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McQuade
Library
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McQuade
Library
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Between 1947 and 1952, the library moved from Guild Hall to Sullivan Hall to Austin Hall. By 1959, the library had a collection of 25,000 volumes, and had outgrown its temporary facilities in Austin Hall. Rev. William J. Wynne, O.S.A., was the first library director from 1947 until 1959.
In 1959, Frank J. Seegraber became the second library director, serving until 1965. During the summer of 1960, the library was relocated to the lower level of Tagastan Hall (now the site of the Gladys Sakowich Campus Center), and had seating for 250 patrons.
By
the early 1960's the library was running out of space in its facilities in Tagastan
Hall, and thoughts of constructing a new library began to emerge. Construction
was complete by 1967, and the third library director, Phillip A. Costello, oversaw
the physical move of 45,000 books from Tagastan Hall to the new library building.
At the library dedication ceremony on April 26, 1968, the completion of McQuade
Library was heralded as "a milestone in the growth of the college in the
period of two decades."
Stephen
A. Bahre, the fourth library director, from 1978 to 1998, oversaw an era of
enormous transition in academic libraries, and McQuade Library in particular.
During this time, the McQuade Library collection grew, and computer technology
became an integral part of library services and academic research. In the late
1980's, the card catalog was replaced by a computerized system, and CD-ROM databases
became an increasingly important tool for library research.
In
1998 Barbara Lachance, '73, became the fifth and current director of McQuade
Library.
Today, McQuade Library houses approximately 100,000 volumes, over 1200 periodical
titles, 5000 ebooks and almost 2400 media items. Through its
membership in NOBLE (North Of Boston
Library Exchange), McQuade Library has an online catalog that includes Merrimack’s
books, serials, and other holdings, plus materials held by the other 27
member libraries for a total of over 3.3 million titles. Our user community has
access through 85+ databases to over 35,000 journal titles. All electronic
resources are available anywhere on campus and most can be accessed by our
users from anywhere in the world.
In 2003, to recognize the academic scholarship of the Merrimack College community, McQuade Library and the Center for Augustinian Study and Legacy established the Tolle Lege Collection, a special collection of faculty and alumni published work. Each February, authors of books and journal articles published during the previous calendar year are honored with a reception in the Perkins Periodicals Room of the McQuade Library.
As for the future, the college is in the planning stages of a major renovation for McQuade Library, and our staff, services, and resources continue to grow and improve. We can't wait to see what will be achieved in the next 40 years!
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2008 by Merrimack College All rights reserved
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