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• 1 2025-05-15T20:42:37+00:00 Campus Library Buildings Preceding Kelvin Smith Library 13 This page describes the Kelvin Smith Library building and its predecessor library buildings on campus. plain 2025-06-09T17:16:51+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 with the Hatch Reading Room on the second floor of Kelvin Smith Library, and with Hatch Auditorium in the now razed Baker building. 
  
  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 with the I.F. Freiberger Pavilion on the second floor of Kelvin Smith Library, and with Freiberger Field on campus. 
  
  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.