The first building on campus was Cranford Hall, which opened its doors on October 6, 1890. The building’s original plans did not include space for a library, so the first library was fitted into an 8-by-16-foot former cloakroom and contained a mere 100 books. S.F. McCreery served as part-time librarian, while also serving as the secretary to the faculty and the Board of Trustees. He kept the library open only until noon on weekdays.
Despite these modest beginnings, the library quickly grew in size and scope. President Zachariah X. Snyder encouraged staff to teach using more than one textbook for their courses, which had been the norm in education at that time, necessitating an expansion of the library’s collection. Between 1890-1894 the library moved to larger rooms within Cranford with each new year so that for the first classes of students their library changed location with every school year. In 1894 the library grew to include a room for book repairs and in 1897 a separate juvenile library.
Carter Hall was built in 1907 to serve as the school’s library after it had outgrown its rooms in Cranford. The building was originally constructed in a Classical Revival style, which included a dome.
The class of 1911 gifted campus with a reflecting pool that was built in front of the Library Building to beautify the areas. It became a feature that future classes made use of for dunking freshmen students in it.
“The new library is a source of inspiration to us all, especially to those who have experienced the cramped conditions of the old room.” – from The Crucible, September 1907, p. 22
The Library could not keep up with the expanding student population and academic programs of the 1930s. President George Frasier proposed a new structure, but it proved too pricey during the era’s economic uncertainty. Instead, the Library underwent massive renovation, adding two new wings with bookstacks, an open-air study area, and classrooms. The building was redone in the Art Moderne style, with the dome and reflecting pool removed.
In 1944 the Library Building was renamed Carter Library. After the library moved to its new space in 1971, Carter Hall became home to administrative offices.
In 1968 the student population had again outgrown its library. A five-million-dollar budget was set to build a facility befitting campus’s transition from a college to a university. When completed in 1971, it was the largest library structure in Colorado.
With over 220,000 square feet of bookstacks, classrooms, and offices, it was:
“planned for maximum flexibility keeping in mind that within 20 years much of the reference book material will be on computers which can be researched by students on a television monitor.” -Colorado State College Newsletter, Spring Quarter, 1968, p. 1.
In 1970 a leaking fuel line sparked a fire which led to a six-month delay in the new library’s construction. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. Students on campus during the summer quarter of 1971 were the first to use the new library.
This was the third major fire in the campus’ history, preceded by building fires at Cranford in 1949 and Guggenheim in 1951. Both resulted only in property damage and no loss of life.
To honor the opening of the new library, a dedication ceremony took place on October 27, 1972, featuring author, alumnus, and former faculty member James A. Michener. During the ceremony, UNC conferred on him an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.
Michener wrote “A library is a temporary resting place where the great ideas of the world are kept in order.” On January 6, 1973, the library was officially renamed after him.
A “model school” was established in 1892, where student teachers could gain experience and local children could benefit from the latest educational methods. Sharing space in Cranford Hall alongside the college, schoolteachers put together small classroom libraries for their young students.
When the Training School was built in 1911, no library space was included. Teachers made do with a small dressing room behind the auditorium stage. This grew to a collection of 2,000 items, resulting in the necessity of a Children’s Library in the new wing built in 1924.
In 1961 the Laboratory School (formerly known as the Training School) moved into newly constructed Bishop-Lehr Hall on the west campus. Planning for the new Laboratory School started with the library. “An ideal beginning point,“ said President William Ross, proving the value of libraries in education had changed from the campus’s early days.
The library served grades K-12, provided special services for the College of Education, and supported the District 6 hearing impaired program. By the late 1970’s approximate holdings totaled 26,000 items.
In 2000, the Hank Brown administration, out of financial concerns, severed ties with the Laboratory School, which then moved off campus to operate independently. Since material and personnel costs for the school library had been part of UNC Libraries budget, the collection was moved to Michener Library.
A year after separating, UNC Libraries gave a third of those materials to the reorganized University Schools because of duplication in the collection. The remaining materials became the basis of Michener Library’s juvenile collection that serves UNC’s School of Education.
To make them well-rounded teachers, in the beginning all students were required to study music. In 1917 the music director J.C. Kendel organized a Music Conservatory, and under director J.DeForest Cline, it grew into a leading music school in the region.
Despite the success, it took over seventy years for the university to establish a music library in 1968. Before then, no central location existed for musical scores, books, audio recordings and sound equipment. Materials were housed in faculty studios, the main library, classrooms, and other spaces.
The former president’s house served as the Music Conservatory from 1924-1952. Noise from Frasier Hall construction forced the music division to temporarily relocate to Quonset huts until Frasier Hall opened in January 1954.
In the 1960s, Music Director James Miller, pushed for admission to the National Association of Schools of Music, the top accrediting agency. Accreditation required having a robust music collection to support doctoral programs. Funds were secured for an independent music library and the first Music Librarian, Norm Savig, began to fill gaps in the collection.
The new Music Library opened in 1968 in Frasier Hall, room 249. Between 1970-1981 it moved multiple times, even once to McKee Hall, before being split between two suites in Frasier Hall.
As the Music Library grew alongside the School of Music, it led to concerns over whether the collection would exceed the weight bearing limits of its home in Frasier Hall. State Legislature approved funding for a separate building, which opened in 1997 and in 2005 was named in honor of Dr. Howard M. Skinner.
The 18,000 square foot building includes study spaces, classrooms, a conference room, audio equipment, and houses musical scores, music literature, audio recordings, and other media that make it the second largest music collection in Colorado.
Dr. Howard Skinner’s contributions to UNC and the greater music community are substantial. During his forty years at UNC, he taught voice, choir and conducting. He served as Dean of the School of Performing and Visual Arts and later as interim University President. He also directed the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra for 37 years.