College and Research Libraries


B y R O B E R T B . D O W N S 

Conference of Eastern College 
Libraries, 1940 
Robert Bingham Downs is director of li-

braries at New York University. 

' " " P H E A T T E N D A N C E a t t h e t w e n t y - e i g h t h 

-1- annual C o n f e r e n c e of Eastern C o l -

lege Librarians, meeting at C o l u m b i a 

University on N o v e m b e r 23, w a s the 

largest on record. A p p r o x i m a t e l y 500 

college and university librarians were 

present, chiefly f r o m the M i d d l e A t l a n t i c 

and N e w E n g l a n d states. 

T h e morning session w a s devoted to 

subjects primarily of interest to college 

librarians: annual book lists, setting up 

standards for college library functions, 

rare books in the college, and college li-

brary building plans. 

In his paper on " S t a n d a r d s for Survey-

ing L i b r a r y Functions in the C o l l e g e Pro-

g r a m " Peyton H u r t , librarian of W i l l i a m s 

College, indicated the chief problem in 

evaluating a library is to k n o w w h a t to 

survey and how much w e i g h t to give each 

factor in measuring the library's efficiency. 

Some essential factors are intangible and 

difficult or impossible to measure. F u r -

thermore, every library should be given 

individual appraisal on the basis of the 

aims of the college which it serves. T h e 

first step in the surveying process is to 

define the place of the college library in 

the college program. T h i s includes such 

points as the extent and nature of the 

book collection, the library building's suit-

ability for its functions, ability of the staff, 

effectiveness of the library organization, 

and the attitude of the president, faculty, 

and students towards the library. D r . 

H u r t emphasized that certain objective 

principles should be established by which 

standards for library functions could be 

set up. T h e s e principles w o u l d comprise 

the nature of the college program, the 

financial limitations of the college, the 

policies of the president and faculty, teach-

ing methods employed, amount of inde-

pendent study and reading done, the 

extent and nature of faculty research, the 

influence of the library on the college pro-

gram, and activities of the library outside 

its required functions. 

M a n y college librarians have expressed 

a need for up-to-date standard book-buy-

ing lists and have urged the publication 

of such guides, perhaps on an annual basis. 

Charles B . S h a w , librarian of Swarthmore 

C o l l e g e and editor of A List of Books for 

College Libraries, presented some of the 

problems connected w i t h more frequent 

supplements. T o make up arrears, M r . 

S h a w suggested issuing a three-year vol-

ume for 1 9 3 9 - 1 9 4 1 . T h e r e w o u l d then 

be t w o possibilities: a series of annual 

volumes, beginning w i t h 1942, or a quar-

terly list, the latter as a separate pamphlet 

or as a section of College and Research 

Libraries. Since specialized book reviews 

are not ordinarily available for a year or 

more a f t e r a book has been published, 

either timeliness or authoritativeness must 

190 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



be sacrificed in the preparation of these 

lists. A possible combination w o u l d be 

promptly published quarterly lists, fol-

lowed by more carefully selected five-year 

supplements, the latter dropping titles 

which had proven of ephemeral value. 

T h e vote of those attending the confer-

ence favored authoritative rather than 

timely lists. 

Rare Books in a College Library 

T h e place of rare books in a college 

library has been widely debated. L u c y E . 

Osborne, custodian of the C h a p i n L i b r a r y , 

W i l l i a m s College, told of the extensive 

uses made of that great collection of rare 

books. T h e uses are of three types: ex-

hibits, class w o r k , and individual reference 

and research. Seven exhibitions are put 

on annually, including those of a com-

memorative nature, materials to illustrate 

courses, and subjects of general interest. 

A s for class use, some instructors, par-

ticularly in fine arts and English, hold 

regular planned meetings in the Chapin 

L i b r a r y to bring the students in direct 

contact w i t h first editions, incunabula, and 

other valuable materials. M i s s Osborne 

strongly recommended that any college 

w i t h rare books, even if it possessed only 

a f e w examples, make f u l l use of them for 

exhibition and instructional purposes. 

T h e new library building at Skidmore 

C o l l e g e was described by its architect, 

Louis Jallade. D u e to limited funds, the 

planners of the building had to decide 

whether to erect a small complete struc-

ture, which w o u l d soon be o u t g r o w n , or 

to construct one section of a larger, more 

adequate building capable of considerable 

expansion and flexibility. T h e second 

plan w a s adopted. T h e stack only w a s 

built, a portion of it cut off for temporary 

use for reading rooms, offices, and other 

purposes. F u t u r e additions to the build-

ing can be made w i t h no fundamental 

alterations in the present structure. A 

modern feature is fluorescent lighting, 

adopted for the entire building at an in-

stallation cost more than double that of 

incandescent lighting, but w i t h an annual 

saving of one half in power cost. 

Library Cooperation and Plan?iing 

A t the beginning of the afternoon ses-

sion Ernest J . Reece, of the C o l u m b i a 

School of L i b r a r y Service, read by title 

his yearly report on " C o l l e g e and U n i v e r -

sity L i b r a r y N e w s , " to be published 

shortly in the Library Journal. T h e 

afternoon's discussion was given over 

w h o l l y to problems of library cooperation 

and planning. Conyers Read, executive 

secretary of the A m e r i c a n Historical 

Association and chairman of the Biblio-

grapical P l a n n i n g Committee f o r the 

Philadelphia M e t r o p o l i t a n A r e a , reviewed 

that committee's activities and f u t u r e aims. 

Studies have been made of the community 

and its book needs, not merely in rela-

tion to scholars, teachers, and students, but 

professional workers, groups w i t h l o w cul-

tural backgrounds, suburbanites, and oth-

ers. T h e Philadelphia U n i o n C a t a l o g , 

covering 150 libraries, is regarded as only 

a first step. It is being followed by sur-

veys of resources in the numerous educa-

tional, public, and special libraries of the 

city to make these facilities more w i d e l y 

useful. O t h e r problems of cooperation 

are likewise receiving attention, among 

them cooperative cataloging, development 

of special libraries, building up a biblio-

graphical center, and a regional storehouse 

for little-used books. 

Julian P . Boyd, librarian of Princeton 

University, presented a proposal, which 

had g r o w n out of a recent meeting of 

MARCH, 1941 191 



eastern university librarians, for organiz-

ing a special division in the L i b r a r y of 

Congress to act as a clearing house and 

advisory agency for all cooperative library 

undertakings. Such a department might 

assist in such matters as regional catalogs, 

surveys of resources, divisions of collecting 

interests, and cooperative storehouses. 

In reply, A r c h i b a l d M a c L e i s h , L i b r a r -

ian of Congress, expressed the willingness 

of the L i b r a r y of Congress to assist in 

this program, if it is requested by the 

librarians of the country. M r . M a c L e i s h 

stressed the fact, however, that the L i -

brary of Congress must have added sup-

port for any n e w ventures, and that the 

library is decidedly short on top adminis-

trative officers. O n motion of H a r r y 

M i l l e r L y d e n b e r g , the conference voted 

to approve M r . Boyd's proposal and to 

support it in any practical fashion. 

Colorado University's Divisional Reading Room Plan 
(Continued from page 109) 

ing in one divisional area. T h u s far, no 

one on the campus has complained that 

too much service of a high quality is given. 

It is true that f u l l professional service 

is not provided fourteen hours a day, but 

w e take the position that eight hours of 

highly specialized service is better than 

fourteen hours of average service. W e 

are discovering that the graduate student 

assistants w h o have w o r k e d several years 

in the library can handle in a reasonably 

competent manner the elementary refer-

ence questions in their subject fields. 

F i f t h , w h a t about the problem of disci-

pline in the reading rooms w h i c h are 

broken into small units? Perhaps college 

students in this area are more mature than 

is the case elsewhere, but w e doubt it. 

F r o m the first day the new building 

opened, students have acted as w e had 

assumed they w o u l d . N o one has to take 

books to get his assignments done; there-

fore, f e w books are lost. T h e reading 

rooms are quiet. In other words, provide 

a scholarly atmosphere and students w i l l 

act accordingly. 

Sixth, w h a t has been the result of break-

ing up the periodical collection and placing 

the specialized journals w i t h the rest of 

the subject literature for each field? In 

general, readers find that this plan saves 

them time, because of the ease w i t h w h i c h 

they can go f r o m the books to the journals. 

A f e w people, however, miss the general 

periodical room w h e n they read current 

issues in several fields. Unless the fields 

are related, such readers have to go to t w o 

or three rooms. 

T h r e e other questions w i l l be discussed 

at a later t i m e : ( 1 ) the advantages and 

disadvantages of the Science-Divisional 

R e a d i n g Room versus separate depart-

mental libraries; ( 2 ) the effect of this 

plan on the w o r k of the general reference 

l i b r a r i a n ; ( 3 ) the advantages and disad-

vantages of a separate documents librarian. 

S u m m a r y : this discussion has attempted 

to describe the divisional-library program 

of the University of C o l o r a d o L i b r a r y 

w i t h a tentative and partial evaluation of 

some aspects of the program. F u r t h e r 

aspects w i l l be discussed in the f u t u r e . 

192 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES