College and Research Libraries The Preparation of the Standards for College Libraries T H E S T A N D A R D S F O R C O L L E G E L I B R A R I E S were prepared by the C o m - mittee on Standards, A C R L . T h e following members of the committee participated in drafting the standards: Felix E. Hirsch, T r e n t o n State College, chairman; Mrs. M i n n i e Bowles, Chicago Teachers College; Helen M . Brown, Wellesley College; Eugene Holtman, O h i o State Uni- versity; Donald O. R o d , Iowa State Teachers College; Roscoe Schaupp, Eastern Illinois University; R u t h Walling, Emory University; Helen M . W e l c h , University of Illinois. A t the A L A meeting in Kansas City, June 1957, the A C R L Board of Directors authorized the committee to proceed with the preparation of the new standards for college libraries. T h e earlier phase of the com- mittee's work were described by Felix E. Hirsch, "Facing the Future: O n the W a y to N e w College Library Standards," CRL X I X ( 1 9 5 8 ) , 197-200, 262. A t the A L A Conference in San Francisco, the committee held an o p e n meeting on July 15, 1958, to clarify the fundamental is- sues. Speakers at this large gathering included Flora B. L u d i n g t o n , M o u n t Holyoke College; W y m a n W . Parker, Wesleyan University; Eileen T h o r n t o n , Oberlin College; Paul Bixler, A n t i o c h College; W i l l i a m Carlson, O r e g o n State System of Higher Education, and the committee chairman. T h e i r comments were followed by an extended membership discussion. (A detailed report on the meeting, prepared by Helen M. W e l c h , is available f r o m the office of the chairman.) T h e committee consulted also with many other leaders of the library profession, with the executive secretaries of the regional accrediting agencies, and with m o r e than thirty outstanding college presidents f r o m all parts of the country, before the final draft of the standards was ap- proved by the A C R L Board of Directors. In an article for an early issue of the ALA Bulletin the committee's chairman writes: " T h e committee's main aim was to provide flexible standards, based o n firm principles. It was felt that only an instrument that met both requirements w o u l d serve American higher education effectively in a period of tremendous expansion and fundamental changes. Many a college librarian will find it difficult to preserve the ac- customed quality of library service in this era of sudden growth and emergent new trends. It is the h o p e of the new committee that the new standards may help not only to maintain, but even to strengthen the position of the college libraries in this period, particularly those which are already struggling against insufficient support or lack of r e c o g n i t i o n . " Standards for College Libraries THESE STANDARDS a r e d e s i g n e d t o p r o v i d e a guide for the evaluation of libraries i n American colleges and universities which emphasize four-year undergraduate instruc- tion and may or may not have graduate programs leading to a Master's degree. T h e y are not applicable, however, to junior col- lege libraries nor to libraries of academic institutions stressing advanced research. For simplicity's sake, the term "college library" is used throughout rather than a long phrase such as "library in a college or university granting Bachelors' or Bachelors' and Mas- ters' degrees." I . F U N C T I O N S O F T H E C O L L E G E L I B R A R Y T h e college library should be the most important intellectual resource of the aca- demic community. Its services, given by a competent staff of adequate size, should be geared to implement the purposes of the college's general program and to meet the specific educational objectives of the insti- tution. Its collections should aim at present- ing the heritage of Western and Eastern thought in all its richness, but should stress those particular areas which are central to the curriculum of the institution. N o artifi- cial barriers should separate the library f r o m the classroom or the library staff from the teaching faculty. Beyond supporting the instructional program to the fullest extent, the library should endeavor to meet the legitimate demands of all its patrons, from the senior professor engaged in advanced research to the freshman just entering upon the threshold of higher learning, to stim- ulate and encourage the student to develop the lifelong habit of good reading, and to play its proper role i n the community and i n the wider realm of scholarship beyond the campus. T h e standards laid down in this document must always be interpreted in the light of the aims and needs of the institution of which the library is a part. This document was prepared by the ACRL Committee on Standards, Felix E. Hirsch, Chairman. I I . S T R U C T U R E A N D G O V E R N M E N T I f the institution's board of control has a committee on the library, its duties and authority should be clearly defined, and the relationship of the librarian to the commit- tee should be stated. T h e committee should be concerned w i t h general library policy and not w i t h matters of an administrative and executive nature. T h e librarian should be directly respon- sible to the president. Since the library is an important department serving the en- tire institution, the librarian should rank w i t h other chief administrative officers. However, since he is concerned primarily w i t h the academic program of the institu- tion, he w i l l work in a particularly close relationship w i t h the head of the academic program. T h e librarian should be a mem- ber of the college planning group for the curriculum and of any other committee whose activities w i l l vitally affect the fu- ture of library service. As a rule, there should be a faculty li- brary committee. T h e committee should act strictly i n an advisory capacity. I t should consist of both senior and j u n i o r faculty members, carefully chosen for their demon- strated understanding of library problems and for their willingness to take a genuine interest i n the collections beyond those per- taining to their own departments. T h e com- mittee should interpret the problems and policies of the library to the faculty and, in turn, make suggestions for the improve- ment of library service. I t may also repre- sent the faculty i n the apportionment of book funds, insofar as they are allocated to the departments. T h e librarian should be a regular member of the committee and may serve as its chairman. Wherever circumstances permit, a student committee on the library should be estab- lished to provide for a better liaison with the student body. Such a committee should be carefully selected and its functions prop- erly defined; it should work closely w i t h the librarian. T h e librarian should always be entrusted w i t h planning and administering the li- 274 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES brary budget. N o action affecting the li- brary finances should be taken by adminis- trative officers of the college without prior consultation with the librarian. A l l mate- rials purchased from library funds or books and periodicals otherwise acquired by the institution should be considered a part of the library and should be under the control of the librarian. T h e organization of the library should be logical and suitable to the institution. Lines of authority should be clearly drawn and should not cross. W h i l e the librarian must assume responsibility for the adminis- tration of the library, he should seek the advice of members of his staff on important matters of policy and procedure. Channels of communication within the staff should be well defined and generally understood. T h e librarian must keep such statistical records as are necessary to give a clear pic- ture of the activities, acquisitions, and use of the library. H e should keep and regu- larly report statistics as requested by the U n i t e d States Office of Education, regional accrediting agencies, and the Association of College and Research Libraries. I I I . B U D G E T T h e funds provided for the support of the library will in large measure determine the quality of the library resources and services. T h e library's holdings, the pre- vailing methods of instruction, the size of faculty and student body, the extent to which the college encourages and provides for individual study, and the variety of graduate offerings are factors which influ- ence the budgetary needs of the library. T h e library budget should be determined i n relation to the total budget of the in- stitution for educational and general pur- poses.1 T h e program of library service out- lined in these standards will normally re- quire a m i n i m u m of 5 per cent of the total educational and general budget.2 T h e percentage must be higher if the library's holdings are seriously deficient, if there is 1 " E d u c a t i o n a l and g e n e r a l " is defined by the U . S . Office 9 f E d u c a t i o n a s o p e r a t i n g f u n d s used t o d e f r a y e x p e n d i t u r e s f o r a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , i n s t r u c t i o n , r e s e a r c h , e x t e n s i o n s e r v i c e s , plant o p e r a t i o n a n d m a i n t e n a n c e , a n d organized a c t i v i t i e s r e l a t e d to i n s t r u c t i o n a l de- p a r t m e n t s . 2 T h i s figure is suggested by an a n a l y s i s o f the s t a t i s t i c s a n n u a l l y published b y CRL in i t s J a n u a r y i s s u e . rapid expansion in student population or course offerings, or if the institution fos- ters a wide range of studies at the Master's level or programs of independent study. W h i l e the allocation of library funds for specific purposes will depend on the needs of the individual institution, experience shows that a good college library usually spends twice as much (or more) for salaries as it does for books. I t should be considered a serious danger signal by the college authorities if the li- brary budget sinks appreciably below the median ratio of library expenditures to to- tal educational and general institutional ex- penditures for comparable institutions as indicated in the latest annual college li- brary statistics. I V . S T A F F T h e library should be operated by a broadly educated and highly qualified staff of professional librarians, under the direc- tion of a chief librarian. T h e professional librarian is defined as one holding a grad- uate library degree. T h e size of the staff w i l l vary w i t h the size of the institution, but three profes- sional librarians constitute the m i n i m u m number required for effective service, i.e., the chief librarian and the staff members responsible for readers services and techni- cal processes. I n addition to student en- rollment, several other factors are important i n determining the number of librarians needed, such as the type of organization within the library, the size and character of the collections, the teaching methods pre- vailing in the institution, the number of hours during which the library is open, and the arrangement of the building. A t least one professional librarian should be on duty at all times during which the li- brary is open for full service. I n addition to the professional librarians, the library should have an adequate non- professional staff. T h e ratio of professional to non-professional staff will vary accord- ing to the specific needs of institutions. Great care should be taken that profes- sional staff members do not spend their time in doing work that is essentially of a clerical nature. Student assistants may be employed effectively in a variety of tasks, but, as a rule, they cannot be expected to JULY 1959 275 perform the same k i n d of indispensable services that competent clerical workers will. As the size of the library increases, the ratio of the non-professional to the profes- sional staff should be larger. W h i l e it may be impossible to have u n i f o r m standards for the size of the staff, attention should be called to the formulas designed in cer- tain states, which appear to present rea- sonable patterns w i t h i n which most insti- tutions can develop their programs of li- brary service.3 Professional librarians should have faculty status, w i t h the benefits en- joyed by the teaching staff. These should include such items as tenure, sick leave, lib- eral vacations, an adequate retirement plan, and sabbaticals. T h e salary schedule for li- brarians should be the same as for teaching members of the faculty. I t follows that li- brarians—in line w i t h the established pro- motion policies at their institution—should be expected to do graduate work in such areas as would contribute to their effective- ness in their respective positions. I n some instances such a program of study might well lead to a second or third Master's de- gree rather than to a Ph.D. degree. Oppor- tunity should be granted for engaging in such studies. However, provision should also be made for giving recognition through promotion or salary increase to exceptional ability in the performance of duties. T h e library staff should take an active part in the instructional program of the institution. Specific provision should be made for formal instruction in the use of the library, possibly in collaboration w i t h academic departments. T h e participation of the staff will also include informal individ- ual instruction in the use of the library, advice to faculty members on bibliographi- cal matters, work on various committees, 3 T h e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y , New Y o r k , h a s i n t r o d u c e d f o r i t s t e a c h e r s college l i b r a r i e s a f o r m u l a which provides a b a s i c college l i b r a r y staff o f five p r o f e s - s i o n a l positions a n d t h r e e p o s i t i o n s of c l e r i c a l g r a d e f o r the first 7 5 0 f u l l - t i m e r e g u l a r session s t u d e n t s in a t t e n d a n c e ; e a c h multiple o f 5 0 0 additional r e g u l a r session s t u d e n t s r e q u i r e s t h e services of o n e addi- tional p r o f e s s i o n a l position a n d one additional c l e r i c a l position. T h e C a l i f o r n i a S t a t e D e p a r t m e n t o f E d u - c a t i o n , D i v i s i o n o f S t a t e Colleges and T e a c h e r E d u - c a t i o n , has also developed a staffing f o r m u l a . ( I n s t r u c - t i o n s o f J u l y 1, 1 9 5 5 . ) T h i s f o r m u l a is based on t h r e e f a c t o r s : 1 ) a work-load f a c t o r f o r t e c h n i c a l s e r v i c e s based on detailed a n a l y s i s o f n u m b e r o f vol- u m e s s h e l v e d , i n v e n t o r i e d , c a t a l o g e d , bound, r e c l a s s i - fied, r e c a t a l o g e d , e t c . , 2 ) a f a c t o r f o r public s e r v i c e m a n n i n g r e q u i r e m e n t s b a s e d on l i b r a r y h o u r s , num- b e r s o f public s e r v i c e p o i n t s , type o f m a n n i n g re- q u i r e d , e t c . , a n d 3 ) a f a c t o r f o r a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , a p e r c e n t a g e o f t h e total of the o t h e r two. and the preparation of reading lists and special reports regarding library facilities or services. Such activities are part of the normal operation of a college library. Staff members w i t h appropriate subject back- ground may also help to bridge the gap between the library and the classroom by teaching a course i n a subject area. Members of the library staff must be chosen w i t h great care, since they are to perform such a variety of important edu- cational functions. T h e chief librarian in particular "needs the skill to direct a highly complex organization well, but his thinking and planning must be that of a teacher and scholar. . . . H e must know what scholar- ship is and what teaching entails. H e must demonstrate the competence to merit the respect of his colleagues as an educator."4 V . L I B R A R Y C O L L E C T I O N S A. Books and Periodicals T h e library's collection of books, peri- odicals, pamphlets, documents, newspapers, maps, microfilm, microcards, microprint, and other materials, must be so constituted and organized as to give effective strength and support to the educational program of the institution. T h e collection should meet the f u l l curricular needs of undergraduate students and should be easily accessible to them. I t should provide properly for the demands of graduate students in each field in which the institution offers the Master's degree. Also it should contain a generous selection of works to keep the members of the faculty abreast of the latest advances in modern scholarship and to assist them in their professional growth. I f special pro- grams of independent study involving a wide use of books are carried on, provision must be made for them in the library's col- lection. I n addition to the materials related di- rectly or indirectly to the curriculum, the collection should contain the standard works which represent the heritage of civilization. These works should be continuously sup- plemented by a wide variety of books which combine timeliness w i t h enduring value, chosen to arouse the intellectual curiosity 4 M i d d l e S t a t e s A s s o c i a t i o n o f Colleges a n d S e c - ondary S c h o o l s , Evaluating the Library ( D o c u m e n t no. 4 . 8 1 , O c t o b e r 1 9 5 7 ) . 276 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES of students and to satisfy their recreational reading needs. There should be a strong and up-to-date reference collection consisting of the most authoritative reference works and bibliog- raphies in all major fields of knowledge. This collection must not be restricted to subjects which form part of the curriculum, nor to publications in the English lan- guage. The periodicals subscription list should be well balanced and carefully chosen to meet the requirements of students for col- lateral course reading, to provide in some measure for the research needs of advanced students and faculty, to keep the faculty informed of developments in their fields, and to afford thought-provoking general and recreational reading.5 Newspaper subscrip- tions should provide news coverage at the national, regional, and local levels; they should include also one or more leading papers from abroad. Various political points of view should be represented. It is essen- tial that the major journals and newspapers be kept and bound systematically or pre- served in microtext form. Printed, manuscript, and archival mate- rials pertaining to the institution of which the library is a part should be collected and preserved. The right of the librarian to select books and other materials representing all sides of controversial issues must be safeguarded by the institution, and any attempts at cen- sorship from whatever sources or for what- ever reasons must be resisted. The quality of the library collections should not be sacrificed to unnecessary du- plication of titles. However, works of last- ing significance or of contemporary impor- tance should be available in a sufficient number of copies to give students a fair opportunity to examine them thoroughly. Obsolete materials, such as outmoded books, superseded editions, incomplete sets of longer works, broken files of unindexed journals, superfluous duplicates, and worn out or badly marked volumes, should be 5 Subscriptions should be checked against such an authoritative compilation as Classified List of Peri- odicals for the College Library; 4th edition, revised and enlarged by E v a n I r a F a r b e r ( B o s t o n : F . W . F a x o n Company, 1 9 S 7 ) . College librarians should con- sult with their faculties about additions, i f they con- sider the coverage inadequate. continuously weeded, with the advice of faculty members concerned. Gifts should be accepted only in case they add to the strength of the library collections and do not carry unreasonable restrictions. Presi- dent, faculty, and librarian should join in developing a policy which clearly defines what kinds of gifts are desirable for the institution and why it is important educa- tionally to integrate them with the regular collections except in rare instances. If funds are allocated to departments, a substantial portion beyond fixed costs for periodicals and continuations should be re- served for direct assignment by the librar- ian. This portion should be large enough to provide for the purchase of reference works, general publications, expensive sets, books for recreational reading, and works which cross departmental lines, as well as for correcting weaknesses in the library's collection. Library holdings should be checked fre- quently against standard bibliographies, both general and subject, as a reliable meas- ure of their quality.6 A high percentage of listed titles which are relevant to the pro- gram of the individual institution, should be included in the library collections, j | The size of the library collections is large- 6 T w o comprehensive bibliographies which have proved to be particularly helpful f o r the purpose of self-evaluation, are the following: Catalogue of the Lamont Library^ Harvard College; prepared by Philip J . M c N i f f and members of the library staff (Cambridge, M a s s . : H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 5 3 ) . Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Commission on Colleges and U n i v e r s i t i e s , The Classified List of Reference Books and Periodicals' for College Libraries; edited bv W . S t a n l e y Hoole ( A t l a n t a : T h e Association, 1 9 5 5 ) . U n f o r t u n a t e l y out- of-date, but still useful f o r checking the pre-war lit- erature in some areas of the humanities is Charles B . S h a w , A List of Books for College Libraries, 2d edi- tion ( C h i c a g o : A L A , 1 9 3 1 ) , and its supplement 1931- 1938 ( C h i c a g o : A L A , 1 9 4 0 ) . Some examples of excellent subject bibliographies a r e : The Concise Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, 600-1950; edited by George W a t s o n ( C a m - b r i d g e : U n i v e r s i t y Pre ss, 1 9 5 8 ) . Critical Bibliography of French Literature; edited by David C. Cabeen ( 3 vols, published thus f a r , S y r a c u s e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 4 8 - 5 6 ) Foreign Affairs Bibliography ( 3 vols.: 1919- 32, 1932-1942, 1 9 4 2 - 1 9 5 2 ; edited by W i l l i a m L . L a n g e r , R o b e r t G. Woolbert, and H e n r y L . R o b e r t s respec- tively, New Y o r k , Council on Foreign Relations, 1933- 1955, and kept up to date by the quarterly bibliog- raphies in Foreign Affairs). The Harvard List of Books in Psychology; compiled and annotated by the psychologists in H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y , 2d edition (Cam- bridge, M a s s . : H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 5 5 ) . Scientific, Medical and Technical Books Published in the U. S. A. to December 1956; edited by R . R . Hawkins, 2d edition ( W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . . 1 9 5 8 ) . Also L e s t e r Asheim and others, The Humanities and the Library ( C h i c a g o : A L A , 1 9 5 7 ) and Louis R . W i l s o n , The Library in College Instruction ( N e w Y o r k : H . W . W i l s o n , 1 9 5 1 ) should be checked, in the latter especially the section on teaching materials for general education on the college level. JULY 1959 277 ly determined by the following major fac- tors: (1) The extent and nature of the cur- riculum, (2) the number and character of graduate programs, (S) the methods of in- struction, (4) the size of the undergraduate and graduate student body, both full-time and extension, and (5) the need of the fac- ulty for more advanced materials which cannot be met conveniently by the use of research libraries in the area. An analysis of small college library sta- tistics7 suggests that no library can be ex- pected to give effective support to the in- structional program if it contains fewer than 50,000 carefully chosen volumes. A steady growth is essential to any good col- lege library. The rate of growth of the li- brary collection may slow down, however, when the number of volumes reaches ap- proximately 300,000. Since there appears to be a correlation between the growth of the student body and the growth of the collec- tion, there is a convenient measure based upon observation of the development of college libraries, which may serve as a guide: up to 600 students, 50,000 volumes; for every additional 200 students, 10,000 vol- umes. Part-time and extension students should be equated into full-time student fig- ures for the purpose of such computations. It is, however, clearly understood, that these are minimal figures and that stronger insti- tutions will demand considerably larger and richer collections. The library's collections should be fully organized for use. The main catalog of the library should serve as a union catalog for all collections of the library whether housed in the main building or in college depart- ments. The catalog should follow the Li- brary of Congress and American Library Association cataloging codes as standards. Materials should be classified according to an accepted scheme in general usage and be subject to continual editing to keep the catalog abreast of modern technological de- velopments. The catalog should also be con- stantly revised to keep it up-to-date in terminology. B. Audio-Visual Materials Audio-visual materials including films, filmstrips, recordings, and tapes are an in- 7 S e e t h e s t a t i s t i c s published a n n u a l l y in t h e J a n - u a r y i s s u e o f CRL. tegral part of modern instruction, and every college library must concern itself with them. The library should take the initiative for providing them, if no other agency on campus has been assigned this responsibility. If the library is handling the program, it should be enabled to do so by special budgetary provisions, including those for additional staff. The program must be, both in its budget and its operation, an integral part of the whole of the library's functions. No audio-visual program can succeed with- out adequate facilities for the use of equip- ment and materials. The librarian is bound by the same high standards of selection for films and record- ings that he uses for books. V I . B U I L D I N G Successful library service presupposes an adequate library building. The college li- brary building should be centrally located and functionally designed. The type of building provided will depend on the char- acter and the aims of the institution, but it should always meet the general demands of efficient operation. The residential col- lege will have different building require- ments from the college which serves com- muters only. Every new building plan should include provisions for future expansion. The size of the library building will de- pend on the type and size of institution which it serves, the instructional methods employed, the character of the collections and the number of volumes. In general, the seating capacity of a new building should be based on the anticipated growth over a twenty-year period. Accommodations for at least one-third of the student body will be essential. The changing concept of the role of the library in the academic community may make necessary an upward revision of this figure. Any particular situation will be further affected by the availability of other study facilities on campus. Provision should be made for expansion of reading areas where students may have easy access to books and other materials. Book space, too, must be ample not only for the present, but for the foreseeable fu- ture as well. On principle, shelf space in a new building should be planned so that it allows at least for a doubling of the col- lection. Adequate housing must also be pro- 278 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES vided for special materials such as current issues of periodicals, maps, pictures, art books, films, records, and microtexts. Well-planned areas must be provided for any and all services which the library under- takes to furnish, e.g., well-arranged general circulation and reference areas, display space, rooms for listening to recordings, faculty studies, etc. The efficient operation of the library also entails adequate quarters for the processes of ordering, preparation, cataloging, bind- ing and mending, filing, and similar activi- ties. Staff work-areas should comprise at least 125 square feet of floor space per per- son. Persons holding administrative posi- tions should be given sufficient private of- fice space. A staff lounge with simple kitch- en facilities is highly desirable for the con- venience of staff and visitors. Much of the building's effectiveness de- pends on proper provisions for heat, light, and air. Sound-conditioning, air-condition- ing, lighting, and decoration should be care- fully planned so that students and faculty are encouraged to study in a cheerful and comfortable atmosphere. The proper con- trol of humidity and heat should also be provided for books and materials, especially those that are rare and valuable. College libraries should be equipped with well-designed library furniture of high quali- ty. A variety of types of seating should be available including tables, carrels, individual desks, and comfortable lounge chairs away from tables. The table space of 3 x 2 feet per reader is recommended for general li- brary use. V I I . T H E Q U A L I T Y OF T H E SERVICE AND ITS E V A L U A T I O N In the field of librarianship, probably nothing is more difficult than assessing the quality of a college library, since it in- volves so many intangible factors. However, nothing is more important than to know how effective the library service actually is. One way to measure the success of library activities is a continuous careful evaluation of the statistical records of the circulation department. Where the library has open shelves, these records will give only part of the picture. It is likely, however, that the library service to students is improving if the per capita figures of books on regular loan (two weeks or longer) to students show an upward trend over a considerable period of time. Surveys of what students are actu- ally reading in the library at a given time, studies of books not supplied, reference questions not answered, and the character of interlibrary loans are additional bases for evaluating book collection and service. Such statistical investigations, however, must be made with caution and with full considera- tion of all factors involved. Much will de- pend on the teaching methods employed by the faculty. Therefore, it is particularly im- portant to keep faculty members regularly informed on new publications, new acquisi- tions, etc. The librarian should work closely with them, as they plan new courses and develop new educational ideas, and assist them in gauging the actual and potential significance of the library resources for the teaching in their fields. The effectiveness of the instruction in the use of the library given by the staff will be reflected in how well the students avail themselves of the library resources. Another approach is an evaluation of the library resources and services undertaken jointly by the teaching faculty and the li- brary staff after careful planning. Such a self-evaluation should always lead to the strengthening of the ties between classroom and library. It is recommended that such self-studies be undertaken frequently. When necessary, the advice of outside experts should be secured. V I I I . INTERLIBRARY C O O P E R A T I O N By the nature of his work, the college li- brarian has to think, above all, of serving the faculty and students at his institution. But he should not lose sight of the impor- tant benefits to be derived from pooling the resources of his library with those of other interested libraries in the same community, region, state, and in the nation. This will have two salutary results. First, "it will greatly help the participating libraries to provide for their readers the broad and rich intellectual opportunities to which they are entitled."8 Second, such planned collabora- 8 A Plan for Meeting College Library Problems: A Report of the Regents' Committee on Integration of College and University Library Resources in New York State. ( A l b a n y , N . Y . : S t a t e E d u c a t i o n D e p a r t - ment, 1 9 5 4 ) , p. 18. T h i s document c o n t a i n s a com- prehensive plan f o r state-wide c o o p e r a t i o n of college a n d u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i e s . JULY 1959 279 tion will make each dollar spent by cooper- ating libraries "go further than it would go if spent by an individual library."9 In particular, the college library should cooperate with other college, university, school and public library agencies in the community and the neighboring area for reference service to readers beyond the campus. The librarian should investigate the pos- sibility of cooperation with other libraries in the area, e.g., for the planned purchasing of materials to avoid unnecessary duplica- 9 M e t c a l f , Keyes D . , The Hampshire Inter-Library Center: A Survey of Its Background and Its Problems and Recommendations for the Future. ( S o u t h Hadley, M a s s . : T h e Hampshire I n t e r - L i b r a r y Center, 1 9 5 7 ) , p. 31. tion and to increase the resources available to each cooperating library. On the other hand, the library should not seek to borrow from other libraries materials which are basic to the college program.10 In conclusion, it should be remembered that American higher education has en- tered upon an era of momentous change. These standards should be interpreted by college librarians and their authorities in a spirit that will enable the college libraries of the nation not only to maintain but to strengthen their position in the face of this new challenge. 1 0 F o r an excellent statement of the materials which a college library should own rather than borrow see the previously mentioned A Plan for Meeting College Library Problems, pp. 8-9. Equipment Grants for Junior College Libraries Junior college libraries will benefit from a new grant made to A C R L by Rem- ington Rand, a division of the Sperry Rand C o r p o r a t i o n . T h e corporation has made a grant of $7500 to A C R L . It will be administered by a committee ap- pointed from members of A C R L ' s Junior College Libraries Section. Allotments in sub-grants will be made to non-tax-supported junior college libraries for the pur- chase of standard library furniture and equipment manufactured by Library Bu- reau. Application forms will be distributed to all eligible libraries during Sep- tember. In announcing the grant Mr. Harold J. Syren, Sales Manager of Library Bureau, writes for Remington Rand: " T h e intent of the grant is to offer products which we manufacture to libraries that are non-tax-supported. W e believe that this grant could serve a very useful purpose if limited to the junior colleges as they are spring- ing up very rapidly and perhaps need help." This is the fourth grant to A L A and A C R L by Remington Rand. Last year the sub-grants were allocated to college libraries and the program administered by a committee of the College Libraries Section of A C R L . T h e first two Remington Rand grants were administered by the A C R L Foundation Grants Committee. " W e are delighted that the Junior College Libraries Section will administer the Remington Rand grant for library equipment this year," says Miss Helen Mitchell, librarian of Clark College, Vancouver, Washington, chairman of the Junior College Libraries Section of A C R L 1959/60. "This is the first opportunity that the junior college librarians have had to participate in any of the grants administered by A C R L . Junior college libraries are assuming greater importance each year as the number of students in such institutions is rapidly increasing. W e are grateful for the opportunity to show how libraries may be of increased service to these students by the use of the best possible equipment." 280 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES