HISTORY OF LIBRAS

LIBRAS MEMBERSHIP HISTORY

Past officers and appointments (pdf)

Date of Initial Library Membership
Aurora University December 1965
     Formerly Aurora College
Barat College October 1976 (purchased by DePaul, 2001)
Benedictine University December 1965
     Formerly Illinois Benedictine College
Columbia College February 1987
Concordia University June 1972
Dominican University October 1971
     Formerly Rosary College
Elmhurst College December 1965
George Williams College December 1965 (closed 1985)
Judson College November 1978
Kendall College October 1985
Lake Forest College June 1972
Lewis University June 1972
Maryknoll College December 1965 (closed 1971)
North Central College December 1965
North Park College October 1982
Saint Dominic College May 1966 (closed 1970)
Saint Xavier University November 1977
     Formerly St. Xavier College
Trinity Christian CollegeOctober 1991
Trinity International University
Formerly Trinity College June 1972
University of Saint Francis September 1993
     Formerly College of St. Francis
Wheaton College December 1965

LIBRAS Membership by Year
December 1965
     Aurora College
     Elmhurst College
     George Williams College
     Illinois Benedictine College
     Maryknoll College
     North Central College
     Wheaton College

May 1966
      St. Dominic College

October 1971
      Rosary College

June 1972
      Concordia College
     Lewis University
     Trinity College

April 1975
      Lake Forest College

October 1976
      Barat College

November 1977
      Saint Xavier College

November 1978
      Judson College

October 1982
      North Park College

October 1985
      Kendall College

February 1987
      Columbia College

October 1991
      Trinity Christian College

September 1993
      College of Saint Francis

ROSTER OF LIBRAS PRESIDENTS

1966-67 Robert Golter, Wheaton College
1967-68 Melvin R. George, Elmhurst College
1968-69 Glen C. Stewart, North Central College
1969-70 Sister Franz Lang, O.O., St. Dominick College
1970-71 Marilyn Thompson, George Williams College
1971-72 Bert A. Thompson, Illinois Benedictine College
1973-74 Henry Latzke, Concordia College
1974-75 Doris Colby, Aurora College
1976-77 Laura Patterson, Lewis University
1977-78 Carol Barry, Elmhurst College
1978-79 Jorena Ryken, Wheaton College
1979-80 Arthur Miller, Jr., Lake Forest College
1980-81 Melvin Klatt, Elmhurst College
1981-82 P. Paul Snezek, Wheaton College
1982-83 Christopher Millson-Martula, St. Xavier College
1983-84 Mary M. Howrey, Aurora College: and
               Dorothy-Ellen Gross, North Park College
1984-85 Dorothy-Ellen Gross, North Park College
1985-86 Jonathan Lauer, Aurora University
1986-87 Timothy Johnson, Barat College
1987-88 Phyllis Rieman, Kendall College; and
               Sally Chipman, North Central College
1988-89 Inez I. Ringland, Rosary College
1989-90 Susan L. Craig, Aurora University
1990-91 Alan Barney, Barat College
1991-92 Dennis Read, Judson College
1992-93 Rayonia Babel, Aurora University
1993-94 Carolyn A. Sheehy, North Central College
1994-95 Mary Joyce Pickett, Illinois Benedictine College
1995-96 Ann Briody, North Park College
1996-97 Sandra Donahue, Elmhurst College; and
               Cathleen C. Zange, Judson College
1997-98 Cathleen C. Zange, Judson College
1998-99 Sonja Terry, Dominican University
1999-2000 Iva Freeman, Kendall College
2000-2001 Susan Swords Steffen, Elmhurst College
2001-2002 Sonia Bodi, North Park University
2002-2003 Ursula Zyzik, St. Xavier University
2003-2004 Luann DeGreve, Benedictine University
2004-2005 Ted Schwitzner, North Central College
2005-2006 Larry Wild, Judson University
2006-2007 Sally Anderson, North Park University
2007-2008 Mark Vargas, St. Xavier University
2008-2009 Jennifer Paliatka, Elmhurst College
2009-2010 Jack Fritts, Benedictine University
2010-2011 Kenneth Orenic, Dominican University
2011-2012 John Small, North Central College

PRESS RELEASE PREPARED BY ANN BRIODY, NORTH PARK COLLEGE
NOVEMBER 1995

LIBRARY CONSORTIUM CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY

Chicago, Ill. -- LIBRAS, a consortium of private college and university libraries in the Chicago metropolitan area, celebrates its 30th anniversary in December.The consortium provides students, staff, and faculty of the eighteen member colleges ans universities access to more than 2.8 million library volumes and over 14,7000 periodical titles.Last year LIBRAS logged 114,752 interlibrary loan transactions, added 81, 195 volumes to its collections, and spent over $3.5 million on library materials.Total expenditures across the consortium were nearly $11 million.

LIBRAS libraries served an FTE enrollment of 30,697 students.LIBRAS also supports pooled resources sch as a cooperative online catalog, computerized reference services, and audio visual/ media services. In addition, the consortium maintains training and continuing education opportunities for library staff members, and provides extended borrowing privileges to students and faculty of other member libraries.

LIBRAS was formed in 1965 when Paul Knapp, then librarian o George Williams College, called for an organization of small private liberal arts colleges.Two events prompted this call: the passage of the Higher Education Act by Congress and the establishment of a statewide network of public library systems by the Illinois General Assembly.The Higher Education Act promised substantial funds for improving educational institutions, with special provisions for libraries.The statewide network excluded direct participation by academic libraries.The availability of federal funds for cooperative projects and the exclusion of college libraries from the system membership set the stage for private library cooperation.

Seven institutions responded to the call and established the consortium.Two years later, in 1967, LIBRAS had an estimated 400 interlibrary loan transactions, added 26,935 volumes to its collections, and maintained 4,384 periodical subscriptions.LIBRAS libraries spent nearly $183,000 on materials and had total expenditures across the consortium of nearly $635,000.Total volumes held numbered about 568,000.

Three decades later LIBRAS has more than doubled in size to eighteen members and experienced substantial growth in all areas of activity.The roster of LIBRAS libraries includes charter members Aurora University, Elmhurst College, Illinois Benediction College, North Central College, and Wheaton College.College libraries which have joined LIBRAS since 1971 are Barat College, College of St. Francis, Columbia College, Concordia University, Judson College, Kendall College, Lake Forest College, Lewis University, North Park College, Rosary College, St. Xavier University, Trinity International University, and Trinity Christian College.

From the beginning, LIBRAS has engaged in a number of cooperative projects which enabled its member libraries to provide more resources for educational programs at their institutions.Initially, the consortium informally extended interlibrary loan privileges to undergraduate students.The first formal project was the compilation of a union list of serials.The first list was published with the assistance of he Illinois State Library.The union list became a card file which was updated regularly until it merged with the holdings of the Suburban Library Systems in 1978.The system continued to print and distribute this list in book format.The consortium currently lists its serials through SILO (Serials Illinois Online) and OCLC.

The most massive project of LIBRAS began in 1967 when a union catalog of monographs was established.Based on the forty thousand item author card catalog of Saint Procopius College, the catalog was housed first at Saint Dominic College.After the closing of this school, the catalog was moved to Wheaton College.Member libraries phoned the union catalog service staff to learn which library owned a certain title and then called the owning library to borrow the item.Representing over 500,000 volumes in member libraries, the union catalog service staff to learn which library owned a certain title and then called the owning library to borrow the item.Representing over 500,000 volumes in member libraries, the union catalog was closed and microfilmed in 1978.Copies were distributed to member libraries and were made available for sale.OCLC membership made the catalog unnecessary.

Early in 1976 the Kellogg Foundation offered to underwrite the cost of subscribing to the Ohio College Library Center (now the bibliographic utility OCLC).By the end of the year of the LIBRAS libraries were members of OCLC.

Various other projects have been initiated by LIBRAS through the years.A trial period of allowing direct patron borrowing of materials between Elmhurst College and George Williams College patrons led to LIBRAS-wide on-site borrowing in 1972.Projects such as cooperative selection of materials and limited cooperative purchasing have been conducted from time to time.An ongoing project has been the duplication and distribution of ERIC microfiche documents.Special funding for continuing education opportunities has been a part of the LIBRAS annual budget for the past several years.A project was inaugurated in 1986 to establish a library management internship.

LIBRAS members have been in the vanguard of the library cooperative movement in Illinois.All were charter members of the Illinois Regional Library Council, all joined OCLC, and all affiliated with library systems.The consortium was incorporated as a legal non-profit organization in 1983 as LIBRAS, INC.

All members participate in ILLINET, the statewide automated library network.LIBRAS has served as a model for other cooperative organizations, including the Chicago Academic Library Council (CALC), and Cooperation Libraries in Consortium (CLIC) located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Consortium boasts a number of special collections and archives within its membership.The Charles B. Phillips Library at Aurora University houses the Jenks Memorial Collection of Adventual Materials, the Ethel W. Tapper Memorial Rare Book Room, the Prouty/Perry Shakespeare Collections, and the Ritzman Lincoln-Civil War Collection.Concordia University’s Klinck Memorial Library houses the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) on microfiche.The Columbia College Library maintains special collections of Film and Television Scripts, the Black Music Research Collection, and a microfilmed copy of the History of Photography.The A.C. Buehler Library at Elmhurst College contains annual reports of corporations and associations.The Theodore Lownik Library at Illinois Benedictine College holds an Abraham Lincoln Collection, Autograph Collection, College Archives, Czech Heritage Collection, the John N. Erlenborn Papers, and a rare book collection.In addition IBC is a Federal and State documents depository.Special collections at Judson College’s Benjamin P. Browne Library include Baptist collections, Missions, Phonorecords and tapes, and the Schofield Collection of Music.The Kendall College Library has special collections on Native American Indians and the Culinary Arts.Donnelley Library, Lake Forest College, supports special collections in Scottish history and culture, Railroads (Steam, Live Steam, Narrow Gauge, Western U.S.), Western America, and Theater.The manuscript collections include papers of Captain Joseph Medill Patterson, founder of The New York Daily News.Lewis University collections include the Library of American Civilization and the Library of English Literature.Lewis is also a partial government documents repository.The special collections of Oesterle Library, North Central College include a Lincoln Collection, Jazz Collection, Limited Editions, and the Haven Hubbard Collection (English Literature in find bindings).North Park College, site of the LIBRAS archives, maintains other archives and special collections including: the Covenant Archives and Historical Library, Swedish-American Archives of Greater Chicago, archives of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study, Private Academic Libraries of Illinois (PALI) archives, Jenny Lind Collection, Walter Johnson Collection of Scandinavian Literature, Godfrey J. Anderson Lincoln Collection, Paul L. Holmer Collection, Harald W. Jacobson China Studies Collection, and the Nils William Olsson Scandinavian Collection.The Rebecca Crown Library of Rosary College serves as a partial federal government documents repository.Trinity International University special collections include materials on the American Enterprise Institute.Trinity Christian College library includes a Dutch Heritage Center.Buswell Memorial Library at Wheaton College includes a number of special collections and archives including: Wheaton College archives, Landon Southeast Asia Collection, W. Akin Rare Book Collection, E.B. Batson Shakespeare Collection, the papers of F. Buechner, M. L’Engle, C. Miller, M. Muggeridge, and R. Siegal, the Wader Center Collection which focuses on the works of Owen Barfield, G.K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams, The Billy Graham Center, which collects published materials on Christian evangelism and missions, and the Graham Center Archives, which includes over 500 collections on the history of North America non-denominational Protestant efforts to spread the Christian gospel.

Ann Briody, head of circulation services at North Park College, Chicago, is the current president of LIBRAS.Sandra Donahue, head of technical services at Elmhurst College, is vice-president/president-elect.Alan Barney, director of the library at Barat College, is the editor of the LIBRAS Lines, the consortium newsletter.Timothy J. Johnson, director of archives at North Park College, serves as archivist for the consortium.