This article details the early history of The Courier and its support through the years by the Library Associates, written by the editor at that time, Elizabeth Mozley

Mozley, Elizabeth

Syracuse University Research Facility and Collaborative Environment

Syracuse University SURFACE The Courier Libraries Summer 1978 Library Associates 1958-1968: The Years of Growth and Change Elizabeth Mozley Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/libassoc  Part of the American Studies Commons, and the Film and Media Studies Commons Recommended Citation Mozley, Elizabeth. "Library Associates 1958-1968: The Years of Growth and Change." The Courier 15.2 and 15.3 (1978): 33-37. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Libraries at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Courier by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact surface@syr.edu. ISSN 0011-0418~ I.JBRlS DR.UOPOIJ)I DE MNKE.)a.JOANNISA.R£m £TCAROLINAS.RaDDONAVERUN~Von Ranke Library BookplateSyracuse UniversityTHE COURIERSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATES Volume XV, Numbers 2 & 3Table ofContentsSummer 1978PageThe European Diary of Fred and Lillian Lear 3by Patricia NewmanCharles W. Bennett's "The Purchase of the von Ranke Library." 15A Prefatory Note.by John J. MorrisonAn Address by Professor C.W. Bennett, 19Read at the Dedication of the New Library at Syracuse UniversityThe Place of the Ranke Collection at Syracuse University: 32Some Brief Remarksby James M. PowellLibrary Associates: 1958-1968 33Years of Growth and Changeby Elizabeth MozelyNews of the Library and Library Associates 38Library Associates 1958-1968The Years ofGrowth and Changeby Elizabeth MozleyThe minutes of the December 11, 1957 meeting of the Board ofTrustees of Syracuse University Library Associates indicate that thepublication of a bulletin was originally conceived as a means of com-munication between the university and the membership, "to sustain andpromote their interest in strengthening the library." It was "to containshort feature articles, statements about notable acquisitions, briefnotes about needs, and announcements of general interest to membersof Library Associates." The trustees added that the contributors andeditors should "strive for high quality of scholarship, clarity andreadability" and that the bulletin be printed "in good taste, attractiveand distinctive, yet modest" - specifications still adhered to in TheCourier twenty years and sixty-one issues later.The Courier has long been listed in the Bowker publication,Magazinesfor Libraries, which, in the 1972 edition described it as:A handsome pocket-size 56-page journal which features five to sixbibliographic articles, usually based upon materials found in the SyracuseUniversity Library. The material is as diverse as the library collection,moving from Russian theatre to Shaker furniture and Nevil Shute.The writing style is much more relaxed than in similar journals. Acasual reader will enjoy this as much as a dedicated bibliographer.In fact, it is one of the few of the genre which might be read cover tocover with delight. And the photographs and drawings help thingsalong considerably.The Courier's successive editors (Wayne S. Yenawine, John S.Mayfield, Arsine Schmavonian, and, currently Elizabeth Mozley) havebeen able to draw upon the wide range of work done by scholarsusing the resources in the Syracuse University Libraries. Recently,The Courier has been added to three major indexes: The ModernLanguage Association's International Bibliography, The AmericanHistorical Review's Writings in American History; and the New YorkState Education Department's Research and Publications in New YorkHistory.Elizabeth Mozley is executive secretary of Library Associates and editor of The Courier.Material for this article was taken from the Minutes of Library Associates' meetingsin the Syracuse University Archives.33At first The Courier was published at irregular intervals andnumbered in sequence by issue rather than by volume and issue numbers.It grew into a quarterly and issue 37 became Volume VIII, Number 2.Though in the last four years only three issues have appeared peryear as an economy measure, the numbering remains by volume andissue as a quarterly, with one issue being a double number each year.(The present issue is Volume XV, Numbers 2 & 3).Until 1958 the major interest of the trustees of Library Associateshad been in the founding of the Lena R. Arents Rare Book Roomand in acquiring proper items for its collection. Then, in April 1959,Mr. Adrian Van Sinderen told the trustees of a tour he had taken ofall the libraries at Syracuse University. He had been astonished tolearn of the wide range of services offered at the Carnegie Library,then the central library of a thirteen library system on campus.Mr. Van Sinderen urged that all the libraries should receive LibraryAssociates' support, and the trustees agreed with him. It was the firstof several turning points in the next decade.Though a group of special contributors had established endowmentsfor the libraries, it was clear that a dynamic campaign by LibraryAssociates for new members was necessary if more funds were to beraised for the libraries. The support of the alumni seemed vital toLibrary Associates' program.Dr. Wayne S. Yenawine, who was executive secretary of LibraryAssociates in addition to his position as director of libraries and deanof the School of Library Science, suggested that membership meetingsshould be scheduled two or three times per year with varied programscalculated to appeal to the special interests of the Associates and toattract new members. Until then there had been only an occasional specialevent, such as the dedication of the Lena R. Arents Rare Book Room.This would be another significant change in the activities of LibraryAssociates which, with The Courier's evolution from a members'bulletin to a small magazine, did much to widen the general membership.Memorial gifts were sought as a source of library support, also. Inthe years 1957-58, thirteen Memorial Funds were established withcontributions to Library Associates. They are used to add books insuch fields as architecture, library science, English and Americanliterature, engineering, art, American history, and education.For the next decade and beyond, the need for a new library buildingwas the focus of attention for everyone concerned with the libraries atSyracuse University. Library Associates members Mrs. Lyman J. Spire,Professor Mary H. Marshall, and Professor Erik Hemmingsen joinedthe university Senate Library Committee. in visiting other universitylibraries comparable to the one envisioned for Syracuse University.34In 1961, Mr. John S. Mayfield, a bookman and trustee of LibraryAssociates, was appointed curator of manuscripts and rare books. Hisconcerns, in addition to obtaining collections for the library, were towrite for The Courier and to promote Library Associates' programs.Membership growth had been the special concern of Mr. David A.Fraser for some time. The number of members in Library Associatesremained around three hundred, with at least that many additionalcomplimentary members. While the large number of complimentarymemberships given to those who had made gifts in kind to the libraryhad to be taken into account when questions of income were discussed,efforts to interest alumni groups still seemed the best hope for anincrease in revenues.Mr. Fraser became chairman of the Board in May, 1963, and Dr.Van Sinderen became chairman emeritus, having presided over theorganization for ten years, since its founding.The burden of coping with the growing library in the old quartershad led Dr. Yenawine several times to ask the Board to appoint a newexecutive secretary. Mr. Mayfield was appointed to assume Dr. Yenawine'sduties as managing editor of The Courier. The duties of the executivesecretary were outlined as early as 1961, but in 1963, Dr. Yenawinewas still filling that role in addition to his other duties. In May, 1964,Dr. Yenawine had a heart attack, but was able to return to the jobafter some months. Before he left Syracuse University the followingyear to become director of libraries at the University of Louisville,Kentucky, Dr. Yenawine stressed the need for an increase of gifts incash from Library Associates.By the Annual Meeting of May 1965, The Mayfield Library hadbecome a reality. The library was a gift to Syracuse University ofMr. Mayfield's personal library. It was housed on the second floor ofthe University Branch of the Marine Midland Trust Company on EastAdams Street until being moved to the Bird Library in its own roomin Special Collections, in ·1972.The Board Meeting of November, 1965 was held for the first timein-the Mayfield Library. Plans were made to start a New York Citychapter of Library Associates. Mr. Chester Soling had agreed to organizethe group with the help of the Syracuse members. Book e~hibits wereheld in New York City at Syracuse University House (later LubinHouse) and Mr. Mayfield spoke at the New York Library Associates'fall meeting that year. The response from the alumni who attendedwas enthusiastic.35John S. Mayfield, curator emeritus of manuscripts and rare books, in the Mayfield Library at Syracuse University.In 1967, the Annual Report of the Director of Libraries WarrenBoes to Library Associates showed that the Syracuse University Libraryhad surpassed its goal of one million items in holdings and was rankedtwenty-eighth in the United States in size of collections.The university had grown and changed between 1958 and 1968. Anew library building was soon to be built.Library Associates had changed also, reaching out into the universitycommunity with its publication, The Courier, with its lecture series,and its student book collection prizes. 'Il The changes that lay ahead forLibrary Associates brought it a new source of strength: its generalmembership. The wider contacts of an enlarged membership fostered anew understanding of the ways in which a friends of the library groupcould support and promote the libraries of a large university.(To be continued)ErrataThe editor must correct some errors in the last issue of The Courier,XV, 1, Spring 1978. On page 15, "Syracuse University LibraryAssociates: The Early Years," two of the first Board members are giventitles of the opposite sex! It should read Mrs. William C. Blandingand Mr. J. Roscoe Drummond. Their names in the picture caption arecorrect. Also, on page 16, it was Mr. Richard Amberg who began thelong association of Library Associates and the Post-Standard.*These prizes were described in the previous issue of The Courier, XV, 1, p. 16,22-26. They were: The David A. Fraser Freshman Book Award, the Earle B. MayfieldSophomore Book Award, the Edith S. Mayfield Junior Book Award, and the GeorgeArents Library Award for Seniors.37

Library Associates 1958-1968: The Years of Growth and Change

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Library Associates 1958-1968: The Years of Growth and Change

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Syracuse University Research Facility and Collaborative Environment