Connecticut's Library Heritage
Founded by the Jesuits in 1942, the university welcomed its first class of 303 male students in 1947, and graduated its first class in 1951. Today, the campus offers all the amenities of a highly selective, comprehensive university in a setting of rolling hills, sprawling lawns, picturesque ponds, and bucolic wooded areas-a setting ideal for education. Ten co-educational residential complexes house 2500 of a total of 3250 undergraduates in traditional single- and double-occupancy dormitories, suite-style rooms, and townhouse apartments.
In 1948, under the leadership of librarian Robert Gaffney, the university library boasted over 5000 books and a panoramic view of the Long Island Sound from the windows of Berchmans Hall. With a new librarian, Robert Barrows, it moved in 1949 to two rooms in Xavier Hall. Fr. Francis A. Small, S.J., was named Director of Libraries in 1952, a position he would hold for over two decades of great change. Fr. Small led the move in 1957 to Canisius Hall, where the library remained for a decade. It was under his leadership that the library began a microform collection, purchased its first electronic typewriter, and developed a procedure for duplicating catalog cards.
Groundbreaking for the first separate library structure took place in 1967, with the new library opening the following year. The new building was planned with an estimated 20 years worth of growth space. With the opening of the new building in 1968, the library increased its capacity from 90,000 to 300,000 books. It featured its first full-time reference librarian, two typing rooms and a smoking area.
In 1971, the library was named in honor of benefactors Gustav and Dagmar Nyselius, Swedish immigrants who had settled in Stamford and wanted to make a donation to Fairfield University to repay in part the kindness of their adoptive country. At the time of donation their gift was the largest ever given to Fairfield University.
In 1973, the Nyselius Library joined OCLC, an online cataloging service that provided access to a database as well as printed catalog cards. In 1974, Barbara Bryan, then Associate Director, was named University Librarian. The library added a media department in 1980, thanks to a grant from the Gladys Brooks Foundation. In 1982 it joined Bibliomation, which introduced barcodes and wands to replace handwritten sign-out slips for checking out books. The library's first computer lab opened in 1986 with eight Apple computers. Steady technological improvements continued to augment the library, including a CD-ROM reference center in 1990 thanks to the Gladys Brooks Foundation; a CD-ROM LAN in 1991 thanks to grants from the E.L. Cord Foundation and the George I. Alden Trust; an online public access catalog in 1993; and a computer lab with 25 workstations in 1997.
In 1996, James Estrada was appointed University Librarian and Executive Director of Academic Computing and took the lead on a library expansion and renovation project. After long and careful planning, July 1999 marked the groundbreaking ceremonies for the library expansion, an undertaking supported largely by a gift from alumus Joseph A. DiMenna, Jr. '80 and his wife Maureen. The project neared completion as classes started in the fall semester of 2001, thanks to the leadership of Estrada and Director of Library Services Joan Overfield. The DiMenna-Nyselius Library was dedicated and officially opened on October 4th, 2001, ushering the library at Fairfield University into a new era.
The new library virtually doubles the size of the former Nyselius Library. The DiMenna-Nyselius Library has 115,800 square feet and a capacity for 450,000 volumes; seating for 900; numerous group study rooms; two computer labs, one of which is available for 24-hour access along with a café; an electronic classroom for library instruction; an audio-visual complex with a wide-range of listening and viewing technologies for media in various formats, including CD, DVD, cable TV, microform, and adaptive technologies; a 90-seat multimedia auditorium; an Information Commons with 36 workstations that access a wide range of electronic information resources via the web; comfortable individualized seating that consists of a mix of study carrels, arm-chair sofas, and tablet-arm chairs; and group study seating at tables, pods, and private rooms.
The library also contains spaces dedicated to archives, special collections, a fine arts collection, stack areas, newspapers, exhibits, a curriculum collection, conferencing, staff lounge, and the Mary Hardy Corrigan Reading Room, a grand reading area that contains 64 carrels, tables, task lighting and data-connections for 96 seats.
In terms of technology, the DiMenna-Nyselius Library contains a flexible infrastructure with the latest in high-speed connectivity to computer workstations and individual and group study carrels, a range of wiring types for voice/data/video, as well as several types of transceivers for current and developing wireless computer standards.
The DiMenna-Nyselius Library was designed by The Stubbins Associates and constructed by Gilbane Building Company. The new structure utilizes oak paneling, artful lighting, and colorful fabrics and carpeting in a mission-style design to harmonize the various spaces within the library. In addition to achieving the functional goals of our building program, by all accounts, the architects and the builder have done a masterful job of creating an attractive, comfortable, and welcoming environment for learning, study, relaxation, and reflection.
James Estrada is Vice President for Information Services & University Librarian, and Joan Overfield is Director of Library Services at Fairfield University.