Lee Memorial Library collection

Establishment of the Library (1941)

The origin of Lee University was the Church of God's Bible Training School (B.T.S) established in 1918 in Cleveland, Tennessee. In 1938 B.T.S. was moved to Sevierville, Tennessee. The school established a library in 1941 with Boyce Creamer, a teacher, in charge. The new library accessioned and cataloged its first book, Facing the World, written by Horatio Alger, on November 8, 1941. Out of the original library collection the earliest book still held (in 2008) by the William G. Squires Library is the tenth book added: Ten Nights in a Bar Room, by T.S. Arthur (Chicago: Geo. M. Hill, [1902?]) — a popular novel from the Temperance Movement.

In 1947 the Church of God purchased Bob Jones College in Cleveland, Tennessee, moved B.T.S. to those facilities, and renamed the school Lee College in honor of the Reverend F.J. Lee, former General Overseer of the Church of God. Books from the B.T.S. Library were transferred to Cleveland as the beginning of the Lee Memorial Library.

Early Librarians (1948-1958)

Dorothy Poteat was the librarian at the time of the library's move from Sevierville to Cleveland. She served one year as librarian in Cleveland and was followed by W.T. Johnston, who served two years. In December 1949 Cleone McLain was employed as Circulation Assistant and remained with the library until 1986 when she retired. In his report to the President of Lee College on July 30, 1948, Mr. Johnston stated, "The primary objective of the Library is to contribute as effectively as possible to the instructional program of the institution by providing the study and reference materials required for supplementing classroom instruction." The total library budget for 1948-49 was $7,493.25. This budget had to meet the needs of High School, Junior College, and Religious Education divisions. The number of books added in 1948-49 was 348, making a total of 5,173 in the collection. Twenty percent of the items in the collection were in the field of religion. Forty percent of the book budget was allocated to religion (Annual Report).

Claryse Myers, a graduate of Peabody Library School and a wife of a Methodist minister, served as librarian during the 1950-51 school year. Following her was Josephine Davis, a Quaker, who served two years. Winston Elliott, a teacher at Lee and graduate student at Peabody, followed her and served two years. Frances (Treadaway) Arrington, a mathematics instructor, assumed the responsibility in 1955 while still attending Peabody Library School, and she served two years. She had been teaching math and English at Lee since 1953. Following her was Lucille Walker, a sociology teacher at Lee, who served two years as librarian.

Expansion and Leadership (1959-1985)

On June 1, 1959, Le Mayne Swiger assumed the position as Head Librarian and remained in that position until December 31, 1977 when, because of health problems, she was given a leave of absence. She returned the next year as Periodicals Librarian. Frances Arrington, who rejoined the faculty in 1964 and served as Assistant Librarian, was asked to assume the position of Acting Head Librarian for 1½ years and in 1979 was appointed as Head Librarian. She remained in that position and in 1985 directed the move of the library to the Pentecostal Resource Center, of which she was Director until her retirement on June 30, 2002.

Initially Lee Memorial Library was located on the third floor of what is now (in 2008) the Vest Building. In 1964 (after the Business Office and Registrar's Office relocated to the new Administration Building-later named the Higginbotham Building) under the leadership of Le Moyne Swiger, the religion reference collection was moved to the second floor in the southeast corner of the building. As a result of a large number of books contributed by Zondervan Publishers, this room was named the Zondervan Room. The library developed a card catalog for the Religion Collection. In 1966 the remainder of the reference books and bound periodicals were moved to the Zondervan Room. The Circulation Desk, Cataloging Department, and Director's Office had all been moved to the second floor by 1968; and book shelves for expansion of the circulating collection were added to what had been the Reading and Reference Room. All circulating books were then in open stacks, whereas previously the stacks had been closed to patrons. By 1969 the library occupied the entire building except one office and the Language Lab.

In 1969 Barbara McCullough joined the library staff as Reference Librarian and served in that capacity and as Assistant Director for Public Services until 2007 when she was appointed as Interim Director of Squires Library and later as Director. Also in 1969 Wayne Standifer assumed the responsibilities of Technical Processes Librarian and remained in that position until 1973. In August 1974 Jean Norman was employed as Technical Processes Librarian. Currently she (Jean Cochran) still holds the position.

Pentecostal Research Center (Special Collections, 1970–)

In August 1963 during the Junior College Division in-service training, the Library Committee made the following recommendation: "That space be provided in the Library for a Church of God Archives." In 1970/71, LeMoyne Swiger, Head Librarian, met with the other librarians — Barbara McCullough, Wayne Standifer, and Frances Arrington — ­and established guidelines for collecting Church of God and other Pentecostal materials. The librarians began to pull from the shelves materials that met those guidelines and to "collect materials from many sources" (Annual Report) and placed them in a special collection. Later Dr. Charles Conn, president of Lee College, called Miss Swiger to talk to her about the possibility of developing a Church of God collection. She was happy to inform him that the librarians had been collecting Pentecostal materials and that the initial stage of the collection was in progress. Dr. Conn gave his full support with funds and promotion, enabling the development of the collection to move forward. Initially the collection was housed on the fourth floor of the building and was a closed collection. In 1973 it was moved to the southwest comer of the second floor in the room that was earlier occupied by the Business Manager. Winston Elliott, a teacher in the Department of Christian Education and a former Head Librarian, was given responsibility for the collection in 1974.

Church of God School of Theology (1975–)

In 1975 the Church of God Graduate School (later named Church of God School of Theology, then Church of God Theological Seminary) was established. Initially the Graduate School started a library in their building; however it soon became apparent that this was not economical or convenient for the students, and in 1978 the books were moved to the Lee Memorial Library and added to the collection. The library continued to serve both schools.

Automation (1981–) The Lee Memorial Library entered the world of automation in 1981 by joining OCLC. After purchase of equipment and training of the staff, the cataloging Department began cataloging materials online through OCLC. The library's holdings were listed in the nationwide system. At the same time a decision was made to use the Library of Congress classification system, and a project to reclassify all materials currently in the library from the Dewey Decimal System into the Library of Congress system, except the juvenile collection, was begun.

Plans for New Library (1980–1985)

Eventually the library occupied the entire building. By 1980 the library became overcrowded. At the 1980 General Assembly Dr. Charles W. Conn recommended that a new building be constructed to house the library, which would serve Lee College and the School of Theology as well as house the Pentecostal Research Center. Frances Arrington, Head Librarian, assisted with the planning of the new building, and it was ready for occupancy. The building with the joint collection (William G. Squires Library) and the special collections (Hal Bernard Dixon, Jr. Pentecostal Research Center) was named Pentecostal Resource Center. The moving of books and other materials and useable furniture was begun on August 10, 1985.