College and Research Libraries By W I L L I A M V E R N O N J A C K S O N The A C R L Grants Program: A Report of Its First Four Years IN 1955 the United States Steel Founda-tion granted $30,000 to ALA to be dis- tributed to college libraries by A C R L . From these funds sub-grants went to eighty-nine colleges and to five research projects. T h e following year the Foundation renewed its grant; the New York Times made $5,000 available for the purchase of microfilm copies of its back files; and the Remington R a n d division of Sperry Rand, Inc., gave $5,000 for sub-grants for library equipment. Later in the same academic year the Lilly Endowment, Inc., made a gift of $26,000 to promote the more extensive and imagina- tive use of library resources by undergradu- ate students. In accordance with the donor's wishes public and private institutions offer- ing four-year programs and located in Indi- ana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky received awards from this sum. In the pro- gram's third year $40,000 was available— $30,000 from the United States Steel Foun- dation, $5,000 from the New York Times, and $5,000 from Remington Rand. During 1958-59 the United States Steel Foundation made its fourth grant of $30,000 to the This is a condensation of a report pre- pared by Mr. Jackson for ACRL's Commit- tee on Grants. Mr. Jackson is Associate Pro- fessor of Library Science at the University of Illinois. Students in his courses on Re- sources of American Libraries and on Ad- vanced Bibliography aided in the prepara- tion of this article by coding for punched- card tabulation the applications on which it is based and by making preliminary anal- yses of some of the resulting tabulations. They are Elizabeth A. Benbrook, Marjorie C. Bengston, Robert Bradley, Richard G. Burns, Dewey E. Carroll, Joyce Davis, Hoivard L. Dunlap, Charity H. Greene, Robert J. Haer- tle, Dorothy Joens, Jessie L. Matthews, Mil- dred C. Montgomery, Barbara J. Souter, and Paul H. Spence. Association and Remington R a n d its third of $5,000, while the C.B.S. Foundation, Inc., contributed $1,000 for materials in the field of communication and Nationwide Insur- ance Co. $500 for materials in business ad- ministration. In the past four years A C R L has received funds totalling $172,500 for its program to assist college libraries. In outlining its pro- cedure for handling these funds the Associ- ation stated that it would make grants, in the name of the donor, for the following purposes: books and related materials, equipment, consultative service, staff inves- tigation and study, and research. T h e Asso- ciation reserved the right to use not more than 5 per cent of any grant toward the expenses of administering the program and has done so since the program's initial year. In the four years funds from the six organi- zations named provided for eight grants for research (amounting to $8,500) and for 383 grants to college and university libraries (amounting to $150,300). A C R L has entrusted the administration of this program of assisting college libraries to a Committee on Foundation Grants. T h e original committee consisted of Robert Vos- per, director of libraries, University of Kan- sas, and then president of the Association; Robert W . Orr, director of the library, Iowa State College; Flora B. Ludington, librarian, Mt. Holyoke College, and a former presi- dent of the American Library Association; Humphrey G. Bousfield, librarian, Brooklyn College; Theodore A. Distler, executive di- rector, Association of American Colleges; Kevin Guinagh, professor, Eastern Illinois State College; Frank H. Sparks, director of the board of trustees and former president of Wabash College; Louis B. Wright, direc- tor, the Folger Shakespeare Library; and Arthur T . Hamlin, university librarian, Uni- versity of Cincinnati, formerly A C R L ex- ecutive secretary. Others who have served on SEPTEMBER 1959 401 the committee are Eileen T h o r n t o n , librar- ian, Oberlin College; Benjamin B . Rich- ards, librarian, Kansas State Teachers Col- lege, Emporia; Dorothy M. Crosland, direc- tor of libraries, Georgia Institute of Tech- nology; Luella R . Pollock, librarian, Reed College; Lewis C. Branscomb, director of libraries, Ohio State University; and Rich- ard B. Harwell, executive secretary of A C R L . N A T U R E AND M E T H O D S O F T H I S S T U D Y Studies of the college library are few. In recent years such problems of major research libraries as growth and finance have received considerable attention, but the same cannot be said for the college library. In the course of four years the Committee on Foundation Grants reveived over fifteen hundred appli- cations for assistance, each containing data on the institution submitting it and particu- larly on its library facilities, together with a description of the project for which funds were requested. Here is much—but by no means all—of the material which a survey of college libraries would have collected. T h i s material presents a unique opportunity for a study of the present state of the American college library. T h i s report can be only partially complete. T h e Foundation Grants Program has had limitations, and the Committee administer- ing it has necessarily adopted certain limit- ing policies in order to reflect the wishes of the donors. T h e program has not been re- stricted to certain types of institutions, but the Committee discouraged applications from the great universities, from colleges unusually well provided with endowment, and from tax-supported schools. Although non-accred- ited as well as accredited institutions have been free to present projects, the applicants constitute a relatively homogeneous group. Another important limitation is the number of schools represented. Many colleges sub- mitted more than one application during the four years, so that this report bases its observations on 654 institutions. T h e y repre- sent one-third of those listed in the current directory issued by the Office of Education. Subject to the limitations just outlined, how- ever, the institutions here studied constitute an excellent sample of non-tax-supported lib- eral arts colleges. T h i s study combines, then, several objec- tives. As a report on the Foundation Grants Program, it seeks (1) to summarize the Pro- gram's operations during the past four years and (2) to analyze the grants made in terms of their distribution, projects supported, and recipient institutions. As a study of college libraries, it attempts (1) to compile from the data available on the applications a picture of the finances, personnel, and resources of the college library today and (2) to com- ment on the implications of this picture. Since grants for research represent a type essentially different from those made for books, equipment, or other library projects, and since these studies were undertaken by individuals rather than by libraries, they are not considered further in this report. T h e r e are 1676 usable applications which form the basis for this study. T h e y are dis- tributed by year as follows: 1955/56, 419; 1956/57, 481; 1957/58, 295; 1958/59, 481. In order to facilitate this investigation most of the information contained on the applica- tions was transferred to I B M punched cards. A code was prepared which would provide access to thirty-six kinds of information, in- cluding the following: year of competition; whether the application was successful or not; the organization providing the funds; the amount received; the name and location of the institution; its accreditation status; its control; the composition of its student body; its enrollment; its classification by level of offering and type of program; whether or not it is an institutional member of ALA; financial data for the most recent year sup- plied on the application; information on staff; size of library; number of volumes added in the last year reported; the project for which the grant was requested; and whether or not any matching funds were pledged. Facts pertaining to the institution's accreditation, control, enrollment, and clas- sification were taken from the current Office of Education directory; the remainder came from the applications themselves. Although every effort was made to code data accurately, it was impossible to recheck each applica- tion; errors that came to light in the process of tabulating were corrected, but a small number probably remain. It is believed, however, that these are not significant enough to affect the results of this study. ,402 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES T h e five sections which follow deal with the geography of the Foundation Grants Programs, the projects submitted to the Com- mittee, and the finance, the personnel, and the resources of the college library. T H E G E O G R A P H Y O F T H E P R O G R A M T o examine the geographical distribution of various features of the Foundation Grants Program applications were coded not only for the states in which institutions are lo- cated, but also for the region to which the states belong. T h e divisions for the con- tinental United States follow those used in several studies of library resources. Alaska and Hawaii are grouped together as states not belonging to any region. A final division includes the outlying parts of the United States (e.g., Puerto Rico). T a b l e I shows the distribution of 1676 applications by state and region. As might be expected, larger numbers of applications came from the most populous states and from those with most institutions of higher education, although no state accounted for more than 8.7 per cent of the total. States with most applications are, in descending order, New York (146), Pennsylvania (128), Ohio (114), Illinois (111), California (94), Indiana (84), and Iowa (67). I n other words, seven states sup- plied nearly half (44 per cent) of the ap- plications, all of them but California in either the Northeast or the Midwest; most requests from states in the other three re- gions were received from Tennessee in the Southeast (24), Kansas in the Northwest (17), and T e x a s (26) in the Southwest. T h e Midwest supplied 31.1 per cent of the ap- plications; the Northeast 27.5 per cent; the Southeast 20.9 per cent; the Far West 8.5 per cent; the Northwest 6.4 per cent; and the Southwest 5.0 per cent; in short, half of the requests came from two regions and four- fifths from three. Many colleges applied for grants more than once during the four years. T h e Founda- tion Grants Committee received an average of 2.54 requests per school, which means that about half of the colleges applied in two of the four years and about half applied in three of the four years. Theoretically a given institution might have applied as many as six times. No count was made of the number of times each college asked for assistance, but a random sample revealed at least ten instances of six applications. T h e spread of the 654 colleges and universities by region parallels very closely the distribution of the applications. T h e Northeast sent slightly fewer applications than its proportion of schools, while the reverse was true of the Midwest. One wonders whether the Lilly grants offered any special stimulus to five Midwestern states but, if so, it applied more to Illinois and Ohio than to Michigan. T h e Foundation Grants Program has dis- tributed $150,300 to college libraries during its first four years. T h e annual amount has re- mained relatively constant, with the last three years showing a modest increase from the original $24,000. T h e 383 awards went to institutions in all parts of the country, although eight states have received none. T h e largest sum (by a considerable margin) went to Indiana ($17,400), with Ohio ($14,- 250) and Illinois ($12,550) following; this does not surprise one when he remembers that eight of the nine grants from the Lilly Endowment were directed by the wishes of the donor to colleges in these states; if these awards be excluded, the figures would be $5,400, $9,550, and $8,050 respectively. Fig- ures for each state represent, in all but a few cases, the amount received by more than one institution. Although there have been no restrictions on the grants, it has been un- derstood that in order to achieve widespread distribution they were to be relatively modest in size. ( T h e Lilly grants were larger in order to underwrite programs promoting the use of library resources.) Such a distribu- tion has, in fact, taken place. More than half of the awards have fallen between $300 and $400, while the total range has been from $100 to $3,500 (including Lilly grants). T h e average grant has been $392 including the Lilly awards or $336 excluding them. T w o hundred and eighty-seven college and university libraries received the 383 grants. T w o hundred and two received a single award; seventy-four received two; and eleven received three. T h e last group con- sisted of the following: Rose Polytechnic In- stitute, Muskingum College, College of Wooster, Western College for Women, Athens College, Atlanta University, Touga- loo Southern Christian College, Converse College, Abilene Christian College, Univer- SEPTEMBER 1959 403 T A B L E I D I S T R I B U T I O N O F A P P L I C A T I O N S B Y R E G I O N AND S T A T E REGION AND STATE NUMBER O F APPLICATIONS PER CENT REGION AND STATE NUMBER O F APPLICATIONS PER CENT Northeast Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont West Virginia Total Midwest Illinois Indiana Iowa Michigan Minnesota Missouri Ohio Wisconsin 22 0 12 10 35 38 7 16 146 128 5 20 22 461 111 84 67 33 46 29 114 38 1.3 .7 .6 2.1 2.3 .4 1.0 8.7 7.6 .3 1.2 1.3 27.5 6.6 5.0 4.0 2.0 2.7 1.7 6.8 2.3 Northwest Colorado Idaho Kansas Montana Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota Utah Wyoming Total Southwest Arizona New Mexico Oklahoma Texas Total Far West California Nevada Oregon Washington 8 7 33 5 28 3 14 6 2 106 4 5 15 59 83 84 0 28 31 .5 .4 2.0 .3 1.7 .2 .8 .4 .1 6.4 .2 .3 1.0 3.5 5.0 5.0 1.7 1.8 Total 522 31.1 Total 143 8.5 Southeast Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Virginia 29 16 16 30 46 14 16 44 34 56 50 1.7 1.0 1.0 1.8 2.7 .8 1.0 2.6 2.0 3.3 3.0 Other States Alaska Hawaii Total Outlying Parts of U.S. Canal Zone Guam Puerto Rico Total 2 0 2 0 0 8 8 .1 .1 .5 .5 Total 351 20.9 G R A N D T O T A L 1676 100.0 sity of Redlands, and W h i t m a n College. I t might be interesting to see whether examina- tion of these libraries and the projects they proposed would reveal any u n i q u e character- istics. T H E P R O J E C T S S U B M I T T E D Five categories comprise the types of pro- posals in the applications: library materials, equipment, personal services, program activi- ties (library instruction, surveys, etc.), capi- tal expenditures, and all other. Since re- quests for materials in specific subject fields normally used the nomenclature of academic departments, the subject subdivisions follow them rather than the Decimal or Library of Congress Classification: the humanities; the natural sciences and mathematics; the social sciences; inter-departmental area studies; professional and pre-professional study in such fields as agriculture, engineering, law, and medicine; and also for general materials. Requests for specific titles enumerated such m a j o r works as Dictionary of American Bi- ,404 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES T A B L E I I D I S T R I B U T I O N O F G R A N T S B Y R E G I O N AND S T A T E AMOUNT AMOUNT REGION AND STATE RECEIVED P E R CENT REGION AND STATE RECEIVED PER CENT Northeast Northwest Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York Pennsylvania R h o d e Island Vermont West Virginia $ 2,450 700 1,300 4,350 1,500 2,000 9,350 9,050 1.6 .5 .9 2.9 1.0 1.3 6.2 6.0 Colorado Idaho Kansas Montana Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota Utah Wyoming 800 500 1,850 1,850 700 500 .6 .3 1.2 1.2 .5 .3 Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York Pennsylvania R h o d e Island Vermont West Virginia 1,300 1,700 .9 1.1 Total Southwest Arizona New Mexico Oklahoma Texas 6,200 300 300 1,300 2,750 4.1 .2 .2 .9 1.8 Total Midwest Illinois Indiana Iowa Michigan Minnesota Missouri Ohio Wisconsin 33,700 12,550 22.4 8.3 Total Southwest Arizona New Mexico Oklahoma Texas 6,200 300 300 1,300 2,750 4.1 .2 .2 .9 1.8 Total Midwest Illinois Indiana Iowa Michigan Minnesota Missouri Ohio Wisconsin 17,400 5,675 2,050 4,650 2,100 14,250 1,300 11.6 3.8 1.3 3.1 1.4 9.5 • .9 Total Far West California Nevada Oregon Washington 4,650 5,675 1,950 2,400 3.1 3.8 1.3 1.6 Total 59,975 39.9 Total 10,025 6.7 Southeast Other States Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Virginia 2,900 2,000 950 3,350 5,850 950 2,300 3,150 2,400 4,200 5,500 1.9 1.3 .6 2.2 3.9 .6 1.6 2.1 1.6 2.8 3.7 Alaska Hawaii 600 .4 Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Virginia 2,900 2,000 950 3,350 5,850 950 2,300 3,150 2,400 4,200 5,500 1.9 1.3 .6 2.2 3.9 .6 1.6 2.1 1.6 2.8 3.7 Total Outlying Parts of U.S. Canal Zone Guam Puerto R i c o 600 1,600 .4 1.1 Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Virginia 2,900 2,000 950 3,350 5,850 950 2,300 3,150 2,400 4,200 5,500 1.9 1.3 .6 2.2 3.9 .6 1.6 2.1 1.6 2.8 3.7 Total 1,600 1.1 Total 33,550 22.3 G R A N D T O T A L $150,300 100.0 ography, N e w Y o r k Times, a n d Encyclopae- dia Britannica. N e a r l y t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e 1 6 7 6 a p p l i c a t i o n s a s k f o r s o m e k i n d o f l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s , w h i l e a n o t h e r q u a r t e r r e q u e s t l i b r a r y e q u i p m e n t . K n o w l e d g e o f t h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s g r a n t s f o r m i c r o f i l m c o p i e s o f its b a c k files a n d of t h e R e m i n g t o n R a n d g r a n t s f o r e q u i p m e n t h a v e u n d o u b t e d l y s t i m u l a t e d a n u m b e r o f r e q u e s t s i n t h e s e a r e a s ; s i m i l a r l y t h e C o m - m i t t e e ' s a n n o u n c e m e n t t h a t i t f e l t u n a b l e t o p r o v i d e f u n d s f o r m e e t i n g l i b r a r y b u i l d - i n g a n d p e r s o n n e l n e e d s h a s p r o b a b l y dis- c o u r a g e d a p p l i c a t i o n s i n t h e s e c a t e g o r i e s . F i n a l l y t h e r e h a v e b e e n m i s c e l l a n e o u s p r o - p o s a l s w h i c h d o n o t fit t h e a b o v e c a t e g o r i e s ; a m o n g t h e m a r e r e q u e s t s f o r b i n d i n g o f b a c k files o f c e r t a i n p e r i o d i c a l s ( r e q u e s t e d s e v e r a l t i m e s ) , e s t a b l i s h i n g a c o l l e c t i o n o f c h i l d r e n ' s b o o k s ( i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h a pro- g r a m i n e l e m e n t a r y e d u c a t i o n ) , b u y i n g re- p r o d u c t i o n s o f p a i n t i n g s a n d o t h e r a r t w o r k s , a n d p u r c h a s i n g L i b r a r y o f C o n g r e s s c a t a l o g c a r d s f o r a s p e c i a l c o l l e c t i o n . SEPTEMBER 1959 405 About two-thirds of the requests indicate a subject field (this classification does not apply to requests for equipment and to cer- tain others). T a b l e I V shows the distribution by broad subject areas. T h e large proportion of projects specifying only "general materals" corresponds not only to the projects of a vague and indefinite nature, but also to many requests for newspapers, classed as a subdivision of general materials. Of projects identifiable with academic departments, the highest number ask for material in education (49), business administration (42), music (33), chemistry (29), bibliographies (24), brary and for the current edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Single libraries have asked for such titles as Dictionary of American Biography, Sabin, the World Book, Jewish Encyclopedia, and publications of the Early English T e x t Society. F I N A N C E T h e application forms have varied slightly over the years but generally they have re- quested the following financial information: total institutional expenditures; library ex- penditures; the latter as a per cent of the former; total spent for books, binding, and T A B L E I I I F I R S T P R O P O S A L S B Y T Y P E O F P R O J E C T UNSUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS TOTAL T Y P E O F PROPOSAL NUMBER PER CENT NUMBER PER CENT NUMBER PER CENT Library Materials 768 59.4 298 77.8 1066 63.6 Equipment 387 29.9 61 15.9 448 26.7 Personal Services 46 3.5 10 2.6 56 3.3 Program Activities 45 3.5 9 2.4 54 3.2 Capital Expenditures 19 1.5 19 1.2 Other 28 2.2 5 1.3 33 2.0 T o t a l 1293 100.0 383 100.0 1676 100.0 history (20), religion (17), library science (16), art (14), English literature (12), and American literature (10). Almost every other subject is represented, although by fewer than ten requests. In addition, there are sixty-nine proposals for material in general education, but a check of the applications would be necessary to determine whether these really reflect the needs of programs of general education in liberal arts colleges. T h e final analysis of the project proposals consists of a tabulation by title. T h i s list con- sists primarily of expensive reference works. T h e specific nature of the New York T i m e s funds accounts for the high number of re- quests for the Times on microfilm (more than half of the total). Aside from this, the Library of Congress catalogs appear most frequently, followed by Beilstein's Hand- buch der organischen Chemie, Chemical Ab- stracts a n d / o r its index. T h e r e have been several requests for the Loeb Classical Li- periodicals; and the income from endow- ment. Although the implications of such data for the present study are obvious, the figures pose several problems in analysis. T h e first is the fact that the Roman Catholic institutions followed varying practices in reporting their financial data. Since these figures are not fairly comparable with those of other schools, it seemed wise to exclude the Roman Catholic institutions completely in considering the financial picture. T h e re- maining 1247 applications constitute the basis for the following discussion. Another problem stems from the fact that figures are available for five different years (1953/54 through 1957/58). Sorting by year revealed the following distribution: 24 applications have data from 1953/54; 325 from 1954/55; 306 from 1955/56; 222 from 1956/57; and 370 from 1957/58. T h e small size of the 1953/54 group makes it unlikely that it is a representative sample and it was therefore ,406 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES not analyzed. T h e conclusions for other years are, in fact, based on slightly smaller numbers than those given above, because not every institution supplied all informa- tion. What are the total expenditures of the colleges and universities that have applied for A C R L grants? T h e average total for each year can be ascertained, but this would not be an indicative figure because it would be distorted by the amounts reported by the few large institutions (e.g., Northwestern, Stanford, Syracuse, and Boston Universities). T h e median figure for each year seems more reliable. In 1954/55 it came to $402,172; the next year, to $440,274; in 1956/57, to $509,- 808 and in the following year, to $496,442. Approximately two-thirds of each year's ap- plications came from institutions reporting expenditures under $750,000, and about 80 per cent from those reporting expenditures under $1,000,000. In effect, the size of the total institutional budget restricts the potential library support, since, for instance, even the relatively high proportion of 5 per cent of a million-dollar budget makes available only $50,000 to the library. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that as late as 1958 more than half of the colleges and universities reported they were spending less than $50,000 on their libraries. A closer look at the data reveals a somewhat more encouraging picture, how- ever. T h e ratio of schools spending less than $25,000 has decreased from 68.5 per cent in 1954/55 to 55.7 per cent in 1957/58, while those spending between $25,000 and $49,999 has grown from 19.6 per cent in the earlier year to 29.5 per cent in the latter. T h i s would seem to indicate that improvement is taking place and that libraries are receiving more support, although how much more they can buy for their dollars in the light of in- flation, increasing costs of materials, and higher salaries, is debatable. T h e group of institutions spending above $50,000 has also increased, but there are risks in drawing conclusions, because the sample is small and the inclusion of some institutions with ma- j o r research collections distorts the picture of college libraries. In each of the four years reviewed two- thirds or more of the colleges spent less than $10,000 for library materials—surely a dis- couraging picture—while in no year did the total of those spending between $10,000 and $24,999 reach even 30 per cent of the institutions reporting. In spite of a wide range (from several hundred dollars in a southern denominational college to over $200,000 in a major midwestern private uni- versity), the effective range was much small- er: 90 per cent of the applicants spent over $1,000 but under $25,000 for books, peri- odicals, and binding. Twenty-five thousand T A B L E I V F I R S T P R O P O S A L S B Y S U B J E C T A R E A S AREA PROPOSALS % O F TOTAL General Materials 503 47.0 Humanities 222 20.8 Natural Sciences and Mathematics 122 11.4 Social Sciences 114 10.7 Area Studies 28 2.6 Professional and Pre- 80 7.5 professional Studies Total 1069 100.0 dollars seems to be a kind of ceiling on the college library's book budget at the present time; neither the number nor the percentage of institutions spending more than this amount increased greatly in the four years. One of the most useful indices of library support is the proportion of institutional expenditures devoted to libraries. Expressed as a percentage, this figure permits compari- sons of support given by institutions of vari- ous types and control and the extent to which support is maintained at the same level. Although this figure was not requested every year on the application for the grants administered by A C R L , it was computed whenever possible for use in the present study. T a b l e V I shows the range of library ex- penditures, expressed as a percentage of total expenditures for four groups of li- braries: Groups I I and I I I in the annual compilation of college and university li- braries published in CRL and the successful and unsuccessful applicants in the present study. It reveals very slight variation among the median figures for the four groups. Data available in the present study seem to indi- SEPTEMBER 1959 407 cate that library support of less than 3 per cent or more than 6 per cent of an institu- tion's total expenditures represents atypical cases. T h i s means simply that a school ap- propriation more than 6 per cent or less than 3 per cent gives good or poor support to its library, judged only in relationship to what other institutions are doing. I t may be that all schools ought to spend larger shares of their budgets on libraries; but we do not know what qualitative criterion should apply. In the present study there are fifteen oc- casions of support above 10 per cent of an stitutions generally viewed as making gen- erous provision for libraries. In connection with accreditation one won- ders whether the need to meet the standards set by accrediting bodies channels a higher proportion of an institution's funds into its library. T o analyze this all accredited, and all non-accredited schools in the present study were separated. T h e range, arithmetic average, and median for the two groups fell so close together as to make it appear that correlation between accreditation status and higher proportionate support of libraries does not exist. For example, in 1956/57, 20 T A B L E V E X P E N D I T U R E S F O R B O O K S , P E R I O D I C A L S , A N D B I N D I N G NUMBER O F B E L O W $ 1 , 0 0 0 - $ 5 , 0 0 0 - $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 - $ 2 5 , 0 0 0 - O V E R YEAR INSTITUTIONS $ 1 , 0 0 0 $ 4 , 9 9 9 $ 9 , 9 9 9 $ 2 4 , 9 9 9 $ 9 9 , 9 9 9 $ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 1 9 5 4 / 5 5 3 0 3 8 1 4 3 9 4 6 5 1 2 1 1 9 5 5 / 5 6 3 0 5 5 9 8 1 2 0 6 9 8 5 1 9 5 6 / 5 7 2 2 2 3 7 0 7 1 6 5 1 2 1 1 9 5 7 / 5 8 3 7 0 4 1 1 6 1 2 9 1 0 0 1 8 3 institution's expenditures. These applica- tions were reviewed to see whether they might shed any light on this factor. T h e y came from eleven institutions, of which seven are located in the South and South- west, one in the Northeast, one in the Mid- west, and two in the Northwest. Five of them are non-accredited, six accredited. Five of the institutions have provided a high level of support for a number of years: Ar- kansas College ranged from 10 to 15.6 per cent; Abilene Christian College appropri- ated 10.6 per cent of its funds for the library in one year and 12.5 per cent in another; Baker University varied from 10.4 per cent to 13.8 per cent; Florida Normal and In- dustrial Memorial College has given unusu- ally high support to its library, with a min- imum of 15.9 per cent and a maximum of 22.5 per cent in the past five years; and At- lanta University provided 10.4 per cent for the library in all but one of the past six years (when the amount was still a high 8.8 per cent). These figures are not only the highest among those who applied for the foundation grants but compare favorably with the most recent ratios reported for in- non-accredited schools had a median ratio of 4.3 per cent for library expenditures, while in 202 accredited schools it was exactly the same; the following year 54 non-accredited institutions had a median ratio of 4.7 per cent, 316 accredited institutions 4.6 per cent. A sorting of the institutions into the five categories established by the Office of Edu- cation suggests that institutions giving grad- uate work at the master's level are not spend- ing a significantly higher proportion of funds on their libraries than those which offer only undergraduate instruction. P E R S O N N E L W i t h practically no exceptions the report- ing libraries had a minimum of one profes- sional librarian, but very few had more than three. In each of the four years more than two-thirds reported that their professional staff ranged from one to three persons; about 10 per cent had four, while another 10 or 12 per cent (depending on the year) had from five to nine. Schools with more than ten professionals tended to be the few large colleges and universities which applied. Although it would be interesting to compare ,408 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES the size of the staff with enrollment, it was not possible to analyze this in detail; a random sample showed some striking varia- tions. For instance, colleges having one pro- fessional ranged in enrollment from as few as 109 to as many as 1,510. On the other hand, a school with 1,452 students reported a professional staff of eight and one with 1,188 had ten. Obviously the amount and caliber of library services available to the faculty and students in the library with the smaller staff differs greatly from that avail- able in the one with the larger staff. It would seem to most observers of the college library that a one-man professional staff cannot give really adequate service, even in the small institution, yet this is exactly the type of service offered by about one-fourth of the present sample. T h e picture of clerical staff is even more drab, if the present statistics are typical. Although only partially complete data is available for 1955/56, it appears that in this and subsequent years about one-fifth of the libraries had not a single clerical assistant at the time of reporting! About half report- ed one or two persons, between 15 and 20 per cent three or four, leaving only 10 to 15 per cent of the entire group with clerical staffs of five or more. I t is generally con- ceded that a desirable ratio of clerical to professional workers is 2:1. If college librar- ies are understaffed by professionals, they are even more understaffed by clerical help. College administrations have apparently not faced up to the fact that when librarians do clerical work (as they must when there is not enough clerical assistance), it is costly indeed. Have librarians not presented force- fully enough to their administrations the need for clerical help? Has it been such a struggle for college administrations with lim- T A B L E V I L I B R A R Y E X P E N D I T U R E S IN R E L A T I O N T O T O T A L E D U C A T I O N A L E X P E N D I T U R E S IN S E L E C T E D G R O U P S O F I N S T I T U T I O N S LIBRARY EXPENDITURES AS PER CENT O F TOTAL EXPENDITURES NUMBER O F YEAR GROUP INSTITUTIONS HIGH MEDIAN LOW 1954/55 A C R L Group II 72 9.3 5.0 1.2 A C R L Group III 107 11.0 4.1 1.6 Successful Applicants 74 10.6 4.6 2.3 Unsuccessful Applicants 247 11.5 3.7 1.3 1955/56 A C R L Group II 84 12.7 4.7 1.8 A C R L Group III 106 12.0 4.3 1.4 Successful Applicants 88 15.6 4.5 1.0 Unsuccessful Applicants 216 18.5 4.4 1.4 1956/57 A C R L Group II 96 10.4 4.5 1.6 A C R L Group III 104 9.2 4.2 1.3 Successful Applicants 77 10.4 4.3 1.6 Unsuccessful Applicants 145 11.2 4.3 1.4 1957/58 A C R L Group II 92 11.4 4.6 0.4 A C R L Group III 121 9.6 4.2 1.9 Successful Applicants 72 15.9 4.3 2.2 Unsuccessful Applicants 298 24.5 4.6 1.8 Sources: For A C R L Groups II and III, "College and University Library Statistics," CRL, X V I I (1956), 56-84; X V I I I (1957), 48-79; X I X (1958), 49-83; X X (1959) , 27-61. SEPTEMBER 1959 409 ited funds to provide professional help that enough money does not remain for clerical staff? Do schools with larger enrollments have a better professional-clerical ratio? Do institutions spending a larger percentage of their budgets on libraries make more gen- erous provision for clerical help? W e pre- sume the answers to these questions are yes, but the validity of these assumptions re- mains to be tested. T h e application forms for the past two years also requested the approximate num- ber of student assistant hours available an- nually to the library. Nearly 97 per cent of all applicants reported some student assist- ance available, but the hours reported ranged from none to 56,000 in 1956/57 and from none to 36,299 in 1957/58. T h e high figures should be discounted, since they tend to rep- resent exceptions (major universities or large colleges). For instance, in the former year only 17 of 284 institutions (6.0 per cent) reported more than 10,000 hours, while in the latter year the figures were 20 out of 481 (4.2 per cent). T e n thousand hours of assistance works out to 277 per week for an academic year composed of 36 weeks. T h i s is not generous provision for the jobs usu- ally done by students. Further analysis of the available data might attempt to correlate the size of library staffs with enrollment, with library budgets, and with the number of volumes held. How- ever, it seems apparent that a valid assess- ment of the adequacy of a college library's staff (professional, clerical, and student) de- pends on factors which reflect institutional policy on such matters as hours of service per week, level of service, teaching function, and other concepts not covered by the fac- tual information providing the basis for this study. T h e problem of staffing the col- lege library needs thorough investigation and evaluation. R E S O U R C E S On each application blank information was requested on the size of the library in volumes. Between 75 and 80 per cent held below 100,000 volumes at the time of re- porting. T h i s figure is approximately the number of volumes in Harvard's Lamont Li- brary or in the new Undergraduate Library at the University of Michigan. T h i s state- ment, however implies a far better picture of college libraries' resources than is really the case. A much better idea of these li- braries is obtained when one uses a classi- fication that divides the institutions with less than 100,000 volumes into four cate- gories: (1) less than 25,000 volumes; (2) 25,000-49,999 volumes; (3) 50,000-74,999 vol- umes; and (4) 75,000-99,999 volumes. Be- tween 10 and 20 per cent of the libraries had less than 25,000 at the time of reporting; be- tween 30 and 44 per cent had between 25,000 and 49,999; between 13 and 22 per cent had between 50,000 and 74,999; and only 6 to 15 per cent had between 75,000 and 99,999. Still another measure of resources is the number of volumes added to a collection in a year's time. Fifty-five per cent of the reports are for 2,000 volumes or less, and 75 per cent for 3,000 volumes or less. In light of the facts that about 10,000 new books are published in the United States annually it is clear that college libraries have a highly selective, or highly inadequate, acquisition policy. Determination of the quality of library resources in colleges poses problems in inter- pretation, because only inferences can be drawn from the data available. T h e fact that practically every academic discipline has been mentioned in the projects request- ing funds for library materials suggests that no common pattern of weakness exists. (There is no need to belabor the recent concern for the sciences.) On the whole, a review of the applications leaves the impres- sion that the quality of library resources placed at the disposal of students in liberal arts colleges leaves a great deal to be de- sired. Statistics of total holdings inevitably reflect older materials probably not needed in a program of instruction for undergradu- ates. T h e rising price of books has prob- ably put the college library even further behind in its attempts to maintain a current and up-to-date collection. One aspect of resources deserves special mention: reference materials. A sampling of applications shows a great need not only for acquiring specific titles but also for add- ing works in specific subject areas and for obtaining new publications and revisions of older ones in order to make reference collections more up-to-date. T h e librarians' ,410 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES statements make it apparent that the de- velopment and maintenance of an ade- quate reference collection is impossible with the financial limitations under which many of them operate. T h e Committee has rec- ognized this by a relatively high number of awards in this area, but the needs are far from filled. R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S After studying all the data which became available in the course of preparing this report, the writer recommends: 1. T h a t the Foundation Grants Program not only be continued but that all possible means of expanding it be considered. T h e need for further assistance is clearly indi- cated by the fact that the total amount re- quested in the years reviewed came to an estimated minimum of $755,000, or five times the total of grants made. 2. T h a t the Committee on Foundation Grants give consideration to adopting the principle that recipient institutions match the grants made to them. A number of ap- plicants already have indicated their willing- ness to do so; if such a principle were adopt- ed not only would it increase the effective- ness of available funds, but it might also make the program more attractive to poten- tial donors. 3. T h a t A C R L encourage further research in the field of college libraries. T h e r e are numerous lacunae in our knowledge; for instance, it seems to the writer that the problem of staffing college libraries is crying for a thorough study, as is the nature of the resources available in these institutions. Fur- ther studies utilizing the present data might prove useful, especially if they could be supplemented by information now lacking. As a part of the Foundation Grants Program a continuing analysis of the information on the applications submitted might be under- taken. CORRECTION—In the article by Martha S. Bell on "Special Women's Collections in United States Libraries," in the May issue of CRL, the Alice Meynell Collection was lo- cated at Boston University Library. Its cor- rect location is Boston College Library. Microcard Series Reaches Century Mark A C R L ' s M i c r o c a r d Series h a s r e a c h e d t h e c e n t u r y m a r k . N u m b e r 100 in t h e series is a c o m p i l a t i o n o f t h e a b s t r a c t s f o r n u m b e r s 1 t h r o u g h 9 9 as t h e y h a v e ap- p e a r e d in CRL, p l u s a n i n t r o d u c t i o n b y M r s . M a r g a r e t K . T o t h , e d i t o r o f t h e series, a n d a n a u t h o r a n d s u b j e c t i n d e x . T w e l v e to fifteen a d d i t i o n a l titles a r e p l a n n e d f o r t h e series d u r i n g 1959-60. S e v e n o f these a r e in t h e process o f p u b l i c a t i o n a n d five m o r e h a v e a l r e a d y b e e n a c c e p t e d by t h e series' e d i t o r i a l c o m m i t t e e . N u m b e r 100 o f t h e series is b e i n g s e n t t o all c u r r e n t s u b s c r i b e r s o f t h e series w i t h o u t c h a r g e . I t i n t r o d u c e s f o r t h e first t i m e in the series t h e use o f d o u b l e - sided cards. T h e s e cards e l i m i n a t e t h e u n d e s i r a b l e c u r l o f single-sided cards as well as d o u b l i n g t h e c a p a c i t y o f e a c h c a r d . T h e A C R L M i c r o c a r d Series was i n i t i a t e d in 1953 w i t h L a w r e n c e S. T h o m p s o n as e d i t o r . P r e s e n t m e m b e r s o f t h e e d i t o r i a l b o a r d in a d d i t i o n to M r s . T o t h a r e E . H e y s e D u m m e r , m a n a g i n g e d i t o r , F e l i x R e i c h m a n n , a n d E . J . H u m e s t o n , J r . T h e e d i t o r i a l b o a r d is r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e s e l e c t i o n o f titles i n c l u d e d i n t h e series. T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f R o c h e s t e r Press is r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n a n d distri- b u t i o n . T h e series i n c l u d e s a few i n d e p e n d e n t m o n o g r a p h s b u t consists p r i m a r i l y o f m i c r o c a r d e d i t i o n s o f m a s t e r ' s theses a n d t e r m p a p e r s f r o m l i b r a r y schools. SEPTEMBER 1959 411