26 January 1876
A fire in Hollis Hall prompted Harvard to construct a water main with four hydrants and to acquire several fire ladders for Harvard Yard.45
1876-1877
The construction of a fireproof wing to Gore Hall, with self-supporting iron stacks, briefly relieved space problems in the library. These were the first such stacks to be built in America. John Langdon Sibley strongly advocated for a new building instead of an enlargement, but was overruled by President Eliot.46
1877
Justin Winsor became Librarian of Harvard. He eliminated the annual recall of books and stoped the practice of closing the library for cleaning. Students could acquire tickets that give them limited access to the stacks, a result of Winsor’s belief in the importance of contact with books.47 In 1883, the annual examination of the books was reinstated and supplemented by regular shelf-reading by staff.48
1878
Justin Winsor believed that the great number of serials and pamphlets requiring binding or rebinding suggested the need for a University bindery similar to the one with which he was familiar at the Boston Public Library. The bindery could use high-quality materials, do efficient work, and provide better security for rare items.49
Late 1870s
Environmental conditions at Dane Hall were deleterious to the books of the Law School Library. They became dusty when windows were open in the summer, were injured by exposure to gaslight, and were damaged by extreme changes in temperature. Furthermore, the library was over-stuffed with books and was not fireproof.50
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45 Charles W. Eliot, “President’s Report for 1875-1876,” Annual Report of the President of Harvard University to the Overseers on the state of the university for the academic year 1875-1876 (1877): 25.
46 Ibid., 26-27; Carpenter, The First 350 Years of the Harvard University Library, 74.
47 Lovett, “The Undergraduate and the Harvard Library, 1877-1937,” 223-225.
48 Harvard University. Records of the Harvard University Library. Records relating to the activities of the Library. Frank Carney, “History of the Shelf Department,” 1900. Archives UA.III.50.29.00.6. Harvard University Archives. Courtesy of the Harvard University Archives.
49 Justin Winsor, “The Library,” Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College 1877-1878 (1879): 115.
50 See C. C. Langdell’s annual reports of this period. For example, C. C. Langdell, “The Law School,” Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College 1877- 1878 (1879): 87.