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• 1 2020-03-19T19:54:34+00:00 Henry R. Hatch Library, 1895-1956 19 This section contains information and images for Henry R. Hatch Library. plain 2021-03-02T14:39:30+00:00 The University had grown in the years since the move from Hudson to Cleveland, and the library could no longer be housed in Adelbert Main. WRU trustee Henry R. Hatch donated money to build a separate library building. The library was moved to Thwing Hall in 1943.  Afterward, Hatch was used for research, teaching, and offices, until it was razed in 1956.
  
  
  An aerial view of the University Circle area in the 1930s. Hatch Library is just right of center.
  Case and Western Reserve University Campuses Exterior Aerial View 2
  
  
  A view of the Adelbert College Campus, ca. 1900. Hatch Library is the first building on the left.
  Adelbert College of Western Reserve University Exterior Aerial View 1
  
  
  A view of Hatch Library from the campus side. Amasa Stone Chapel is on the left and the Allen Memorial Medical Library is on the right (across Adelbert Road).
  Hatch Library Exterior South and West Sides 1
  
  
  The main entrance of Hatch Library, facing Euclid Avenue.
  Hatch Library Exterior North Side
  
  
  The west face of Hatch Library.
  Hatch Library Exterior West Side 1
  
  
  The south side of Hatch Library, probably taken from Adelbert Main.
  Hatch Library Exterior South Side 1
• 1 2025-05-15T20:42:37+00:00 Campus Library Buildings Preceding Kelvin Smith Library 12 This page describes the Kelvin Smith Library building and its predecessor library buildings on campus. plain 2025-06-04T15:57:21+00:00 Kelvin Smith Library plays a substantial and invaluable role in education on campus. Just as Albert Einstein said, “The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” Before it was opened on campus in 1996, Kelvin Smith Library was preceded by several libraries throughout the university’s history.
  
  Henry R. Hatch Library (1896-1943)
  
  
  Hatch Library was Western Reserve University's first building constructed and used entirely as a library. Before Hatch, libraries occupied parts of multiple campus buildings, including Adelbert Hall, Clark Hall, and Case Main. Hatch was the library of Adelbert College, the undergraduate men’s college, until 1943, when its collection was integrated into the University Library in Thwing Hall. The building, on the southwest corner of Euclid and Adelbert, was razed in 1956. Henry R. Hatch, a trustee, donated the funds for the original building and for two additions in 1898. His generosity is memorialized in the Hatch Reading Room on the second floor of Kelvin Smith Library.
  
  Thwing Hall (1934-1956)
  
  
  Western Reserve University president, Charles F. Thwing, had stated that if a building was ever named for him, he wanted it to be a library. In 1929, WRU purchased the Excelsior Club for $650,000. In 1934, it was converted to a library and dedicated on President Thwing's 81st birthday.
  
  Freiberger Library (1956-1996)
  
  
  Along with several other buildings, Freiberger’s construction was financed by Western Reserve University’s 125th Anniversary Campaign. Construction was completed in 1956, and the University Library moved there from Thwing Hall. The library was named for I.F. Freiberger, an alumnus, trustee, and benefactor, whose generosity is memorialized in the I.F. Freiberger Pavilion on the second floor of Kelvin Smith Library.
  
  Sears Library (1961-1996)
  
  
  Constructed in 1960 as the Library-Humanities Building, Sears was Case Institute of Technology’s first library building. Previously, a reading room was housed in the Case Main Building and most academic departments maintained their own libraries. The building was re-dedicated in 1966 as the Lester M. and Ruth P. Sears Library-Humanities Building.
  
  Kelvin Smith Library (1996-present)
  
  
  Constructed between 1994 and 1996 at a cost of $29.5 million dollars, the 150,000 square-foot Kelvin Smith Library merged the Sears and Freiberger collections and services. The lead gift was made by the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. A. Kelvin Smith, for whom the library is named, was an alumnus, trustee, and friend.
  
  Sources
  For more information about campus library buildings, see the list of published histories on our CWRU Archives Sources page.  In addition to the published histories, information comes from records in the Case Western Reserve University Archives.