Happy 25th Birthday Musselman Library

Former President Charles Glassick led the way with a carton of books

Happy 25th Birthday
Musselman Library!

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On April 22, 1981 the Gettysburg College Library moved from Schmucker to the new Musselman Library. The book move included approximately 1350 people, including 230 members of faculty and administration. These volunteers loaded, transported, and shelved around 180,000 books and materials in less than 5 hours.

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Construction began in 1979 thanks to a large gift from the Emma G. Musselman Foundation.

Campus volunteers transferring materials from the old library to the new, quickly filled up Musselman Library's previously empty shelves.

Toting boxes and pulling wagons the volunteers formed a human snake from one corner of the campus to the center.

"It was a highly organized and efficient system," recalled librarian emeritus David Hedrick. "In a little more than 4 hours the books were moved, and by 6 p.m. the library opened for service."

The line of volunteers ran from Schmucker to Musselman.

Back in Schmucker a system of chutes and rollers carried boxes of books from the 3rd floor to the second and from the 2nd floor balcony out the window.

Conveyers moved books from the third to second floor.

Cartons slid down a chute from the second floor of Schmucker