The Library in Old College

William D. Godman was provided with space for the library on December 27, 1856, when the university agent was instructed to "fit up a room in a suitable manner," which he did on the northeast corner of the third floor of Old College. On June 6, 1857, having expended the initial $2,000 appropriation, Godman reported that the library contained 1,977 books, 21 catalogs, and 16 pamphlets. Of these, 33 books were in Greek, 33 in Latin, one in German, and 41 in French. There was no mention of newspaper or periodical holdings. Use of the library was extended to the university's trustees and agents, university and Garrett Biblical Institute faculty, university students, and residents of Evanston. Students paid an annual library fee which provided the library with a small income until the fee was discontinued in 1869 (from 1856 to 1863 the fee was $3.00, after which it was $1.50). Only faculty members were allowed to take books home.

Although the trustees initially had decided to appropriate $1,000 annually for the library, the economic depression which followed the Panic of 1857 made this impossible.

Godman was succeeded as librarian in 1858 by Daniel Bonbright, professor of Latin. Bonbright had a long and distinguished career at the university and the library often benefited from his interest. In the summer of 1869, for example, while studying in Europe, he discovered that the library of Johannes Schulze of the Prussian Ministry of Education was for sale. The collection of 20,000 volumes included Greek and Latin classics; dissertations in German in philosophy, philology, fine arts, history, and education; and many rare books including 13 incunabula. Upon Bonbright's strong recommendation, University Trustee Luther L. Greenleaf purchased the entire collection for the university for $6,820. The collection itself was considered a first-rate library for a university with only 100 students. In addition, Bonbright was chairman of the faculty Library Committee from its inception in 1876 to 1911.

In 1860 President Foster offered to exchange his personal library of 675 volumes in philosophy and history, complete with a cabinet valued at $1,050 for university property in Evanston. The offer was accepted.

In 1865 Orrington Lunt, president of the Board of Trustees and a university founder, established a permanent endowment for the university by deeding it 157 acres of Evanston land. Optimistically, the endowment was set aside in 1868 for library use and named the Orrington Lunt Library Fund. However, the financial crisis brought about by the Panic of 1873 forced the trustees to use the endowment for general purposes.

From 1865 to 1869 Louis Kistler, professor of Greek, served as librarian. Under his direction the first library catalog was completed. The Catalogue of Books in the Library of the Northwestern University, Volume 1(Evanston, Illinois, 1886, 47 pp.). It was produced by Charles Kimball Bannister, class of 1869, the first known student assistant. For the sum of $25, Bannister compiled a relatively rough listing of the 3,000-volume library, combining in one alphabetical sequence both authors and keywords from the titles. The collection, which completely filled the library room, was strong in Latin and Greek classics but included few contemporary writers.

By the spring of 1869 the university had passed through both an economic depression and the Civil War, and financial security appeared assured. Enrollment rose to 109 that year and by decision of the trustees Northwestern became co- educational, signaling the end of an era. Of great interest was a new building scheduled for completion in the fall of 1869, to be called University Hall.

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