Rutgers College. Office of the University Librarian (George A. Osborn)

The Rutgers library was originally established as a collection of theology books for what was mainly a theological institution. By 1827, the library, modest when compared to the libraries of the Peithossophian and Philoclean literary societies, filled a small room in the old Queen's Building. Irving S. Upson, Osborn's predecessor as Rutgers Librarian, became the first nonfaculty librarian in 1884. In 1890, the library held 26,000 volumes, and by 1903, when it moved into a new building, the Voorhees Library, it held 46,000 books.

After the move, George A. Osborn, Upson's assistant since 1897, took over as acting librarian in 1904, and was appointed librarian in 1907. In 1916, the library held 85,000 volumes; in 1919, 100,000 volumes; and in 1925, 128,000 volumes. The Voorhees Library was expanded in 1926, but by the time of a federal survey of the university in 1927, it was obvious that the library still desperately needed more space.

The library's relationships with the libraries of other Rutgers colleges is not clearly defined in these records. However, some information about these bureaucratic ties can be gleaned from the files.