The Dentistry Library Collection contains papers pertaining to the library as it served the School of Dentistry collecting books, journals and theses for research and reference use. Items of interest include: annual reports, library statistics, course materials, rare book information, and media clippings on faculty and staff. The University of Michigan Dentistry Library Collection is divided into four series, which reflect the structure of the library itself: Administrative, Library Collection, Library Services, and Clippings Files.
A College of Dental Surgery was established at the University of Michigan in 1875. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that, "a library of dental science will be speedily supplied" (General Catalogue 1876-1877, page 139). The library was originally in the Dean's office and consisted of books and dental journals donated by professors, alumni, and interested professionals. The original collection was not cataloged and no librarian or attendant was employed.
In 1893, Corydon L. Ford donated his collection of crania to the college and the library also took on a museum role. A second collection of over 500 osseous specimens were received from Drs. William and L.J. Mitchell in 1904. This resulted in the library splitting into two collections: the Dr. Jonathan Taft Dentistry Library, named after the first Dean of the school and the Ford-Mitchell Museum, named after its founding donors.
The library moved into larger facilities when the College of Dental Surgery acquired its new building in 1908. The dental faculty petitioned the U-M Board of Regents to allow for a library fee to be collected from dental students to support collection development and a part-time attendant. In 1910, a part-time professional bibliographer was employed to organize and catalog the Dental Library's collection. (U-M Regent's Proceedings, November 1910).
In 1918, Dentistry Dean Marcus Ward made the somewhat controversial decision to turn the Dental Library over to the General Library's custody in order to better develop the library with full-time staff and "expert service." In 1928, the library and museum separated and the museum collection was turned over to U-M's Museum of Paleontology.
The Dentistry Library was a recipient of a Carnegie Foundation library grant in 1929 which provided five years of funding to develop a model dental library. Inez Bowler took charge of the project and by 1933 the library had 6,000 volumes cataloged in the Library of Congress classification system.
The library continued to grow and space quickly became an issue in the old building. In 1969, the library moved to temporary quarters in a newly constructed wing of the School of Dentistry while the old Dentistry Building was demolished to make way for another new wing. Construction was completed and the library moved into its new space in 1971. The 1980s saw the institution of the University Library's online catalog MIRLYN and also the medical database MEDLINE. The library continued to expand and eventually outgrew its facility at the School of Dentistry. The Dentistry Library joined the Health Sciences Library group in 1963 and thus was under the purview of the Taubman Medical Library. The library and its collection were absorbed by the Taubman Medical Library in June 2008, which was renamed in April 2010 as the Taubman Health Sciences Library.
Department/Program Heads
| Date |
Event |
| 1923-1925 | Margaret Kirkpatrick |
| 1925-1929 | Elana Taylor |
| 1929-1934 | Inez Bowler |
| 1934-1939 | Marjorie Lewis |
| 1939-1954 | Hilda Rankin |
| 1954-1960 | Rose-Grace Faucher |
| 1961-1965 | Ellen Theurer Hall |
| 1966-1996 | Susan Seger |
| 1996-1998 | Doreen Bradley |
| 1998-2008 | Pat Anderson |
