History of Special Collections @ Colby

  • INTRO
    • Goals
    • Student Scholars Wanted
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  • CHRONOLOGY & CONTEXT
    • What Happened (early on)
      • The First Library & Edward Hall
      • The “Rare Book” Section (early 1930s)
    • Our Chronology (1935-1975)
    • Some Context
  • THE PEOPLE
    • Curators
      • Carl Jefferson Weber (Curator 1940-1958)
      • Richard Cary (Curator 1958-1975)
    • Librarians
      • N Orwin Rush (Librarian 1936-1945)
      • Gilmore Warner (Librarian 1945-1947)
      • James Humphry III (Librarian 1947-1957)
      • John R McKenna (Librarian 1957-1964)
      • Kenneth P Blake, Jr (Librarian 1964-1973)
      • Eileen M Curran (Acting Librarian, 1973-1976)
    • Other Colby People
      • Ernest C Marriner ’13
      • Frederick A Pottle ’17
      • Carroll A Wilson ’40 LLD
      • Franklin Winslow Johnson (President 1929-1942)
      • Julius Seelye Bixler (President 1942-1960)
      • Robert Edward Lee Strider II (President 1960-1979)
    • The Colby Library Associates
    • Highlighted Donors
  • HIGHLIGHTED COLLECTIONS
    • Rare Book Collections
      • Early Books
      • Thomas Hardy
      • Book Arts
      • The Rubáiyát
    • Personal Libraries
      • Library of Edwin Arlington Robinson
      • Library of Thomas Sergeant Perry
      • Library of Harold Trowbridge Pulsifer
      • Library of James Augustine Healy
      • Library of Ben Ames Williams
    • Manuscript Collections
    • “A Recent Accession”: The Colby Library Quarterly

Gilmore Warner (Librarian 1945-1947)

Gilmore Warner succeeded N. Orwin Rush as college librarian in October 1945, arriving at Colby after his post as acting librarian at Middlebury College and working at the New York Public Library. He received degrees from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. Other position held included head of the English department at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

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Librarian Gilmore Warner, far left, supervised the relocation of library materials to Miller Library in 1947.

Warner’s primary achievement was the organization and relocation of library materials to Miller Library on Mayflower Hill.  In a Colby Echo column in 1946, Warner provided details about the spacious and impressive Miller Library facility. Featured were the large reading room with reference books, the extensive open stacks with individual study desks, the new card catalogue and more efficient service areas, the centralized Reserve Room, and the handsome Treasure Room for Special Collections materials.

In January 1947, Warner was succeeded by James Humphry III as college librarian but remained at Colby as Associate Librarian and teaching courses in the History department.

LIBRARIAN WARNER AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

While he made improvements in the library facilities on the old campus, Warner administered affairs of the Colby College Press, made presentations to the Colby Library Associates and other groups, and consulted with Professor Carl Weber on oversight of the college’s rare books, which by 1946 were located in temporary quarters in the women’s union on the new campus.

Works consulted:

The Colby Echo. Waterville, ME: Colby University/Colby College. 20 March 1946. Web. 4 March 2015.

The Colby Echo. Waterville, ME: Colby University/Colby College. 29 January 1947. Web. 4 March 2015.

Report of the Librarian, 1945-1948. Colbiana Collection. Colby College Special Collections.

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