A look at Elon’s first reading room, which gave way to today’s Carol Grotnes Belk Library
In a time before Belk, McEwen or Carlton, the Elon library as we know it began as a reading room. Reading rooms were essential spaces where people kept up with current events and progressive thought in the time before radio and internet. From 1890 to 1923, two adjoining rooms on the second floor of the Elon College Administration Building, or Old Main, as it was affectionately called, served the same purpose that Belk Library does today. In Elon’s origins, Old Main was the heart of the institution for years and also housed men’s dormitories. By the time a fire destroyed the building in 1923, Old Main had become home to the chapel, classrooms and managerial offices.
Little is known about the reading room, and much remains a mystery due to the fire. Information about the origins of the first library has been preserved in two texts, George Troxler’s “From a Grove of Oaks: The Story of Elon University” and Durward Stokes’ “Elon College: Its History and Traditions.” A single photo survived the fire, giving us a glimpse into the origins of Elon’s first library. The image first appeared in the August 1907 issue of Elon College Bulletin, which described the room as “one of the most enjoyable and profitable features of the Institution.” In the photo, students are reading magazines, journals and periodicals.
From the standpoint of educational effectiveness, the library is the most important facility on the campus of any college. — Then-President J. Earl Danieley ’46 in a 1965 Elon College pamphlet
The Reading Room was open for two hours per day until 1906 when the first librarian, Mamie Tate, was hired and could provide more operating hours. Students, staff and faculty were able to keep current with thought and issues of the time due to the exceptional subscriptions of popular magazines and journals like Harper’s Weekly, Harper’s Monthly, North Atlantic Review, London News, Literary Digest and The Nation. In the 1907-08 academic year, 190 volumes of books were added to the library. In 1912, a third room was added for more books. After the fire, the library relocated to Carlton Building in 1924, where it remained for the next 40 years. Many of the books were stored in a large steel vault in case of another fire. McEwen Building became its next home from 1968 to 2000, when it moved to its current location in the Carol Grotnes Belk Library.
Many of the institution’s historical artifacts, including some of the original books that survived the fire, can be found in the Belk Library Archives and Special Collections. In addition, the library houses 339,333 books, 916,588 e-books, 69,153 serials (including print and online academic journals), 60 computers and many offices, including media services and event and technology support. Like the original reading room, Belk Library continues to serve as a place where members of the Elon community can engage in intellectual inquiry.