Manchester College Library

During the lifetime to the College --now nearly 115 years --the library has had three "homes" and six head librarians.

The Librarians are 1919-1925 Olive Miller

1925-1944 L. W. Shultz

1944-1968 Ruth Coblentz

1957-1958 Thurmyle Gosnell

(during one-year absence of Coblentz)

1968-1989 Allen Willmert

1989- Robin Gratz

The first library was located on the second floor of the Administration Building - west end, Bible School area. In 1919, for example, there were 12,000 books in the collect. The second location was in what is now the Communications Building. That building was first occupied by sciences, and the North Ward School and was later converted to the Library.

As the collection grew, the College built Funderburg Library building and were faced in 1966 with the task of moving about 60,000 books. North American Van Lines sent word that they would be unable to accept offer to move the books from the old to the new library "... too large and fantastic a job to undertake...." So with Miss Coblentz' planning and the work of about 275 students and 25 faculty for two days the "large and fantastic job" was successfully completed and the new Library opened.

Source: NMHS Newsletter Sept 2008

Notes on the College Library ---

In 1923 I (L. W. Shultz) was asked by President Winger to go to Northwestern University and take a course and come back and teach Christian Education. He did that and more. Following is a first person account from the writings of L.W. Schultz.

I hadn't been here a year until he asked me to also become half-time librarian of the College Library. I worked at that for seventeen years - half time librarian. I've always been interested in books so I had a great experience working with books in all fields and also working with teachers who wanted certain books. Like I am now, I became a collector of books for the library as well as for myself.

When I first came to Manchester, the library was one room in the northwest corner of the second floor of the old administration building. Later on it was increased into the next room. That's where it was when I became librarian. Ollie Miller was working at that time and she became the cataloguer. I worked with her for several years there and then we moved from there to what was then the science building which is now the communications building. We moved to the lower floor of that.

And the upstairs became the Academy Building where I taught my classes upstairs in that same building. Now we have the Funderburg Library. I never got to serve in it though. I did help to move the books over there.

And then I started publishing books. I've printed and reprinted and coauthored about twenty-five titles. The first ones I reprinted were the Winger History books. The Last of the Miamis, Frances Slocum Trail, The Pottawatomies, and The Lost Sister Among the Miamis. Those were ones he wrote. In two of them I combined several paperbacks. The best book I did, I think was the Mural history book about the murals at Camp Mack. It had a wonderful sale, and it's out of print now. We sold 6,000 copies and I wish I had another thousand.