College and Research Libraries


By S E Y M O U R R O B B 

Carol M. Newman Library 
Of Virginia Polytechnic Institute 

FLEXIBILITY, utility, efficiency; these are the three great factors that have domi-
nated the planning of the new library at 
Virginia T e c h during the past four years. 
T h e result of this planning is now in 
operation and, after several months of 
testing, the rather radical departure from 
the orthodox university library building 
seems justified beyond our fondest hopes. 

T h e thinking behind this final build-
ing was based on four years of intensive 
study of the specific needs of Virginia 
T e c h both for the present and for the 
predictable future. Virginia Polytechnic 
Institute, Virginia's land grant college 
since 1872, has never before had a library 
building designed to meet its individual 
needs. W i t h a curriculum that is basical-
ly concerned with agriculture, engineer-
ing, science and business administration, 
emphasis is primarily on science and tech-
nology, with lesser attention paid to the 
humanities and social sciences. This fac-
tor alone had great influence on the ulti-
mate design and allocation of space to 
provide the most functional building 
possible for the library's purpose. 

T h e other predominating factors gov-
erning the final plans were the predicta-
ble growth of the student body during 
the next few years and the present rapid 
expansion of research and study at the 
graduate level. T h e present student body 
of 4,000 was accurately predicted three 
years ago. Using the same yardsticks 
(birth rate, influx of industry, etc.) it 
must be assumed that 1965 will see a stu-
dent enrollment of at least 6,000. Transi-

Mr. Robb is librarian, Virginia Poly-
technic Institute. 

tion from an undergraduate library to a 
great scientific and technological research 
library is taking place almost overnight. 
T h e only elements that govern the length 
of time to accomplish this objective are 
availability of funds to purchase research 
materials and an adequate staff to process 
them. Since these are problems common 
to almost every library, this observation 
is made only to point out that, because 
our ultimate goal is to serve not only the 
faculty, research staff and student body 
here on the campus but also advanced 
research by agriculture and industry 
throughout the state, it is hoped that 
funds from various sources will be made 
available to expedite the program. 

Actually, the concept of our new build-
ing based on our broader needs for the 
predictable future began to emerge as far 
back as 1949. It was in this year that Dr. 
Maurice F. T a u b e r of Columbia Univer-
sity and William H. Jesse, director of li-
braries of the University of Tennessee, 
made an objective and realistic survey of 
the library situation at V.P.I. T h e steady 

216 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



progress made since that time is a tribute 
to the thoroughness of their work. 

T h e next big step forward came in 
February, 1952, when the Virginia state 
legislature appropriated $1,000,000 for 
construction of the new building. Joy 
was short lived, however, when the first 
set of plans showed only too clearly how 
little this sum would buy in the way of 
square footage and modern facilities in 
comparison with our actual needs. Only 
47,000 square feet could be constructed 
and none of the facilities could be pro-
vided that is accepted as an essential 
part of the modern college or university 
library. At the darkest hour of planning 
and in almost story-book fashion, the 
Old Dominion Foundation came to the 
rescue with $1,000,000 to match the state 
appropriation. 

T h e architectural firm of Carneal and 
Johnston of Richmond was appointed, 
and during the following year 12 more 
sets of plans and several scale models 
were developed, each one an improve-
ment on the one before. Dr. Walter S. 
Newman, president of V.P.I., has aptly 
termed the project of the new building 
as a cooperative venture. Starting with 
the original survey by Tauber and Jesse 
in 1949, many individuals have contrib-
uted to the financing, the planning, the 
constructing and the equipping of the 
Carol M. Newman Library. T h e final re-
sult is a pleasing exterior of native lime-
stone with Indiana limestone trim in 
keeping with other buildings in the vi-
cinity and an interior where everything 
from the color scheme to the acoustical 
treatment of floors and ceilings is con-
ducive to concentrated study. 

Bids for construction of the new build-
ing were opened November 18, 1953. 
Graham Brothers of R i c h m o n d were low 
bidders. W o r k was begun immediately 
and, except for spells of bad weather, 
continued without let-up until August 
15, 1955. O n that day we began moving 
in and integrating the book and periodi-
cal collections from the main and two 

branch libraries as well as the more than 
twenty departmental libraries. O n Sep-
tember 17, 1955, the new building was 
opened for the fall term. 

In outlining and summarizing the loca-
tion of facilities and materials, it would 
be well to keep in mind the basic princi-
ples of flexibility, utility and efficiency. 
T h e building itself is L-shaped with four 
floors and contains 111,585 square feet 
of floor space. Built in modules 27 feet 
square, the building has n o load-bearing 
walls. There are no halls or corridors. 
Reader space and stack space are desig-
nated by furniture arrangement only. 
Lighting is by fluorescent tubes (5,339 of 
them) with a maximum efficiency of 60 
foot-candles in both reader and stack 
areas. T h e 23i4 miles of shelving are 
free-standing. Interchange of reader space 
and stack space, as necessity dictates in 
the future, can be done with a minimum 
of expense and confusion. Ceilings were 
purposely kept low to conserve space. 
O n the main and second floors ceiling 
heights are 10 feet 6 inches and the top 
and basement levels are 8 feet 6 inches. 
T h e only "fixed" area in the entire build-
ing is a central core containing the ele-
vator, a stairwell, a work space on each 
floor for the sorting and distribution of 
returned books, staff lockers and the 
plumbing stacks. So much for flexibility; 
it has been achieved so far as we can tell 
without any sacrifice whatever. 

T h e utility of the new building is com-
parable to the best and most thought-
fully planned of any of the recent college 
and university library buildings. Seating 
capacity for 1,000 students under ideal 
conditions, shelf space for 1,000,000 vol-
umes without crowding, and open stacks 
should d o much during the next few 
years to bring the student and the book 
closer together. In addition, such facili-
ties as 97 individual study carrells, six 
seminar rooms, a listening r o o m for all 
types of recordings, a film viewing r o o m 
for the showing of educational or recrea-
tional films and slides, and a photodupli-

MAY, 1956 217 



cation laboratory of commercial quality 
will enable us to enter upon a new era 
of service and usefulness never before 
possible at V.P.I. 

Allocation of space throughout the 
building has placed emphasis of efficien-
cy of operation and use above everything 
else. Wherever it has been possible to 
save that extra ten steps, it has been 
done. This has been done both f r o m the 
standpoint of the staff and the reader. 
For example, the main card catalog is 
about equidistant from the circulation 
desk, the periodical reference desk and 
the main reference desk. It is located just 
outside the d o o r to the catalog depart-
ment. Aside from the circulation desk, it 
is the first thing to meet the eye of any-
one entering the building. 

Every effort has been made to meet the 
convenience of the reader. O n the main 
floor, for instance, are the periodical 
reading room, the main reading r o o m 
and a small documents reading room. 

T h e periodical reading services 1,000 
current periodicals and 100 current news-
papers. T h e main reading r o o m gives 
service on all classified material except 
the 300's, 500's and 600's and on unclassi-
fied bound periodicals. This material is 
shelved in the basement directly under 
the main reading room, accessible by 
stairway near the main reference desk. 

T w o large reading rooms are located 
on the second floor: the biological sci-
ences reading r o o m and the physical sci-
ences reading room. On this floor are 
also shelved the 300's, 500's and 600's 
which contain the great majority of the 
subjects normally called for by patrons 
of these two reading rooms. Duplication 
of the card catalog for these three classes 
is now in progress to avoid the necessity 
of going downstairs to consult the main 
catalog on each and every occasion. 

From the standpoint of efficient han-
dling of incoming material, perhaps a 
final word of explanation will not be 
amiss. Here again the principle that a 
straight line is the shortest distance be-

tween two points has been strictly ad-
hered to. A n all-weather unloading plat-
form leads directly into the receiving 
room. Adjacent to the receiving r o o m is 
the periodical checking r o o m and the 
gifts and exchange office. Since a large 
proportion of incoming material falls 
into these two categories, it is a simple 
procedure to truck it a matter of ten 
feet at the most. T h e receiving r o o m is 
adjacent to the elevator so that incoming 
purchases are placed on a truck and 
taken up one floor by elevator. O n the 
floor above, the elevator is located just 
outside the door of the processing unit. 

A flow of work has been set u p to 
avoid any necessity for handling a book 
more than once. T h e processing depart-
ment is located in a r o o m 27 feet wide 
by 74 feet long with the order depart-
ment just inside the door. After a book 
has been checked in, it progresses through 
the various steps of cataloging and clas-
sification. By the time it reaches the far 
end of the r o o m it is ready for bookplat-
ing, labeling and pocketing. 

Maybe too much stress has been laid 
on flexibility, utility and efficiency. If so, 
this point may be argued at some later 
and more appropriate time. Certainly we 
have no high-domed ceilings or hand-
carved paneling to point to with pride. 
O n the other hand we d o have a pleas-
ant, well-equipped, sturdily built library 
that after several months of occupancy 
seems to be entirely functional. 

218 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES