The Western Illinois State Normal School (later, Western Illinois University) opened on September 23, 1902 with 229 students. To support the curriculum, a small library was fashioned on a balcony overlooking the assembly hall (later the gymnasium) in Sherman Hall. In the fall of 1903, the library migrated from its temporary quarters on the balcony to a single room on the second floor. Later this area was used as a student lounge and subsequently was refurbished to house the President's offices.

Margaret Dunbar, a graduate of Monmouth College (B.L.) and the University of Illinois (Bachelor of Library Science), was appointed as the institution's first librarian in 1902. Fanny R. Jackson (A.B., Rockford; B.L.S., University Of Illinois), who served as Assistant Librarian and Cataloger under Dunbar, took over as the school's Librarian in 1912.