Engraving of the second home
of the Normal School The legislature was approached, but the construction cost of the new state capitol prevented any action being taken until 1880. Finally in 1881, the legislature appropriated $75,000 for a new building. However no funds were to be released until the town of New Britain provided an additional $25,000.

By the time the school had relocated into the new building located on Walnut Hill, the library collection had grown to almost 1,600 volumes exclusive of textbooks.

Headshot photo of Edward Robbins,
lecturer and librarian, 1881-1894 According to the school's catalogues, Edward Robbins, a lecturer, served as librarian between 1881-1894.

The 1887-1888 catalogue indicated the collection had grown to 4,000 books and 500 textbooks. It was also reported that "a card catalogue, classifying by topics, has recently been completed." No documentation was located to explain the fluctuations in the number of textbooks. One may surmise that as the textbooks went out of date they were discarded.

Interior view of the library
shelves, Walnut Hill, about 1875 The oak fence around the bookcases in this photograph leads one to believe that this was not a "browsing collection." An attendant would pull the desired volume from the shelves upon request.
Interior of the library, Walnut Hill

The second librarian to be mentioned was Evangeline St. Clair Champlin, serving between 1894 and 1895. By this time there were over 5,300 books in the library and a collection of 3,700 textbooks. No portrait of this librarian was found in the archives.

Headshot photo of Mary E. Goodrich, 
librarian from 1895-1920 Mary E. Goodrich was appointed librarian in 1895 and served for the next quarter century, retiring in 1920.

By 1900 the collection had grown to 7,500 miscellaneous books and about 7,500 textbooks and "The reading tables were supplied with 35 magazines and papers." The library also held a picture file for use in the Normal and Model schools.



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