Under One Roof: The University of New Hampshire's New Library

N HAMPSHIRE'S H A M I L T O N SMITH LIBRARY , a typical Carnegie structure, was erected in 1907, with funds provided by the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (as it was then called), the Carnegie Corporation, and a bequest from Hamilton Smith, internationally known engineer who had made Durham his home. (In 1906 the Town of Durham and the college had agreed to combine library resources, "in perpetuity." Durham turned over its library to the college, and contracted to pay at least $25.00 a year thereafter for the purchase of books. The college contracted to assume all other expenses.) The library grew wings in 1937/38, thus trebling both space and administrative problems. In 1940 a small stack area was added. Plans for further expansion had been in the air since 1940, but remodeling began to be seriously discussed when, in 1950, 10,000 books were crowded out of the Library into storage space above a garage across the campus. Eventually it became clear that no remodeling would ever be successful. By 1952 thinking had turned toward a new building. It was generally conceded that Hamilton Smith occupied the ideal site for a library on campus. The new site, then, should be in the same locality. The final choice was admirable—it is close to the administrative offices and to the liberal arts buildings; equidistant from men's and women's dormitories; and near to the Memorial Union. It is visible from