This Fall marks the 10th anniversary of Luise V. Hanson Library
Luise V. Hanson library will celebrate 10 years of providing sanctuary for those hoping for a brighter future. Photo by Preston Landon
By Preston Landon
This fall marks the 10th anniversary of the Waldorf College Luise V. Hanson Library. On Saturday, October 10, the Library will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for an open house with tea and cookies from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“The building will be open as apart of the homecoming events,” said Library Director Derrick Burton, who added that there would be a celebration of the library’s birthday on Thursday, Oct. 8. “We’ll have cake and a big birthday card for everybody to sign.”
Along with the tea and cookies, the library will be opening the archives containing historical information about the library. “It’s a good chance for the alumni to take a look through old yearbooks and old photos,” said Burton.
The first library at Waldorf College was located on the first floor of Salveson Hall, holding several hundred volumes while only staffed by one librarian. In 1944, the library collection began to grow, expanding into several rooms in the south end of Salveson Hall and adding evening hours to accommodate students’ schedules.
The collection eventually grew even more, expanding the library into the basement of Salveson Hall. This caused the hiring of several new staff members, and the library was reclassified into the Library of Congress Classification System.
From 1979-1984, the library collection reached 45,000 volumes, leading to a new library committee and plans of building a new library building. This lead to the Voss Memorial Library, which was active from 1984-2005, given to Waldorf by Mrs. G. Wallace Peterson and Mrs. John K Hanson (Luise V.) The library held more than 50,000 volumes, seated 150 students, and provided a specious study area.
The Luise V. Hanson Library held its grand opening in October 2005, after the college received a $4.5 million donation in 2003 from the John K. and Luise V. Hanson Foundation to fund a new library.