Records of the Harvard College Library: William Coolidge Lane general files

This collection documents the activities of William Coolidge Lane (1859-1931) as Librarian at Harvard from 1898 to 1928. The collection is comprised of correspondence, Lane's personal notes, newspaper clippings, pamphlets and brochures, photographs, and blueprints, and includes material written in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese, among other languages. Most materials have a typed or handwritten heading noting a correspondent or subject, creating an alphabetical system by which the records were originally arranged. The collection is further arranged in series according to previously grouped records, labeled General Correspondence, Special Subject Files 1-3, Gore Hall pamphlets, and Staff file on women. Special Subject File 1 also contains material kept by Lane from his predecessor, Justin Winsor, which dates from the mid to late 1800s.

Largely composed of correspondence created in the course of Library business between Lane and members of the Harvard community, librarians and affiliates of other universities, and the public, these records cover topics including bequests and acquisitions (especially for departmental and subject libraries, and of international materials), the evaluation of conditions in Gore Hall and the building of the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, the refining of library policies and procedures at Harvard, and general reference requests. Following the themes of the Harvard College Library letters (UAIII 50.8), to which this collection is a successor, these records further illustrate the growth of the Harvard Library, its daily operation, and the continued professionalization of librarianship.

Lane's pursuits as Librarian and University figure are also represented in this collection. In addition to increasing the count of volumes in the Library from 200,000 to nearly 2,500,000, the records reflect Lane's supervision of the physical transfer of these volumes from Gore Hall to Widener Memorial Library (opened in 1915) and his role in the furnishing of the new building, from shelving and storage to desk carrels to toilets and washbasins. Active in professional organizations, the collection also includes documentation of Lane's activities in the American Library Association and the New England College Librarians, among other organizations. Lane also spearheaded a number of initiatives at the Library and in the Harvard community to aid in the World War I effort, including raising money for European communities, donating books to soldiers and ruined libraries, and planning memorials for Harvard men in the war. These efforts are reflected in the records, as are Lane's opinions on the war, which are often mentioned in casual correspondence throughout the collection.

International relations, both in terms of the Library's World War I efforts and in terms of the broadening scope of its collections, is another subject of these records. The collection of materials from and exchange of publications with numerous international university, government, and local libraries is reflected, as is the recruitment to Harvard of Chinese scholar Alfred Chiu, who helped found the Harvard-Yenching Library and developed a system for the classification of Chinese and Japanese books in American libraries.

Furthermore, this collection documents aspects of social history, including the research interests of notable figures of the day such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Law Olmsted, Louis Tiffany, and Ida Tarbell, as well as aspects of women's history. Of note is the 1909 petition by female employees of the Library to receive paid vacation, which Lane supported; the discussions regarding use of the Harvard College Library by Radcliffe students and regarding female Library employees enrolling in classes at Radcliffe; and Lane's "Staff file on women," which contains subject files on numerous female employees in the Library and information about their positions, job duties, and salaries, and in certain cases, information about their personal lives.

As documented in this collection, Lane's role in shaping the physical space of Widener, the growing scope of the Library's collections, and policies for their access and use illustrate the Harvard Library's ongoing evolution into a modern and globally recognized institution.