Wichita State University Libraries

University Libraries has played a prominent role on the WSU campus throughout its history, beginning with the institution's founding as Fairmount College in 1895. The first campus library was a reading room on the third floor of Fairmount Hall, the first building constructed on campus.[4]^:81 Paul Roulet, who was hired as a professor of mathematics and French served as the campus' first librarian until his death in 1903.[4]^:82–83

By the end of the first decade of the 20th Century, library collections had exceeded 20,000 volumes and had massively outgrown the original reading room in Fairmount Hall. The university opened its first library building, the Morrison Library, (named for the first President of Fairmount College, Nathan J. Morrison) in 1909, with the assistance of a $40,000 grant provided by Andrew Carnegie.[4]^:63 The first Morrison Library had a neo-classical design, characterized by the doric-style columns on its façade. Sadly these columns are all that remain of this building, which was tragically destroyed by fire in 1964.[5]

By the late 1930s library collections had exceeded the space in the original Morrison Library. A grant from the Federal Government during the New Deal provided the funds for a new library building, named the University of Wichita Library, opened in 1939.[6] Petitioning by students and faculty caused the University to rename the Library the Morrison Library (present day Morrison Hall).

A post-war economic boom led to a vast expansion of programs at the University of Wichita, increasing yet again the size of library collections, and placing demands for space that exceeded the size of the Morrison Library. A donation of property by Frank and Harvey Ablah, a pair of successful Wichita entrepreneurs made possible the financing of the construction of a new library facility.[6]^:222 Ablah Library opened its doors in 1962.

University libraries currently consist of three facilities located on the main campus of WSU: Ablah Library, McKinley Chemistry Library and Thurlow Lieurance Memorial Music Library.

On September 11th, 2013 the University Libraries celebrated the addition of the 2 millionth volume to its collections. In addition to print books, the University Libraries currently provide access to 236 electronic scholarly databases, and maintain subscriptions to over 70,000 academic journals. The collections also include over 432,000 e-books, over 4,200 DVD's, and an extensive textbook collection serving many of the courses offered at WSU.

University Libraries has been a Federal Depository library since 1901, collecting and providing the public with access to a wide variety of materials published by the U.S. Government, as well as the government of the State of Kansas. Since 1991, University Libraries has also been the only Patent and Trademark Depository library in the State of Kansas. Holdings include access to a vast collection of information on patents and trademarks filed in the United States, dating back to 1790. This collection is open to the public and library staff provide patrons with preliminary patent and trademark research by appointment at no charge.

WSU Special Collections and University Archives includes rare books, incunabula, historical Kansas maps, photographs, records of the history of [Wichita State University] (as well as its preceding institutions, the University of Wichita and Fairmount College) and a growing manuscript collection of more than 700,000 documents. Featured archival collections include the papers of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, the Baughman Collection of Early Kansas Maps and local history, the Gordon Parks Collection, and a number of collections of congressional papers, most notably those of Kansas Congressman, and later U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman. Digital Collections presented by Special Collections and University Archives features rare books, historical papers and photographs, as well as WSU and Wichita-area history.

• Wichita Photo Archives