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| An architect's drawing of the first standalone library building. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
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| Taken during the 1953 construction. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
In 1952, plans were approved for a smaller building that would hold 130,000 volumes and seat 375 students, and it was estimated that this library would serve campus for the next 50 years. Sadly, this estimate would prove false, and less than 10 years later this building would already be bursting at the seams (Paul).
The new
library was completed in 1954. Students used three ground floor entrances or an underground tunnel that connected the library to Old Main. On the
first floor students browsed the stacks and visited large rooms for the reference and course reserves collections. The second floor held an audio-visual auditorium with
movable seating, a record listening room, microfilm and film
collections, and sound-proofed rooms with rentable typewriters. Government
documents, textbooks, and additional storage were in the basement. In April, classes were cut short and students were asked to
move armfuls of books from Old Main to their new shelves.
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| A floor plan and explanation of services from the 1956-57 General Plan library booklet. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
The library was built to serve up to 1,400 students a semester, and it was projected that WSC-Stevens Point would reach that enrollment by 1970. In reality, college enrollment surpassed that number in 1958. While the building was much more spacious than the single room in Old Main, it was almost immediately outgrown.
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| Photo from The Central State Pointer, 1/13/1955 Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives |
Library Director Nelis Kampenga oversaw the move and was incredibly thankful to have the extra space. In a 1957 interview, Kampenga mentioned that book accessions had doubled over the last decade and that the 25 student employees were working hard to keep up. Considering the new space, Kampenga asserted:
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| From the 1957 yearbook, Iris. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
“The
probability of student accomplishment and growth in the library habit is much
greater in the new building, but the student still has to be willing to take
the time and to work to learn the real pleasures of effective use of a good
library.”
Changes to Library Services
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| Taken from The Pointer on 4/18/1957. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
From 1961-64 the library stacks were closed; no public browsing allowed. This had also occurred during the last years at Old Main, due to overcrowding, but this time the stacks were closed to prevent loss. Director Kampenga explained in the 1961 Student Guide to the College Library that it was common to see a 10-15% loss in library materials. However, more recent shelf audits had shown material losses between 25-30%. This was an amount that the library could not afford to replace. Students were required to request their materials at the circulation desk, where a librarian would retrieve the items and check them out to the student. Not surprisingly, the library’s circulation data was much higher in the 1962-63 academic year since students could not walk out with materials. In 1964, the stacks partially opened back up to students and bags were checked at building exits. In 1966 the stacks were fully opened for general use.
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| Showing the first floor conference rooms in 1959. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
Almost 80 years after being founded, the student body at WSU–Stevens Point was still primarily made up by future teachers. One of seven state colleges in Wisconsin, approximately 2,500 students were enrolled in 1962, with 50% enrolled in teacher education and the remainder primarily in liberal arts and pre-professional majors. Enrollment was growing, with 3,299 students enrolled in 1963, and 4,526 in 1965. In 1964 the first two graduate students would leave Stevens Point. From what Master's program? Education, of course!
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| Taken from the 1965 Iris. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
Albertson's Campus Legacy
With the support of current faculty and administration, James H. Albertson became college president in 1962. He made himself known as an involved, thoughtful leader. From 1962-67, he encouraged faculty to reconsider curriculum, expand world views, and deepen their understanding of a rapidly-connecting world population. By 1967 enrollment included students from 12 international countries, and Albertson hoped to see that number increase.
Albertson had a passion for helping others, so when he was invited to join a consultation team for higher education in Vietnam, he accepted. He encouraged leaders in Vietnam to tailor curriculum to match the skills that their communities needed. On March 23, 1967, the plane that he and seven other Wisconsin educators were on crashed near a mountain peak just north of DaNang, Vietnam, during a turbulent rainstorm. There were no survivors. In the coming months Lee Sherman Dreyfus was appointed chancellor at WSC-Stevens Point and he introduced the Albertson Medallion for graduating students who best exemplified Albertson’s outstanding persona as a leader, scholar, and citizen.
Looking to the Future
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| Taken from the 1966 Iris. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
Dreyfus needed to address the space concerns of the library. Built to hold 130,000 volumes, in 1968, there were about 170,000 volumes and the library subscribed to 1,511 periodicals. The overcrowding made it difficult for students to access materials.
Since there were approximately 7,000 students enrolled in 1968, that meant there were 24 volumes per student. The Board of Regents set a goal that each state university should have 35 volumes per student by 1975. To reach that goal, there simply had to be more space.
In 1966, plans were tentatively drawn
up for another library building, and they were approved in 1968. The building was six stories, making it the tallest on campus. To maintain proper staffing it was estimated that the library would need 50 full-time employees and 75-100 student employees.
It was completed by the fall semester of 1970, when enrollment hit nearly 9,000 students. The old library building was converted into a student center.
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| From the 1967 yearbook, Iris. Photo from the UW-Stevens Point Archives. |
The first standalone library building was always one step behind. Built too small, the space was almost immediately outgrown without funding or space to expand. Preventing book theft made it more difficult for student to use the library, but the material loss could not continue. By the time the Learning Resources Department proposed a new building, the shelves were already 40,000 volumes over capacity. The new Learning Resource Center allowed for more expansion and student use than all previous versions of the campus library.
This story is built from primary sources held in the UW-Stevens Point Archives, records that continue to document the people, spaces, and work that shaped the library over time.
Come back next week as we continue the story!
Below, find additional information and sources used in this blog post.
Circulation data, taken from the earliest library records in the UW-Stevens Point Archives:
- 1952-53: 23,396 books circulated.
- 1953-54: 24,385 books circulated.
- 1954-55: 28,430.
- 1955-56: 31,251.
- 1956-57: 34,643.
- 1958-59: 42,204.
- 1959-60: 39,218.
- 1960-61: 40,351.
- 1961-62: 38,933.
- 1962-63: 49,178.
- 1963-64: 60,492.
- 1964-65: 71,174.
- 1965-66: 69,613.
- 1966-67: 91,532.
- 1967-68: 107,533.
- 1968-69: 123,479.