Founded in 1844, Willamette University's library was started two years after the establishment of the school. The library grew to a size of 2,500 volumes in 1874. University Hall (now Waller Hall), which was built in 1867, was one of the homes of the library in the early years. The library was located on the third floor of the building. The early name for the institution was the Willamette University Library, which by 1901 was a free, general library with both circulating and reference collections. That year the library collection had grown to 4,686 volumes, along with a total of 2,753 pamphlets.