Guide to the San José State University Library Records
SJSU Library Special Collections and Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
Phone: (408) 808-2062
Fax: (408) 808-2063
Email: special.collections@sjsu.edu
URL: http://library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
© 2009
Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Guide to the San José State University Library Records
Collection number: MSS-2009-03-03
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
Phone: (408) 808-2062
Fax: (408) 808-2063
Email: special.collections@sjsu.edu
URL: http://library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
- Processed by
- Robert Donahue.
- Date Completed:
- 2009
- Encoded by:
- Robert Donahue
© 2009 Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: San José State University Library Records
Dates: 1880-2002
Bulk Dates: 1962-1999
Collection number: MSS-2009-03-03
Creator:
San José State University Library
Collection Size:
56 Boxes
62.89 linear feet
Repository:
San José State University. Library.
San José, California 95192-0028
Abstract: The San José State University Library Records (1880-2002 [bulk 1962-1999]) document the administrative and operational functions
of the university library. The records consist of reports, blueprints, architectural drawings, and administrative files such
as meeting minutes. Also included is student census data and blueprints of the university library. The bulk of the records
document the library from 1962 to 1999, but there are historically significant materials from earlier incarnations of the
library, such as accession records dating back to the late 1800s. This collection is arranged into two series: Series I. Administrative
Files, 1880-2002 (bulk 1962-1999); and Series II. Blueprints and Architectural Drawings, 1916-1973.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright is assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission
to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply
to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
San José State University Library Records, MSS-2009-03-03, San José State University Library Special Collections and Archives.
Processing Information
Collection processed and finding aid EAD encoded by Robert Donahue. Reviewed by Danelle Moon and Erin Louthen.
Project Information
This finding aid was created as part of the Survey and Cataloging Project, a two-year San José State University Library grant
project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project began in 2008. The Project Director
is Danelle Moon. The Project Archivist is Erin Louthen.
Organizational History
In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers
in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California
State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San
José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed
the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed
in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes,
Minns' Normal school is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations,
and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.
The San José State University Library can trace its origins to the early days of the California State Normal School, which
provided funding to purchase books and other materials for a campus library in the 1860s. The first California State Normal
School building in San José was completed in 1872, with a new library located on the first floor. The building was destroyed
by fire in 1880, but most of the library's 2,000 volumes were saved. Further expansion of the college library occurred in
1942. Construction of a Library Annex followed in 1956, expanding library facilities northward toward the old public Carnegie
Library (now the Student Union) at the corner of Fourth and San Fernando Streets. In 1961, the Carnegie Library was destroyed
to make room for Library North, a new building.
In the 1970s many San José State campus buildings were deemed unsafe and were destroyed, including the 1910 library. The Robert
D. Clark Library, completed in 1982, became the home to new acquisitions, while older materials remained in the John T. Wahlquist
library building. In the early 1990s, SJSU President Robert L. Caret and San José mayor Susan Hammer began negotiations to
build a joint university and city library. In 2000, the Wahlquist Library was destroyed to make space for the construction
of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 20, 2000 and the library opened
on August 1, 2003.
Bibliography
Gilbert, Benjamin F. and Charles Burdick.
Washington Square, 1857-1979: The History of San José State University. San José: San José State University, 1980.
San José Public Libraries and San José State University Library: Library History. http://www.sjlibrary.org/about/history/index.htm
(accessed April 30, 2009).
San José State University: About SJSU. http://www.sjsu.edu/about_sjsu/ (accessed March 19, 2009).
Walsh, James P.
San José State University: An Interpretive History, 1950-2000. San José: San José State University, 2003.
Related Material
Joint Library Files. SJSU University Archives Collection.
Scope and Content
The San José State University Library Records (1880-2002 [bulk 1962-1999]) document the administrative and operational functions
of the university library. The records consist of reports, blueprints, architectural drawings, and administrative files such
as meeting minutes. Also included is student census data and blueprints of the university library. The bulk of the records
document the library from 1962 to 1999, but there are historically significant materials from earlier incarnations of the
library, such as accession records dating back to the late 1800s. This collection is arranged into two series: Series I. Administrative
Files, 1880-1999 (bulk 1962-1999); and Series II. Blueprints and Architectural Drawings, 1916-1973.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series: Series I. Administrative Files, 1880-2002 (bulk 1962-1999); and Series II. Blueprints
and Architectural Drawings, 1916-1973.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
San José State University--Library--History
San José State Normal School--History
San José State Teachers College--History
San José State College--History
California State University, San José--History
San José State University--History
Education--Higher--California--San José
Education--California--San José
Collection Contents
Series I:
SJSU University Library Administrative Files
1880-2002
(bulk 1962-1999)
Physical Description: 50 Boxes
Series Scope and Content Summary
The San José State University Library can trace its origins to the early days of the California State Normal School in the
1860s. The academic library has served students in San José for over a century. The records chronicle the library from its
roots as a Normal School library to the university's preparations for the creation of a joint library with the main branch
of the San José public library in 2003.
The material in this series contains administrative files, reports, questionnaires, and library statistics. Also included
are files pertaining to the St. John Dixon case. Dixon was one of three students expelled from Alabama State University after
participating in a sit-in at a white lunch counter. He applied for admission to San José State and was initially denied. President
Wahlquist (1952-1964) and advocates for Dixon later managed to obtain the paperwork for Dixon and allow him admission to San
José State College.
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically by date range.
Boxes 1-2
Accession Records
1887-1962
Box 3
Handbooks, Pamphlets
1903-1947
Box 20
California State Library Foundation
1950-1989
Box 21
Administrative Files, St. John Dixon Case
1960-1973
Box 22
OPAC Implementation Committee Files, Library Pamphlets, Renovation Reports
1960-1982
Box 23
Library Newsletters
1960-1966
Boxes 24-25
Periodical Lists
1961-1980
Box 26
New Books Added to College Library
1961-1968
Boxes 27-30
Reports, General Files
1961-1999
Box 31
Library Statistics
1962-1970
Box 33
Minutes and Correspondence of Library Staff
1965-1968
Box 34
CLA, ALA, General Files
1966-1974
Box 35
1982 Opening of New Library
1967-1982
Box 36
General Files, Summer Session
1968-1978
Boxes 37-38
General Files, Questionnaire
1968-1976
Box 40
Resumes, General Files
1973
Boxes 41-43
Library Move Files
1976-1982
Box 44
Details of Clark Library Move in 1982
1980-1984
Box 51
Collection of Library Finder Guides, Normal School Materials
1880-1960
Box 53
Faculty Status and Salary Material
1976-1984
Box 54
Collection of Annual Reports
1982-1999
Box 55
Various Reports on California State Collegs and San Jose State College
2000-2002
Box 56
Memos and Invitations
1940-1959
Series II:
SJSU University Library Blueprints and Architectural Drawings
1916-1973
Physical Description: 6 Boxes
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series contains blueprints and architectural drawings of the SJSU library from 1916 to 1973. The materials illustrate
the various incarnations of the library, which has moved to several different buildings and locations on campus due to the
need for expansion throughout the university's 150-year history.
Arrangement
This series is arranged chronologically by date range.
Box 45
Building Plans, Blueprints
1916-1947
Box 46
Floor Plans, Blueprints of Library North, Central South, and 1940 Library
1940-1953
Boxes 47-48
Blueprints, Architectural Drawings
1949-1961
Box 49
Floor Plans, Blueprints of Library North, Central, South
1961-1963
Box 50
Blueprints, Drawings, General Files
1967-1973
