College and Research Libraries Book Reviews Teaching with Books, a Study of College Libraries. H a r v i e B r a n s c o m b . A s s o - ciation of A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e s , A m e r i - can L i b r a r y Association, 1 9 4 0 . 2 5 8 p . $2.50. " T H E THESIS running through this vol- ume has been that the primary task of the college library is to provide certain facilities for and to aid in carrying out the instruc- tional program of the faculty. Other func- tions such as the provision of reading mate- rials along noncurricular lines and even of books f o r faculty research, though desirable and important, are secondary to this main task. Y e t f o r reasons which have been dis- cussed, the program of the library and that of the faculty have not been a unit. T h e r e has been lacking a sense of common purpose and, consequently, attention to the problem of the most effective coordination of effort." T h e real thesis is stated in the last rather than in the first part of the above quotation. F o r librarians, the pro- vocative section of the book is in the " r e a - sons w h i c h have been discussed." A n d the constructive contributions to the subject are the suggestions in C h a p t e r X I , " B r i d g - ing the G a p . " I n the provocative part, librarians must reconcile themselves to the book's limita- tion of scope to the college l i b r a r y ' s " p r i - m a r y t a s k " and also to h a v i n g some of the other " s e c o n d a r y " functions made the scapegoats f o r the l i b r a r y ' s f a i l u r e s in this task. W h e n the author says " t h e question must be raised w h e t h e r w e need these l a r g e l i b r a r i e s , " he ought, in fairness, to add " f o r the libraries' p r i m a r y t a s k . " E v e n so, the question w o u l d be provoca- tive enough. M a n y sins are laid to the " r a r e book t r a d i t i o n " and the " i n f l u e n c e of the g r e a t research l i b r a r i e s . " L a r g e l y because of these, " i n the developments of the last 2 5 years more emphasis has been placed on the acquisition and preservation of l i b r a r y materials than upon their u s e , " collections of fourteen university libraries h a v i n g increased 2 8 1 . 9 per cent d u r i n g this period. Y e t f o r five of these libraries, w h e r e consistent circulation figures f o r 2 3 years w e r e available, the combined re- corded circulation in 1 9 3 6 - 3 7 w a s more than 5 times w h a t it w a s in 1 9 1 4 - 1 5 ! T h i s is w a s t i n g too m a n y w o r d s , h o w - ever, on questions of scope and perspective, w h i c h are, a f t e r all, irrelevant, since the choice in these matters is the author's pre- rogative. I t is true that too f e w under- graduates read outside their textbooks and that m a n y of these f e w read too little. Reasons f o r this are w e l l w o r t h discussing and the author gives due attention to librarians' efforts to improve the situa- tion, though he does not a l w a y s seem to interpret correctly the philosophy that lies behind them. T h e chapter entitled " M a k i n g Books A c c e s s i b l e " seems at first to set up a s t r a w man in debating " t h e open shelf versus the closed shelf f o r m of book a d m i n i s t r a t i o n " or does the author k n o w of a college li- b r a r y w i t h all closed shelves, a college l i b r a r y in w h i c h there is not at least some compromise between open and closed? I f there is such a college l i b r a r y , his only injustice to it is in ignoring the subject c a t a l o g ( w h i c h is discussed later as one of the things that cost us too m u c h ) , f o r this, equally w i t h the author catalog, de- serves some notice as a guide to the stu- dents' " v a g u e and tentative g r o p i n g s " ( w h e t h e r the stack be closed or open) 2 278 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES and, not infrequently, is of more use to the student than looking on the shelves for books that are not there but in circula- tion. I t may be that college presidents need to be convinced of the advantages of direct access to books in g e n e r a l ; li- brarians do not. B u t that all students should have direct and unrestricted access to all books, if that is w h a t D r . Branscomb believes, w i l l need more arguing to con- vince librarians in colleges of, say, more than i o o o students. I t is not clear how f a r D r . Branscomb thinks the open access stack should go in including all the library books. H e seems to f a v o r " f o r introductory study, small open shelf libraries" (are the G e r m a n "seminar libraries" really s u c h ? ) ; he dis- cusses w i t h some sympathy the university's college library of about 1 5 , 0 0 0 volumes and "house libraries" of about 1 0 , 0 0 0 vol- umes. H e does not object to browsing rooms as such, but questions " w h e t h e r they do not apply the best resources of the library to w h a t is a useful but never- theless a definitely secondary function . . . recreation and noncurricular r e a d i n g " and, secondly, " w h e t h e r the browsing room w o r k s . " ( T h e browsing room is, accord- ing to the reviewer's observation, so vari- able in quality, quantity, and administra- tion as to call for more than the some- w h a t casual mass treatment given it here.) T h e author looks w i t h some degree of commendation on open-shelf reserves w i t h , only if necessary, closed reserves of a minimum list of "indispensable readings." A n d at this point the reviewer w o u l d like to record his individual gratitude to D r . Branscomb for the help his book has given to one college's efforts toward moving closed reserves to open-shelf reserves, changing or reducing open-shelf reserves to "suggestion shelves," supplemented by more, bigger, and better reading lists. A l s o ( c f . p p . i 6 3 f f ) more of the " i n dispensable readings" should be available in the student's private library and in rental collections. T h e familiar case of "centralization versus departmentalization" is f a i r l y stated and note made of the trend t o w a r d divi- sional instead of departmental layouts, where complete centralization and com- plete open access are impossible. T h e ad- vantages of the divisional plan per se are not discussed. A l s o , in the w a y of special library service, the author looks w i t h some tolerance on such matters as the tem- porary classroom library or the office col- lection. In " B o o k s in H a l l s of Residence," D r . Branscomb sees not only the desirability of having books available to the student wherever he is but for a moment sees " t h e exciting possibility . . . that perhaps this may be the answer to the great problem of the noise, confusion and congestion," and he w o u l d place books of assigned reading here. H o w e v e r , he pretty w e l l disillusions himself later on, except in the case of large universities where dormi- tories, "houses," or colleges each house nearly as many students as a small college. B u t the disillusionment goes too f a r when he says (p. 1 6 0 ) , " I f there are inherent difficulties in placing the most used books in residential libraries, it w o u l d seem that the plan of a single college library . . . to handle undergraduate reading may ap- pear in the long run to be the wiser solu- tion." A f t e r all, the librarian's ( a n d D r . Branscomb's) assumption is that the stu- dent's reading should be increased in quantity and extended in range. F r e e access to all the books in the library is one w a y (though only one w a y ) of doing JUNE, 1940 28.7 this. I t probably is the best w a y in the case of such students as come to college w i t h the curiosity, initiative, and energy to read, study, and hunt out material on their own, as also for students w h o achieve these intellectual traits in the course of their college w o r k — e . g . , in honors courses. A n d w h o w o u l d be rash enough to say that any of our college or university libraries is too big for such students ? D r . Branscomb does n o t ; he quotes various opinions but concludes against any arbitrary limit. A c c o r d i n g l y , w h e n a library g r o w s be- yond the reading-room-and-wall-shelves or the alcove type of building, it does not make sense to say that it becomes a worse library just by reason of its size. A n d w h e n the stack comes to outbulk the read- ing room collections, it does not make sense to move the whole student body from reading room to stack. T h e difficulties of administration, which D r . Branscomb notes, are not the only objections to a wide-open-access stack, nor the best ob- jections. T h e ineffective library is the little used one, regardless of size or ease of access to books (the least used library in the reviewer's experience, as it happens, w a s a combination of alcove-plan and open-access s t a c k ) . T h e failure of the library to be used is essentially due, not to any oversize, but to lack of the kinds of books w a n t e d , w h a t e v e r the gross li- brary holdings may be, the lack of desire or the compulsion (too often requisite) of the student to read. T h e philosophy that lies behind the browsing room, suggestion shelves, or reading collections in residence halls is not a guilty conscience due to closed stack, but the desire to give the public w h a t it wants, that is, to supply books that the student w a n t s to read and to make them attractive, comfortable, and convenient. T h e philosophy back of the reserved book collection and, to a certain extent, the "single college l i b r a r y " is com- pulsion, leading the horse to w a t e r and making him drink at the fount of " m o s t - used books." S u r e l y the browsing collec- tion and the suggestion shelves are more likely than the stack to lead the " t e n t a - tive and g r o p i n g " student to a w i d e r range of reading interest. A s he attains this, he w i l l be stimulated and not con- fused by the number of books in any given class in the stack and w i l l make intelligent use of the key to the city or anything else w e can give him, and surely he w i l l make better progress if the, at best, limited space in the stack is not cluttered up w i t h five thousand or even five hundred of the tentative and groping. T h e reviewer has the uncomfortable feeling that by commenting on some of the more provocative statements in the book he may have given the prospective reader a w r o n g perspective. Perhaps the chief value of the book is that it attempts to present, not a recommended standard practice applicable to all college libraries, but a variety of suggested, observed, and experienced solutions for problems com- mon to all. T h a t it does not champion more vigorously the reviewer's favorite theory of solution and says kind w o r d s about solutions less acceptable to the re- v i e w e r may also be a merit. T h e chapter on " W h a t Books Should the L i b r a r y B u y ? " is a little disappointing in that its serially numbered recommenda- tions are chiefly on w h a t not to buy. B u t this is quite proper ( " n o list can be pre- pared which should be blindly followed by all institutions") and the recommenda- tions on procedure in the use of standard lists, and in allotment of funds, are in general sound and useful. T h e mistake is the chapter heading. 2 280 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES T h e r e is more excuse for disappointment in Chapter X I I , " T h e Costs of L i b r a r y Service," not in the information it assem- bles on the relative sizes of college library budgets and on possible economies in cat- aloging processes, but in its omission of any discussion of the costs of service to readers, of the expenses of open-access stacks, of the cost of a library staff " k n o w - ing more about the w o r k carried on in the several departments"—i.e., the cost of carrying out D r . Branscomb's most im- portant suggestions. Finally, " B r i d g i n g the G a p " (Chapter X I ) might well have been made the con- cluding chapter. T h e library staff at present cannot even "lead the horse to w a t e r , " but this book suggests certain changes by which they may work with the instructors in this and may better justify the instructors' efforts. Suggestions include, for example, modifications in emphasis in the program of many libraries, greater faculty concern for student read- ing and other library matters, changing the status of the librarian, and reworking the library program with greater knowl- edge about the work carried on in the several departments of instruction both in general and in individual courses. T h e application of such general changes might, the author suggests, result in specific changes such as: more intelligent judg- ment on the number of duplicates required for various titles, modification of circula- tion rules which would adjust these more exactly to the reading demands of the course, preparing supplementary bibliog- raphies, small exhibits on special topics, more adequate assistance in connection with themes and special assignments, ex- ploiting the reference librarian for refer- ence work instead of for information about the mere locations of things, certain developments in which the instructor is moved into the library, location in the library of more classes other than seminars, simplification of instruction by the li- brarian in bibliography, and the use of the library and more such instruction in connection with departmental courses. In all this, D r . Branscomb has given us good leads.—Henry B. Van Hoesen, Brown University, Providence. The Medieval Library. J a m e s W e s t f a l l Thompson. University of Chicago Press, 1 9 3 9 . 6 8 2 p . $ 5 . (University of Chicago Studies in L i b r a r y Science.) T H I S monumental contribution to the history of intellectual development has been produced by Professor Thompson, now at the University of California, for- merly professor of medieval history at the University of Chicago and lecturer on the history of libraries in its graduate library school. In the production of this noteworthy work the author has been assisted by sev- eral of his present and former students at the universities of Chicago and C a l i - fornia, Ramona Bressie writing the chap- ter on " L i b r a r i e s of the British Isles in the Anglo-Saxon P e r i o d ; " S. K . Padover, the chapters on " B y z a n t i n e Libraries," " J e w i s h Libraries," " M u s l i m Libraries," and " G e r m a n Libraries in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth C e n t u r i e s ; " the late Isa- bella Stone, " L i b r a r i e s of the Greek M o n - asteries in Southern I t a l y ; " Geneva Drinkwater, " F r e n c h Libraries in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth C e n t u r i e s ; " Claude H . Christensen, "Scandinavian L i - braries in the L a t e M i d d l e A g e s ; " Doro- thy Robathan, " L i b r a r i e s of the Italian Renaissance;" and Florence E d l e r de Roover, " T h e Scriptorium." T h e subject matter is treated by periods: JUNE, mo 281