{"id":539,"count":13,"description":"In 1873 a proper place was found for the School's growing collection of books in the Big Study, which was earlier known as the New Schoolhouse.  The Reverend Hall Harrison, a teacher of Greek and English at St. Paul's School, was entrusted with its care.  Buttressed by the generous help and gifts of friends of the School, Harrison set about enthusiastically organizing the library so as \"to make it an effective agency in the literary culture of the boys.\" Within a year Harrison inspired the founding of the Library Association under the motto: <i>Non scholae, sed vitae - vitae utrique<\/i> (Not for the School, but for life\u2014for each life).   Many of the Association's early records are now preserved in the St. Paul's School Archives which is located in the lower level of Ohrstrom Library.\r\n\r\nIn 1888, when the Big Study was enlarged, the library moved to the upper floor of the expansion in Room #2 of the Big Study Annex.  This new location had space for 12,000 volumes and seating for twice the number of students as in the original location.  It was described as  \"admirably lighted and the ventilation excellent.\"  Charles S. Knox became the second librarian, and he is credited with the creation of a fine reference collection.  He was also the first to gather together all the books relating to Shakespeare onto special shelves, a practice still reflected today in Ohrstrom Library's Shakespeare Room located on the upper level.\r\n\r\nIn <i>Memorials of St. Paul's School<\/i>, Joseph Howland Coit writes that from the very beginning the library \"was intended not only to furnish entertainment, but also to form and cultivate good taste in reading and to aid special studies and inquiries.\"  Coit also describes the \"Sunday Library\" which included books of fiction, biographies, records of mission work, travels, and histories.\r\n\r\nCoit also expressed the hope in his memorials that \"Perhaps before long it will come into the heart of some alumnus or other friend to build an ample fire-proof house, with rooms for all the collections belonging to the School.\"  This hope became reality with the building of Sheldon Library in 1901, provided by the generous donation of the Sheldon family in memory of St. Paul's School Trustee William C. Sheldon.\r\n\r\nIn the move from Sheldon Library to Ohrstrom Library much more was transferred than a valuable collection of books. Accordingly, this online exhibit features images of the School's earliest libraries and celebrates a tradition of enthusiasm and support for libraries at St. Paul's School that has continued uninterrupted from its beginning in 1873 to the present time.\r\n","link":"http:\/\/www.ohrstromblog.com\/spsarchives\/archives\/category\/libraries-of-st-pauls-school_04","name":"The Early Libraries of St. Paul's School","slug":"libraries-of-st-pauls-school_04","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ohrstromblog.com\/spsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/539"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ohrstromblog.com\/spsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ohrstromblog.com\/spsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/category"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ohrstromblog.com\/spsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts?categories=539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}