Drexel's library school was the third such institution in the nation.  Melvil Dewey directed the first library program, which opened at Columbia College in 1887.  Alice B. Kroeger, a student of Dewey, directed Drexel's library school from its beginning in 1892 until 1909 when she died at the age of 45.  In 1914, Hollis Godfrey, Drexel's second president, eliminated the library school with the justification that, because of the high number of non-Philadelphians in the program, it did not fall under the greater mission of the institute to serve local interests.

The program re-emerged as the School of Library Science in 1922 and continues today as the College of Information Science and Technology.

Handwritten on front: "Library classroom"

Back: "Library classroom in Drexel Institute. Class of '99"

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Newspaper clippings from Philadelphia Press, November 27, 1895.  Includes article by Alice B. Kroeger, the first director of the library school, and Eivar Dane, library school student.  Articles describe Drexel and some early initiatives of library educators.