St. Louis Mercantile Library facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St. Louis Mercantile Library |
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| Current home of the library on the UMSL Campus | |
| Country | United States of America |
| Type | Special collections |
| Scope | Americana |
| Established | 1846 |
| Branch of | Thomas Jefferson Library |
| Collection | |
| Items collected |
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| Size | Over 250,000 books and 400 archival collections |
| Other information | |
| Director | John N. Hoover |
| Website | http://www.umsl.edu/mercantile/ |
| Phone number | 314-516-7240 |
The St. Louis Mercantile Library started in 1846 in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was first a membership library, which means people paid to join. It is the oldest library west of the Mississippi River that is still around today.
Since 1998, the library has been part of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. It is a Special Collections library inside the Thomas Jefferson Library. This means it focuses on rare and unique items. Most of its materials fit into four main groups: the General Collection, the John W. Barriger Railroad Library, the Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library, and the Art Museum. The city of St. Louis, Mo. has named the library's collections an important landmark. This is because of their cultural value.
Contents
History of the Library
How the Library Started
In December 1845, a group of community leaders and people who loved to help others came together. They wanted to create a place "where young men could pass their evenings agreeably and profitably." They hoped this would help young men avoid bad choices in big towns. The library officially opened on April 19, 1846. It became officially recognized by the State of Missouri that same year.
Back then, public libraries were not common. The St. Louis Mercantile Library became a very important place for culture and learning in the city. It had a reading room, meeting rooms, and the biggest auditorium in the city.
James E. Yeatman was the first president. He also helped start the Mercantile Bank and Washington University in St. Louis. By 1847, the library had 1,600 books and 283 members. In 1851, it joined with the St. Louis Lyceum. The St. Louis Symphony played its first concerts at the library. Famous speakers like Mark Twain, Carl Schurz, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Oscar Wilde gave talks there.
In 1854, the library moved to a new building at 510 Locust Street. This building had the Grand Hall, which could seat 2,000 people. It was the largest auditorium in the city at that time. In 1861, the first meeting of the Missouri Constitutional Convention happened here. They voted for Missouri to stay in the Union at the start of the American Civil War. Another convention in 1865 voted to end slavery.
In 1884, Robert S. Brookings started a plan to build a new fireproof building. The old building was taken down in 1887. A new cornerstone was laid by Henry Shaw (botanist). In 1889, the new six-story building opened in the same spot. This new building did not have a lecture hall, but it did have an elevator. In 1901, the library started using electricity instead of candles for the first time. In 1915, the library began offering a telephone service and book delivery using a Ford Model T. The library was named a City Landmark in 1973.
Special Collections Grow
When the free Saint Louis Public Library opened in 1893, the Mercantile Library changed its focus. Instead of being the main library for the city, it began to focus on its special historic collections. These include old books, papers, and art. The Art Museum has been collecting American paintings, drawings, sculptures, and folk art since it started. One of its first loans was from the famous St. Louis artist Charles Deas.
The Mercantile Library has always collected items that show the history of industry in St. Louis. Because of this, a special railroad collection was started in 1983. It is named after John W. Barriger III, a railroad leader. His large personal collection of books, company papers, and photos became the heart of the railroad items. In 1985, the library also created a formal waterways collection. This collection is named after Herman T. Pott, a well-known leader in the river industry.
The library also received the old newspaper photo and clipping files from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. This newspaper started in 1854.
The Library Today
In 1994, the library's leaders started thinking about its future. They wanted to make its collections easier for modern researchers to use. In 1996, the St. Louis Mercantile Library Association celebrated its 150th birthday. That year, the leaders decided to join with the University of Missouri-St. Louis. This move happened in 1998. The Mercantile Library moved to its current home in the Thomas Jefferson Library building. It became a special collections library within the university.
The library still has a membership system. However, most of its collections are open to everyone for research. You can find items on open shelves, use the archival Reading Room, or explore the UMSL Digital Library. Being a member now gives you extra benefits. These include borrowing books, going to special events, and getting private tours.
The library uses an "open-storage" system for many of its items. This means a lot of the collections are on display throughout the library. The library also offers free art and history exhibits. These exhibits show items from its collections both in person and online.
Highlights of the Collections
Here are some of the amazing things you can find in the library's collections:
- John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library: This collection has over 45,000 books, documents, and photos about railroads. It focuses on how railroads made money, their history, how they were managed, and their engineering.
- Herman T. Pott National Inland Waterways Library: This collection includes documents, items, and artwork about rivers and waterways.
- Clippings and photo morgue of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat: Over 10 million documents, including a searchable database of subjects and names.
- Official file copies of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch'
- Photo and film archives of Trans World Airlines
- Signed and complete first edition of John James Audubon's Birds of America: This is a very rare and large book of bird drawings.
- The journal of Auguste Chouteau: This journal is confirmed to be real and describes how St. Louis was founded.
- Harriet Hosmer's marble sculpture, Beatrice Cenci: This beautiful statue was made for the library in 1857.
- Four Portraits of Winnebago chiefs by Charles Deas
- Death mask of Napoleon Bonaparte: This is a plaster copy made from the original by Francesco Antommarchi.
