College and Research Libraries


The Role of the Junior College 
Library in Connection with 
Terminal Education 

I N T R O D U C T I O N 

By Wave L. Noggle, librarian, Virginia (Minn.) Junior College Library 

and chairman of the Junior College Libraries Section, A.C.R.L. 

T h e contribution of the junior college library in helping to w i n the w a r is directly 

dependent upon that w h i c h the junior college undertakes. Perhaps the greatest w a r t i m e 

adjustment in most junior colleges has been the addition of certain terminal courses. 

T h u s , instead of papers on such a subject as " w h a t the junior college library is doing 

to help w i n the w a r , " the broader subject of terminal courses has been chosen for this 

symposium. T h i s subject, of course, covers the w o r k done w i t h all terminal courses and, 

hence, includes an important phase of library w o r k in connection w i t h helping to w i n 

the w a r . 

Each of the f o l l o w i n g papers is presented f r o m a distinct point of v i e w — t h a t of a 

library i n : I. a large public coeducational junior college, 2. a large private junior college 

for girls, and 3. a small private junior college for men. It is believed that the three view-

points as presented give a good picture of the w o r k done in junior college libraries in 

connection w i t h terminal courses. 

B y E D W I N N . H U G H E S 

Terminal Education and the Library 
at W o o d r o w Wilson Junior College 
Mr. Hughes is librarian, Woodrow 

Wilson Junior College, Chicago. 

WOODROW W I L S O N J U N I O R C O L L E G E is a large public coeducational 
junior college, one of three operated by 

the C h i c a g o Board of Education. It is 

a day school, w i t h no night or extension 

classes. T h e present enrolment is 1347. 

T h e college library is perhaps unique, in 

that it serves C h i c a g o T e a c h e r s ' C o l l e g e 

also, the latter a four-year, degree-granting 

142 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



institution, which w a s a going concern as 

C o o k C o u n t y N o r m a l School before any 

junior colleges came into being. W i l s o n 

Junior thus came into partial possession 

of an already functioning library w h e n it 

was founded in 1934. 

T h e r e seems to be a general feeling 

here that the w o r k of the junior college 

does not differ fundamentally, for a ma-

jority of students, from the first t w o years 

of any liberal arts college. T h a t it serves 

as a jumping-off place, rather than an 

end, is indicated by the fact that almost 

80 per cent of the students apply for 

transcripts, presumably to admit them else-

where, to continue their formal education. 

F o r students w h o expect to complete their 

formal education in the junior college, 

t w o types of terminal w o r k are o f f e r e d : 

a terminal general program, "primarily 

cultural and indirectly v o c a t i o n a l ; " and a 

terminal vocational program " f o r students 

w h o prefer definite occupational training." 

It is only the latter which differs markedly 

from the typical " a r t s " curriculum. 

Curricula 

T h e r e are ten curricula of this voca-

tional t y p e ; seven two-year and three one-

year. T h e two-year a r e : accounting and 

general business, merchandising, secretar-

ial, medical or dental secretaries, tech-

nicians in chemistry, technicians in 

engineering (general and d r a f t i n g ) , and 

aviation and transportation. T h e one-

year a r e : accounting and general business, 

secretarial, and technical. T h e s e one-

year curricula represent a concession to 

the w a r t i m e needs of students and the 

w o r k for which they are training. A l l the 

general surveys, w h i c h are the most dis-

tinctive feature of the municipal junior 

colleges' program, are omitted, and the 

student is not certified for advanced study 

elsewhere of course. A n o t h e r special pro-

gram is that in defense activities, for 

which all students are required to register 

for one hour's w o r k per week. T h i r t y -

three activities are offered under the gen-

eral headings: technical, business, health, 

recreational and informational, and serv-

ice. F o r a f u l l e r discussion of this pro-

gram, see the article, " D e f e n s e Activities 

at W o o d r o w W i l s o n " by Beulah Berol-

zheimer, special assistant to the dean, in 

the Junior College Journal, September 

1942. A n o t h e r effect of the w a r is seen 

in increased enrolment in certain courses, 

such as engineering d r a w i n g and materials, 

mathematics, chemistry, and physics, and 

in the establishment of new courses, such 

as navigation. A c t u a l increases in above 

courses w e r e 60, 4 1 , 49, and 77, respec-

tively, in spite of a 17 per cent decrease 

in the total college enrolment. 

W h a t changes in library service have 

been necessary as a result of these new 

activities and changes of emphasis in the 

o l d ? T h e answer is, very little, and the 

reason becomes clear after consideration 

of the whole situation. In the first place, 

the gross enrolment in the survey courses, 

including duplications, is still 72 per cent 

of the college enrolment, just as it w a s 

last year, and the decrease in English and 

social sciences is slight. T h e courses, 

then, w h i c h use the library most have 

suffered little or not at all. O n the other 

hand, the courses w h i c h have g r o w n are 

those w h i c h depend on the textbook, the 

laboratory, and the w o r k r o o m rather than 

the library. Specifically, students of bal-

listics, radio code, business machines, and 

the like, w i l l find the library distinctly 

supplementary, if, indeed, they use it at all. 

F o r the terminal general program, then, 

MARCH', 1943 143 



the library's role is not much different 

from that for the first t w o years of the 

teachers' c o l l e g e ; it is chiefly to furnish 

required readings in as adequate a number 

of copies as possible. F o r the terminal 

vocational program, the library does little 

more than furnish collateral reading for 

the occasional student w h o w a n t s to go 

beyond his text or w h o w a n t s background 

for his laboratory w o r k . O n l y in a f e w 

special cases have w e done more. F o r 

w o r k in cooperative retailing, the refer-

ence department has serviced pamphlet 

materials gathered by the instructor, keep-

ing them in the vertical file and in pamph-

let boxes and handling them much like 

other pamphlets. G u i d a n c e material, par-

ticularly that issued by the Science Re-

search Associates, has been treated in the 

same w a y , in cooperation w i t h the de-

partment of counseling. 

T h e library tries to help the faculty 

bring home to all students, terminal and 

other, the nature of the w a r , the U n i t e d 

Nations idea, and the importance of unity 

behind the w a r effort within our o w n 

country. T h i s has been done for the most 

part by purchasing increasing numbers of 

books along these lines and making avail-

able the periodicals which deal particularly 

w i t h the w a r and postwar problems. T h i s 

reading program has not developed to our 

satisfaction yet and is a challenge to the 

faculty and to the library. Perhaps stu-

dents get a better understanding of the 

spirit animating the U n i t e d Nations from 

participation in defense activities of various 

kinds than they do from reading about 

the w a r and the peace. W e hope the 

library is at least a factor in understand-

ing and unity and, therefore, in bringing 

victory and a lasting peace. 

B y B . L A M A R J O H N S O N and L O E T A J O H N S 

The Junior College Library and 
Terminal Education 

Mr. Johnson is librarian and dean of in-

struction, Stephens College, and Miss 

Johns is librarian and research associate, 

Institute for Consumer Education Library, 

Stephens College. 

THE ROLE of the junior college library in terminal education is identical w i t h 
its role in any other aspect of the educa-

tional program. In other words, the 

function of the library (in terminal edu-

cation, in preparatory education, in pro-

fessional education) is to cooperate w i t h 

teachers and students in developing and 

carrying out the most effective methods 

of using library materials as an aid to 

attaining course objectives a n d — e v e n more 

i m p o r t a n t — t h e objectives of individual 

students. M o r e specifically, as the writers 

see the problem, the library m u s t : 

144 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES