December, 1958 



Warrkk: Likrarv 



21 



The library remained in the possession 

 of the State Laboratory of Natural His- 

 tory and its successor, the State Natural 

 History Survey, until 1^28, when it was 

 turned over to the University of Illinois 

 Library (Cunningham 1028:275-6). 

 This transfer was made with the follow- 

 ing stipulations: 



1. That each article now belonging to the 

 library of the Natural History Survey or 

 added to it hereafter shall bear a distinctive 

 mark ; 



2. That such additions shall be made to 

 it, from time to time, as are necessary to 

 the work of the Natural History Survey as 

 certified by the Chief thereof and approved 

 by the President of the University ; and 



3. That the scientific staff of the Natural 

 History Survey shall have at all times a prior 

 right to the use of books, pamphlets, and 

 papers of the aforesaid library, their use by 

 members of the faculty and by the students 

 of the University being second to this claim. 



When the Natural History Building 

 was completed, the library moved to the 

 rooms assigned to it (Forbes 1894:35-6). 



Since my last report to you the State Labora- 

 tory has removed to the rooms assigned to 

 it in the new Natural History Hall of the 

 University of Illinois, five on the first floor 

 and two in the basement. These rooms are 

 a Director's office, 21 ft.xl9 ft., a library room 

 22x32, ... 



Provision was again made for a sepa- 

 rate library when the Natural Resources 

 Building was planned. Plans for trans- 

 ferring the book collection from the Nat- 

 ural History Building to the Natural 

 Resources Building were being considered 

 as early as July, 1939. A letter dated 

 July 26, 1939, from Dr. P. L. Windsor, 

 Director of University Libraries, to Dr. 

 T. H. Prison, Chief of the Natural His- 

 tory Survey, contained this statement: 



I am beginning to think of the preparations 

 that will have to be made when the State 

 Survey building is completed and you take 

 over with you, such parts of the Natural His- 

 tory Library as you think are necessary for 

 your current work. 



After much planning and working out 

 of policies, an agreement between the Nat- 

 ural History Survey and the University 

 was reached. This agreement was out- 

 lined in a letter dated January 22, 1941, 

 from Dr. Carl M. White, then Director 

 of University Libraries, to Dr. P>ison, a-^ 

 follows : 



(1) The University is to catalog all books, 

 journals, etc., including arrears and recata- 

 ioging. 



(2) The I'niversity is to provide in the 

 regular library budget a fund for the pur- 

 chase of books for the Natural History Sur- 

 vey (at present $400). 



(3) The University is to manage the Nat- 

 ural History Survey Library the same as 

 other departmental libraries, including provi- 

 sion of service to the Natural History Survey 

 from other libraries on the campus. The pro- 

 fessional stall of the Survey is to receive 

 service from the various libraries on the 

 campus on the same basis as the faculty of 

 the University. 



(4) The University is to allow the Natural 

 History Survey "preferred use" of the ma- 

 terial in the Natural History Survey Library 

 as "preferred use" is defined in your letter 

 to me of December 16. 



(5) The University is to provide, besides 

 general supervision, the sum of $700 in 1940- 

 41 for staff in the Natural History Survey 

 Library. 



It is to provide $1500 for each year of 

 the biennium 1941-43. 



(6) The Natural History Survey is to pro- 

 vide housing for such books as need to be 

 housed in the Natural Resources Building. 



(7) The Survey is to relieve the University 

 September 1, 1943, of the responsibility for 

 providing staff for library service. 



The Natural History Survey Library, 

 opened as a separate unit in September, 

 1940 (Lill 1942:1), was located on the 

 fourth floor of the Natural Resources 

 Building, and remained in that location 

 until the west wing of the Natural Re- 

 sources Building was completed. In Feb- 

 ruary, 1952 (Simmons 1952:1), the li- 

 brary was moved to its permanent loca- 

 tion on the first floor at the south end of 

 the west wing. 



LIBRARY COLLECTIONS 



In a paper, "Natural History in 

 Schools," which was read before the Illi- 

 nois State Teachers' Association in 1860, 

 A. M. Gow of Dixon gave a brief his- 

 tory of the Illinois Natural History So- 

 ciety and stated that its library at that 

 time contained 300 volumes (Gow 1861 : 

 96). 



Professor Forbes in his 1881-1882 re- 

 port stated that additions to the library 

 since his last report had been 360 vol- 

 umes and 200 pamphlets, many of them 

 "rare and costly works — the foundaticm 

 stones of zoological and botanical litera- 

 ture" (Forbes 1882^/: 7). He wrote that 



