Cameron, Donald F., M.D.

The expansion of the Rutgers University Library system can be attributed to the work of Donald F. Cameron, who succeeded George Osborne as University Librarian in 1944. At that time, the University Library's collection, housed in the Voorhees Library, numbered approximately 400,000 volumes. It had long been recognized that the collection, the staff, and the library building itself would need to be expanded to sufficiently provide for Rutgers' growing community. Cameron came to Rutgers as an associate professor of English in 1929. Though he had no working experience as a librarian when he was appointed, he was actively involved in library issues and helped to found the Associated Friends of the Library of Rutgers University in 1937. This group initiated the publication of The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries, which featured articles based on library materials and generally constituted a vocal constituency in behalf of the library's needs. Cameron also championed faculty research as a co-founder (and later editor) of the Rutgers University Press and organizer of the University Research Council. He was active throughout his career at Rutgers, contributing to university governance through his service on numerous committees. Cameron's appointment to the position of university librarian came at a time of great change at Rutgers. By 1944, the University was designated the State University of New Jersey. With this official designation and eventually, the end of the war, came several internal organizational reforms, a merger with the Newark Colleges, a new corps of faculty, and the appointment of several new key administrators, including Cameron. The atmosphere of change was reinforced by an influx of returning veterans entering college on the GI Bill. Enrollments soared from prewar high of 7,000 to early 16,000 by 1948. The explosive expansion witnessed after the war forever changed Rutgers. From this point on, the university would continue to expand its constituency, which would require the provision of more and larger library buildings, collections, and services. As the library acquired new collections in the early years of Cameron's tenure, space issues that were always recognized became desperate. The remedy to this problem was the construction of the Archibald S. Alexander Library, an accomplishment for which Donald Cameron is perhaps most remembered. Library construction was a hallmark theme of Cameron's term as university librarian. In total, he was instrumental in the planning of over fourteen million dollars worth of library buildings on the various campuses. Cameron filled these new buildings with thousands of acquisitions. The records reflect hundreds of gifts and purchases. During his twenty-two years as university librarian, holdings increased from 400,000 volumes to 1.2 million. Donald Cameron retired from Rutgers in 1966. After leaving Rutgers, Cameron remained active in the library community, acting as a consultant to New Jersey and New York state college and university libraries and to the American Library Association until his death in 1974 at the age of seventy-three.