Important Dates in the History of the UI Libraries

1855 In November, approximately 50 books arrive from New York sent by Amos Dean, president of the University. They are stored in a room in the Mechanics’ Academy.
1859 The library is relocated to Central Hall (Old Capitol).
1881 Ada North, the library’s first professional librarian, introduces the card catalog and in 1886 institutes use of the Dewey Decimal classification system.
1882 The library moves to the second floor of North Hall.
1884 The library is designated a U.S. Federal Depository Library.
1897 A major fire damages North Hall and destroys much of the collection.
1902 The library moves to the Hall of Liberal Arts (Schaeffer Hall) .
1908 The library moves again, this time to the Hall of Natural History (Macbride Hall).  Over the next 43 years, the general collection grows from 64,286 volumes to more than 600,000.
1927 The Library Annex is opened in the Old Armory (formerly the Men’s Gymnasium) to house the Reserve Reading Room, Serials Department, and Government Documents.
1937 The Art Library is established in the new Fine Arts Building.
1949 Construction begins on the first separate library building in the University’s history.
1950 Library of Congress call numbers are instituted to replace the Dewey Decimal classification system.
1951 The new building opens with 137,500 square feet of space.
1961 The first addition to the new building is completed and then extended in 1965.
1964 The Friends of the University of Iowa Libraries is organized. An earlier attempt to establish a Friends group had failed in 1944.
1972 The last major addition to the Main Library is completed, more than doubling its size to 440,000 square feet.
1974 The Health Sciences Library is completed, allowing the medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, speech pathology and audiology, and nursing collections to finally be combined in one building. In 1989 the library is renamed in honor of Dr. Robert C. Hardin.
1977 Acquisition of the 2 millionth volume
1979 Automation is introduced when the Libraries joins the Research Libraries Group (RLG) for cataloging support.
1988 OASIS, the on-line catalog of library holdings, is implemented.
1989 Acquisition of the 3 millionth volume
1992 The Information Arcade, a facility for using electronic information and multimedia, is created with a grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust.
1992 The Louise Noun-Mary Louise Smith Iowa Women’s Archives is established to collect and preserve the history of Iowa’s women.
1994 The Business Library moves to new quarters in the Pappajohn Business Building.  In 1997 it is renamed in honor of Marvin A. Pomerantz.
1996 Based on the success of the Information Arcade, the Information Commons opens in the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences and is expanded in 1999.
1999 The Biological Sciences Library moves to the renovated Biology Annex building.
2000 The web-based on-line catalog InfoHawk replaces OASIS.
2001 The Engineering Library moves into new facilities in the Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences.
2005 The Libraries celebrates its sesquicentennial