R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company Training Department Library

In 1979, the University of Chicago received a gift of 1,200 volumes from the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. The collection, previously part of the Training Department Library of the Donnelley Company, included works on the history of printing and printing processes and examples of finely printed books, advertising art, and graphic design.

The Training Department Library was formed as a repository of information and inspiration for apprentice printers in the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company's renowned training program, established in 1908. In To Be A Good Printer (The Lakeside Press, 1977), Gaylord Donnelley explained that the firm's commitment to "excellence" encompassed both design and production; the training program and its library were important elements in fulfilling this commitment. Gaylord Donnelley, who served as Chairman of the University of Chicago's Board of Trustees and Chairman of the University of Chicago Library's Visiting Committee, deeply appreciated and collected finely printed books; and he made several gifts to the Library from his personal collection.

When the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company decided to disband the Training Department Library some years after the program was discontinued, the books were divided between the Newberry Library and the University of Chicago. Titles not needed by either institution were sold, with the proceeds used to establish endowed funds at the Newberry Library and the University of Chicago Library for the continued acquisition of books on the history of printing and examplars of fine printing. This gift fostered cooperation between institutions in Chicago by helping them to strengthen complementary collections; at the University of Chicago Library, the R. R. Donnelley Company Collection provides source materials and exemplars for students of the printing arts and crafts.

In 1982, the Department of Special Collections produced an exhibition based on the Donnelley Collection. The catalogue of this exhibition, The Printer's Craft: An Exhibition Selected from the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company Collection (University of Chicago Library, 1982), is available for sale from the Special Collections Research Center.

For further information on the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company Collection, please contact:

Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 E. 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637
SpecialCollections@lib.uchicago.edu.