The Library at Fifty

Conceptual drawing of CSF Library - 1965
With the construction of the new USF science building underway, I think it’s a good opportunity to look back at another building on campus. Specifically, the Library, home to the USF Archives. Coincidentally, construction of the two buildings fall fifty years apart.  

Plans for a new and modern library began several years before any dirt was moved. The previous CSF library was in the Motherhouse, the first building on campus. The collection grew steadily over the 1930s-1960s, with a total of 70,000 volumes by 1964. The amount of undergraduate students increased over this period to around 1,100 students, which gave a compelling reason to build a standalone library building.
Library during construction - 1966

Another reason to move forward with construction was due to the new Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963. It states: 

"To authorize assistance to public and other nonprofit institutions of higher education in financing the construction, rehabilitation, or improvement of needed academic and related facilities in undergraduate and graduate institutions." 

This act allowed CSF to receive a grant one-third the total cost of the building from the Federal Government. The other two-thirds was covered with a loan from the State of Illinois, and fundraising efforts. In total, the library cost a little over $1,000,000.

The Board of Trustees consulted Frazier Poole, the head librarian at the University of Illinois at Navy Pier, for help with the design, statistics of the college, and work of the building committee. He notes: “The building of the library is the problem of the architect. The functional ideas are the problem of the librarian.” Architects J.A. Semitekol and R.V. Larson handled the plans, and previously worked for CSF on the new residence hall, which was built a year earlier.

LaVerne and Dorothy Brown Library exterior - 2016
The groundbreaking occurred April 14, 1966. Over the next year, all the equipment and furniture required to fill a much larger space was purchased. The library opened to students in September 1967, and had a capacity for 200,000 volumes. March 24, 1968 was the dedication of the library, attended by Board of Trustees members, Sisters, donors, librarians from other Chicagoland colleges, and the public.


Since 1968, the library has undergone little change. A few classrooms were added to the basement level, the open spaces on the third floor have been changed to the Archives and Academic Research Center (ARC), and the outside entrance has gotten a face-lift. However, the original open-floor plan and 1960s aesthetics are still prominent. 

If you would like more information about the library and its importance to the University of St. Francis, please check out the Library Administration (10-250) and Buildings (30-100) collections.



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