Dr. William Walter Wicker was appointed as the founding Director of the University of Houston at Clear Lake City Library.
Fall 1973
UH-CLC acquired books, microforms, shelving, and furniture collections from Parson’s College (Fairfield, Iowa) and St. Joseph’s College (Emmitsburg, Maryland) to serve as the library’s base collection . The Library acquired approximately 200,000 volumes, which they temporarily stored at a warehouse in Pasadena, Texas, as they waited for the construction of the Bayou Building to finish.
September 1973
UH-CLC Library opened in September 1973, just as Tropical Storm Delia hit the Texas coast. The library started in a temporary wing of the Arbor Building with one librarian and no books, until the completion of the Bayou Building.
October 1973
UH-CLC administration begins planning with Library Director Wicker for its first permanent Library. Wicker was heavily involved in the planning since the building's architect had never designed a library.
1974
Walter Wicker hired Patricia J. Garrett as the University of Houston at Clear Lake City's first professional librarian. She began her tenure at UH-CLC as a reference librarian.
September 1974
UH-CLC Library opened to the university in the Arbor Building for the first time on September 2, 1974.
1975
July 1975
UH-CLC participated in the IUC Computer-based Library Program in conjunction with Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) to establish the use of a computer-based cataloging system in the library beginning on July 1, 1975.
Fall 1975
By Fall 1975, UH-CLC Library had 20 full-time employees (16 women, and 4 men), including the following positions: 1 Chief Librarian; 2 Deputy or Associate or Assistant Chief Librarians; 5 Librarians; and 12 Paraprofessional staff.
1976
By 1976, UH-CLC Library had a Curriculum Library, for use by teachers and education master's students on campus.
