The original library for the Drexel Institute was located in the Main Building, occupying a space in the southwest corner near the Chestnut Street entrance.  The library not only served the scholarly needs of Drexel students but was also used as a training ground for the Library School.  Students from the Library School, like Virginia Castleman, trained and worked in the original library as seen in the photos here.

George W. Childs, a friend of A.J. Drexel and benefactor of the Drexel Institute, was among those responsible for building an important and unique collection of manuscripts and rare books for the library.  The treasures given to Drexel included original manuscripts by Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe.   Some of these manuscripts were displayed prominently in the original library (see display cases in bottom right photo below).  The most valuable parts of this collection were sold by Drexel in the 1940s due to financial problems caused by a downturn in enrollment because of the war.  A small portion of the original collection still remains in the Special Collections of the Hagerty Library.

The library remained in the Main Building until the completion of the University Library (the current Korman Center) in 1959.

Handwritten on front: "The charging department where we circulate the books."

Back: "Charging desk of the D.I., showing book stacks in the rear."

Front: "In the Reference Department"

Back: "Corner of the Reference department in the Library of the Drexel Institute" "'Dixie' [V.C. Castleman] at front table"

Front: "The autograph and manuscript cases"

Back: "Magazine and manuscript cases in the D.I. Reading room."