Southern University Library History
SU Students in the 1940s studying in the library. Photograph courtesy of the Archives Department​.
The Southern University Library was first documented in a May 1, 1889, report requesting more books. After the institution moved from New Orleans to Scotlandville in 1914, the book collection was housed in a bookroom on the top floor of the Academic Building. At that time, the collection contained 2,800 volumes and 5,400 pamphlets valued at $4,200. The library remained housed at that location until 1940. The first person overseeing this collection was Bessie Howell, who held the position from 1928-1929—a bulletin entitled "Library Leaves" informed faculty and students about new acquisitions.
In 1929, Camille Stivers Shade became Southern University's first professional librarian. She served as Head Librarian for 42 years and devoted three additional years of service to the library as a Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) librarian. Under Shade's leadership, the library grew from one room to a two-story building completed in 1941, with a seating capacity of 277. The collection grew to 20,000 volumes and 10,000 government documents within two years. In 1959, an addition was made to the building, doubling public service capacity.
The first Southern University Librarian, Camille Stivers Shade, a distinguished leader in higher education, was a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana. She came to Southern as a student in the late 1920s. While a student, she became the first editor of the S. U. Cat and a charter member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. campus chapter. Following graduation, she assumed the post of Librarian, a position she held for four decades. Later, Shade received a Bachelor of Library Science degree from Hampton Institute and a Master of Education from Columbia University.
Under Shade's leadership, the library grew from a book room to a modern two-story structure completed in 1940. By 1957, this structure had almost doubled in size. Many innovative ideas emerged. In the 1960s, the Black Heritage Collection, growing out of the core Negro Collection, became a significant resource during the height of the Black Arts movement. Later, Shade provided the staff and the facility for the endangered University Archives Collection, begun by the late Dean John Brother Cade. Also, national and international programs, including the Peace Corps training unit, were appropriately supported by books, periodicals, and audio-visual media provisions. Under her administration, the S. U. Library achieved the "heart of the University" status.
Current library staff members who knew her remember Camille Shade as a fair, competent, and decisive administrator who encouraged and supported staff growth and achievement both on campus and in the community. She worked diligently to acquire faculty status for staff librarians and systematic promotion for civil service employees.
Shade's affiliations in the community were many. Board memberships included Blunden Orphanage, the Baton Rouge area YWCA, Baton Rouge Family Counseling Service, the Council on Mental Health, Girls Scouts of America, the Human Relations Council, and the Arthritis Foundation. She actively participated in the Flower Lovers Garden Guild, La Septieme Salon, Des Livres l'Automme, and the Reading Club.
In 1969, Shade retired as Director of Libraries and assumed a three-year post as Selective Dissemination Information Librarian under the directorship of Edward Fontenette, her successor. Camille Shade left a legacy of distinguished educational leadership. The Black Heritage Collection was renamed the Camille S. Shade Collection in memoriam during Black History Month on February 8, 1995.