| History | Head Librarians/Directors | Photographs |

Clara Fritzsche

The Library of Notre Dame College was originally housed in what is now the College’s Admissions Office. Evidence of this can be seen in the dark oak shelves that line its walls. The original oak circulation desk is still located there. Groundbreaking for the Clara Fritzsche Library occurred on October 24, 1969. The building, designed by Ernest Payer of the architectural firm of Rowley, Payer, Huffman and Leithold, was dedicated in August 1971. It is named after the mother of its principal benefactor, Paul Fritzsche, a one-time Notre Dame trustee and cookbook collector who donated the funds to build the new library. A picture of Clara Fritzsche now hangs behind the circulation desk of the library, along with a portrait of Sister Genevieve Baker, founder of the Book-A-Year Club and Head Librarian of the Notre Dame Library for fifty years. When the new library was built students led by Sister Leroy Finn, founder of the WECO program, formed a line from the old library to the new building and moved the books from one facility to the other in bucket brigade fashion until every last book was in its place.

The library’s collection has steadily grown over the years and now consists of over 93,000 volumes. In 1983 the library took its first steps towards technology by purchasing Gaylord’s TeleMARC software, which produced MARC-like records and catalog cards. The library installed its first computer for reference use in 1988, enabling patrons to search the catalog of the Cleveland Public Library and the catalogs of libraries worldwide through WorldCat. In 1990 the library installed Bibliofile, automated cataloging software that marked its first step towards an electronic catalog. The library received a grant from CAMLS in 1995 to begin the retrospective conversion of its entire catalog to MARC record format and from the Dewy Decimal Classification to the Library of Congress Classification System commonly used by academic institutions. In 1997 the library purchased the Innovative Interfaces, Inc. automated library system to enable the transition from the traditional card catalog to an electronic online public access catalog (OPAC). The circulation module was added in 1999. In that same year a grant from the Gund Foundation enabled the library to join OhioLINK, train NDC faculty and staff in the new technologies and design the library website. In 2002 a new computer room was created on the first floor of the library and is a popular place for students to congregate. Construction on a new state-of-the-art electronic classroom is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2004.

The library has also seen many changes in facilities that parallel its technological evolution. The year 1997 marked the dedication of the Tolerance Resource Center, located on the second floor of the library. In that same year the Book-A-Year Club Gallery was created from an underutilized space using proceeds from the library book sale for the renovation. It has since been the site of 30 art exhibits ranging from sculpture to photography, calligraphy to portraiture. In 1999 the Eastern Church Resource Center was dedicated, replacing the former Baker Exhibit Room, which formerly housed the campus archives, now located on the Ground Floor of the Administration Building.

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Head Librarians/Directors
Notre Dame College Library

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Old library in the Administration Building where Office of Admissions is now, circa 1935

Old library, circa late 1930’s

Old library, circa 1960s

Architectural rendering of new library, 1969

Flyer for the groundbreaking of the new library, October 24, 1969

Groundbreaking ceremony, Sister Mary Genevieve Baker, S.N.D. (left)

Groundbreaking ceremony, Sister Mary Genevieve Baker, S.N.D. (left)

Groundbreaking ceremony, invocation

Groundbreaking ceremony, color guard

Groundbreaking ceremony, (from left) Bernard Muhle, William Adams II, president of the Cleveland Growth Association, Sister Mary Luke Arntz, S.N.D., Notre Dame College President. The shovel was the one used for groundbreaking on all the campus buildings.

Cake at groundbreaking ceremony

Excavation, 1969

Piledriver, 1969

Foreman’s trailer

Foundation, winter 1970

A view of the construction site from the Administration Building, 1970. This watercolor was done as part of an art class project by Toni Fiderio ’72.

Sister Mary Genevieve near the entrance of the new library

	Rose Ann worked at the Notre Dame College Library for 41 years. Her father, August Siemer, was brought over from Germany to maintain the apple orchard which used to be located where the sports fields are now. The white farmhouse where they lived was directly across from the Clara Friztsche Library on Green Road and was a South Euclid landmark for many years.
Rose Ann Siemer, 1970

Sister Mary Genevieve Baker, S.N.D., Head Librarian for 50 years

Sister Mary Genevieve Baker among the stacks

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