Library History

1870	The University of Wooster opened with a small collection of donated books in a single room of Old Main Hall.
1875	A reading room was added.
1892	The library, now 15,000 donated volumes, expanded into the entire second floor of the new west wing of Old Main Hall.
1900	Phase 1 of the new University of Wooster Library building, donated by Henry Clay Frick, designed by Nimmons & Fellows of Chicago, and built by Winter and Ames of Wooster, replaced the library in Old Main (which burned the following year). It included a high-ceilinged reading room, classroom, and offices, with a 2-level self-supporting stack wing in the rear.
1906	Phase 2 of the University Library, designed by Evert Waid of New York and built by Winter and Ames of Wooster, extended the building to the east, roughly doubling its size.
1931	An upper story was added to the stack wing of the Library.
1962	The Andrews Library, funded with a principal gift from Mabel Shields Andrews, designed by Shafer, Flynn & Williams of Cleveland, and built by Freeman Construction Company of Wooster, replaced the old Library, “Frick Hall,” which was converted into an art museum and offices.
1966	Andrews Library joined the Federal Depository Library Program as a selective depository for United States government publications.
1971	Andrews Library became a charter member of the governing board of the Ohio College Library Center (later OCLC, Inc.: The Online Computer Library Center) for shared cataloging and interlibrary loan. Audiovisual services and microform collections were centralized in Andrews Library.
1978	The library became a member of NEOMARL (Northeast Ohio Major Academic and Research Libraries), later superceded by OhioLINK.
1987	The Scheide Music Center opened, its Music Listening Center housing a non-circulating collection of music recordings used in the department’s curriculum but listed in the Libraries’ general catalog.
1991	The card catalog and other manual library operations were replaced by an integrated online electronic library system manufactured by Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
1995	The Flo K. Gault Library for Independent Study and the accompanying renovation of the adjoining Andrews Library, was funded with a principal gift from Stanley C. and Flo K. Gault, designed by Perry Dean Rogers & Partners of Boston, and constructed by Bogner Construction Company of Wooster. The two libraries included more than 280 senior Independent Study carrels (mostly in the Gault Library) wired to the campus computer network, 4 carrels for emeritus faculty, and 5 group study rooms. The Gault Library also housed reference, reserve, and audiovisual services (including the McCreight Learning Laboratory), plus offices for the Registrar and Financial Aid. The renovated Andrews Library included a newly consolidated Special Collections facility, the new McCoy Computer Laboratory, and the College’s Writing Center.
1996	The College of Wooster became a founding member of the Five Colleges of Ohio Consortium, Inc., and merged the Libraries’ online library system with those of Denison University, Kenyon College, and Ohio Wesleyan University to form the CONSORT library system. CONSORT then joined OhioLINK, a statewide academic library consortium, to make the collections of its member libraries readily and quickly available to users throughout the state and to leverage local and state funds for the purchase of electronic resources. CONSORT’s membership in OhioLINK resulted in a steady expansion of the libraries’ electronic journals, books, and other databases.
1998	With a principal gift from the Timken Foundation, Frick Hall (the original University of Wooster Library) was decommissioned as an art museum and offices and completely renovated to become the Timken Science Library in Frick Hall, bringing together 4 previously separate departmental libraries. The renovation was designed by Perry Dean Rogers & Partners of Boston and carried out by Bogner Construction Management Company of Wooster. The facility included new ground-level entrances north and south, a dramatic makeover of the high-ceilinged reading room, a computer laboratory, new stacks including some mobile compact shelving, 2 group study rooms, and 26 study carrels.
2000	The Five Colleges of Ohio leased space in Newark, Ohio, for off-site storage of lesser-used library materials. Materials in this facility, known as CONStor, remained available for immediate request and 3–4-day delivery anywhere in OhioLINK.
2003	Audiovisual Services became the Instructional Media Center, a jointly-operated service of the Libraries and Instructional Technology.