NCC: Library files

When the College moved from Plainfield to Naperville in 1870, Old Main (the only campus building) housed dormitories, classes, offices, and the library. With the steady increase of students, the need for more buildings arose and several buildings were constructed between 1905 and 1908 including Carnegie Library. Carnegie Library served as the library for the College and the Evangelical Theological Seminary from 1908 to 1954.

With the influx of students after World War II, Carnegie Library no longer fit the needs of the growing community. This led to a North Central College and Evangelical Theological Seminary collaboration to create a larger joint library, which was completed in 1954. In 1974, Evangelical Theological Seminary merged with Garrett Theological Seminary and relocated to Evanston thus removing its holdings from the College and Seminary Library. The College and Seminary Library then became known only as the College Library. In 1983 with an extensive renovation, the College Library was dedicated to honor Clare ’39 and Lucy Oesterle and named Oesterle Library.