Aggies in the Library: the Beginnings of the Landscape Architecture and City Planning Collection at the University of Illinois, 1867-1924

Abstract

This article explores the beginnings of a major American collection of landscape architecture and city planning materials at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The early growth of the collection is traced in relation to the University's mission, faculty interests, and curriculum development. Landscape gardening was perceived by the University's first Regent and Board of Trustees as an integral component of the curriculum of a land grant college, while city planning courses at Illinois were offered as part of the landscape architecture program due to the interest of Joseph C. Blair, long-term head of the Department of Horticulture. The acquisition of books to support teaching in these fields predated the actual offering of courses and established a pattern of strong faculty commitment to the development of library resources.