History, 1854 - 1910

In 2004, the Connecticut State Library will proudly celebrate 150 years of service to the people of Connecticut. This is the history of our earliest years, before moving to this beautiful building across from the State Capitol in 1910.

The Connecticut General Assembly first recognized the need for a State Librarian in 1854 when Representative Asa Train of Preston introduced legislation that organized a State Library Committee.   The Committee was given the "authority to appoint a Librarian, whose duty it should be to take charge of the State Library, to arrange, catalogue, and index the same, and to have bound such unbound books or works, belonging to the Library, as the Committee shall deem to be of sufficient value to the State to warrant the expense..."

 

 

In the autumn of 1854, J. Hammond Trumbull began his tenure as the first State Librarian. The collection consisted mainly of volumes accumulated by the Secretary of State and stored in their Old State House offices on Main St. in Hartford.

 

Trumbull described the storage conditions of the 3,000 volumes entrusted to his care at the Old State House. "The rooms in the upper story of the State House at Hartford, which were then, and formerly, appropriated to the Library, were small, badly lighted, inconvenient, of difficult access, and required extensive alterations and repairs, involving considerable expense, to provide for even the temporary accommodation of the books, and for their security from damp..."  New quarters were quickly provided in a partitioned section off the main hallway on the second floor of the State House.

Trumbull compiled a catalog of the volumes already in the collection. His plan was to develop the collection in 5 areas:

• Congressional Documents and Reports
• Statute Laws of the United States and states
• State Documents and Reports
• Reports of Judicial Decisions
• International Exchanges

These are images of the title pages from some of the original volumes of the collection.

 

Hoadly kept a daily record of additions to the collection. He also maintained a Loan Book indicating which items were being used and by whom. The collection continued to grow in the 5 main categories established by Trumbull

 

 

 

 

In his first Annual Report in 1901 Godard comments on  the crowded conditions in the Library: "As to the number of books and pamphlets contained in the Library I am unable to state...they are stored in four different rooms often with two or more rows upon a shelf or in heaps..." He is also concerned about the fire threat inherent in the wooden shelves, and the lack of lighting. This view of the Library, facing east, shows Mr. Godard at his desk.  Note the books piled on top of the bookshelves and the telephone line coming down from the ceiling to the desk.

 

In 1902 Godard was successful in procuring new 2-tiered metal shelving for the Reading Room.  It was installed by the Art Metal Company of Jamestown, New York.  Although it didn't take up any more floor space than the old oak shelves, it provided 8,000 feet of shelving, almost triple what they had before.  It was finished in olive enamel with brass trimmings.  The balcony to the second tier was protected with an ornamental wrought iron railing, which bore bronze medallions representing the Great Seal of the State.  This view is facing east.

 

The gas lamps in the Reading Room were replaced by modern electric ones.  The Hartford Courant reported on Aug. 31, 1902: "Stacks and wall cases are lighted by 262 electric lights located over the several sections and governed by switches placed at east end of the cases.  In addition to these lights the room is lighted by about 150 lights located in the cornices around the room and the thirty-six light chandelier in the center of the ceiling."  Glass flooring, three-quarters of an inch thick is the stack area, helped diffuse the light.  This view is facing west. 

 

The renovation also included safes with adjustable roller shelves to protect the manuscript and archives collection, and a fireproof vault to house the Charter and the Constitution of 1818.  This view is facing west with the archives safe in the far wall and the vault against the stairs.  The Governors portraits were also rearranged.

 

 

Eventually, even the renovations and new shelving could not keep pace with  the burgeoning collections, or the Reading Room provide all the advantages Godard desired for the public.  He stated in his 1906 Annual Report:  "It has been my thought and hope that some provisions might be made...whereby all the books of the library could be brought together, where the several portraits and paintings could be properly and safely hung, where regularly constructed vaults for invaluable records and papers might be accessible, and where rooms or special apartments for study could be provided and proper provisions made for the development and work of our State Library." 

His hopes were realized at the groundbreaking for a new Connecticut State Library and Supreme Court building on October 23, 1908.

Prepared by Nancy Peluso, Connecticut State Library. © 2004.