Six decades separate the book moves of September 19, 1963, and December 5, 2023, but the shared experience now connects generations of Juniatians. 

In 1963, the fall semester opened with a celebration and a challenge, how to move more than 60,000 volumes from the Carnegie Library to the newly built L.A. Beeghly Library across campus? The answer was a carefully choreographed enlistment of students, staff, and faculty volunteers who completed the job in just one day. 

With the Beeghly Library renovated and reimagined as the Statton Learning Commons, Juniata planned a similar celebration as the reopening neared. A historic recreation of the 1963 book move drew student, faculty, and staff volunteers, as well as alumni and other members of the Juniata community who were present at the original event.

 

 

 

 

“Part of what made the day fun was that in 1963, students were required to participate, and this time, they were invited. I was thrilled to see how many people were there. I was surprised when the student government president (Paul Leech ’24) said he heard about the 1963 book move when he was in his first year and was excited to participate when he was invited this time.

Having been a part of the committee that worked on Ellis Hall, which was the first committee I served on at the College, I am thrilled to have lived long enough to see a building that will be a college center. I was tickled to take part in this.”

— Betty Ann Cherry, 
 professor emerita of history

 

“There was a lot of excitement surrounding moving the books and a lot of school spirit. They shut down the school, and just about everyone showed up. You got up that morning and went over to Carnegie Library, where they gave you an armful of books. We stayed in line, crossed Moore Street toward Founders Hall, then across 18th Street and Beeghly Library. There, one of the librarians told us where to put the books we were carrying. By 2:30 p.m., every book in the place had been moved.

As we walked past, the band played on the steps of Founders Hall, and they gave away certain prizes and gift certificates over lunch. This created a real sense of community. It was more than just moving books from one place to another.”

— Dan O’Sullivan ’64

 

 

“The thing I remember most is the sheer amount of organization—it moved like the proverbial clockwork. We walked in file, and someone put a stack of books in our arms. Someone told us where we needed to go, and we stayed in line behind the person in front of us. When we were done, we got back in line and did it over and over again. No one questioned, partly because we were brand new at the college. We were still wearing our dinks [hats formerly worn by first-year students] and different color socks. We had to wear one blue and one yellow during our first year, at least the girls did. This was one of our first experiences at college. It worked beautifully. Whoever took the books from us knew exactly where they went and would stock the next shelf 
and so on.”

— Sandy Andoniades Loughlin ’67

 

“It took all day to get it done! Dr. Ellis led the pack. We started in the morning and made a constant parade on a loop back and forth from Carnegie Library to Beeghly Library until every one of the 60,000 volumes was moved and shelved. We would pick up books at Carnegie Library, then stay in line and in order—that was important—so that the books were in the positions they needed to be in to be shelved in the proper places. It was very well organized.

It was a very warm day, so we were tired puppies after seven or eight hours. But we got every last book moved.

Both events, in 1963 and 2023, are all about community. This was the perfect example of the way we do things at Juniata. Even though the recent move was ceremonial, it honored a piece of our past that was very important.”

— Bob McDowell ’67