Notes
Slide Show
Outline
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"A History of the Library"


  • A History of the Library
  • at Saint Michael’s College
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It all started with a few books.
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Over the next twenty years, the library grew.  In 1915, faculty donated a room for the Newman Lyceum, and in 1924, “Fathers’ Library” was moved and integrated into the new
Saint Michael’s College Library on the north end of the first floor.
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In 1929, the library expanded into the adjacent reading hall.
This photograph was taken around 1939.
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 This was the file desk in 1943...
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...and the stacks.
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"During World War II"
  • During World War II, troops from the US military were stationed at Fort Ethan Allen, one mile north of the main campus.  Many soldiers lived in barracks similar to those seen here.
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On April 23, 1948, an unused Army hostess building was moved from Fort Ethan Allen to the main campus next to College Hall (now Jean-Marie Hall).  Note the construction of Cheray Science Hall in the background.
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For the next twenty years, this was the College library.
Today, it is the Klein Center.
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The move from Old Hall began on June 21 and took six days—
with rain on four of them.

  • Photo of Klein interior
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In August 1966, construction began on a barrel-shaped building
that would become the College’s first modern library.

By May 1967, it had the appearance of a medieval fort.
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Construction continued through the summer...
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...and into the winter.
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Finally, in 1968, the building was complete.
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On Saturday, February 10, 1968 the big move to the new library began.  It started during a blizzard at 8:00 a.m., when alumnus John Trotier (Class of 1951) carried the first load of books with his famous Husky dog sled team.
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The move continued until 4:00 a.m. on Sunday.  The staff and hundreds of students loaded book onto carts, which they pulled up an icy ramp from the old library basement and hoisted into a truck.
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Staff and students remembered those twenty hours
with bodies that ached for more than a week.
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The new library opened for business at noon on Monday, February 12, 1968.
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The card catalog and Circulation Desk were located near the front door.
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The stacks were arranged around the core like spokes from a wheel.
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It was named for Jeremiah Kinsella Durick, professor of English from 1930-1960.
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By 1980, the library was getting crowded.
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By the mid-eighties, bound periodicals were shelved on student study desks.
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Designs were sought for a new addition.
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Finally, this design was accepted.
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Construction began in 1991.
 Workers demolished part of the old entrance…
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…dug and poured
the foundation…
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"…erected walls"


  • …erected walls…
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"…added the brick façade..."



  • …added the brick façade...
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"…installed the front walkway"

  • …installed the front walkway…
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…and completed the construction in 1992.  This is the library today.
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The Durick Library is one of the largest libraries in Vermont, providing over 45 computers for student use and allowing access to dozens of electronic indexes and full-text databases through the library website.
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In 2003, literary critic Harold Bloom donated his lifelong accumulation of books to Saint Michael’s.  An anonymous alumnus pledged $5 million for the construction of a new library to house the Bloom Collection and other archival material, including the archive on deposit from the Society of Saint Edmund.
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The Dupont Library, which will stand adjacent to the Durick library, is designed to be a box within a box.  In the interior, there will be a rectangular climate-controlled facility for the Bloom archives, surrounded by the Bloom Reading Room and office space for visiting scholars.  The College hopes to build a corridor between Dupont and Durick to house Bloom’s art collection.
  • (scan of architectural plans?)
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"“The idea is to..."
  • “The idea is to have a technically correct space to protect the legacy, a space where human beings can frequent.  There is a certain symbolism in setting something aside that says we want to pay our dues to literature,” said Marc vanderHeyden, president of Saint Michael’s.
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At Saint Michael’s celebrates its Centennial, the library has come a long way since those few books in

  • The future looks bright for the library at Saint Michael’s College.


  • In one hundred years, the library has grown from just a few books to access to over 400,000 items—from books, audio/visual recordings, and microforms to electronic books, journals, and databases.


  • It has come a long way since “Fathers’ Library” one hundred years ago.
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"The End"

  • The End


  • Library & Information Services:
  • http://www.smcvt.edu/_noside.asp?SiteAreaID=208&Level=1


  • Saint Michael’s College Centennial Celebration:
  • http://www.smcvt.edu/_noside.asp?SiteAreaID=2373&Level=1





  • Copyright 2004 Library and Information Services
  • Saint Michael’s College