Trinity College (Durham, N.C.). Library.

In 1887 the Trinity College Library was created when two rival literary societies combined their book collections and added them to the few books already owned by the school. The Columbian Society, founded in 1846, and the Hesperian Society, founded in 1851, maintained libraries for their members and competed in acquiring books. According to the Trinity College Catalogue, by 1860 each society held 2,200 volumes, while the school itself held only 650. In 1887, new president John Franklin Crowell persuaded the literary societies to merge their collections with that of the college, creating a combined library of 10,000 volumes. The new library was housed on the second floor of the old Trinity College chapel, and Crowell claimed to have catalogued each of the books himself.

After Trinity moved to Durham in 1892, the library occupied a large single room in the Washington Duke Building, the main building of the campus. One student from each of the two literary societies served as librarians. The Washington Duke Building burned in 1911, but by that time, the library had moved to a new location.

In 1900, James B. Duke donated money to create a separate free standing library building. Ground was broken in 1901, and the Trinity College Library building was completed in December, 1902, with a formal opening taking place the following February. During construction, Duke donated an additional $10,000 for the purchase of books.

After the creation of the Duke Endowment in December 1924, a new building was constructed, seventy-five yards northwest from the old library, to serve as the library for the university during the construction of West Campus and the transformation of Trinity College into Duke University. After the new library was completed 1927, 100,000 books were moved from the old to the new library, a feat that was accomplished by arranging a competition among fraternities to see which could move the most books.

The expansion plans for East Campus called for the demolition of the old library. It was dismantled, moved to Kittrell College in Kittrell, North Carolina, and rebuilt as the B. N. Duke Library. It remained there, looking almost exactly the same as it had at Trinity, until 1972 when it was destroyed by fire.

From the guide to the Trinity College Library records, 1892-1924, (University Archives, Duke University)

In 1887 the Trinity College Library was created when two rival literary societies (Columbian and Hesperian) combined their book collections and added them to the few books already owned by the school. In 1924, Trinity College became Duke University.

From the description of Trinity College Library records, 1892-1924. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 166325560