College and Research Libraries B y K A T H A R I N E M . S T O K E S Selling the College Library's Services Miss Stokes, second assistant librarian in charge of readers' service of the Pennsyl- vania State College Library, presented this paper at the Junior College Libraries Sec- tion of A.C.R.L., June 23, 1942. IT WAS GRATIFYING to find in an article in the M a r c h 5, 1942, Library Journal that a professor w a s advocating the same attitude on the part of college librarians as the librarians themselves have been cul- tivating for some time in many institu- tions of higher learning. T h e article, " T h e Instructor L o o k s to the L i b r a r y and the L i b r a r i a n " by R o b R o y M a c G r e g o r , of Southwestern C o l l e g e , pointed out that it is the librarian's job to sell the library to the faculty. A l t h o u g h the term selling is overworked and unpleasantly connota- tive, it is most appropriate for the sort of promotional activities the librarian carries on more or less informally. A n d a search of library literature reveals that many college and university librarians agree further w i t h Professor M a c G r e g o r . T h e y have concluded, as a result of all sorts of attempts to w o r k directly w i t h both students and faculty, that the faculty is the most effective link between the stu- dent and the l i b r a r y ; so the best efforts of the library must be aimed at the faculty if the greatest number of students is to be reached. T u r n i n g our best efforts upon the f a c u l t y is a subtle problem. In the first place, because many of us are not holders of the same degrees as the faculty With whom w e deal, w e canrtot tdke the same respect for granted in the academic scale—= w e w i l l have to w o r k hard to deserve that respect and w e w i l l haVe to disregard sonie academic Oversights. T h e n ; w e are nOt teachers by desigriatiori, and, to those w h o a r e , w e must necessarily be in the same position as is the single w o m a n w h o tries to tell her married friend how to bring up the baby. So w e must take an attitude which, though certainly not humble, should be unfailingly t a c t f u l . W e must be invariably ready to see the faculty point of v i e w , yet maintain our o w n w i t h con- sistency backed up by reasoning compre- hensible to those outside of the library. T h e business of selling the library to the faculty begins whenever the librarian meets his first instructor. If the instructor is preoccupied or taciturn, the librarian should hold off from any aggressive ap- proach until a more suitable moment. A n y o n e familiar w i t h academic prejudices knows h o w easily jealousies can be aroused by an incautious statement of plans for the advancement of a department or division of the college. T h o s e men w h o feel their o w n w o r k unappreciated are quick to try to t h w a r t their colleagues' proposals by w a y of maintaining their o w n small prestige. B u t these same individuals, often quite susceptible to any sympathy or tact the librarian may exercise, can be lined up as substantial supporters of the library program if they are made to understand 120 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES that the library w i l l further their o w n interests. F o r example, w h e n the instructor begins to berate the library for the lack of books in his field, he should be requested to help in building up the material by submitting lists of necessary items. In the respite given him w h i l e the instructor assembles his lists, the librarian w i l l have time to survey the field himself and w i l l be ready w i t h answers and arguments for the next encounter. If he has done a creditable job, the instructor, pleased to find someone w i t h a knowledge and interest in his w o r k , w i l l respect the limitations the librarian w i l l probably be forced to impose and w i l l feel that his needs are being met w i t h intelligence and considered effort. Knoiving Faculty Members' Interests K n o w i n g the interests of those faculty members w h o are really keeping up in their fields, w h o are publishing frequently and doing constructive teaching, w i l l keep the librarian perpetually hopping among such widely different tasks as identifying Canadian pamphlets on the methods of f r e e z i n g fish for commercial markets and searching for bibliographical notations of the many revisions of Erasmus' De Copia Verborum Ac Rerum. H e must be some- w h a t like the school teacher w h o is em- ployed to teach G e r m a n , mathematics, and physical education, w h e n all he is properly qualified to teach is French. Necessarily he must be continually studying ahead of his students so that they do not find him less informed than they are. T h e li- brarian w i l l constantly have to refresh his memory of bibliographical sources as w e l l as w a t c h for new ones to be published. T h e recently printed Union List of Microfilms and the Directory of Micro- film Sources, for instance, opened up new possibilities to some of our faculty mem- bers and their research students w h o have been needing numerous interlibrary loans and photostats, besides having to make ex- tended trips to other libraries during vaca- tion periods. Recently w e w e r e able to borrow one film noted in the Union List at a total cost of eight cents for the round trip. T h e developing uses of film must be closely watched if the research people are to receive maximum benefits f r o m avail- able resources. A l t h o u g h w e have had t w o reading machines in our library system for some four or five years, w e are still discovering people w h o do not k n o w of them in spite of w h a t w e thought w a s adequate publicity at the time of their purchase. O n e professor happened to tell us this year how inconvenient he found using certain films because he had to turn his head to a very uncomfortable angle to read. A m a z e d , w e showed him that the drum of the machine revolves to any posi- tion, making it possible for the reader to adjust his film any w a y he likes. T h i s young professor is such an independent soul that he probably never bothered to have the machine f u l l y demonstrated. T h e incident taught us that it is not enough to have the library assistants trained to show people how to use the reader; it is wise to have a sheet of in- structions on display near the machine as w e l l . Occasionally a surprising gap becomes apparent in the background knowledge w e take for granted in members of the faculty. T h e head of one of our profes- sional courses had repeatedly blocked the purchase of a certain set of indexes for the branch library in his school. W e thought MARCH', 1943 121 him quite unreasonable because of this apparently arbitrary decision. H o w e v e r , the tact of the branch librarian eventually brought him to ask to see the index under discussion. H e promptly admitted that he had some other index in mind and w a s not acquainted w i t h this one, w h i c h he recognized as excellent, a most desirable addition to the branch library, and a w o n d e r f u l tool for his o w n information as w e l l . Faculty Handbook It is because w e w a n t to keep the faculty aware of our innovations and de- velopments that w e have printed every f e w years a handbook on the use of the library for faculty members. Some dupli- cation of the student library handbook is inevitable, but in large part the approach and content w i l l be different. W e outline there the process of book selection and purchase so that the young instructor w i l l not have to complain to us that his de- partment head never gave him a chance to suggest any books to be added to the library. T h e method of having books placed on reserve is also described for the benefit of the newer faculty members w h o sometimes seem to expect reserve books to j u m p into their proper places in the re- serve book room as soon as the titles cross their minds. T h e privilege of requesting books not in our collection as interlibrary loans or in film or photostat reproduction, the special accommodations available to faculty members in carrels or studies, are emphasized. T h e same detailed descrip- tion of catalog filing practice w h i c h w e use in the annual student handbook is included for the faculty. If w e find many cases like that of the professor just men- tioned, w e may reconsider our decision that the indexes noted for the students w e r e already so familiar to the faculty that they might be omitted f r o m their handbook. Each year w e have a revised edition of the student handbook ready for the in- coming freshmen. W e regard it as a real link to instruction. T o date it has been given out during Orientation W e e k while the freshmen are being conducted through the library. T h i s year, w i t h our speeded- up program, Orientation W e e k has had to be omitted. Freshmen are given a library problem, as they have been in other years, to be turned in to their E n g - lish composition instructors; the handbooks are distributed at the same time. T h e problems are graded by the library staff and returned to the instructors w h o average the grade w i t h the student's English marks. T h i s is, however, only the beginning of our cooperation w i t h the faculty in acquainting students w i t h the library. A number of instructors come to us later in the year and arrange to have small classes given further instruction in the reference room or at the card catalog during a class period, at some time in their courses w h e n the students are capable of realizing the importance of the library to their college w o r k . O t h e r instructors ask the reference department to suggest a f e w basic reference tools w h i c h they may de- scribe to their students in class, especially before term papers w i t h accompanying bibliographies are due. O n e such set of term papers f r o m a class in English com- position w a s checked by a reference li- brarian to see w h a t the students were learning about the library f r o m the pro- fessor's lectures. Information which seemed lacking in the m a j o r i t y of cases was stressed to the professor so that he 122 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES could clear up those points later in going over the papers w i t h his class. Reserve Book Room Since many undergraduates have their first independent library experience in the reserve book room, the administration of this service provides one of the most tangible ties to the teaching program. Either an inactive or an overburdened reserve book room can easily upset faculty and student library relationships. Some faculty members, not understanding the potentialities of a reserve collection, make inadequate use of it, creating the basis for unsatisfactory library service. W e try to become acquainted w i t h the needs of the individual problem professor to the point where w e can suggest changes in his re- serve requirements which w i l l improve our service to his classes. In courses w h e r e long lists are used for collateral reading, the advisability of open-shelf collections is emphasized. W h e r e one or t w o books are required reading for hundreds of students in a survey course, w e have successfully used, to determine the number of copies necessary, the formula published in the Library Quarterly for J u l y 1934 which w a s w o r k e d out by M a r g i e M . H e l m , l i b r a r i a n of W e s t e r n K e n t u c k y State T e a c h e r s College. A n analysis of reading time required for assignments allows for flexibility in charge limits. G i v i n g the early readers three- or seven-day charges and, in the last week or t w o before the assignment is due, limiting the late comers to two-hour or overnight use serves to reward the student w h o plans his w o r k and keeps the books in constant use rather than overtaxed under last-minute pressure. A l t h o u g h the freshman orientation pro- gram has been our most direct contact w i t h the entire student body, w e have tried many other w a y s of reaching smaller groups, especially w i t h regard to recrea- tional or background reading. Some ten years ago W i l l a r d P . L e w i s , college li- brarian, began to issue a bulletin of book reviews and library news called The Headlight on Books at Penn State. It has become the policy of this publication to include in almost each one of its four annual numbers, under the heading, " T h e Inner W o r k i n g s , " a brief account of some phase of the w o r k of the library. W e hope that these articles help to c l a r i f y for our users certain of our practices and make them realize that w e do not fit that popu- lar concept of a librarian as a person w h o has lots of time to read during w o r k i n g hours. T h e book reviews in the Head- light are w r i t t e n by staff members, faculty, or students at the request of the editor, w h o tries to discover people interested in particular books or subjects and able to w r i t e readable reviews. M o s t of those asked to contribute accept w i t h en- thusiasm. F a c u l t y wives also read the bulletin and seem pleased to have an opportunity to w r i t e for it themselves occasionally. Fraternity and Dormitory Libraries In 1933 M r . L e w i s compiled the Fra- ternity Five-Foot Shelf, a list of books recommended for purchase by fraternities interested in building up house libraries. T h e library offered, at the time of the distribution of the list, to order any books a house wished to buy, giving the frater- nity the benefit of our rather generous discounts. T h i s offer w a s accepted by a roughly estimated 20 per cent of the fra- ternities during those first years, but interest has waned since new fraternity MARCH', 1943 123 members have come in and depression conditions have affected purchasing power. W e started to experiment in 1935 w i t h dormitory libraries for men and women. T h e men's dormitories were all in one unit, so the collection of about f i f t y books selected for the men w a s set up in a room centrally located, w h i c h could be kept open by a student library assistant one hour each evening and locked up at other times. T h e women's dormitories had to be served by five different collections of twenty-five books apiece. Because w e could not afford to have five student assistants to take care of them, they w e r e simply placed in bookcases in accessible lobbies to be used any time the girls liked. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , w e found that w e had to take heavy losses in books f r o m the girls' buildings, w h i l e the boys' books stayed safely under our assistant's control. G r a d u a l l y w e w o n the active support of the hostesses of the girls' dormitories and placed the collections in their offices, though the hostesses were not expected to be responsible for the whereabouts of the books. T h e collections are selected w i t h the students' tastes and recommendations in mind and are shifted by student as- sistants under the library's supervision so that fresh titles are frequently brought to each house. A l t h o u g h most of the books are recreational, t w o girls' dormitories last year requested encyclopedias. Rules for underclass w o m e n make it hard for them to get their library w o r k completed be- fore they must report to their buildings for the night. W e had one set of the latest edition of the Britannica, lacking three volumes, and an old edition of the Americana, w h i c h w e r e idle in our stacks. T h e representatives of the dormitories w e r e asked to tea w i t h the staff one after- noon, shown the available sets, and asked if they w o u l d be satisfactory as a trial measure. T h e girls seemed delighted at our immediate response and gladly agreed to see if real use w o u l d be made of such books. Circulation of the dormitory col- lections has never quite pleased us, though it has been increasing in the last t w o years. A recent study of the boys' titles shows that copies of the same book circulated three times f r o m the central library to one time from the dormitory. T h e girls' titles circulated approximately the same number of times f r o m both places. W h i l e these figures make the collections appear a l u x u r y service to a specially privileged part of the student body, w e are not yet ready to abandon the experiment, because the students so served are invariably en- thusiastic w h e n w e talk w i t h them about continuing the collections. Student Library Committee T w o years ago the librarian requested the president of the student body to appoint a committee of students to repre- sent the different classes and schools on the campus as a Student L i b r a r y C o m - mittee. T h e committee numbers seven members, usually four men and three women, each member being replaced upon his graduation by someone f r o m the sophomore class of the same school. T h e committee decides upon its chairman and secretary and meets w i t h the librarian or his representative at irregular intervals, depending upon w h a t matters are under discussion. O n e project w h i c h g r e w out of this committee's suggestions and efforts is the collection and organization of a file of past examinations given in college courses. Such exam files w e r e maintained in many of the fraternity houses, but the file now housed in the reference room of the library is available to all the non- 124 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES fraternity students as w e l l . It drew great flocks of students, many of them not our regular users, to the reference room around examination periods and seemed to give them the feeling that the library is a friend, anxious to help them pass their courses creditably. In the winter of 1941-42 the student committee made a survey of student opinion of the library w h i c h had surpris- ing results from the viewpoint of the librarians, though such results f r o m ran- dom sampling can be considered only as an indication. A sampling of 5 per cent of the student body w a s interviewed by the committee members by telephone. T h e individual students contacted w e r e those whose names appeared in the twentieth, fortieth, etc., positions in the student directory. O n e of five answers was possible under each of the four ques- tions asked. T h e first question w a s : " H o w often do you use the college li- b r a r y ? " A l m o s t half of the students answered, " O c c a s i o n a l l y , " w i t h just 3 per cent replying, " N e v e r . " U n d e r the question, " T o w h a t extent does the li- brary meet your personal needs?" 59.5 per cent replied that it w a s always ade- quate, w h i l e no one said, " N e v e r . " O n e of the most g r a t i f y i n g responses came under the third question, " T o w h a t degree do you think the library staff cooperates w i t h the student b o d y ? " Ninety-one and nine tenths per cent said, " A l w a y s very h e l p f u l , " w h i l e no one checked under either " S e l d o m " or " N e v e r . " F i n a l l y , " D o you have trouble finding the books you need ?" w a s answered, " N e v e r , " by 46.6 per cent. T w o and t w o tenths per cent said " A l - w a y s , " w h i l e the rest ranged between. Both the committee and the library had hoped that student dissatisfaction aired through the survey might give us an op- portunity to consider means of correcting the faults which caused annoyance. In a f e w instances the students volunteered un- favorable information not called for directly in the survey, but the complaints were the usual ones: not enough best sellers, all the good technical books in the branch libraries instead of at central. T h e students have as yet failed to point out to us any inefficiencies or faults in policy of which w e were not quite conscious ourselves. B u t meeting their individual criticisms w i t h honest explanations of the difficulties w e are trying to overcome has resulted in increasingly pleasant relations between us. So far only our attempts to sell the library to the faculty and students during our w o r k i n g hours have been mentioned. T h e extracurricular efforts w e may make are almost equally important. W e believe that a librarian w h o is just a bookworm or a retiring scholar has a limited value. T h e individual w h o is interested in many things besides books finds himself d r a w n quickly into various faculty and student activities. A n d , particularly w h e n he is new in the college community, he is wise to be a bit undiscriminating about w h a t he does—if he can bear to dance, play bridge, go to football games, student teas, or M a y D a y festivals, his more weighty interests may go briefly on the shelf and he w i l l drag himself out, even w h e n he's had a hard day or it's a rainy night. A f t e r some months of these often weari- some efforts to indicate that he w a n t s to take a part in the campus life, he can begin to refuse overtures here and there and let himself become identified w i t h those groups most to his taste. B u t he w i l l have learned, during his sampling period, much that w i l l be useful in any adminis- trative w o r k he may do and w i l l have MARCH', 1943 125 made friends and supporters in corners of the campus often remote f r o m the library. T h e younger members of the library staff are encouraged to take courses in the college if they have such inclinations. A n acquaintance w i t h the prevailing methods of teaching is useful to the service de- partments of the library as w e l l as to the catalogers and order librarians. I t is easier for the librarians to understand the student viewpoint if they occasionally place themselves in the position of the student. M a n y of the points that have been made are so familiar that it must seem unnecessary to repeat them. Y e t these f e w experiences of o u r s — o n l y the more unusual ones have been selected, of c o u r s e — m a y perhaps serve as reminders of some plan that w a s evolving but had to be put off until circumstances w e r e more propitious. W e often say that the library is the heart of the college, but if that heart is allowed to run down or become hardened by lack of constant in- telligent care for its continued health, w e may look about us someday to find that a restaurant in the village or the office of the college daily paper has taken the place w e should claim in the campus affections. W e w i l l do w e l l to cultivate the attitude of the gracious hostess w h o keeps her guests comfortable and amused but never lets herself become overtired and sour w i t h the great strain upon her o w n energies. O r perhaps w e should emulate the good salesman w h o believes so thoroughly in his product that his en- thusiasm never flags w h i l e there remains a single person to w h o m he may intro- duce it. In her article in the M a r c h 1942 issue of the Journal of Higher Education, " O v e r c o m i n g L i b r a r y I l l i t e r a c y , " M r s . L o r e n e G a r l o c h Byers, reference librarian of the U n i v e r s i t y of Pittsburgh L i b r a r y , concludes quite logically, " I f the college students of today can be trained in the use of the library, the professors of the f u t u r e w i l l use the library w i t h greater ease and frequency and education w i l l ultimately reach a higher level, w i t h the library functioning as the center of the instructional p r o g r a m . " B u t w o r k di- rectly w i t h today's students, desirable though it undoubtedly is and certainly de- serving of our repeated efforts, does not approach the continuity of w h a t w e can accomplish w i t h the f a c u l t y . O u r girls' dormitories may have this year students w h o are interested in encyclopedias for their house collection. W h e n these stu- dents have been graduated, the group liv- ing in the dormitory may be so indifferent to those encyclopedias that w e are guilty of cluttering the hostesses' offices unneces- sarily by leaving them there unused. O u r boys' dormitories have been converted this f a l l into housing for girls, because of w a r conditions, so their collection of books chosen for male tastes has hgid to be re- placed w i t h titles appealing to girls. T h e examination file so c a r e f u l l y built up in our reference department by the Student L i b r a r y Committee is already in a decline a f t e r its one year of great usefulness, be- cause the elimination of exam w e e k f r o m the speeded-up program has caused the finals in most courses to be changed to fit into a class period. T h e Student L i b r a r y Committee members have been so busy these last shortened semesters that the usual quota of their meetings has had to be cut to the very minimum, lessening the committee's usefulness considerably. O n the faculty side, however, the 126 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES things w e have done are maintaining their importance: the professors w h o helped us build up the collections in poetry and anthropology are keeping their students constantly using those books. A l t h o u g h Freshman Orientation W e e k may be lost for some years, those instructors w h o have always carried library instruction further into their class periods are continuing to ask the library for help and cooperation in their programs and are reaching large groups of students w h o may pay little attention to our handbooks and problems. T h e research men w h o m w e have helped w i t h interlibrary loans are becoming bet- ter scholars w i t h greater depths of k n o w l - edge to bring to the students w o r k i n g under them. T h e professor w h o learned about a basic index is certainly calling that index to the attention of his staff members, many of w h o m w e r e probably as unacquainted as he w a s w i t h the immense body of material that the index could make easily available to them. T h e con- tacts w e have made w i t h students at teas and receptions may result in one to four years of pleasant relations, but the faculty members w e have come to know w e l l dur- ing years of sociability may be valuable supporters of the library's next budget increase campaign which is for the pur- pose of improving services to the student body as w e l l as to the faculty. M r s . Byers' statement, then, should cer- tainly influence our long-time planning, but T h e o d o r e N o r t o n , librarian of L a f a y - ette College L i b r a r y , in School and So- ciety in 1936, under the title " T h e C o l l e g e L i b r a r y and C o l l e g e T e a c h i n g , " has given us a sound recipe for immediate dividends from our efforts: " G u a r a n t e e to the under- graduate good teachers and the good teach- ers w i l l see that the undergraduates make effective use of the book collection." College and University Library News, 1941-42 (Continued from page 114) were those of Peyton H u r t of W i l l i a m s 2 3 0 and Sabra W . V o u g h t , one time of T e n - nessee and later of Pennsylvania State.2 3 3 Charles H . B r o w n delivered the A . L . A . presidential gavel to Keyes D . M e t c a l f . 2 3 7 F a n n y E . L o w e s w a s given the degree of D o c t o r of Literature at W a s h i n g t o n and Jefferson.2 3 0 Several university librarians, representative of those active, retired, and 238 L.J. 67:323. 237 A.L.A. Bull. 36:P-37-38. deceased, were honored in print. T h e w o r k of H e r b e r t S. Hirshberg was re- counted in the Bulletin of Bibliography;238 a number of the Library Quarterly w a s dedicated to Louis Round W i l s o n ; 2 3 9 and College and Research Libraries carried brief articles on T h e o d o r e W e s l e y Koch 2 4 0 and Justin W i n s o r . 2 4 1 238 Bull, of Bib. 17:105-07. 239 L.Q. 12:339-773. 240 C.&R.L. 3:67-70. 241 Ibid. 3:64-66. MARCH', 1943 127