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University of Texas Libraries

Branch Libraries at the University of Texas


The history of early branch libraries at the University of Texas is very sketchy. The existence of various library collections was often poorly documented at the time, and even less evidence remains today of what these libraries contained, where they were physically located, or what eventually happened to them. Their governance is also open to debate. Most were centrally administered (if not actually staffed) and their collections owned by the University Library. Others were more independent and ephemeral, managed by their respective academic departments. The Law Library was formally independent after 1895. According to Moloney, there were as many as 23 separate collections in 1922, although some of these were housed in the central library building. Branches were created, merged, split, and abolished with some frequency for many years.

Decentralization was in large part the consequence of inadequate space and facilities in the buildings that housed the central library (Old Main 1884-1911; Battle Hall 1911-34; Main 1934-77). While decentralization was an administrative expedient, it was not always popular. Humanities scholars whose work required interdisciplinary reading routinely protested the scattering of collections, but others, particularly science faculty, vigorously defended their branches and the independence and control that came with them. But this independence often came at the price of poor-to-nonexistent service, inadequate hours and staffing, book losses, and erratic, uncoordinated management.

In later years, the University and the library made concerted efforts to consolidate scattered subject branches, provide better bibliographic control (cataloging) of collections, and eliminate many informal departmental "reading rooms" that had sprung up organically over the decades. The biggest strides in this regard occurred in the 1970s, when the Perry-Castañeda Library opened and absorbed a number of non-science branches into a new central library facility.

Separate Subject Collections in 1900

All were located in Old Main except Chemistry, which was housed in the Chemical Laboratory. These collections were associated with their respective "schools" (i.e., departments) and were not yet represented in the main catalog.
Source: Moloney, p.119-20.

Separate Collections and Holdings, 1932

Name Volumes
Anthropology (b) 400
Architecture 2,000
Archives and Rare Books 5,500
Botany-Zoology (a, b) 6,750
Chemistry-Pharmacy (a, d) 5,500
Classical Languages (b) 1,200
Education (b) 15,000
Engineering 4,000
Economic Geology 3,000
Geology (b, c, e) 4,750
Home Economics (b) 250
Latin American 27,500
Law (f) 34,000
Newspapers 18,000
Philosophy and Psychology (b) 2,150
Physics (a) 3,250
Reserve Book Collection (b, g, h) 12,000
Wrenn (g) 15,000

Notes

Source: Moloney, p.307.
BOLD: In existence today.
a. Established before 1911.
b. Established after 1923.
c. Existed earlier in various forms as part of professor's or departmental office.
d. Pharmacy moved in with Chemistry in 1931 but was regarded as a separate collection. (The College of Pharmacy had moved to Austin from Galveston in 1927.)
e. Geology split from Botany-Geology-Zoology Library after 1923.
f. Split off as a separately administered branch in 1895.
g. Housed in central Library Building (now Battle Hall) after 1911.
h. Moved to Old Main in 1925.

Other known departmental collections, branches, or "seminar libraries" known to exist at various times before 1932 included:

Later Branch Libraries

Source:
Moloney, Louis C. A History of the University Library at the University of Texas, 1883-1934. (D.L.S. Dissertation, Columbia University, 1970)

For a pictorial history of the campus, see Berry, Margaret C. Brick by golden brick: a history of campus buildings at the University of Texas at Austin, 1883-1993. (Austin: LBCo., 1993).