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Show In 1931, with over 3600 students, the Board of Regents realized that a library which could accommodate only 475 students was inadequate. An extension to the Park Building was considered; but quickly deemed only a temporary expedient, since three times the seating capacity was desired plus stacks for 100,000 more books. A new solution was found when funds were appropriated under the National Recovery Act to build the George Thomas Library. T w o years after ground was broken, the new $550,000 structure containing 124,000 volumes was dedicated on December 4, 1935. It was at this period in its development that the library collection was enhanced by acquisitions purchased through savings effected in academic departments. The Faculty was promised that supply and clerical help savings would revert to the library, with the result that the $3,000 to $4,000 gained each year had to be spent in a week or two each spring. Great dictionaries, encyclopedia sets and other expensive items were acquired most easily under this arrangement, forming an outstanding reference collection, but other areas remained weak. In 1941, only $2,000 was appropriated for the entire book budget (exluding medicine and law), while periodical subscriptions totaled but $1,000 in value. Academic departments were provided stipulated sums for the purchase of books and periodicals too; but the inadequacy of this funding was attested by Biology Department purchases. They were allowed $120 per year and were forced to spend all of it on periodicals, so that not a single book was purchased for years! With the conclusion of World War II and a great influx of students, the library budget soared from $60,000 to $200,000 per year. It remained on this plateau for eleven years and then rushed forward to $300,000. This recognition of the Libraries' role on campus is |