History & local legend
Linderman Library at Lehigh University was created as a memorial to Lucy Packer Linderman, the daughter of university founder Asa Packer. Lucy died in 1873; the library opened in 1878, five years later.
Campus folklore gives Lucy a continuing presence in the building established in her memory. A 2014 history in The Brown and White recounts a tradition that flickering lights near closing time are her work. A later university bulletin also records stories of books moving in the stacks.
The library was built after Lucy’s death as her father’s memorial to her.
