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Show Brief History The magnificent J. Willard Marriott and Spencer S. Eccles Libraries of today are the result not only of the generosity of the citizens of Utah, but of the foresight of each of the University Presidents-all of w h om recognized the importance of a superior library collection. In fact, the first officer appointed by the Regents of the University of Deseret in 1850 was the librarian. Twenty-four years later, a library association had already been formed composed of some of the more advanced University students. Each member of this group was to take a turn in monitoring the one-room library in the Council House, so that members of the public, as well as the students, could use the 2,000 volume collection. Service to the community was, therefore, established at an early date. In 1878, the library contained 2,700 volumes and was now considered large enough to be moved to the Union Academy building. All but approximately 500 volumes still remained the property of President John R. Park and 20 works were being circulated per day-compared to today's 1400! Efforts to build the collection continued and a major step forward was taken when the Territorial Library became part of the University in 1891. A proposal was made in 1893 that each student, upon leaving or graduating from the University, should contribute at least one book to the "Students Memorial Library", such books to be forever set apart from the general library. T w o years later 125 volumes had been collected, but "forever" did not last long and by 1902 the project had been officially discontinued. The University Library was established as the public depository for Utah in 1893, thus providing the start of what is now the Documents Collection. Another major leap forward occurred in the following year when President Park donated his entire library of 3400 |