Preliminary Guide to the Washington State University Libraries Library Orientation Minutes and Correspondence, 1971-1981

The Washington State University Libraries date to the founding of the Washington Agricultural College and School of Science, when the library was just a shelf in the President’s office in the first campus building. It quickly grew and became a room in the original College Hall, then half a floor in the Administration Building (Thompson Hall), then half of Bryan Hall, then the full Holland Library, and then the Owen Science and Engineering Library as well. Over time a number of departmental libraries acted as branches of the system, some officially and some unofficially. The Library Student Orientation Committee was a subcommittee of the University Library Committee and was established around the Fall of 1966. It arose out of needs identified by the Management Review and Analysis Program (MRAP) that evaluated library functions in 1974. The Library Student Orientation Committee oversaw the development of orientation material for both new students and faculty.