College and Research Libraries By P A T R I C I A M A R V I N Circulation in the Divisional Library: The N e w Plan of Service Mrs. Marvin is assistant librarian, Cir- culation Department, University of Ne- braska Libraries. IN THE last t w o decades, the A m e r i c a n university library has had to meet the challenge of changing intellectual and aca- demic ideals on the campus. T h i s has been made possible t h r o u g h the i n a u g u r a t i o n of the divisional library plan. T h e U n i v e r s i t y of N e b r a s k a ' s divisional library is an excel- lent example of w h a t can be accomplished by c o o r d i n a t i n g library service w i t h the n e w teaching techniques of the university. T e x t b o o k teaching has yielded generally to independent reading assignments at N e - braska, as in other universities. T h e exten- sive open-shelf collections in the divisional reading rooms provide u n d e r g r a d u a t e stu- dents easy access to the m a n y books and other printed materials w h i c h they need to consult and read. Subject specialists in the divisional read- ing rooms give expert service to both un- d e r g r a d u a t e and g r a d u a t e students t h r o u g h intimate knowledge of subject m a t t e r and library collections. T h e ability of the subject specialist in bibliography and in re- search methods is increasingly relied upon by the f a c u l t y as an extension of actual classroom instruction. T h i s development has involved a changed concept in library service f r o m the old refer- ence room, general reading room, and periodical room a r r a n g e m e n t . T h e r e are also immediate ramifications a m o n g the cir- culation d e p a r t m e n t ' s f u n c t i o n s and serv- ices. T h e old ideas and methods of book circulation and the old routines of the cir- culation d e p a r t m e n t cannot remain u n a f - fected by these recent experiments in the organization of library service. I n fact, the successful f u n c t i o n i n g of the divisional li- brary depends in great p a r t upon the method of circulating books f r o m the reading rooms and the services given the s t u d e n t and fac- ulty member at the circulation desk. Pivotal Position T h e U n i v e r s i t y of N e b r a s k a , one of the three pioneers in planned divisional library service on a large scale, has recognized the essential importance of the circulation de- p a r t m e n t as a guidance and directional center, and as a coordinating d e p a r t m e n t upon which the reading rooms depend f o r help in giving efficient service. T h e main circulation desk is, therefore, the place w h e r e any p a t r o n may come to receive aid in locating books, to ask questions about the use of the catalog and to be directed to the r e a d i n g room specialist for reference as- sistance. T h e circulation d e p a r t m e n t is, f u r t h e r m o r e , the central u n i t of all public service, the seat of many decisions on gen- eral policies of service p e r t a i n i n g to all reading rooms. T h e circulation d e p a r t m e n t ' s pivotal posi- tion at N e b r a s k a is unique w h e n contrasted to the general notion t h a t divisional libraries w o r k most efficiently by decentralizing cir- culation, requiring each r e a d i n g room to handle its separate book circulation. Such a notion stems, in p a r t at least, f r o m the JULY, 1951 241 i d e a t h a t a r e a d i n g r o o m is a s e p a r a t e l y f u n c t i o n i n g u n i t . I t h a s b e e n e m p h a s i z e d a g a i n a n d a g a i n a t N e b r a s k a t h a t t h e s u b - j e c t d i v i s i o n s , t h e h u m a n i t i e s , t h e s o c i a l s t u d i e s a n d t h e s c i e n c e s a r e i n t i m a t e l y co- o r d i n a t e d p a r t s of o n e c e n t r a l l i b r a r y , r a t h e r t h a n s e p a r a t e l i b r a r i e s c o n v e n i e n t l y c o l l e c t e d u n d e r o n e r o o f . E v e n b e y o n d t h i s , t h e c a s e f o r c e n t r a l i z a t i o n of c i r c u l a t i o n r e c o r d s w i t h g e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n a l a n d g u i d a n c e s e r v i c e s m a k e s r e m a r k a b l e s e n s e i n t e r m s of b o t h t h e q u a l i t y of s e r v i c e r e n d e r e d a n d t h e q u a n t i t y w h i c h c a n be h a n d l e d . In the Beginning M o v i n g i n t o a n e w d i v i s i o n a l l i b r a r y b u i l d i n g c a n be t h e r e a l i z a t i o n of a d r e a m f o r l i b r a r i a n s , t h e f a c u l t y a n d t h e s t u d e n t b o d y . T h i s w a s c e r t a i n l y t r u e a t t h e U n i - v e r s i t y of N e b r a s k a i n t h e f a l l of 1 9 4 5 , w h e n t h e L o v e M e m o r i a l L i b r a r y o p e n e d i t s d o o r s f o r s e r v i c e . F o r t h e l i b r a r i a n s i t m e a n t a n e w a n d r a p i d l y e x p a n d i n g c o n c e p t of s e r v i c e t o be d e v e l o p e d . F o r t h e s t u d e n t a n d f a c u l t y m e m b e r it m e a n t a n e w a n d m o r e c o n v e n i e n t w a y of f i n d i n g a n d u s i n g b o o k s a n d m a t e r i a l s . N e w n e s s a f f e c t s e a c h p e r s o n i n a d i f f e r e n t w a y . N e w l i b r a r i e s a r e n o e x c e p t i o n . W o u l d t h e r e t i c e n t a n d u n c e r t a i n f r e s h - m a n o r s o p h o m o r e be b e w i l d e r e d in t h e f i r s t s t a g e s of h i s l i b r a r y i n i t i a t i o n ? W o u l d t h e g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t o r f a c u l t y m e m b e r , d i s r e g a r d i n g t h e p u b l i c c a t a l o g b e c a u s e " h e k n e w w h e r e h i s b o o k s s h o u l d b e , " a n d u t i l i z i n g h i s s t a c k p r i v i l e g e s , be o b s t r u c t e d in h i s r e s e a r c h w h e n h e f o u n d l i b r a r y m a - t e r i a l s d i v i d e d b e t w e e n t h e s t a c k s a n d t h e r e a d i n g r o o m s ? W o u l d t h e s p l i t t i n g u p of b o o k s f r o m t h e i r g e n e r a l s u b j e c t a r e a s i n t h e r e a d i n g r o o m s i n t o t h e r e s e r v e r o o m s e r i o u s l y i m p a i r t h e s t u d e n t in a s s e m b l i n g h i s m a t e r i a l s ? T h e s e q u e s t i o n s w e r e p e r - t i n e n t i n d e t e r m i n i n g c i r c u l a t i o n d e p a r t - m e n t p o l i c i e s . I n n o o t h e r p l a c e i n t h e l i b r a r y is t h e q u e s t i o n a s k e d as o f t e n o r as a u d i b l y , " W h e r e is t h i s b o o k ? " A b e g i n n i n g t r i a l p e r i o d p o i n t e d t h e w a y f o r p l a n n i n g a n d e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n . I n i - t i a l l y , t h e c i r c u l a t i o n a c t i v i t i e s w e r e d i v i d e d b e t w e e n t h e r e a d i n g r o o m s a n d t h e m a i n d e s k . T h e c e n t r a l c i r c u l a t i o n d e s k o n t h e s e c o n d floor h a n d l e d t h e b o o k c h a r g e s f r o m t h e s t a c k a r e a o n l y , u t i l i z i n g t h e s t a n d a r d N e w a r k s y s t e m of c h a r g i n g , w i t h a n u m e r i - c a l i n d i c a t o r f i l e b y D e w e y n u m b e r s , a n d a d a t e d u e f i l e of c a l l s l i p s . E a c h of t h e f o u r r e a d i n g r o o m s ( h u m a n i - t i e s , s o c i a l s t u d i e s , e d u c a t i o n , a n d s c i e n c e & t e c h n o l o g y ) h a n d l e d i t s o w n c i r c u l a t i o n w i t h a t w o - c a r d s y s t e m , r e q u i r i n g s t u d e n t a s s i s t a n t s in e a c h r o o m t o c h e c k o u t b o o k s a n d d i s c h a r g e t h e m o n r e t u r n , a n d t o c o n - t r o l t h e d o o r s . A s e p a r a t e c l o s e d - s h e l f r e s e r v e r o o m o n t h e g r o u n d floor, a n d a p a r t f r o m t h e r e a d i n g r o o m s o n t h e sec- o n d a n d t h i r d floors, h a n d l e d a l a r g e v o l u m e of c i r c u l a t i o n e a c h d a y . T h e c e n - t r a l l o a n d e s k , t h e r e f o r e , w i t h f e w o t h e r t i m e - c o n s u m i n g d u t i e s , c o u l d c o n c e n t r a t e i t s e f f o r t s u p o n i n s t r u c t i o n i n t h e u s e of t h e p u b l i c c a t a l o g w h i c h is a d j a c e n t , a n d in g i v i n g g e n e r a l d i r e c t i o n a l s e r v i c e . Why Centralization? T h e s y s t e m d e s c r i b e d h a d m u c h t o r e c o m m e n d i t . S t u d e n t s a n d f a c u l t y m e m - b e r s r e s p o n d e d g r a t e f u l l y t o t h e a i d g i v e n t h e m b y l o a n d e s k a t t e n d a n t s i n u s i n g t h e c a t a l o g . W a r y f r e s h m e n a n d s o p h o m o r e s w e r e g u i d e d a n d e n c o u r a g e d i n t o a l i b r a r y c o n s c i o u s n e s s t h a t w o u l d p r o v e i n v a l u a b l e in t h e i r u n i v e r s i t y c a r e e r s . R e s e a r c h e r s a n d g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s w o r k i n g o n a t h e s i s o r d i s s e r t a t i o n f o u n d t h a t t h e u n l i m i t e d l o a n p e r i o d f o r s t a c k m a t e r i a l s c h a r g e d t o c a r - r e l l s a n d f o u r t h floor s t u d i e s g r e a t l y f a c i l i - t a t e d t h e i r w o r k . W a s t h e r e a n e e d f o r m o r e o r b e t t e r s e r v i c e ? 242 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES C e r t a i n aspects inherent in this plan, however, did hinder the a t t e n d a n t at the c e n t r a l loan desk. P a t r o n s invariably re- t u r n e d to this desk w h e r e they had first been given help, if they had difficulty in locating the books they wished. I n all probability, the specific book w a s checked o u t . T h a t the main circulation desk w a s the logical place to be told this may have seemed obvious to the p a t r o n . B u t in order to determine if the book w e r e checked out before a f u r t h e r search could be made, it was necessary to send the p a t r o n back to the reading room w h e r e the file of charges was kept. A s t r o n g case could be made, therefore, to centralize all circulation files at the main desk and thereby eliminate this inconvenience. T h e reserve room on the floor below pre- sented a second and quite different prob- lem. T h e filing and w i t h d r a w a l of half- cards in the public catalog f o r books in the reserve room was a tedious and never-end- ing task. T h e volume of reserve book serv- ice increased to the point w h e r e the seating capacity of the reserve room was inade- quate. F u r t h e r m o r e , experience had proved t h a t o f t e n the most " l i v e " books in many fields w e r e tied up in the reserve room, a w a y f r o m the reading room w h e r e the same d e m a n d f o r them existed and w h e r e they could be used in c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h other materials. T h i s situation was easily and effectively obviated. T h e separate reserve room w a s abolished and t u r n e d into an unsupervised study hall. T h e reserve system was re- organized into a plan of overnight, three- day, and one-week reserve books which are shelved on the open shelves in the respective reading rooms on the second and third floors. T h i s step alleviated the congestion of a reserve room, eliminated the need for continual change of the half-cards in the public catalog and b r o u g h t together more books in the same subject area. T h e heavy demand for books in a f e w lower division courses in the field of the social studies w a s met by the installation of a small t w o - h o u r reserve desk in t h a t area on the t h i r d floor. T h e effect of these changes on the cir- culation routines was anticipated. T h e circulation records in the r e a d i n g rooms immediately became complicated. S t u d e n t assistants could not be held responsible f o r sending overdues, "call-ins," and develop- ing a " h o l d " system t h a t w o u l d insure ade- quate distribution of the books. T h e burden of reading room circulation neces- sarily fell upon each reading room l i b r a r i a n . U n d e r this system, the fact that reading room librarians were subject specialists was of no consequence if they w e r e forced to spend their time doing the w o r k of clerical assistants, being bogged d o w n w i t h circula- tion activities. T h e y had no time for real reference w o r k or advising the students, f o r book selection or f a c u l t y conferences. M o r e o v e r , duplicate procedures of circula- tion w e r e t a k i n g up u n w a r r a n t e d time in f o u r reading rooms, procedures which could be m o r e efficiently p e r f o r m e d , in t e r m s of both time and personnel, in one central de- p a r t m e n t . C e r t a i n l y no stronger reasons f o r c e n t r a l i z i n g circulation activities at the main desk could be f o u n d . The Centralized Plan is Inaugurated T h e main loan desk took over circula- tion activities f o r the w h o l e library w i t h little difficulty. S t u d e n t s b r o u g h t books to the desk f r o m the reading rooms and were charged f o r them. Books were r e t u r n e d at the same place. T h i s change in itself w a s a distinct advantage f o r the student, w h o could charge and r e t u r n books at the same desk instead of having to remember which room or desk they came f r o m . Files w e r e not altered. Bookcards f r o m stack books and reading room books w e r e JULY, 1951 243 filed together in the indicator file by D e w e y n u m b e r , call slips by the date due. A small file of second bookcards f r o m r e a d i n g room books w a s established, f r o m which each room's separate circulation statistics w e r e compiled. N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g t h e ease of conversion, this experiment in centralized circulation required courage, foresight and even in- genuity. G r e a t e r responsibility f o r service t h a n is, perhaps, the goal of most circula- tion d e p a r t m e n t s , w a s accepted by t h e de- p a r t m e n t . C i r c u l a t i o n routines of filing, c h a r g i n g and discharging m u s t be kept both efficient and simple so t h a t these clerical tasks may be handled by competent subprofessionals, leaving the supervision and c o o r d i n a t i n g processes between the d e p a r t m e n t and the r e a d i n g rooms f o r t h e professional librar- ian. H a n d l i n g a vastly increased circula- tion, also, m u s t not i n t e r f e r e w i t h the guidance and directional assistance given the p a t r o n at the desk. Since this service o f t e n required rechecking the catalog w h e n a p a t r o n asked help in locating a book, desk a t t e n d a n t s f e l t a dual d e m a n d on their t i m e : to be a w a y f r o m the loan desk as well as giving service at it. T o meet this chal- lenge, the first step in r e j u v e n a t i n g circula- tion procedures w a s the creation of a file w h i c h w o u l d immediately provide the desk a t t e n d a n t s w i t h t h e location of any book in the library. All books shelved in r e a d i n g rooms w e r e listed in this master file of location. T h o s e not listed w e r e a u t o m a t i c a l l y k n o w n to be stack books. Because the latest issues and bound volumes of the last 10 years of a considerable n u m b e r of periodicals are shelved in the r e a d i n g rooms, a small periodical file w a s appended to this file. T h e file not only answers questions of loca- tion, b u t indicates w h a t volumes are cur- rently at the bindery. Bindery cards are filed in it on the day a shipment is sent o u t . T h e master file card f o r a book shelved in a r e a d i n g room contains the a u t h o r ' s last name, the short title, call n u m b e r and copy and volume n u m b e r s . E a c h card is stamped w i t h the proper r e a d i n g room and all cards are filed in D e w e y n u m e r i c a l o r d e r . T h e file is t h e r e f o r e n o t a duplicate of the public catalog on which a p a t r o n m u s t depend f o r locating his books by a u t h o r or title or subject. A f t e r the master file had been established, cards f o r n e w books added to t h e r e a d i n g rooms w e r e typed by the cataloging depart- m e n t . A card is filed j u s t before the n e w book is shelved in t h e r e a d i n g room. A t this stage in the development of routines any question of location could be answered by desk a t t e n d a n t s in a m a t t e r of seconds. T h e necessity f o r checking the public catalog had been eliminated. W h i l e the master file w o r k e d independently, it w a s still necessary to check in the n u m e r i - cal book-card file to determine if a book w e r e charged o u t . T h e final and most ingenious develop- m e n t in the system w a s the consolidation of the date-due file of call slips w i t h the m a s t e r file. By filing the call slip directly in f r o n t of the master file card f o r the book, it became possible to d e t e r m i n e — b y check- ing only once and in only one file—the location of the book, w h e t h e r or not it w a s charged out, to w h o m the book w a s charged and w h e n it w a s due so t h a t it w o u l d be available f o r the person desiring it. T h e s t r e a m l i n i n g of the circulation rou- tines w a s completed w i t h the installation of t w o G a y l o r d electric c h a r g i n g machines which speeded the time of c h a r g i n g to a f e w seconds per book, and the elimination of the two-card system of c h a r g i n g r e a d i n g room books. O n l y one card w a s n o w (Continued on page 265) 244 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES for the storage of 26,600,000 books and 6 1 , 0 0 0 seats f o r readers. I n the total scene, f o r every 100 square feet of floor area f o r book storage there w e r e 85 square feet f o r reader seating. ( T h i s ratio did not, of course, hold true f o r i n d i v i d u a l libraries.) A b o u t 14 per cent of the libraries accounted f o r one half of the total book storage capacity, and 22 per cent accounted f o r one half of reader seating, i n d i c a t i n g that many more small libraries w e r e constructed than l a r g e ones. Average Library T h e average b u i l d i n g provided a book storage capacity of about 184,000 v o l u m e s and seats f o r 420 readers. A t the time of construction, it possessed about 6 1 , 0 0 0 volumes. T h e l i b r a r y buildings of A t l a n t a U n i v e r s i t y , A . & M . C o l l e g e of T e x a s and E a s t e r n W a s h i n g t o n C o l l e g e of E d u c a t i o n came close to this statistical average. Life Expectancy O f 145 l i b r a r y buildings erected be- t w e e n 1 9 2 9 and 1949, 63 w e r e filled to capacity by 1949. O v e r one half of the buildings built between 1 9 2 9 and 1941 w e r e filled by 1949. O n the basis of re- ported g r o w t h plus e x t r a p o l a t e d f u t u r e g r o w t h , a m o n g 122 buildings f o r w h i c h such data w e r e available, the average l i b r a r y b u i l d i n g had a l i f e time or l i f e expectancy of 21 years. 7 I n other w o r d s , the a v e r a g e b u i l d i n g w o u l d require a build- i n g addition f o r book storage 21 years a f t e r original construction. 7 Life expectancy was computed on the basis of the average rate of increase for the period extending from the year of construction to the year 1948. The rate of increase was computed in the same fashion as compound interest is computed. If A denotes the number of volumes at the time of construction and B the number of volumes in 1948, then A dollars deposited in the year of construction would yield B dollars in 1948, provided that the money accumulated only through in- terest compounded annually at the rate of increase char- acteristic for a given library. The rate of increase was calculated only for those libraries for which the num- bers A and B were available. Circulation in the Divisional Library (Continued from page 244) needed, that for the bookcard file kept by date due, f r o m w h i c h overdues w e r e typed and c i r c u l a t i o n counted. In these t w o last steps, needless minutes f o r m e r l y spent on b o o k c a r d i n g , f i l i n g and w r i t i n g charges, w e r e saved f o r advising and g u i d i n g the p a t r o n . Summary A t N e b r a s k a the c e n t r a l i z a t i o n of all circulation activities in the divisional li- b r a r y at the central loan desk has m e a n t a n e w concept of service to the patron. T h e circulation department is in a pivotal posi- tion in the l i b r a r y ; it is the center of public service and coordination. T h r o u g h the use of a master file of book location and stream- lined techniques of f i l i n g and book c h a r g - ing, this circulation department has elevated the standards of service to patrons to a high level of q u a l i t y and efficiency, and has thus contributed substantially to the success of the divisional l i b r a r y at the U n i v e r s i t y of N e b r a s k a . JULY, 1951 265