Library at Gustavus (Part 2 of 10)

ST. ANSGAR’S ACADEMY (1863-1876)

The school Norelius founded moved to East Union in Carver County, Minnesota in 1863. Andrew Jackson became the head of the school, as well as the faculty, registrar, treasurer, and librarian. There were two major additions to the library during this time. The Minnesota Lutheran Conference authorized Jackson to travel to Sweden to purchase 50 Swedish books, as books in Swedish were difficult to obtain in the U.S. He also purchased a copy of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.

In 1865, Anders Engholm, a former student who had died in a military camp during the Civil War, bequeathed his collection of books to the library. By 1866, the library had 222 books, 80 in English and 142 in Swedish.