by Obinnaya Oji
Quick Summary
Check out some interesting facts about the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
Building Facts: The University of St. Thomas (UST), was founded in 1885 in St. Paul by Archbishop John Ireland. It defines itself as a “Catholic comprehensive urban university that emphasizes values-centered, career-oriented education.” The O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library (OSF) on the St. Paul campus houses the main collections of the University. Minneapolis architects, Lang and Rouglind constructed the building in 1959. After remodeling in 1991, the name Frey was added to O’Shaughnessy.
The library is not only an architectural stand-out in its own right but also houses unique art pieces. They range from paintings and sculptures to over 100 stained-glass medallions of the Conrad Pickel Stained Glass collection located throughout the building. There is also a 120 square-foot stained glass window of St. Thomas Aquinas crafted by Dieterich Spahn of Wayzata, Minnesota. The new St. Thomas E-Learning And Research (STELAR) center enhances the teaching and learning mission of the university through innovative and transformative technologies.
Collections: The O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library caters to all academic disciplines within the university. The Archbishop Ireland Memorial Library is the graduate theology library of UST and the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. The Schoenecker Law library supports the mission of the School of Law, and the Charles J. Keffer Library supports the College of Business, College of Education, Leadership, and Counseling. Within the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library is the Department of Special Collections and the University Archives. Its holdings include more than 23,000 volumes, 2400 cubic feet of manuscripts and archival records, photographs, films, architectural drawings, and ephemera. The Rare Books collection is particularly strong in the areas of Irish Studies, Luxembourgiana, the works of the English Catholic authors G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, French Revolution memoirs, and early works related to Roman Catholic theology and history.1
ILL Facts: The UST Libraries use three systems for interlibrary loan: the CLIC catalog, VDX, and ILLiad.
Interlibrary loan is part of the Access Services department located in circulation. Currently, one full-time staff person (with help with other circulation staff and student workers) handles all borrowing and lending requests for three of UST’s libraries. OSF, Ireland Theological Library, both in St. Paul, and the Keffer Library on the Minneapolis campus. Last fiscal year, St. Thomas ILL handled about 23,000 requests via VDX and ILLiad. Additionally, the UST’s Schoenecker Law Library handles all its own interlibrary loan using the same systems.
Minitex Resource Sharing Services: Minitex is an important partner for UST Libraries’ interlibrary loan accounting, almost half of the ILL activity. In fiscal year 2016 Minitex received 6,326 requests from St. Thomas. Minitex sent 1,487 requests to St. Thomas in fiscal year 2016.
Faith Bonitz(UST) contributed to this article.
1. https://www.stthomas.edu/libraries/special/rare/ December 13, 2016.
