Archives + Special Collections

Whenever a UDMercy alumni comes back for a visit, they are amazed at how much the library has changed since they were students. Take a look at what they would remember back around 1960 and compare how things look now.

Circulation Desk 1960′s

Circulation Desk 2014

More than just the physical appearances have changed. Up until 1964, the library books were classified in the Dewey Decimal system. When it was decided to convert all the books to the LC or Library of Congress system of classification, it meant changing the call numbers of some 225,000 books. All the new books would get the new call numbers, but it was estimated that it would take four to five years to change the numbers on all the old books already in the library. This was not a big problem for students to retrieve the books because during that period of time the stacks were closed. If a students needed a book, someone on the library staff would have to get it for them. So if you ever wondered why there are these narrow steps leading to the other floors-only staff needed to access the other floors. It was not until 1977 that the stacks were opened up for students to find the book for themselves. Now there are a whole lot more books to check out, more than 600,000 and an additional 140,000 ebooks as well.

Searching for books also changed, from paper cards in a card catalog to an electronic system to identify print books and DVD’s and access ebooks and on-line journals.

Dudley Randall, Reference Librarian

You no longer have to wait for the library to open , the library is available 24/7. However, with all the information sources available, the reference librarian can be the best resource to help make the most efficient use a student’s research time-just don’t wait until the last minute before that paper or project is due.