Records of the Wheelock College Library, 1940- | Wheelock College Archives

Lucy Wheelock founded Wheelock College in 1888 to educate teachers of young children. In the early years, in the absence of library service at Wheelock, Miss Wheelock arranged for students to have access to neighboring libraries and museums. When the school was moved to 100 The Riverway in 1914, the building housed its own reference library as well as classrooms, offices, dormitories, and a dining hall. In 1943, a growing collection of books and periodicals was housed at 47 Pilgrim Road under the care of librarian Mrs. D.L. Tonseth, who was succeeded in 1944 by Miss Margaret Pierce and in 1946 by Miss Marie Cotter, who remained director until 1985. Miss Cotter supervised the library’s move to its current location at 132 The Riverway in 1947.

Although hampered by postwar shortages which meant that the furniture ordered for the Library was not available for the opening, the Library set up shop on the second and third floors, sharing space with art classrooms on the first floor and administrative offices on the fourth.  The Library continued to grow, taking over the administrative space on the fourth floor in 1961. The Resource Center was established in 1967 in the Classroom Building for the development of curriculum activities.

In 1975, Wheelock College Library became a founding member of the Fenway Library Consortium. By 1979, more space was needed, and Architectural Resources Cambridge was hired to renovate 132 The Riverway. The renovation added four new mezzanine levels, nearly doubled shelving capacity and study space, and placed the 1914 Froebel Frieze, which had been in storage, over the door. The Library re-opened March 3^rd, 1982. Computer resources became increasingly important in the 1980s and 1990s, as the Library converted to automated catalog systems and began to use online databases to support research, led by directors Andrea Hoffman (1985-1996) and Elvernoy (Albie) Johnson (1996 - ).

Further renovations in 1994 and 1997 increased electronic access to information, and the Library’s web page was launched in April 1997.  The same year pilot programs began to offer services to off-campus programs in Bermuda and elsewhere.  The Library continues to grow and change to meet the information needs of the Wheelock community.