the Subcommittee for Renovation and Addition to the Library (13 October 1970); "A Research Proposal Submitted to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University" by G.A. Rudolph and M.H. Agee; "The Redesign of Technical Services for Carol M. Newman Library" by G.W. Creasy, W.L. Root, and A.G. Yates (submitted 6 March 1972).
H. Gordon Bechanan became Library Director in 1974, after serving as an Assistant Director since 1972. Accomplishments during his tenure included: expansion of the microforms and rare books and manuscripts collections; the library's involvement in several cooperative projects with other research libraries; the library's membership in the Association of Research Libraries and SOLINET; construction of an addition to Newman; and development of an on-line catalog (VTLS). Bechanan retired in 1984.
This collection includes annual reports (1974-84), budget material (1970-85), building plans for addition to Newman (1970-71), Chemistry Branch Library proposal, Council on Library Resources material (1972-84), items concerning space (1973-80), VPI audits (1978-84), branch libraries policies (1971-82), Manuscript Committee materials, and VTLS materials. Also included are materials dealing with the American Library Association (1951-83), Association of Research Libraries (1976-84), Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (1976-83), Southern College and University Libraries statistics, SCHEV, and Virginia Libraries Association (1971-79).
Paul M. Gherman became Library Director in 1985. In 1991 the title of the position was changed to University Librarian. Gherman stepped down from the position in 1992.
This collection includes correspondence (1985-91), Library Administrative Council minutes (1989-90), minutes and literature about the International Archive of Women in Architecture (1989-90), memos and reports of the Association for Research Libraries (1985-89), the University Libraries Stategic Plan (1985), and memos from various departments within the Libraries.
Eileen Hitchingham served as Dean of the University Libraries from 1995 until her retirement on February 1, 2011.
In the early 1990s, the Virginia Tech University Libraries had an employee exchange with a university in Albania.
Virginia Tech's Carol M. Newman Library was opened in 1955. An addition was added in 1981. Another major renovation was completed in 2009.
These records contain files related to the 1981 renovation and addition as well as renovations made in the mid-2000s.
These records contain the files of the Virginia Tech Library Faculty Association Records and its presidents.
Library Administrative Committee was formerly University Libraries Management Committee and formerly Library Advisory Council.
These records contain records from the Virginia Tech University Libraries' Advisory Committees on professional development, InterLibrary Cooperation, and LOCAS.
This collection contains registers and permission forms, which may be restricted, and the files of Glenn McMullen, Wendell Weisand, Tamara Kennelly, and Stephen Zietz.
This collection contains the records of the Virginia Tech University Libraries' Technical Services Department, including Staff Affairs Committee, Bibliographic Services Supervisors Meeting, and annual reports from 1970 thru 1997.
This collection contains minutes and index for the Preparation Section Supervisors meetings and records for the Public Relations Task Force.
This collection contains cataloging manuals, statistics, indeces, Cataloging Committee on Committees annual reports, and serials information.
The Virginia Tech University Libraries' Acquisitions Department Records contains the records of the department, including acquisition and gift information from 1976 t0 1980 and reports for 1984 and 1994.
This collection contains materials related to online search databases, CFS, TULIP project, and librarian Dave Beagle.
This collection is restricted due to potential confidential material and needs to be reviewed by an archivist before access can be given. Contact Special Collections for more information.