Guide to the San José State University Library Records
MSS-2009-03-03
Robert Donahue
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
© 2009
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: San José State University Library Records
Identifier/Call Number: MSS-2009-03-03
Physical Description:
61 boxes
(71.92 linear feet)
Date (bulk): 1962-1999
Date (inclusive): 1880-2022
Abstract: The San José State University Library Records (1880-2022) 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 as well as library publications and library
faculty publications.
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 & Archives.
Processing Information
Collection processed and finding aid EAD encoded by Robert Donahue. Reviewed by Danelle Moon and Erin Louthen. In March 2016,
Series III was added to the collection by Grace Song, and further accruals to that series were included by Natalie Sanchez.
Series IV was added in November 2017 by Dana V. Lema. Accruals were added to Series IV and Series I, Box 54, and Finding Aid
was revised by Christine Thuy Minh Nguyen in December 2022.
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
was Danelle Moon. The Project Archivist was 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 with the construction of a Library Annex in 1956, which extended northward toward the old public 1901 Carnegie Library
(corner of Fourth and San Fernando Streets). The Carnegie building had ceased being a public library in 1936, and was sold
to the college for use as a Student Union. In 1961, the Carnegie Library was destroyed to make room for Library North, a new
building later to be named Wahlquist.
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.
Scope and Content
The San José State University Library Records (1880-2022) 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 as well as library publications. 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. Artifacts that were used in the library, such as
property stamps, Special Collections stamps, and more, are included. Also included is memorabilia documenting library staff
events dating from 1949-1953. Additionally, publications such as the Academic Gateway and the Library News dating from 2007-2022
are included, as well as faculty publications from 2006 by Paul Kauppila.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into five series: Series I. Administrative Files, 1880-2002; Series II. Blueprints and Architectural
Drawings, 1916-1973; Series III. Artifacts and Memorabilia, circa 1949-2002; Series IV. Publications, 2007-2022; and Series
V. Library Faculty Publications, 2006.
Related Materials
San José State University and the San José Public Library System Joint Library Project Records, MSS-2009-08-05
University Archives Collection
Record Group: 6.7.1
Subjects and Indexing Terms
San José State University -- History
San José State Teachers College -- History
San José State University -- Library
San Jose State Normal School -- History
San José State University -- Library -- History
San Jose State College -- History
Series I: Administrative Files
1962-1999
1880-2002 (bulk 1962-1999)
Physical Description: 50.0 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.
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
Box 24-25
Periodical Lists
1961-1980
Box 26
New Books Added to College Library
1961-1968
Box 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
Box 37-38
General Files, Questionnaire
1968-1976
Box 40
Resumes, General Files
1973
Box 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, Transition Report
1982-1999, 2004
Box 55
Various Reports on California State Collegs and San Jose State College
2000-2002
Box 56
Memos and Invitations
1940-1959
Series II: Blueprints and Architectural Drawings
1916-1973
Physical Description: 6.0 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
Box 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
Series III: Artifacts and Memorabilia
1949-2002
Scope and Contents
This series contains a collection of the library's stamps dating from approximately the 1960 to the early 2002. Additionally,
included in this series is a deconstructed scrapbook documenting the library staff's social events dating from 1949-1953.
Arrangement
This series is arranged by format.
Box 57
Library Stamps
circa 1960-2002
Box 58
Library Staff Social Events Scrapbook
Box 58, Folder 1
January 1949-November 1951
Box 59
Series IV: Publications
2007-2022
Scope and Contents
Publications created by SJSU King Library including Library News newsletter
Box 59, Folder 1
Academic Gateway
2007, 2012
Series V: Library Faculty Publications
2006
Box 61
"Social & Economic Studies" Academic Journal
March/June 2006
Box 61
"Popular Music and Society" Academic Journal
October 2006
General
Volume 29, Number 4
