J. Murrey Atkins Library Records

When the Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina opened in 1946, it shared not only a building with Central High School, but also the librarian Rosannah Blair. In 1949, when the Center became Charlotte College, a permanent junior college, Blair continued on as the part-time librarian until 1957. Louise M. Plybon also worked part-time as Charlotte College’s librarian in 1957. The college hired its first full-time librarian, Mozelle S. Scherger, in 1957 while the college still operated out of the Central High School facilities.

In 1961, Charlotte College moved to its present site, and the 17,000-volume library was temporarily located in the Kennedy building. Two years later, in July 1963, the library occupied its own separate building with a collection of approximately 30,000 volumes. In 1964, James D. Ramer became the Head Librarian, and the library was designated a select depository for Federal Documents. The following year the collection reached 45,000 volumes. Also in 1965, the library was named for J. Murrey Atkins, the first chairman of Charlotte College’s board of trustees who had died two years prior. Joseph H. Boykin, Jr., succeeded Ramer as the Head Librarian in 1968, and during his tenure, the position was renamed Library Director (1974). In 1969, the library’s collection reached 100,000 volumes with Mrs. Mary Myers Dwelle’s donation of a copy of Sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the World (1628).

In 1971, the library’s space was more than doubled as the Dalton Library Tower was completed and named for Harry L. Dalton, Charlotte businessman, bibliophile, and art collector. During this time, Mr. Dalton donated funds and a copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1855) to begin Atkins Library’s rare book program. The next year, the tenth floor of the new tower hosted the first meeting of the Board of Governors of the reorganized University of North Carolina system. In 1974, the library joined Southeast Library Network, Inc. (SOLINET), and in 1975 the collection grew to over 200,000 volumes.

The next decade began with the collection surpassing 300,000 volumes in 1980, and Raymond A. Frankle became Library Director the following year. The Fred Alexander Government Documents Area was dedicated in honor of the late Charlotte city council member and state senator in 1982, and the Mary and Harry L. Dalton Rare Book and Manuscript Room was dedicated in 1983, accompanied by Mr. Dalton’s donation of a copy of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems (1773). Also in 1983, the library began its online catalog and circulation system, ALADDIN. Two years later, Atkins Library became the first academic library in North Carolina to close its card catalog in favor of an online system.

By 1986, the collection numbered over 400,000 volumes, and in 1987 it expanded to include two Sumerian clay tablets (ca. 2000 B.C.), donated by Julian and Elsie Mason on the occasion of the first meeting of the Atkins Library Associates. In 1991, Mrs. Mary Dalton donated a copy of the first edition of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851) as the library’s 500,000th volume.

A major reorganization of Academic Affairs took place in 1992, bringing the library, Computing Services, and Media Services together as units under Frankle, who was named the Associate Vice Chancellor for Library and Information Services (LIS). Also that year, the Architecture Resource Center in the College of Architecture opened. In 1994, Cynthia (Tia) I. Gozzi became Associate Director of the library. She would later become Director, and during her tenure the office would change names again, this time to University Librarian, a position she would hold until 2001.

In 1994, the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $900,000 to plan for the expansion of the library building, and the University’s board of trustees appointed the firms of Little and Associates of Charlotte and Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott of Boston to design the expansion. The following year, the General Assembly approved funding of $20.5 million to proceed with construction, which began in 1996.

After Associate Vice Chancellor Frankle suffered a stroke in 1996, Wilson (Bil) Stahl succeeded him, serving as acting Associate Vice Chancellor for the next four years. Also in 1996, retrospective conversion of the library’s catalog to the online system was considered complete, and the card catalog was discarded. Two years later, the library began participation in NC LIVE, a statewide initiative to provide all North Carolina citizens with access to information databases.

In 2001, the library was re-dedicated following its renovation and expansion, at which time the collection held 875,000 volumes. Two more collection milestones would come in 2007 and 2016, with Dr. Julian and Elsie Mason’s gifts of a first edition, first pressing copy of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922) as the one-millionth volume and a rare copy of Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1793) as the two-millionth volume.

Lee E. Gray was appointed Interim University Librarian upon Gozzi’s retirement in 2001 and served until 2002, when Amy P. Dykeman became University Librarian. Carole Runnion served as Acting University Librarian from 2007 to 2009, after which Stanley Wilder was hired as University Librarian, a position he held from 2009 to 2014. From July 2014 to June 2015, Jay Raja, the Senior Associate Provost, Academic Affairs, served as the interim University Librarian, and in June 2015 Anne Cooper Moore filled the position, newly renamed as Dean of Libraries.