The University of Richmond Libraries
The Seminary and the College Library
The first catalogue of the Virginia Baptist Seminary noted in 1832 that “it was deemed necessary to spend $1,000 for the purchase of books for a library.” It took two more years for these funds to be collected from donors all over Virginia. The books purchased with these modest funds formed the beginnings of what eventually became the University of Richmond Libraries.
By 1843, three years after Richmond College was chartered, there were 700 volumes in the library. A decade later, the library collection had grown to nearly 1,200 volumes and was housed in a small room in the Main Building, later known as Columbia, on Grace Street in Richmond. The library remained there throughout the Civil War, though most of the Main Building was turned into a Confederate Hospital.
When federal troops occupied Richmond in 1865, the Main Building became living quarters for some of these troops and the library books were removed for safekeeping by the commanding officer. Fewer than 100 volumes were recovered. These still bear the property label of “Virginia Baptist Seminary” and are now housed in the Galvin Rare Book Room.
Richmond College reopened to students on October 1, 1866, without an endowment or a library. In 1867, the Reverend Edward J. Owen of St. Louis presented the College with a gift of more than 2,600 books to start a new library. Many of these volumes still remain in the library, bearing the Rev. Owen’s handwritten name in each volume.
In 1883, the Reverend Dr. Charles H. Ryland was named the first regular College Librarian and Curator of the Museum. The same year saw the opening of Jeter Memorial Hall in the south wing of the Old Richmond College building. Described as a “spacious and elegant apartment,” the library hall was 123 by 43 feet, with a pitch of nearly 22 feet and a capacity of 50,000 volumes.
When Dr. Frederic William Boatwright became College President in 1895, the library collection had grown to 12,000 volumes. By 1905, the library had a small endowment and 15,000 volumes. Soon after, Dr. Boatwright urged the Richmond College Trustees to increase the library’s endowment from $20,000 to $50,000 and to add space and staff for a new library that would better support the institution’s growing needs.
Ryland Hall Library
The period of 1914-1920 was significant for Richmond College and its growing library. Richmond College relocated from its Grace Street site in 1914 to a large tract of land in the Westhampton section of Henrico County. Westhampton College was founded as a coordinate college for women, with its own library reading room located in the North Court building.
Dr. Ryland died in 1914, and was succeeded as Librarian by his daughter, Miss Marion Garnett Ryland. The new Richmond College library was housed in the south wing of Robert Ryland Hall. This wing was named the Charles Ryland Hall to honor Dr. Ryland. Designed by famed architect Ralph Adam Cram, Ryland Hall was a neo-Gothic academic building. The library featured dark oak paneling, recessed alcoves, large leaded windows, and a 24-foot high vaulted ceiling.
During World War I, the new campus was leased to the government for use as a hospital. Consequently, early in 1918, all of the library materials were packed up and temporarily relocated in the old Columbia Building at Lombardy and Grace Streets. The library returned to the Westhampton area campus some 15 months later in 1919. (This excludes the T. C. Williams Law School’s library, which remained in the Columbia Building until 1954, when a new law school building was constructed.)
By 1920, Miss Ryland was requesting additional space for the library. She wrote Dr. Boatwright that “we cannot shelve our books or seat students unless we have more room,” suggesting the use of classrooms in other areas of Ryland for additional library space. This need for more space was an issue over the next 30 years. Classrooms, literary society halls, and faculty offices were used to house library materials. Departmental library reading rooms to house the science collections were opened in Maryland, Puryear, and Richmond Halls in response to space limitations in Ryland Hall.
After Miss Ryland’s death in 1927, Lucy Temple Throckmorton served as “acting librarian” until her retirement in 1955. She continued to communicate the need for adequate library space.
In 1944, plans for a new library were incorporated into a campaign to raise $1,000,000 for a library and other campus buildings. Dr. Reuben E. Alley, a prominent alumnus and editor of the Religious Herald, was appointed chairman of the campaign. The new library was to be built on “the spot which has been reserved for the commanding building of the University.” Dr. Alley recommended to the Trustees and the Baptist General Association that the new library be named to honor President Boatwright.
President Boatwright died in 1951 before the new library became a reality. His belief in the library as the central part of the college experience is expressed in an excerpt from a report in which he wrote, “The library is the most important building in a University … the universal laboratory where every student and every teacher does his work. Especially has the library become more important in the last half century as the emphasis in college education has shifted from teaching to learning. The quality of education provided by a college is directly dependent upon its library, and the educational value of an institution will rise or fall as its library is strong or weak.”
Boatwright Memorial Library
The new Boatwright Memorial Library building was completed and dedicated on November 1, 1955. The building included space for the collections of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and offices for the University’s administration. Designed by the architectural firm of Carneal and Johnston, the library contained space for 150,000 volumes and could seat more than 270 students
In 1955, Dr. Ray W. Frantz, Jr., succeeded Miss Throckmorton as Librarian. Dr. Frantz left in 1960 and Miss Josephine Nunnally served as Acting Librarian from 1960-1967. By the time Artie Kelley became Librarian in 1967, Boatwright Memorial Library and its branch collections had grown to more than 175,000 volumes. Space for books and students was again an issue. Separate library branches had been created in the Business School and for the University College location on Franklin Street. A space needs study for the library was commissioned in 1972. The report recommended building an additional 40,000 square feet to bring the total space to 90,000 square feet. The expanded library would accommodate 500,000 volumes with a Learning Resource Center and auditorium.
The newly renovated and greatly enlarged Boatwright Memorial Library was dedicated in 1976. Incorporated in the building were collections previously located in the Business School, the University College, and the Westhampton College Reading Room. The new building housed one of the first full media resource centers in an undergraduate institution in the country, and a 100-seat auditorium.
Dennis R. Robison became University Librarian when Artie Kelly resigned in 1974. A National Endowment for the Humanities College Library Grant funded a five-year project to help develop library-centered teaching projects, improve reference services, and create a 10-year collection development program. The professional librarians were granted faculty status in 1975.
Two branch libraries were added to the University of Richmond Libraries in the late 1970s. The Music Department Library became a part of the University of Richmond Libraries in 1977. In 1995, it was expanded, relocated, and renamed the Parsons Music Library in the new Modlin Center for the Arts. The Science Library, which incorporated collections from biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and the Virginia Institute for Scientific Research (VISR), opened in the new Gottwald Science Center in 1977. In 2003, the Science Library was relocated to Boatwright Memorial Library, creating the Science Information Center. The Business Library collection, now located in the first floor of Boatwright, became the Robins School of Business Information Center in 1990.
Dennis Robison resigned in 1985. James Gwin, Director of Library Technical Services, served as Acting University Librarian from 1985-1986, again in 1990-1991, and once more from 1995-1998. Dr. John Tyson was named the University’s first African-American Librarian in 1986.
Library quarters became cramped again, and plans for the construction of a second addition to the library were approved by the Trustees in 1987. The 48,000-square-foot wing opened in 1989, and included the greatly enlarged Lora Robins Gallery of Designs from Nature museum. Known for his support and commitment to computer technology for libraries, Dr. Tyson spearheaded the purchase of an integrated library system in 1989.
Dr. Tyson resigned in 1990 to become Director of the Library of Virginia. He was succeeded in 1991 by Dr. Judith Lynn Hunt, who served as University Librarian until 1994. James R. Rettig, from the Swem Library at the College of William & Mary, assumed the position of University Librarian in 1998.
Ellen J. Waite, later Ellen J. Waite-Franzen, became the first Associate Provost for Information Services in 1997. This position included administrative responsibility for the library and for information technology. Ms. Waite-Franzen was later promoted to Vice President for Information Services. She resigned in early 2002 and was succeeded by Kathryn J. Monday.
In recent years, the University has invested in significant upgrades to the library facility and services including the creation of comfortable technology rich learning space on the first and second floors, a single service point, a self-checkout system, a coffee shop, a quiet reading room, and an attractive outdoor patio area. In addition, the library expanded its hours of operation to include 24-hour availability on weekdays during the fall and spring terms.