Written by: Isabella Bickhaus
Common questions surrounding the library often include: Where’s Ellis? What’s Ellis? When’s Ellis open? But here’s a question that might not be asked as frequently: Who’s Ellis?
The main library on MU’s campus was named after Elmer Ellis in 1971 by the Board of Curators. From 1955 to 1966, Ellis served as the 13th president of MU. Because of his dedication to the library before and during his term, the library thrived. His dedication plaque can be found outside the Lowry Mall entrance at the bottom of the lampposts.
Before Ellis assumed the role of President, he served on the campus Library Committee with two other faculty members. In this committee, they were tasked to allocate funds for books and journals between different academic departments and also to hire a new librarian. Perhaps most significantly, this committee also oversaw the plans for the west-wing addition in the library in 1936, which significantly increased storage and study space. At the same time the west wing was added, building the west stacks doubled the number of books the library could hold. Today, the west side of the library houses a variety of things, including Special Collections on the fourth floor, the cast gallery and study space on the second floor, study space on the first floor, and Ellis Auditorium on the ground floor.
During his term as President, the library was becoming crowded again even after the west wing addition. In 1958, the library was expanded further with an east wing addition, creating more space and adding symmetry to the library’s north facade. Today, the east wing houses the east stacks on floors two through four, administrative offices and government documents on the first floor, and museums on the ground floor. The library grew physically and technologically during his term, surpassing 1 million volumes, transitioning from Dewey to Library of Congress classification, and installing an IBM circulation system. In addition to the physical and technological expansion of the library, Ellis sought and gained approval to create an accredited graduate program for Library and Information Science, and he appointed a committee to find a head of this new school. This program is still in existence today and educates librarians for the state of Missouri and beyond.
Sources: Ellis Old and New Libguide, The History of the University of Missouri-Columbia Library by June LaFollette DeWeese, My Road to Emeritus by Elmer Ellis