Malpass’ Glorious Greenery

As any WIU attendee will surely know, our campus library is home to more than just books. Since its opening nearly 50 years ago, Malpass Library (often referred to as Malpass) has been a safe haven for all things green and leafy, and not just by circumstance. The building, which opened on September 5th, 1978, was designed to be a living, breathing organism with symbiosis between its plant life and texts. According to an article published by the Western Courier on February 28th, 1979, the idea was that plants would regulate the moisture level of the library at a perfectly serendipitous percentage, which would keep book spines from drying out while also preventing stagnant moisture, which can cause mold growth. Of course, this is an oversimplification that doesn’t include the necessary work provided by the library’s dedicated Plant Keepers. As an avid library goer myself, I found my curiosities peaked, and soon had to know what went into keeping the plant collection.

After stopping to smell the roses, I reached out to Adrea Craft, whom I had bumped into earlier in the semester during her watering routine. Craft works as the library’s primary Plant Keeper while also overseeing WIU’s greenhouse. Her responsibilities are extensive and her knowledge is even more so.

While communicating with Craft, she recommended that I also contact Andrea Francis, a reference librarian and plant enthusiast. Francis helps out with the maintenance of the plant collection if Craft is unavailable. With their combined expertise, the plant collection is thriving and steadily growing in size.

Speaking of size, this was one of my prime curiosities concerning the collection. Just how big is it? As I toured Malpass with Craft and Francis, I was faced with a new plant at every turn. And these are just the plants that are visible to students. Later, I was taken on a behind-the-scenes tour of the library’s Green Room, where they nurse and propagate dozens more. So, this begs the question. How many plants call Malpass home? According to Craft and Francis, based on their charted watering routine, there are between 660 to 700 individual plants throughout the library. Although this estimate may sound staggering, it is nothing compared to the population’s peak, as I soon learned. Prior to 2016, the collection’s numbers were significantly higher, and space in the library was growing more and more limited. A publicized plant sale was held, which reduced the collection’s population from nearly 2,000 individual plants to the approximate number maintained today. This is shocking, as it is hard to fathom the library housing any more plants, let alone another thousand, give or take.

Although the collection’s numbers may have dropped, I still needed to know how they water nearly 700 plants on a regular basis. According to Craft, “it is a project.” An estimated 10-12 hours every week are dedicated to watering. She packs up her watering cart with the works (buckets, pitchers, clippers, etc.) and goes floor to floor, checking the soil of each plant before determining if they need a drink. She follows a pre-coordinated route that a previous student employee helped pave. They spent hours mapping out each floor, cataloging every plant and its watering needs. Not only does this map help Craft when it comes time to water, but it is also what provided her with the approximate population of the collection.

As we followed an abbreviated path of their watering routine, Craft and Francis had interesting and shocking stories to tell about many of the plants within the library. On the third floor, Craft pointed out an impressively tall pine growing against a south-facing window. As is common throughout Malpass, these windows display a hanging piece of stained glass, recycled from a local church. Apparently, these two aesthetic tenants of the library posed a serious problem at one point. Craft told me an exciting story about how one of the pine’s growing crowns (the point of growth located at the top of the tree) had managed to grow between the stained glass and the window, posing a serious threat to the glass artwork. Craft reasoned that because these pines lean towards light, and the pot had not been rotated in years, the tree weaseled its way as close to the window as it could get. To prevent any further growth from lifting the stained glass from its anchors, Craft had to carefully rotate the pot, while someone else secured the scene from a ladder. With the crown successfully removed from underneath the stained glass, the entire pine, which had been supporting itself against the window, promptly fell over! I imagine some deep voice in the background yelling, “TIMBER!” Luckily, no one was injured, including the pine. After this dramatic event, Craft has maintained more regular pot rotations.

After hearing this story, the height of the pines sparked a new interest within me, and I grew curious about their age. A tree this tall surely has been growing for many years. To verify this, I asked Craft how old it might be. Her answer? Roughly 40 years old. That particular pine has been thriving in Malpass since the 80’s. Sensing my admiration, she reminded me of the cluster of pines in the northwest corner of the fifth floor. According to her, each of those could be close to 40 years as well. And by comparison, that is nothing. Craft walked me down to the “Garden Lounge” on the second floor. Here, an abundance of plant life thrives, all different sizes and species. While my eyes hesitated on each new plant, Craft determinedly headed for a specific specimen. In one of the glass alcoves, a Christmas Cactus grows, as it has done for the past 100 years. That’s right. We have, in our campus library, a cactus that is over a century old! Apparently, it was donated to Western in 1919 by a newly married couple, who had received the plant as a wedding gift, or so the story goes. I like to think that their regifted wedding present marks the union between Malpass and thriving plant life.

Between Craft and Francis, I learned so much about our library’s plant collection. Francis, who has been with the library for 33 years, remembers all of the ups and downs of the plant collection, ranging from the 2016 plant sale to a disastrous dropping of the library’s crowning mobile, which now statically hangs from the sixth-floor atrium. Craft, who inherited her green thumb from her family, showed me some of the few methods of plant-keeping that are currently applied throughout the library. Before I could walk away, satisfied with my gained knowledge, I had one more burning question, “What is your favorite plant in the entire library?”

Craft and Francis both lit up at this question and eagerly led me to various spots on the highest floor. First, Francis led me to a potted Dutchman’s Pipe Cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum). This impressive plant blooms beautifully intricate white flowers, but only for a single night. If you have seen the 2018 film, Crazy Rich Asians, you will be familiar with these flowers. Francis expressed her profound admiration for the plant’s fleeting but regal beauty.

Craft, on the other hand, had a more difficult time narrowing down her favorite plant to a single specimen. She first led me to a Clivia (Clivia nobilis) or forest lily. This plant grows downturned, bell-shaped flowers of bright orange coloring. The second choice that she steered me towards was a Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae). This is a more commonly known plant and is named for its bird-like blooms, complete with a look-a-like beak and orange crest feathers. As of spring, 2024, neither the Clivia nor Bird of Paradise boasts any blooming flowers.

After this exciting and informational tour, I was well equipped to choose my own favorite from the plant collection. On the second floor of the library, hidden amongst the plants of the Garden Lounge, polka-dotted, emerald green, and ruby red leaves sprout from black bamboo stalks. This interesting plant has leaves that resemble a flexed pair of wings, hence its name, Angel Wing Begonia (Begonia maculata).

How fitting that my favorite plant is named after Angels, for it feels as though the plants of the library are silent guardians of its patrons. Francis put it best; “I think that when people see healthy plants in an environment, they might subconsciously translate that into how their own experience in that environment might be; that they might be nurtured to experience growth at WIU, as well. That is WIU’s mission, and we take it very seriously.” I know I am not alone in claiming comfort in the Malpass Library. I feel grateful to have such a welcoming space to retreat to, anytime a particular bit of studying is beating me down. Now, I am even more grateful for the dedicated team behind Malpass’ glorious greenery.