Kenneth Spencer Research Library


The Kenneth Spencer Research Library is a library at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Completed and dedicated in 1968, the library houses special collections materials including rare books, maps, archives, and photographs. The library is open to members of the public and is not limited to students and faculty members at KU.

History

In 1949, Kenneth and Helen Spencer established a foundation in Kansas City for charitable giving in the region. Over the course of thirty years, the Foundation donated millions of dollars to universities, museums, and other cultural institutions in the Kansas City area and across the Midwest. Helen became president and director of the foundation following Kenneth's death in 1960.
Shortly after Kenneth Spencer's death in 1960, Helen was approached about donating her husband's personal papers and business records to the University of Kansas. She agreed, and by October 1964, attention turned to how and where the materials would be housed as a special memorial library. KU's Watson Library was deemed unsuitable, as the facility's lack of space already hindered librarians' efforts to process and make available special collections materials.
"Upon reflecting on this," Helen later recalled, "and knowing that a university gains prominence through its Graduate College, I was inspired to give this graduate research library." Helen was also inspired to establish the library so as to help combat the exodus of scholars from the Lawrence area, writing, "Kenneth and I had so often observed and regretted the loss of talented native Kansans to other larger eastern and western graduate schools because most of them found employment in those areas and never returned to the Middle West."
In January 1966, Helen donated funds to the University of Kansas for the construction of a library in honor of her late husband Kenneth. Helen's gift was, at the time, the largest single gift ever given to KU or to any institution in Kansas. When the gift was announced, Chancellor W. Clarke Wescoe declared that the library "will stand as a living memorial not only to an outstanding man and his equally distinguished wife but to the pursuit of learning that holds so much promise for the future and to the spirit of philanthropy which holds out for the University of Kansas the promise of future greatness."
Construction of the library began in January 1967. The library was dedicated on November 8, 1968, and it officially opened a month later. More than 150,000 books and 250,000 manuscripts were moved from Watson Library to Spencer, allowing KU to bring together previously scattered special collections as well as grow the collections and establish new services.

Building

The Kenneth Spencer Research Library encompasses 100,000 square feet and is four-stories tall. The building was designed by the Tanner & Linscott architect Robert F. Jenks and built by B.A. Green Construction Co., which was based out of Lawrence. According to Alexandra Mason, a librarian who worked at the library, the structure was created "specifically to meet the needs of rare books, manuscripts, archives, and their users".
In mid-to-late 2017, the library renovated its North Gallery.

Collections

The Kenneth Spencer Research Library is home to collections in many subject areas:
The library's exhibit spaces include the North Gallery, which, among other things, showcases two stories of glass-enclosed book stacks and a permanent exhibit featuring a snapshot of Spencer's distinctive collections. Spencer also hosts rotating exhibits throughout the year.

Footnotes