Scholes Library - We've had your back since 1947

The New York State School of Clay-Working and Ceramics was established at Alfred University in 1900 "to give scientific, technical, art and practical training for the manufacture of all kinds of ceramic products" and to conduct research in clays and shales. By 1932 the School had evolved into an internationally recognized College, renamed The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.



Merrill  Hall(From 1950 Kanakadea Yearbook )



The library had grown as well, from a modest shelf of books to an uncataloged office collection of 1200 volumes and several dozen journal subscriptions in the 1940's. The need to develop and organize the library was recognized by Dr. Scholes.  At the 1947 annual meeting of the American Ceramic Society he persuaded Miss Emily Van Schoick, a Fellow of the Society and Associate Editor of its Journal, to give up her distinguished editorial career and come to Alfred to organize a library for the College of Ceramics.

Emily Van Schoick, First Librarian at Scholes Library

The first library was located in Binns Hall. And by the year of Miss Van Schoick’s retirement in 1959 the collection had grown to 14,000 volumes.

The ceramics community, friends and alumni supported the Library with many gifts; several important collections were donated during these years.

To accommodate growing collections and student and faculty needs, more rooms in Binns-Merrill Hall were occupied.



In 1959, Robin R. B. Murray became the director and guided the library in a new age of research.

Robin Murray, seated at left

In time, the library outgrew its quarters in Binns-Merrill Hall and in 1973 moved into the newly-constructed Harder Hall.

In addition to badly needed space to house the growing collection, four floors in Harder Hall provided more flexible arrangements of study areas, audio-visual resources, and a rare books room.

In the later 70's, the college's growing collection of valuable slides and visual media was moved to the library in Harder Hall to be catalogued and cared for by a professional curator.

During this time Scholes Library began moving forward into the new electronic information environment. The library was now able to access online collections and databases.

In 1987 planning began for a new building provided the New York State University Construction Fund. WIth substantial input from the library staff, the architects designed a building for state-of-the-art information services.

1992 saw the opening of the $6.2 million dollar building.

Although the library's service philosophy has not changed in 63 years, the new facility paved the way for significant enhancements in service, access, and delivery of information.

Hard wooden chairs have been replaced by comfortable seating, and computer terminals glow softly where card catalogues once stood.

The library building also provides space and environmental conditions for proper storage and display of unique resources such as those  housed in our Special Collections and Rare Book Room.

Scholes Library houses a significant collection of electronic resources and data sources in the arts and sciences. Electronic formats include many CD-ROM Titles. In addition, the library provides access to a wide range of specialized online information databases accessible through the internet.