Finding Aids: PVAMU Special Collections and Archives : The W. R. Banks Library Collection

Creator: W. R. Banks Library Staff

Title of Collection: The W. R. Banks Library Collection

Dates: Circa 1929-2000

Extent: 1 linear ft. (32 boxes)

Abstract: The W. R. Banks Library Collection consists of administrative documents from the 1920s documenting how the library functioned, annual reports and statistics from every department, and the lifespan of the School of Information Science at Prairie View State College until the late 1970s. Then, the narrative switches to the construction planning to build the new library building in 1982 and various events held at the library for Afro-American History Month.

Biographical Note: The Willette Rutherford Banks Library collection was created through the funds provided by the Fifteenth State Legislative on April 19, 1879, to “organize and support a Normal School...for the preparation and training of colored teachers”. In 1889, this collection was housed in the building of Academic Hall. In 1918, when Dr. E. B. Evans arrived at Prairie View, the general library and reading room, along with the college bookstore, were housed in a small room on the first floor. The library held 2,500 volumes. It was open seven hours on each weekday, two hours on Sunday and three hours on holidays. There were also special libraries housed in different departments in the early 1900s. Each library reflected that department's needs. Libraries and reading rooms were also maintained by the YMCA. A reading room for girls with equal accommodations was located in the back in their brick dormitory.

Mr. G.W. Buchanan, began his career at Perry View. In 1912, was in charge of the library and bookstore housed in the Academic Hall. Prior to Mr. Duck Hands serving as librarian, it appears that faculty served double duty, teaching full time and rotating the responsibility of acting as librarian. In approximately 1919 through 1920, Gertrude Williams was employed to teach commercial English and served as librarian. In 1924, Miss Williams and the collection were moved to the east half of the first floor of the newly elected Science Building. Miss Williams served as librarian through 1930.

In 1931, Mr. OJ Baker was hired as librarian. He moved the collection into the newly constructed education building. The library occupied the entire third floor. At this time, the library consisted of approximately 10,000 volumes and 3000 unbound periodicals. In 1943, the 48th legislature appropriated $160,000 for the construction of a library building. This amount was supplemented by $20,000 for equipment and books. The alumni association requested that the building be named in honor of Principal Willette Rutherford Banks. On November 30th, 1944, the board of directors granted the request. The building was erected at a cost of $171,867.91.

An Open House was held to officially celebrate the library's completion on May 20th, 1945. However, the collection was still housed in the education building. Summer school students, regular session students, 4-H Club boys and girls, faculty and staff followed the lead of Principal Banks and carried books from the old library to the new. More than 20,000 volumes were moved by the volunteers.

In 1966, funds were allocated for half $1,000,000 in addition to the WR Banks Library. A portion of the funds, a total of 184,872, was received as a grant for the library's construction under the Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963. The foundation for the addition was laid in April 1967. It was completed and inspected on March 10, 1968. The addition increased the library’s volumes capacity from 100,000 to 301,000 volumes. After over thirty years of service as Head Librarian, O. J. Baker retired and was succeeded by William B. Scott.

in 1966. Mr. Scott was tragically killed in an auto accident in January 1968. Mr. Baker returned as acting Head Librarian until Frank Francis Jr. Was hired in 1969. In 1983, Mr. Francis resigned as Head Librarian. Mrs. Joyce Thornton served as acting Head Librarian until Dr. Donald Sweet came to Prairie View on June 1, 1984.

W. R. Banks Administration, circa 1920-1940 - 

William Rutherford Banks was born on August 8, 1881, in Hartwell, Georgia, to J. M. and Laura Banks. J. M. Banks was a Georgia populist and founder of the Colored Zion Elementary School at Hartwell, which Willette attended as a youth. The younger Banks attended Atlanta University, where he studied under the guidance of W. E. B. DuBois. He managed and edited the school’s student publication, joined the debate team, and Young Men’s Christian Association. When Banks graduated in 1909, President E. T. Ware of Atlanta University recommended him for a teaching position at Fort Valley Normal and Industrial Institute in Georgia. In 1912, Banks applied for a principalship at Kowiliga Community School in Elmore County, Alabama. Colored Methodist Episcopal Church bishop R. A. Carter offered Banks the presidency of Texas College at Tyler in May 1915. At the end of his tenure in 1926 Banks had recruited the second largest student body in a Texas Black college and had gained a reputation. As a result, he was approached with the opportunity to become principal of Prairie View A&M College soon after.

As principal at Prairie View A&M College (now Prairie View A&M University, a part of the Texas A&M University System), Banks faced some challenges with obtaining the necessary tools to push Prairie View A&M College to the next level of student excellence. Hence, he created various organizations to help bring together the community: In 1921: Banks founded the University Interscholastic League where students from different high schools competed at the college in various sports like football, basketball, baseball, and more. 1930: The Annual Educational Conference was founded by W. R. Banks on April 11, 1930. The creation of the conference was the result of an attempt to meet intelligently some of the major problems of Negro Education in Texas by making research and discussion preliminary to action (Sims 1950, 71).

After Banks many achievements to Prairie View A&M College, the W. R. Banks Library was constructed in 1941 (Prairie View University 1945). The library contained 100,000 volumes and hold 600 students in the building (Sims 1950, 62). The prior Master Theses by Biggins described the improvement needed for the library’s operation and holdings and Banks fulfilled that need for the student greatly. Years later, a program will be started at the same library to train Negro teachers to become trained librarians for high school students and beyond.

School of Information and Library Science, circa 1930-1970 - 

In the late, 1930s, Prairie View State College was one of the four colleges chosen to become a part of the Negro Teacher-Librarian Training Program funded by the American Library Association. After the short-lived program, W. R. Banks saw the need to continue this training program into an accredited degree program for anyone who wanted to study Library Science at Prairie View State College. In 1935, E. L. Biggins had written a Master Thesis on the "Provisions for the Improvement of the Prairie View Training School Library” highlighted troubling issues within the Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College. Biggins stressed the importance of educators to pay attention to the development of rural school libraries and the improvement of all school libraries (1935, 1).

In essence, the Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College library was not in compliance with the American Library Association’s standards with only 250 books from the Juluis Rosenwald fund and relied on donations to build the collection’s holdings. This included no trained professionals running the library, but a group of students (Biggins 1935, 6). The issue of not having trained librarians came up in one ALA conference and soon after, a grant was made to create more trained Negro teachers to understand Library Science Education at four selected universities. Yet, after this report, the conditions of the library received the necessary improvements under the principal, William Rutherford Banks, and his administration.

In the mid-1940s, Prairie View State College developed a Bachelor of Library Science Degree program. The new degree program was offered in the Department of Library Science, a division of Arts and Sciences. The degree program ran between 1945 to 1979. In 1949, the L.S.E. (Library Science Education) certified for public school service in Texas approved six courses: administration, book selection, reference, cataloging & classification, school library problems, and library service for young people (Banks, undated). In summary, the program graduated 300 teacher-librarians, or “school media specialists” until the late 1970s.

Sources:

Banks, W. R. (n.d.). School of Information Science. The W. R. Banks Library Collection, UA 0072, Box 2). Special Collections/Archives Department, John B. Coleman Library, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX.

Biggins, E. L. (1935). Provisions for the Improvement of the Prairie View Training School Library. [Master’s thesis, Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College]. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/145

Prairie View University. (1945). The Prairie View Standard - September 1945 - Vol. XXXVI No. 1., Vol. XXXVI No. 1 Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pv-newspapers/115

Prairie View University. (1946). The Prairie View Standard - Sept/Oct 1946 - Vol. XXXVII No. 1-2., Vol. XXXVII No. 1-2 Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pv-newspapers/156

Sims, Van E. (1950). The Williette Rutherford Banks’ Administration: A Study in the Historical Development of Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College. [Master’s thesis, Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College]. Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College.

“The History of The W. R. Banks Library”. (n.d.). Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College.

White, Sue Anita. (1979). The Role of the School Library Media Specialist as Perceived by Selected Elementary School Principals in the Houston Independent School District. [Master’s thesis, Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical College]. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/837/

Arrangement: The collection is arranged by separating W. R. Banks library documents by different classifications of reports, manuals, administrative, and financial documents. The bulk of the collection contains W. R. Banks administrative files, library science-related books and manuals, and departmental annual reports. The collection has only one series but is broken down into three subdivisions to identify important moments in the W. R. Banks Library history:

Series One: W. R. Banks Library, 1942-1994

Sub-series One: School of Information and Library Science, circa 1936-1970

Sub-series Two: Library Administrative Manuals & Reports, 1929-1976

Sub-series Three: Building Project Files, 1970-2000

Related Collections:

The John B. Coleman, Special Collections and Archive's Department has one manuscript collection about W. R. Banks and two University Archive related collections:

The Principals and Presidents Collection: W. R. Banks Collection

The PVAMU Educational Conference Collection

The Prairie View Interscholastic League Collection

Identification: UA 0074

Repository: Special Collections/Archives Department, John B. Coleman Library, Prairie View A&M University

Complied by: Evelyn Davis October 2023