NIVE RSIT Y COLLEGE
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Volume 15, Number I
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA
August, 1972
LIBRARY ADDITION READIED FOR USE NEXT MONTH
Dana Foundation Challenge Gift, Matching Funds
Provide For Doubling Size of Present Facility
EXPANSION. New construction will increase seating capacity from 138 to 275; shelving capacity
from 70,000 to 160,000 volumes; useable sguare footage from 13,445 to over 30,000 sguare feet.
It will provide space for individual study carrels, typing stations, microfilm storage, microform
machines, and other presently non-existent features.
The most significant achievement at the College of Law during the 1971-1972
academic year has been the near completion of the long-needed addition to the
Charles A. Dana library, which is designed to more than double the utility of the
original building, dedicated in 1958.
The Overseers, the Dean and the faculty have long been aware of the necessity
for expansion. A law library collection
doubles itself about every 16 years simply through normal accumulation of continuations and essential material for new
courses. Also, growth in student enrollment, though presently stabilized, has
resulted in twice as many students competing for library seating space and
study aids. Solely because of the natural
course of events, the "splendid establishment" of 1958, more than adequate for
the times, has been gradually falling below the standard required by the Association of American Law Schools.
The dream of new facilities to meet
what were becoming urgent needs took
on a semblance of form and substance
in April, 1971, when the Charles A. Dana
Foundation pledged $200,000 for library
expansion on the same terms as was
made a condition of Mr. Dana's initial
gift — that other friends and alumni of
Stetson respond with a similar amount.
Plans were immediately made for
launching a fund raising campaign; the
St. Petersburg firm of Harvard and Jolly
was engaged as architects; and by October 13 the success of the project was
assured to the extent that the College
felt justified in entering into a construction contract with Lincoln and Karcher,
local builders.
Work On Schedule
Work has proceeded on schedule, and
the facility will be ready for use by students when classes begin for the fall semester, September 8. "We won't be
comfortably settled by that time," said
Head Librarian Lamar Woodard, as he
evaluated the rate of progress before
leaving for a mid-July vacation, "but all
books should be on the shelves and most
of the necessary new furniture in place."
Dean Dillon, whose own efforts in obtaining finances for the addition have
been considerable, singles out several
men for special mention because of their
part in procuring the funds that have
made it a reality. It was Walter Mann,
a trustee of the University and first
president of the Board of Overseers,
whose favorable presentation persuaded
the Board of Directors of the Charles
A. Dana Foundation to make the challenge grant. Mann received strong support from the President of the Foundation, MacLean Gander, who had previously visited the College and learned
first hand the beneficial use to which
other gifts from the Danas and their
Foundation had been put.
University Helps
John E. Johns, President of Stetson
University, not only contributed his efforts, but generously made available as
advisor and organizer of the challenge
fund campaign the services of Mike
Chertok, the University's capable director of development. Working closely
with Chertok were J. Ben Watkins, '49,
a member of the Board of Overseers
and a past president of the Stetson Lawyers Association, who headed the campaign steering committee, and William
Amory Underhill, '36, President of the
Law Center Foundation at St. Petersburg, Inc., who served as campaign general manager. Daniel Burton, '64, undertook the task of informing alumni of the
campaign and enlisting their support. No
man, however, deserves more credit for
the success of the fund drive than William J. Clapp, Chairman of the Board
of Overseers, not only because of his
leadership, but because of his personal
and successful solicitation of prospective
contributors.
"A Collective Effort"
"It has been a collective effort," said
Dean Dillon. "We must never forget,
though, that all of the time and energy
given us by these dedicated people
would have been for nothing were it not
for the business men of the Tampa Bay
area, loyal Stetson Lawyers, and scores
of other friends of the College who responded so generously to their call for
support."
