College and Research Libraries


to all librarians and amateur collectors who 
are frequently puzzled by that modern mid-
dleman, the "dealer." 

It is the emphasis on the practices of book 
collecting that seems to me to give this book 
not only its chief interest but also its novelty 
in the field of otherwise similar books. Who 
before has put down on paper the motives 
which guide a dealer in pricing a volume? 
Who else has told where dealers find their 
stock and make their profits? Who but a re-
formed dealer could so clearly and so inclu-
sively describe the dealers' procedures and 
his guesses right or wrong? We are still 
waiting for the ripe and learned memoirs of 
a Lathrop Harper and the "now it can be 
told" of Charlie Eberstadt, but this is far 
ne~rer the bookman's daily fare than the 
thrilling "kills" in the Saturday Evening Post 
of Dr. Rosenbach. Here at ·last is an honest 
attempt, well-considered and well-executed, 
to give the dealer his due. His are the brains 
behind most famous collections and his is the 
pleasant life with plenty of ups and downs. 
I refer the interested collector or librarian 
to an impassioned apologia for dealers in rare 
books on pages 190-93. 

I should like also to single out a passage 
further on where a reasoned attack is made 

on a recent development in sales by auctio 
where purchasers are invited to bid by mai 
I agree that this procedure is quite unjustifie 
as it places the auctioneer in the very un 
favorable position of trying to do his best b 
the consignor and the bidder. It usuall 
results in the bidder getting charged his tota 
bid. 

One point needs fuller emphasis than i 
accorded it in this volume and that is th 
tendency of prices to rise immediately upo 
the publication of a definitive bibliography 
We have all noticed the rise in prices o 
volumes included in the original Short Titl 
Catalogue and, more recently, the soarin 
prices for American fiction before 185 I, fol-
lowing the publication of Lyle Wright's 
bibliography. It seems only a matter of a 
few years before the author's Seventeenth-
Century Books Priced at One Dollar or Two 
Are Common will be nostalgically remem-
bered. 

It is obviously the pleasant duty of all 
collectors and librarians to read all the books 
there are on book-collecting. It will be one 
of the great pleasures of the season to dis-
cover this general handbook, partly for the 
pleasures, but especially for the practices of 
this art.-Donald Wing. 

Two More Surveys 
A Report on the Mary Reed Library. By 

Louis R. Wilson. Denver, University of 
Denver, 1947. 18p. 

"The New York State Library: Report of 
a Survey." By Keyes D. Metcalf and 
Andrew D. Osborn. Cambridge, Mass., 
1947. 46p. (Mimeographed) 
Some reviewers of recent surveys have 

raised questions as to both the value and the 
technique of surveys, with the intimation that 
surveys are probably not as valuable as we 
like to believe and that the method is faulty. 
If we assume that both of these observations 
were true up to a point, this reviewer, who 
has been a surveyor himself, would still be-
lieve that surveys have their place in direc;t-
ing library development. Testimony to this 
fact may be found in Louis R. Wilson's anal-
ysis of the results of some university surveys 
in his article in the July 1947 issue of College 
and Research LibrariesJ Part II, 368-75. 

There is nothing strikingly unusual in 
either of the two surveys under review. Dr. 
Wilson's study of the Denver situation is 
straightforward and concise and considers 
such matters as library resources; functions of 
the library committee, the library staff, and 
the educational program; preparation of the 
budget; budgetary allocations; library per-
sonnel; development of library collections; 
building requirements; audio-visual facili-
ties; publications exchange program; library 
accessions list; and "Friends of the Library." 
The report, as Dr. Wilson points out, "is not 
intended to present in detail all the matters 
covered in the survey." Major observations 
are pointed out and measures are suggested 
for improving the service of the library. In 
a brief introduction President Caleb F. Gates 
calls attention to these recommendations and 
suggestions and notes that they "offer a 
challenge to each one of us concerned with 

466 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



he future of the University of Denver." One 
eal advantage of the concise report, of course, 
s the fact that it can be easily and quickly 
ead by the faculty members and others who 
hould be interested in it. 

Dr. Wilson clearly points out ways for 
he university to improve the library service: 

( I) explain the library resources by issuing 
a publication and calling attention at staff 

eetings to the interrelations of the collec-
ions in the libraries of the City of Denver; 

( 2) undertake a serious, concerted develop-
ment of the collections through an active 
policy of the library committee, which could 
assist in wise allocation of funds; (3) place 
the assistant director on committees which 
are concerned with the instructional and re-
search program of the university; (4) chan-
nel annual budgetary requests from the vari-
ous units of the university through the as-
sistant director, taking into account new 
courses and new instructors; (5) distribute 
wisely the funds available for reading ma-
terials, supplies, and salaries; ( 6) add de-
finite positions to the staff; ( 7) develop the 
collections so that Denver will assume its 
proper place among institutions of compara-
tive size and purpose; (8) increase the space 
for readers (Denver now can seat only IO 
or I2 per cent of its students) ; ( 9) handle 
expeditiously such complaints as lack or un-
availability of books; ( 10) consider the li-
brary in the development of the program of 
audio-visual instruction; (I 1) use the pres-
ent university publications more effectively in 
exchange; ( 12) keep patrons informed by 
issuing a list of new acquisitions; and ( 13) 
reorganize the "Friends" group in an all-uni-
versity organization which will have as its 
objective the constant building up of the li-
brary collections. 

These appear to be procedures which all 
efficient librarians should know and follow. 
Too often, however, the administrative 
officials and faculty members have to be re-
minded of them so that necessary support 
will be forthcoming. Dr. Wilson has out-
lined a program that the University of Den-
ver would do well to support. 

In the New York State Library survey, 
Dr. Metcalf and Dr. Osborn have analyzed 
some of the problems of one of the really 
venerable libraries of the country. As the 
base of operations of Melvil Dewey, it has, 

OCTOBER~ 1947 

had a long record of successful service with 
which all librarians should be familiar. 

One of the important questions facing the 
surveyors was to arrive at a definition of the 
functions of the state library. Their conclu-
sion in regard to its place in the governmental 
pattern is that the state library is not an in-
dependent agency like the Library of Congress 
but a part of the education department and 
is designed to serve the legislative, judicial, 
and executive branches of the state govern-
ment efficiently. However, its service extends 
also to "the citizens at large." Moreover, it 
should serve as "a leader in the library affairs 
in New York." They write further, "It 
should in fact be the library of the state .... 
This parallels to some degree the change in 
philosophy at the Library of Congress which 
is becoming in fact the National Library, the 
library of the nation." A corollary to these 
conclusions is that other libraries belonging 
to the state shall be working and reference 
libraries only and not be concerned with his-
torical and research library services. These 
are major observations, for, if followed, they 
set the pattern of the book-collecting and 
service policies of the state library. 

Recommendations are made for the 
strengthening of the central administration. 
A deputy state librarian, to be responsible 
for personnel and the public service depart-
ments, and three other directors are proposed: 
one in charge of the processing division (order 
and catalog), the second in charge of a com-
bined law and legislative reference depart-
ment, and the third in charge of library ex-
tension. The present reviewer, who was 
called in after the Metcalf-Osborn survey 
by the state librarian to examine in more de-
tail certain problems of the technical serv-
ices, is inclined to agree that these are neces-
sary positions and should be provided for if 
the state library is to function effectively. 

Other · recommendations of the surveyors, 
if put into effect, should make it possible for 
the state library to assume the responsible 
position of which it is worthy. These recom-
mendations are as follows: the personnel of 
the library should be strengthened; the li-
brary extension division should come under 
the supervision of the state librarian;. $10o,ooo 
should be allotted for clearing up the backlog 
of uncataloged materials; cataloging should 
be simplified; the reference service should be 

467 



extended by adding the history and periodical 
sections to its responsibility; a new charging 
system should be introduced; large quantities 
of duplicates should be removed from the 
stacks; a legislative reference service program, 
modeled after that of a similar service in the 
Library of Congress, should be established; 
changes should be made in the location of 
certain units for more effective utilization of 
space; the medical section should be a work-
ing rather than a historical library; a system 
of approved, permanent methods and records . 
should be set up for the order work and 
cataloging; superfluous or overlapping cata-
logs should be eliminated or consolidated; all 
cataloging work should be centralized in the 
cataloging department; a positive acquisition 
program, based on the objectives of the state 
library, should be inaugurated; the work of 
the state library should be linked with the 
state-wide program of library service; and a 
branch of the state library to serve state 
agencies should be set up in New York City. 

Obviously, each of these recommendations 
cannot be discussed in detail. Two impor-
tant matters, however, may receive further 
brief comment. These are the acquisition 
procedures and the cataloging problems. 
Dr. Metcalf and Dr. Osborn devote con-
siderable attention to these matters, since an 
effective acquisition program and efficient 

_cataloging are basic to effective library serv-
ice. Coupled with them, of course, is the 
essential question of qualified personnel. A 
library is as good · as its staff, and the state 
library will require considerable support so 
that it can obtain strong professional assis-
tants and able clerical help. A clear defini-
tion of duties on professional and clerical 
levels is needed. As the surveyors point out, 
the situation in regard to personnel in the 
order and catalog departments especially re-
quires attention. 

The present reviewer found on his trip to 
Albany that many of the recommendations on 
technical services made by the surveyors were 
based on actual needs 'of · the library. It is 
understandable that in the short time they 
had at their disposal it was not possible to 
study all details that are sometimes necessary 
in clarifying operational questions. It would 
seem wise, however, that the library adminis-

tration quickly approach the state authoriti 
in an effort to simplify the acquisition pr 
cedures. State institutions are sometimes r 
quired to go through certain channels whic 
are not necessary in private organization 
But it should not cost the taxpayers mone 
to have u~necessary forms or procedure 
which only slow up the work of a unit. 

Certain statistics used in connection wit 
the holdings of the library and the catalogin 
of them are open to question. The surveyor 
state that only one out of five items owne 
by the library is cataloged. Until it is act 
ually known how many items are really hel 
by the library, the figures are likely to b 
misleading. Reports indicate holdings o 
from one million to over two million volumes 
Also in question is the amount of catalogin 
performed. The average cataloging outpu 
is stated as 609 titles, or 2.4 books a day pe 
cataloger. Later information discloses th 
correct figure to be 1218 titles, or 4.8 book 
a day. Even the larger figure is low, sine 
the majority of titles cataloged at the stat 
library as a rule presents little difficulty. 

Occasionally, in published surveys of li 
braries, surveyors make statements whic 
have general significance. Dr. Metcalf an 
Dr. Osborn, in the survey of the New Y or 
State Library, have approached their problem 
within the limits they had prescribed fo 
themselves, but they have also set forth a 
pattern that should be useful to officials in 
other state libraries. This is especially true 
in regard to their analysis of the acquisition 
program, the state-wide program, and library 
extension. "The Rehabilitation Program fo 
the New York State Library" (Appendix 
II) has been particularly helpful as a pro-
cedure for immediate action. A substantial 
budget allowance has already been made. 

The two surveys under review are valuable 
additions to the survey literature of libraries. 
They represent analyses of situations made 
by librarians who have considerable practical 
experience in administering libraries. It is 
not likely that all the recommendations made 
in both surveys can be put into operation, at 
least not for some time, but they provide 
the librarians and their superior administra-
tive officers with positive goals.-M aurice F. 
Tauber. 

468 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES