The Valley Library
North side of the library with the rotunda on the eastern end
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Type | Academic |
| Established | 1887 |
| Location | Corvallis, Oregon |
| Coordinates | 44°33′54″N 123°16′34″W / 44.56511°N 123.2760°WCoordinates: 44°33′54″N 123°16′34″W / 44.56511°N 123.2760°W |
| Branch of | OSU Libraries |
| Collection | |
| Size | 1.4 million volumes 14,000 serials 500,000 maps and government documents |
| Legal deposit | Federal Depository Library |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | 347,000 |
| Other information | |
| Budget | $15.4 million |
| Director | Faye Chadwell |
| Staff | 84 (FTE) |
| Website | osulibrary.oregonstate.edu |
The Valley Library is the primary library of Oregon State University and is located at the school's main campus in Corvallis in the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1887, the school built its first library building in 1918, what is now Kidder Hall. The current building opened in 1963 as the William Jasper Kerr Library and was expanded and renamed in 1999 as The Valley Library. The library is named for philanthropist F. Wayne Valley, who played football for Oregon State.
One of three libraries for Oregon State, The Valley Library stores more than 1.4 million volumes, 14,000 serials, and more than 500,000 maps and government documents. It is designated as a Federal Depository Library and is also a repository for state documents. The six-story library building is of a contemporary, neoclassical style with a red-brick exterior highlighted by white sections along the top and on part of the eastern side. The eastern side includes a white-faced rotunda that features a two-story atrium on the main floor.
Oregon State University was established in 1868. The Oregon Legislative Assembly appropriated $1,000 to the school to buy books for a library in 1876, marking the first instance of the legislature giving funds to the school for a library. In 1887, the library was established at the school, and in 1890, May Warren was hired as the first full-time librarian. By 1893 the library's collection had grown to 1,950 volumes. After adding 2,600 volumes from 1899 to 1900, the collection stood at 5,000 volumes. At that time the library was a free, general library with both circulating and reference collections with A. J. Stimpson serving as the librarian. The library also had 6,000 pamphlets at that time and the annual circulation was 8,000.
By 1909, the collection had grown to 10,000 volumes and 10,000 pamphlets, with R. J. Nichols as the librarian. The library collection continued to grow and totaled 36,478 volumes in 1918. In February 1917, the state legislature gave the school $65,000 towards construction of a building to house the library.
Oregon Agricultural College opened a new library in 1918, marking the first time that the library had its own building. Prior to 1918 the library had been housed on the second floor of the college's administration building, Benton Hall. When the new building was completed, the school built a temporary trellis from neighboring Benton Hall's second floor to the second floor of the new building in order to more easily transfer the books to their new location. Initially, the new building also housed offices and classrooms, but within a decade the library expanded to occupy all of the structure.John V. Bennes designed the new building, as well as many of the campus buildings constructed during that period. By 1922 the collection had grown to 73,000 volumes, and Lucy M. Lewis served as the school's librarian.
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