The Library of Indiana University South Bend has grown along with the rest of the campus - that is to say, it has come into its own as the rest of IU South Bend has become strong and viable. The Library, like the campus that it is a part of, has grown from humble beginnings to a vigorous entity. It is a center of the campus.

The South Bend - Mishawaka extension center of Indiana University began as a few rented rooms in the former Central High School downtown when the center requested the University to offer a sustained extension program. The Library of the center began as a few shelves of books in one of these rooms. Toward the end of Dr. Donald F. Carmony's tenure as director of the center, circa the late 1940's, he obtained a room to be used specifically as a Library.

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Central High School, South Bend

In 1961, Indiana University South Bend gained its own campus with the building of Northside Hall on Northside Boulevard. Within Northside Hall, a large room on the second floor next to the auditorium was designated as a Library with offices along an attached corridor. This location was considered to be a temporary home for the Library from its very first years. Mary Zimmerman, the first professional librarian at the center began work in 1962.

Program, Dedication of the South Bend Campus, 1961	Mary Zimmerman, First Librarian of IUSB