Library Notes

The Library Services Record Group (RG 3/6) in Meyer Library’s Special Collections and Archives represents the history of library services at Missouri State University, including photographs, meeting minutes, financial records, reports, and more, dating back to the 1919.

The library began with 600 volumes in 1905 as a part of the Missouri State Normal School #4.  It moved into the north wing of the new academic building (Carrington Hall) in 1909 and by 1912 its collection had grown to 12,000 volumes.  An article in the Southwest Standard praised the library’s service but lamented that it still needed more books.

By 1924 the library work force consisted of two librarians, one staff and 22 student assistants.  In 1940 the library contained 50,000 volumes and employed five librarians, 20 student assistants and 20 National Youth Administration students. The next year plans were drawn for a $128,000 art-deco style library to be built through the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.).  To the disappointment of the campus community, World War II halted the project before it received W.P.A. approval.  Finally, construction began in 1954 on a $600,000 library building, designed to hold 150,000 volumes, provide seating for 2,400, and include a foreign language lab and faculty reading room.  The new Memorial Library (later Cheek Hall) had an air-conditioned first floor and was dedicated in November of 1955.

In 1960 staff included six professional librarians and approximately 30 student assistants.  That same year the library became a United States Government Document Depository. By 1975 the library collection had grown to 270,000 volumes and 207,000 microform units.  By this time, library personnel included 15 librarians and 17 staff and the status and name of the college had changed to university.

In 1978 $6.8 million was allocated for construction, equipment and furnishings for a new library building, which was dedicated in September of 1980. In 1982 the Board of Regents named the library in honor of retiring MSU President Duane G. Meyer.  The library celebrated the acquisition of its 500,000th volume, a facsimile of the Gutenberg Bible, in 1990.  By 1995, the library contained 586,900 volumes and 844,000 microform units.  In 2000 Meyer Library was named as an official United Nations Depository.

As of 2001, the year this collection was processed as well as the year the Meyer Library building was extensively renovated and added onto, the items in MSU’s libraries numbered over 2.9 million including volumes, subscriptions to periodicals and newspapers, extensive back files of journals and newspapers, audiovisual materials, and government documents and maps.

For more information, or for access to unprocessed material collected since 2001, contact Special Collections and Archives.

Next Thursday evening, June 28th, is the big Springfield premiere of a feature-length documentary about Springfield’s rich musical heritage.

Dave Hoekstra, a media person (Sun-Times and WGN) and author from Chicago, is the producer, and Abbey Waterworth, a local singer and musician (and a student employee in the MSU Libraries), is the associate producer. The event at the Fox Theater on the Square is free and open to all. No tickets required.

This week a crew from Missouri Terrazzo has been working on the terrazzo flooring on the main First Level of the Duane G. Meyer Library on the Springfield campus of Missouri State University. They are filling and squaring off gaps in the flooring near the new RIS Commons as well as near the forthcoming new living room or den, made possible through generous support from Don and Ruth Martin. Once the terrazzo is finished, the rest of the carpeting in that area will be replaced. The walls are being patched and repainted, and new furniture is on order. The goal is to have this project completed by early August.

In May PBS began a new television series called the Great American Read. Quoting from the project’s FaceBook page: “THE GREAT AMERICAN READ, a new eight-part television competition and nationwide campaign, explores the power of books and the joy of reading through the lens of America’s 100 best-loved novels. Vote for your favorites before the series returns this fall.”

The MSU Libraries is partnering with other organizations to plan a series of events around this national public campaign. Preliminary planning discussions are underway with the MSU English Department, OPTV, KSMU, and other interested organizations. Some of the ideas discussed to date:

The summer issue of the e-publication called Public Affairs Lens has been released. In this second issue there is a staff highlight about Shannon Conlon in Interlibrary Loan, an article about change, and an article about a new book examining libraries and homelessness. In a video embedded in that article, the author “Ryan Dowd (Director of Hesed House, Chicago) shares advice on taking a more empathetic approach toward homeless individuals.”

Public Affairs Lens is a publication of the Public Affairs Committee of the Missouri State Libraries. In each e-newsletter, we celebrate the accomplishments of our library employees focusing on the three pillars of MSU’s Public Affairs Mission: Ethical Leadership, Cultural Competency, and Community Engagement.

The online, full-text Eastern edition of the Wall Street Journal newspaper is available from January 2, 1984 to today — over 34 years of coverage. Wire service articles are not included, nor are most financial data that appear in the print edition. Full text is online in html format only, with PDF downloads available. Meyer Library also has the Wall Street Journal on microfilm from Feb. 1959-Dec. 2009.

The Ozarks Jewish Archives (M 43) in Meyer Library’s Special Collections and Archives contains material from the local Jewish community dating back to 1924.  It includes items about Temple Israel (the first synagogue in Springfield, Missouri), oral histories, and information related generally to Jewish activity in the Ozarks.

By the late 19th century there was a small community of Jewish people living in the Ozarks.  In 1893, they organized Temple Israel, and during the early 20th century, the community grew large enough to split into two congregations: Temple Israel and Sha’are Zedek.  During World War II, however, financial constraints forced the groups to cooperate regularly, and after the war they merged, forming the United Hebrew Congregations.

For more information, see the collection’s finding aid or contact Special Collections and Archives.

If any full-time current employee of the MSU Libraries is going to be out of the library (Meyer or Haseltine) for a half day (i.e., four consecutive work hours) or more, we ask that you use the “Library Off Campus Calendar” that our LIT Unit recently set up. You may be out of the library for some work-related reason (e.g., a conference or workshop), or for some planned, excused absence (e.g., vacation, bereavement, jury duty).

To add an event to the Library Off Campus Calendar (libraryoffcampuscalendar@missouristate.edu), when you won’t be available/on-campus for four hours, or more, please follow these steps:

1. Create a new calendar event in Outlook/Outlook Web (outlook.office.com) for the time you’ll be unavailable (select “all day” when appropriate).
2. Add libraryoffcampuscalendar@missouristate.edu to the list of attendees.
3. Set the event title to your first and last name, or preferred name (eg. Brooks Travis).
4. (optional) Include a “reason/description” in the event title, in parenthesis or separated by a ” – “. For example, full event titles: “Brooks Travis (Vacation)” or “Rachel Besara – Out of Country”.
5. Send the invitation.

That’s it!

The Copenhaver Collection (LA 22) in Meyer Library’s Special Collections and Archives is a small collection mainly consisting of material from 1924-1938 regarding the Missouri Farmers Association (MFA) Milling Company in Springfield, Missouri.  It includes photographs of the inside of their building and of floods at the building in the late 1920s, MFA financials, and meeting minutes for the Exchange Managers of Southwest Missouri.  Also included in the collection is information about the Flour, Cereal, Feed Mill, and Grain Elevator Workers Union.

James Albert Copenhaver (1891-1959) and his brother, Herbert Hadley Copenhaver (1909-1972), were union members who worked in Springfield’s milling industry in the 1920s and 1930s.  James was a bookkeeper and cashier for the Missouri Farmers Association, whose Mill and Feed Company was located on Holland Street in Springfield.  He resigned as bookkeeper and cashier in 1928 and began working for the Tindle Milling Company, also in Springfield.

In the early 1920s, the MFA began a wholesale feed operation in Springfield, Missouri, called the Farm Club Mill and Feed Company of Springfield.  In 1924, the name was changed to the Missouri Farmers Association Purchasing Department, but was still referred to as the Farm Club Mill and Feed Company, as well as other similar names, such as the Springfield Mill and Feed Department, the Mill and Feed Company of Springfield, and the Springfield Mill.

The collection can be seen in person at Meyer Library, or online at http://purl.missouristate.edu/library/archives/DigitalCollections/Copenhaver. For more information see the collection’s finding aid or contact Special Collections and Archives.

From March 16 through May 26, 2019, the Duane G. Meyer Library on the main Springfield campus of Missouri State University will host a traveling national exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution called “Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge. Shared Science.” This exhibit will be free and open to the entire campus community, as well as to the general public.

According to the exhibit website:

Local ecosystems around the world face serious environmental challenges. Many Native communities have found innovative solutions by combining traditional knowledge with modern science. Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge. Shared Science features stories of ecological and cultural restoration from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Tulalip Tribes, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and Native Hawaiians.

The exhibition is comprised of 18 colorful banners and includes digital design templates for host venues to customize additional banners with local content. Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, Roots of Wisdom is accompanied by rich educational resources that will enhance the visitor experience and reinforce the themes of the exhibition.

Roots of Wisdom: Native Knowledge. Shared Science was developed, produced, and circulated by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibition was made possible with funds provided by the National Science Foundation.