Information Science Program - Staff, 1963-1965

The Dorothy M. Crosland papers include correspondence, subject material, reports, memoranda, and a small amount of financial information documenting her long association with the Georgia Institute of Technology. While the bulk of the materials relate directly to the administration of the library, the papers reveal the many other responsibilities taken on by Crosland, both on campus and in the library profession.

SERIES 1. Biographical and Personal, 1917-1983 includes her High School Graduate Book, resumes, curriculum vitae, Who's Who entries, lists of publications, obituaries, and correspondence. With the exception of her graduate book, these items primarily document Crosland's professional activities and provide little insight into her personal life. Her Graduate Book consists of photographs, notes, correspondence, newspaper articles, and invitations Crosland kept during her graduate year (1920) at the Girls' High School in Atlanta. Correspondence and printed materials provide background on the commissioning and dedication of a portrait of Dorothy Murray Crosland by the library staff association.

SERIES 2. Library Administration, 1926-1976 has been further divided into three subseries: General Administrative, Price Gilbert Memorial Library, and Crosland Tower. These materials include correspondence, specifications, budgets, and annual reports. While all the materials in this collection relate to a certain extent to Georgia Tech's library, this series contains items pertaining exclusively to the management of the library and its facilities.

Subseries 1. General Administrative, 1926-1972 includes annual reports, budgets, correspondence, surveys, and other reports concerning the administration of the library throughout Crosland's period of leadership. A significant amount of material, primarily correspondence, documents gifts received by the library, including cash, memorial books, and gift books.

In this subseries as well as elsewhere in the collection, Crosland's support for her staff is evident. Because she sometimes had difficulty recruiting qualified staff, particularly in the 1930s and 1940s, Crosland persevered to guarantee adequate salaries, benefits, and other perks so that her staff members would stay at Georgia Tech. One particular staff member that Crosland sought to retain, Dale L. Barker, served as associate director for many years.

Subseries 2. Price Gilbert Memorial Library, 1935-1971 includes correspondence, specifications, reports, and printed material germane to the planning, financing, construction, and decoration of the Price Gilbert Memorial Library. Although the Price Gilbert Library opened in 1953, a new library had been needed by the institution for at least thirty years prior to its construction. Collecting data to illustrate the need for a new building, raising funds, and planning for the new building were the primary focus of Crosland's activities from the time she was appointed librarian. Her skills as a fundraiser and diplomat are well documented in these materials, as she single-handedly secured donations of funds and in-kind gifts to benefit the library. However, she also demonstrated her willingness to take risks to advance the library, occasionally clashing with the institution's administration. For additional information on the planning for the new library, researchers should also see correspondence with John E. Burchard located in the third series (Box 12, Folders 14-15).

A significant portion of the subseries also documents the funding, construction, and maintenance of two dedicated rooms, the Wilby Room and the Neely Room. Robert B. Wilby donated funds for the Wilby Room, which campus groups used as a meeting and conference facility. Frank and Rae Neely provided for the construction of the Neely Room to house the medal and rare book collections they donated.

Subseries 3. Crosland Tower, 1961-1976 includes correspondence, blueprints, specifications, schedules of furniture and equipment, and reports documenting the planning and construction of an addition to the Price Gilbert Memorial Library in the late 1960s. Dedicated in 1968 as the Graduate Addition, it was renamed the Crosland Tower in honor of the former director of libraries in 1985. Materials in this subseries, specifically the lengthy schedules of furniture and equipment, illustrate the bureaucracy endemic in expending public funds at a state institution.

SERIES 3. Office Files, 1922-1974 includes correspondence, subject material, and printed material documenting Crosland's professional activities both on the Georgia Tech campus and in the larger library community. The high respect many held for Crosland is illustrated in the breadth of her correspondents. She counted among her friends the directors of prominent university libraries, including William Dix, Julian Boyd, and W. S. Hoole. Following Crosland's original filing scheme, the correspondence is in most cases organized according to the name of the person's institution or university rather than by personal names, due primarily to the fact that Crosland outlasted many of her colleagues at other institutions. During her tenure at Tech, she may have corresponded with three or more library directors at another institution.

The correspondence also documents her interaction with Georgia Tech departments and administration, association with regional and national library association, recruitment and hiring of staff, and fundraising activities. At times, her frustration at being unable to accomplish her goals is obvious; for example, in a 1954 letter to President Blake Van Leer, she offers to resign.

Among Crosland's frequent or notable correspondents were: President Marion L. Brittain,Price Gilbert, Jr.,George Griffin,Frank H. Neely,William Gilmer Perry,Hazard E. Reeves,Dean Rusk,Richard Russell,Herman Talmadge, and Blake Van Leer.

Prior to the construction of the Student Center, the library served as a social gathering place as well as a research center. With financial assistance from the Georgia Tech Club of New York and Hazard Reeves, a music listening room for students and faculty was established at the Price Gilbert Library. In all her correspondence, Crosland's pride in Georgia Tech, its alumni, and the Price Gilbert Memorial Library is apparent. She was also proud of being a Georgian, and rankled if anyone denigrated her native state or city. In this series as in elsewhere in the collection, lacking is insight into Crosland's personal life and the day-to-day operations of the library.