College and Research Libraries By C A R L M . W H I T E A Turn in the Course of the University Library1 Dr. White is director of libraries and dean of the School of Library Service, Co- lumbia University. A STREAM does not f o l l o w a s t r a i g h t line. I t cuts its p a t h to the sea by t w i s t i n g and t u r n i n g to t h e lay of the l a n d . I t is t h e same w i t h the development of the university library. I t cuts a course of its o w n m a k i n g except t h a t it too twists and t u r n s to pressures it strikes along the w a y . I t w i l l vivify this idea and possibly set my l a t e r r e m a r k s in better historical per- spective if w e cite an i l l u s t r a t i o n or t w o . O u r university libraries take g r e a t pride in the source m a t e r i a l they are a c c u m u l a t - ing daily to support historical and h u m a n - istic research. T o describe the t o t a l volume of these holdings, w e w o u l d have to resort to such metrical units as miles or acres of shelves. C o n t r a s t the collecting policy w h i c h is p r o d u c i n g this bibliographical acreage w i t h t h a t intimated by Joseph Story in his P h i Beta K a p p a oration spoken al- most in ear shot of the H a r v a r d campus in 1 8 2 6 : " T h e r e is n o t , " the eminent j u r i s t complained, " p e r h a p s a single l i b r a r y in A m e r i c a sufficiently copious to have enabled G i b b o n to have verified the a u t h o r i t y f o r his i m m o r t a l history of the decline and fall of t h e R o m a n E m p i r e . " 2 T h i s is a r a t h e r s t a r t l i n g p r o n o u n c e m e n t w h e n read today, 1 Paper presented at meeting of University Libraries Section, ACRL, July 11, 1951, Chicago. 2 S t o r y , J o s e p h . A Discourse Pronounced, before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at the Anniversary Celebra- tion on the Thirty First Day of August, 1826. B o s t o n , Hilliard, Gray, Little, and Wilkins, 1826, p. 49. b u t G e o r g e L i v e r m o r e , an a n t i q u a r i a n not given to inaccuracy, did not think it w a s s t r o n g enough to describe the situation a q u a r t e r of a c e n t u r y later, in 1850.- P o i n t - ing out t h a t even the G i b b o n illustration did not originate w i t h Story, L i v e r m o r e w e n t on to say t h a t " h o t one, nor all the libraries in this c o u n t r y combined, w o u l d f u r n i s h sufficient materials f o r w r i t - ing a complete history of t h a t little book . . . w h i c h has had such a m i g h t y influence in m o u l d i n g the c h a r a c t e r and creed of f o r m e r generations, ' T h e N e w E n g l a n d P r i m e r ' " . 3 T h e s e testimonials tell some- t h i n g a b o u t the plight of letters and learn- ing in the y o u n g republic, but they tell us also t h a t rocklike pressures w e r e rising up to force a change in the course of the scholarly library. A n o t h e r i l l u s t r a t i o n : T h e second half of the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y produced an ex- t r a o r d i n a r y series of i n t e r n a t i o n a l exhibi- tions. W h e n the first one opened in L o n d o n ' s C r y s t a l Palace in 1851, no one had any idea t h a t it w a s going to produce such intense r i v a l r y a m o n g nations, b u t the times w e r e j u s t r i g h t . H u m a n w o r k of all kinds, f r o m m a k i n g cloth to m a k i n g machines, was being revolutionized. T h e n a m e w e apply to the phenomenon is the I n d u s t r i a l R e v o l u t i o n . N o aspect of this revolution w a s m o r e singular t h a n the w a y it stemmed f r o m investing all kinds of or- dinary w o r k — i n d u s t r y — w i t h g r e a t e r intel- ligence. E a c h civilized nation, quick to see 3 Livermore, George, "Public Libraries." North American Review, 71:186-87, ( 1 8 5 0 ) . 314 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES t h a t its f u t u r e in i n t e r n a t i o n a l t r a d e was bound u p w i t h the use of this m o d e r n principle, avidly seized upon the interna- tional exposition as a kind of testing device f o r its i n d u s t r i a l sinews and k n o w - h o w . N e w institutions and n e w d e p a r t m e n t s in universities arose to enlarge and t r a n s m i t bodies of knowledge f o u n d to have indus- trial uses. A n e w era of m a t e r i a l progress d a w n e d . A n d since this m o d e r n i n d u s t r i a l era rested as it w e r e on libraries of sci- entific i n f o r m a t i o n , a n e w social policy s u p p o r t i n g the extension and application of knowledge soon gained popular f a v o r . T h e s e n e w uses of science and technology gave a n e w t w i s t to library development, and the university libraries w e r e a m o n g those most deeply affected. W e need not dwell longer on the past. M y thesis is t h a t t e r r a i n is being struck in o u r time w h i c h w i l l force still a n o t h e r i m p o r t a n t t u r n in the course. T h e pre- cise direction eventually taken is going to depend p a r t l y on factors beyond our con- trol, p a r t l y on h o w w e l l this generation u n d e r s t a n d s w h a t is taking place and par- ticularly, I suspect, on the n u m b e r and t h e s t a t u r e of those w h o join together to take t h o u g h t of the m o r r o w . T h e r e are several relevant f a c t o r s w h i c h are beyond o u r c o n t r o l ; the bulkiness of the graphic record of the mind w h i c h it is essential to preserve f o r research purposes; the e x p a n d i n g rate at w h i c h n e w research materials are being produced, thus f u r t h e r e n l a r g i n g the basic r e c o r d ; the e x p a n d i n g p r o p o r t i o n of the t o t a l population which depends on good research library facilities; the ballooning of costs f o r materials, space and l a b o r ; the increasing specialization of interests served by libraries] trends in the distribution of w e a l t h ; i n f l a t i o n ; and the n u m b e r and m a g n i t u d e of other i m p o r t a n t problems w h i c h the public has to t h i n k about these days. T h e s e and related influences are precipi- t a t i n g w h a t I shall w i t h y o u r leave r e f e r to as t h e mid-century crisis of the research li- brary. Universities carry so heavy a share of the b u r d e n f o r present research t h a t w e are talking about something singularly impor- t a n t to their libraries, but s t a n d i n g along- side them and equally affected are the research libraries not connected w i t h uni- versities, so the m o r e inclusive t e r m seems to be p r e f e r a b l e . T h i s critical situation is being described n o w a d a y s by far-seeing observers in language such as the f o l l o w i n g : . . I see n o t h i n g w h i c h in coming years is to stand between the librarian and an issue of books upon books, so vast and so u n i n t e r r u p t e d t h a t unless he brings the bene- fit of something like science to his aid, he w i l l be overwhelmed and buried in their very mass." I t may surprise you to k n o w t h a t the w o r d s j u s t quoted w e r e u t t e r e d by the President of the Pennsylvania H i s t o r i c a l Society in his address of welcome to the C o n f e r e n c e of L i b r a r i a n s which organized the American L i b r a r y Association in 1876.4 I pick an older s t a t e m e n t of the problem, first, to help avoid any hysterical w r i n g i n g of hands. A crisis is something to be met, not something to excite hysteria. I pick it also to emphasize the fact t h a t this crisis is n e w in certain p a r t i c u l a r s only. T o be sure, it is serious, but it has been serious at other times, too, notably in the f i f t e e n t h and the nineteenth centuries. I have no d o u b t t h a t t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y m a n will meet the situation as resolutely as his predecessors did. I n meeting w h a t you a r e to allow me to call, f o r short, the research l i b r a r y crisis, w e can move in one of three directions. F i r s t , we can depend on going straight ahead. W e can stick to a t r a d i t i o n w h i c h has come d o w n f r o m m u c h simpler times, let each l i b r a r y go its own sweet w a y , collect ex- actly as its budget and local needs prescribe 4 Library Journal, 1 : 9 2 , N o v . 3 0 , 1 8 7 6 . OCTOBER, 1951 32 7 and disregard any regional or n a t i o n a l prob- lems not met adequately by the unsupple- mented efforts of i n d i v i d u a l research libraries acting each w i t h o u t reference to the others. Second, w e can depend on re- organization. W e can let the individual library continue to use its budget to meet local needs, as it sees them, but isolate those f u n c t i o n s or activities w h i c h lend themselves to being institutionalized and which can be done m o r e efficiently or m o r e economically if t h u s c e n t r a l i z e d . W e can then create a c e n t r a l agency—a regional library of a n e w t y p e — t o support these special f u n c t i o n s and use v o l u n t a r y cooperation to get the regional library going and get it independently financed. T h i r d , w e can depend solely on w h a t w e can do t h r o u g h v o l u n t a r y coopera- tion, paying n o t h o u g h t to questions of re- o r g a n i z a t i o n otherwise. T h a t is, we can call on each library not merely to serve the clientage it is c h a r t e r e d to serve, but to take on a f a i r share of w h a t e v e r additional re- sponsibilities are deemed to be in the re- gional or the n a t i o n a l interest and finance the supra- or extra-local responsibility o u t of savings made t h r o u g h v o l u n t a r y coopera- tive agreements on collecting and storing m a t e r i a l ; and if these savings are not enough, out of f u n d s added to the local li- brary budget to enable it to bear its share of the extra cost. T h e r e may be other alternatives to these, but no others have so f a r a r t i c u l a t e d them- selves, so w e seem justified in confining the present discussion to these three. U p to a point, the second and t h i r d courses are not m u t u a l l y exclusive, b u t they involve such d i f f e r e n t methods of attack and w i l l yield such different results in the end t h a t they deserve to be considered separately. T h e first a l t e r n a t i v e need n o t detain us long. A s late as the medieval period, the w h o l e l i t e r a t u r e available to an age w a s embodied in no more t h a n a f e w h u n d r e d w o r k s . L i b r a r i e s of record t h e r e a f t e r w e r e able to continue to collect everything of importance f o r research till a r o u n d the be- g i n n i n g of t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y . T h e British M u s e u m , f o r example, gave up try- ing to do t h a t in the first q u a r t e r of the c e n t u r y a n d , before or a f t e r w a r d , every re- search l i b r a r y in existence f o u n d it neces- sary to f o l l o w suit. I n consequence, w e have today no bona fide library of record, and the probability daily becomes more remote t h a t w e shall ever have a n y t h i n g of the kind again. I n consequence, only a stray pro- fessor and no l i b r a r i a n I k n o w believes any longer t h a t o u r libraries can each go it alone and get us f a r enough. E v e n if each research l i b r a r y could single-handedly serve its own clientage w e l l enough, the sum of these single-handed efforts w o u l d n o t add up to a sound research library pro- g r a m f o r the t o t a l society of which the library is a p a r t . T h i s brings us to the second alternative, r e o r g a n i z a t i o n . T h e goal immediately ahead w o u l d be a regional library which w o u l d stand on its o w n feet financially and have its o w n w o r k to do f o r the region and the n a t i o n . I t s relation to existing libraries w o u l d be t h a t of an ally or auxiliary, not t h a t of a competitor. I t w o u l d not be a " s u p e r - l i b r a r y " in aspiring to o u t d o existing libraries and secure f o r itself a copy of every publication required f o r research in the re- gion. I t s aspirations w o u l d be d i f f e r e n t and less local, less self-centered. I t w o u l d be charged w i t h helping organize regional cov- erage of the kind j u s t suggested, w o u l d in f a c t assume heavy responsibility to make such coverage a reality, but w o u l d leave as much to other libraries as the l a t t e r can de- pendably h a n d l e on their o w n . I n thus r o u n d i n g out and " s p a r k i n g " a regional pro- g r a m , this library w o u l d be a n e w organ distinctive enough, i m p o r t a n t enough and alive enough to encourage a n e t w o r k of re- 316 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES gional activities to g r o w up a r o u n d it. I t w o u l d seek to institutionalize the h a n d l i n g of activities necessary to create the interde- pendence of a regional system w h e r e no system n o w exists. I t would promote such interdependence better t h a n v o l u n t a r y com- m i t m e n t s will do because it w o u l d have back of the c o m m i t m e n t s it made in the public interest enough public support to in- spire confidence on the p a r t of other insti- tutions in its capacity to make good on those c o m m i t m e n t s . O n e can already find in the South, in N e w E n g l a n d and the M i d w e s t centers which could possibly be developed into re- gional libraries w i t h the kind of p r o g r a m and the independent support j u s t described. T h e name of the M i d w e s t I n t e r - L i b r a r y C e n t e r certainly suggests a search f o r a pro- g r a m broader t h a n i n t e r l i b r a r y dependence on warehouse space f o r sloughed-off books; whereas the J o i n t University L i b r a r i e s is, I suppose, as good an example as we could find of an existing local library which could adopt the nonstorage conception outlined in the preceding p a r a g r a p h and take on larger regional responsibilities, provided it had at its disposal special f u n d s supplied f o r the purpose of keeping these regional responsi- bilities f r o m losing out to local needs in the competition f o r the f u n d s n o w at its disposal. B u t if such possibilities reside in existing centers, others are better equipped t h a n I to speak of the fact, so I shall have recourse to ideas and language c u r r e n t in the N o r t h e a s t w h e r e plans are m a t u r i n g which, if perfected and given the necessary public support, promise to meet successfully the research library crisis as it affects t h a t region. C e r t a i n directors of libraries lying mainly along the A t l a n t i c seaboard are w o r k i n g together on this plan, but I shall need f o r present purposes to r e f e r only to the w o r k of an overlapping group, a N e w Y o r k C i t y steering committee on library cooperation which in the last t w o years has w o r n out m o r e chair cushions in discussing this highly complex problem than the most industrious patrons of the N e w Y o r k Public L i b r a r y in the same building w h e r e our meetings have been held. M o s t of our time in 1950-51 was de- voted to the kind of acquisitions p r o g r a m a n o r t h e a s t e r n regional library should have, and the results are embodied in a s t a t e m e n t prepared by J e r o m e K . W i l c o x entitled " T h e Acquisition P r o g r a m of the Regional A u x i l i a r y L i b r a r y . " H e r e are some of the highlights of t h a t document. T h e regional library w o u l d take as much responsibility f o r foreign material n o w coming to the region as it is asked to do. I t w o u l d accept f r o m other libraries material which they no longer wish to keep but which should be preserved in the region. I t w o u l d not col- lect incunabula, A m e r i c a n a or other rarities. I t w o u l d be prepared to assume heavy re- sponsibility f o r r o u n d i n g out regional acqui- sition of current publications in the follow- ing categories: official publications of the U . S . government ( f e d e r a l , state, municipal, c o u n t y ) , of foreign governments, interna- tional o r g a n i z a t i o n s ; periodicals and other serial publications which are out of the w a y but significantly document c o n t e m p o r a r y life (publications of bar associations, of l a w societies; administrative publications of in- stitutions of higher l e a r n i n g ; publications of state and local historical societies; proceed- ings, reports, j o u r n a l s and other publica- tions of learned, scientific and technical so- cieties, U . S . and f o r e i g n ; publications, re- ports, j o u r n a l s and other publications of t r a d e unions, commercial organizations, re- ligious bodies, national patriotic societies and veterans organizations, etc.) ; and finally, certain miscellaneous publications such as foreign dissertations and t r a d e cata- logs. C u r r e n t material in these various categories w o u l d be systematically collected OCTOBER, 1951 32 7 by the regional library, b u t it w o u l d not expect to get back files of such limited- audience publications except by t a k i n g over back files already in the region. Files of m a t e r i a l intended f o r larger audiences and still actively used by m a n y readers w o u l d be l e f t to other libraries to build up. T h e W i l c o x s t a t e m e n t is p a r t of an in- terim r e p o r t f o r 1950-51 prepared by the committee covering such additional points about a n o r t h e a s t e r n regional library as lo- cation, control, method of financing and services. I t w o u l d take us too f a r afield to consider such m a t t e r s here. T h e n a r r o w e r object at the m o m e n t is to suggest a t u r n which it is possible f o r the development of research l i b r a r y service to take as a means of coping w i t h a crisis in w h i c h an ade- quate acquisitions p r o g r a m is crucial. P e r - haps, therefore, enough has been said to indicate t h a t one w a y out is r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of the p a t t e r n of research library service whereby g r e a t e r interdependence and greater t o t a l s t r e n g t h w i l l be fostered a m o n g the various libraries of a region by inserting a n e w mechanism in the t o t a l s e t - u p ; or, to b o r r o w a figure f r o m biology to express -the same idea, by inserting a n e w o r g a n the f u n c t i o n of w h i c h w i l l be to give the region better health and s t r e n g t h bib- liographically by developing n e w tissues of interdependence w h e r e genuine interdepend- ence can n o w h a r d l y be said to exist. I t can be urged against this course t h a t it is too bold, too m u c h of a break w i t h the past and ahead of our times. If these prove too much f o r us w e can still depend on v o l u n t a r y cooperation to take us as f a r as it can, and t h a t is the third alternative. T h e audience knows w e l l h o w f r u i t f u l v o l u n t a r y cooperation has been in research library development. W h a t w o u l d be m o r e n a t u r a l or m o r e proper t h a n to fall back on it once m o r e w h e n , somewhere between the depression and the present, w e saw the re- search library heading into this m i d c e n t u r y crisis? F i r s t came the N e w E n g l a n d D e - posit L i b r a r y . I t w a s a pioneer develop- m e n t in cooperative storage, perhaps best described as an off-the-premises warehouse or a n n e x designed to serve not one library b u t all libraries in a region w h i c h chose at the outset, or w h i c h choose l a t e r , to come into the cooperative a r r a n g e m e n t . I t s main purpose w a s to provide cheap storage. I t w a s located f a r enough away f r o m any of the libraries, f r o m coffee shops and hotel facilities to u n d e r l i n e the idea of pooling w a r e h o u s e facilities, b u t it w a s at the same time a w a y of reaching out to find some- t h i n g m o r e t h a n storage, w h i c h w a s cor- rectly seen to be only a piece of a solution to the t h r e a t e n i n g crisis. I t was hoped t h a t "cooperation between the libraries connected w i t h the n e w institution will ( 1 ) do a w a y w i t h a good deal of unnecessary duplication t h a t has already taken place, ( 2 ) prevent additional unnecessary duplication in the f u t u r e , ( 3 ) provide f o r the a d v a n t a g e o u s disposal of the unnecessary duplicates, ( 4 ) help to b r i n g about a suitable division of fields between the cooperating libraries as f a r as research m a t e r i a l is concerned, and ( 5 ) make readily available to all the li- braries the little-used books of any one of t h e m . " 5 T h e n came the F a r m i n g t o n P l a n which is as close to a national p r o g r a m as research libraries have t h u s f a r devised. W o r k e d out a f e w years a f t e r the first cooperative stor- age library w a s created, the F a r m i n g t o n P l a n made specific provision f o r division of fields and f o r the fixing of responsibility f o r developing t h e m . T h e plan calls on each cooperating library f o r f o u r t h i n g s : ( 1 ) T o continue the support of its local p r o g r a m of instruction and r e s e a r c h ; ( 2 ) T o accept in addition p r i m a r y responsibility f o r develop- ing certain fields; ( 3 ) T o u n i t e w i t h other 5 Library Quarterly, 1^:628, J u l y 1 9 4 2 . 318 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES libraries in this and other ways to insure serious readers t h r o u g h o u t the nation access to at least one copy of each foreign w o r k deemed i m p o r t a n t f o r r e s e a r c h ; and ( 4 ) T o join in d e t e r m i n i n g w h e t h e r enough savings cannot be effected t h r o u g h such efforts to hold library costs to approximately their present level. T h e s t o r a g e - F a r m i n g - ton f o r m u l a , if this short-cut expression is acceptable, thus yields w h e n considered as a u n i t a coherent p r o g r a m f o r meeting the research library crisis. I t d r a w s a bead on t w o targets in plain s i g h t — t h e costs of space and m a t e r i a l . I t is the essence of simplicity, involves a m i n i m u m a d j u s t m e n t of o u r habits, a m i n i m u m n e w money and essentially no channels of action not pro- vided automatically by volunteer institu- tions. H e r e , then, are three courses open to us as w e head into the second half of the t w e n - tieth c e n t u r y . W h i c h one are w e going to t a k e ? A s indicated, the choice is mainly between the second and the t h i r d . Since research libraries have already committed themselves experimentally to the t h i r d , is it any good to discuss the o t h e r ? I believe so, and suggest five reasons w h y . F i r s t , the a d v a n t a g e of continual ap- praisal of w h a t w e are doing. W e shall wish to support the F a r m i n g t o n P l a n u n t i l some improvement is worked out, but it is up to us to find out w h e r e improvement is possible. A reasonable a t t i t u d e to take t o w a r d o u r c o m m i t m e n t s as members and f r i e n d s of the Association of Research Li- braries might be borrowed f r o m an eminent A m e r i c a n w h o in a n o t h e r connection w r a p p e d up the spirit of loyalty and the spirit of sympathetic criticism in one pack- age by saying, " I am f o r my c o u n t r y right or w r o n g ; if right to keep it r i g h t ; if w r o n g , to set it r i g h t . " Second, the lack of dependability in present volunteer commitments. W h e n a university library volunteers cooperation in helping r o u n d out the research facilities of the region or nation, it does so w i t h the im- plied u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h a t if the going gets rough financially and s u p p o r t i n g the supra- or extra-university p r o g r a m conflicts w i t h s u p p o r t i n g the university p r o g r a m itself, the conflict w i l l be resolved in favor of the university p r o g r a m . T h e spirit of the vol- u n t e e r is w i l l i n g enough but his flesh is too weak to give trustees of other universities assurance t h a t if they m o d i f y their own collecting policies and depend on the volun- teers, they will be on safe g r o u n d . T h i r d , the hoped-for savings f r o m par- ticipating in the F a r m i n g t o n P l a n have not yet materialized. I t is too early to tell w h e t h e r greater savings will not come in due course, p a r t i c u l a r l y if supplemented by cheap storage. W i l l they be great enough, even so, to freeze budgets w h e r e they are, as hoped at the o u t s e t ? Possibly, but f o r the library system which was already buy- ing selectively w h e n it entered the present cooperative a r r a n g e m e n t s , the signs are not very encouraging. T h e y point r a t h e r to the likelihood that the public w i l l be called on to pay a larger bill f o r research library service or accept a lower s t a n d a r d of service which will cost heavily in other ways. If increased costs cannot be skirted by savings t h r o u g h cooperative a r r a n g e m e n t s , it will pay us to give more t h o u g h t than w e have given since i n a u g u r a t i n g the F a r m i n g t o n P l a n to developing n e w support. A re- gional library of the kind here envisaged w o u l d tap n e w support and at the same time keep the total bill f o r research library costs below the costs required to m a i n t a i n the same s t a n d a r d s of service w i t h o u t a cen- t r a l agency of this kind. F o u r t h , the need of bolder measures f o r the long pull. W e are n o w fighting w h a t a m o u n t s to a r e a r - g u a r d action. T h i s is good enough as a rescue measure, but not OCTOBER, 1951 32 7 good enough to cope w i t h a crisis t h a t re- quires us, as this one does, to do something besides w a i t i n g on w h a t happens next. F i f t h , the practical limits of volunteer action in a situation of this kind. I n the D u n k e r q u e rescue of 1940, the British t h r e w in every s e a w o r t h y vessel in r e a c h — tugboats, yachts, fishing boats, everything. H i s M a j e s t y ' s N a v y rose to exceptional heights by calling on civilian facilities and personnel to do double d u t y . M o r e re- cently, we saw in the a r m y of the D a l a i L a m a , the god-king of T i b e t , an instance w h e r e double-duty measures w e r e applied more consistently as a m a t t e r of public pol- icy. I n o r g a n i z i n g resistance to the advanc- ing C o m m u n i s t s , the nation leaned heavily on young nobles w h o , like their counter- p a r t s in the W e s t in f e u d a l times, m a r - shalled each his own retinue of servants and w e n t out to help fight the common enemy. T h e t h i n g t h a t strikes us as u n u s u a l in the D u n k e r q u e " n a v y " and the T i b e t a r m y is not the evident civilian willingness to cooperate to the point of doing double d u t y but the use of volunteered support as a m e t h o d — a method of g e t t i n g action w h e n , w h e r e and in the a m o u n t needed. M o b i l - ization f o r total w r arfare nowadays depends no less on a willingness to cooperate, but it uses a very different method of o r g a n i z i n g the j o i n t u n d e r t a k i n g in o r d e r to get action w h e n , w h e r e and in the a m o u n t needed. T o seek to achieve the smooth fighting effectiveness of a m o d e r n nation t h r o u g h the f e u d a l methods of t h e D u n k e r q u e navy or the T i b e t a r m y w o u l d be to strain, to overextend the practical limits of v o l u n t a r y cooperation. T h i s paper will have served its purpose if it shows t h a t the university l i b r a r y — m o r e broadly, the research l i b r a r y — i s striking pressures in o u r time w h i c h will force a t u r n in its course, and if it promotes f r u i t - f u l discussion of alternatives. Some li- braries will u n d o u b t e d l y seek to f o r g e a course straight ahead and may succeed in doing so to their o w n s a t i s f a c t i o n ; but the b u r d e n of the a r g u m e n t here is t h a t an ade- q u a t e national research policy—an ade- quate p r o g r a m f o r the institution, the re- search l i b r a r y — c a n n o t be w o r k e d out along this line. If w e are to m a i n t a i n the s t a n d a r d s of library service w h i c h A m e r i c a ' s research interests have come to rely upon, it seems necessary to institute reorganization proceedings of some kind or t u r n to a circle of hard-pressed institutions to volun- teer to c a r r y an ever-larger share of m o u n t - ing supra- or extra-local responsibilities. Both courses make use of j o i n t effort, but in different ways and on a different scale. T h e central problem is h o w society can, t h r o u g h its representatives, find the best w a y to en- list cooperation on the scale necessary to meet the crisis. T h e most f r u i t f u l course seems to call f o r a n e w division of labor which will t r a n s f e r to a regional library created f o r the purpose extra-local responsi- bilities w h i c h local research libraries m o r e and more n o w find themselves bearing. T h i s course w o u l d not only keep the con- tributions of t h e present hard-pressed insti- tutions w i t h i n practical limits they can stand, but w o u l d at the same time open the w a y f o r individual citizens, private organ- izations and public bodies, h a v i n g a stake in the outcome b u t no direct interest in the institutions n o w shouldering the load, to join in the cooperative e f f o r t . 320 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES