BY MARISSA CASTANOS
Forsyth library welcomed past and present students, faculty, staff, and community members at its 50th anniversary on October 6th. Forsyth library started out in the old fort hospital building, housing 702 volumes within its walls. In 1904, the library was moved to Picken Hall, where it stayed for 12 years.
In 1926, a new library building was finished and named Forsyth Library after General George A. Forsyth who had been an army officer stationed at Fort Hays. At that time, the library was used as a depository for various documents, but as the library grew, new departments and services were added to the facility.
In 1960, President Cunningham recommended to the Board of Regents that a new library building be constructed. Four years later, funds were authorized by the 1964 Kansas legislature, and construction began by the fall of 1965.
Two years later, Forsyth Library opened its doors, with the three floors being updated throughout the years to accommodate for new technology. Currently, the library houses the Writing Center, the Learning Commons, the Center for Ethnic Studies, the Honors College, the Tiger Food Exchange, and Makerspace, along with various library departments.
Today, students past and present can vitalize Forsyth Library for group meetings, finding information for papers, or just a place where they can find some peace and quiet.
Mary Alice Wade graduated in 1992 with her Masters in Psychology and now helps with teaching and research and assessment within Forsyth Library.
“We didn’t have any electronic databases then, we did have a CD ROM where you could look up citations. It was a real big deal when they [Forsyth Library] got that.”
As someone who helps psychology majors and other students find sources for various papers, Wade goes on to say that “doing research in the library is way easier than it used to be.” One of her favorite parts about Forsyth, when she was in school, was being able to find a quiet place to sit and study.
Forsyth Library made such an impact on some of the lives of students that they have made the decision to come back and now work in the library. Lacey Wegner graduated from FHSU in 2006 with her Bachelor’s in Elementary Education, she then went on to graduate with an Education Master’s Degree in 2009.
“I feel like when I was a student, there was more use of the actual resources, it’s now more of a space kind of thing,” Wegner notes that today, group meetings are held here, people come in and use the tables, and the physical recourses are not being utilized as much as they were when she was in school.
The library has even gotten rid of some of the print resources, in order to accommodate to the online community the library now serves.