College and Research Libraries Princeton's New Julian Street Library B Y W A R R E N B . K U H N FI F T Y Y E A R S AGO Woodrow Wilson as president of Princeton University spoke out vigorously in favor of an un- derlying Princeton concept, the "habit and freedom" of independent reading. His preceptorial system of instruction had just been inaugurated, and he was explaining how it would help create and stimulate the reading habit. On December 2, 1961, a half century later, when Princeton dedicated its new- est library venture, the J u l i a n Street li- brary, that " h a b i t " was still being ac- tively cultivated and had been implicit in every step of the new library's plan- ning and construction. Designed pri- marily to be a highly selective collection for the Princeton undergraduate, the Julian Street library is housed in an en- tire wing of a new dining and social building known as Wilcox Hall. T h e hall itself is the center of a new five- dormitory quadrangle with quarters for two hundred undergraduates. It contains in addition to the library a dining hall, lounge, seminar, music and meeting rooms, and a residential penthouse for guests. In early 1957 when, as part of a major capital fund campaign, planning began for alleviation of dormitory overcrowd- ing and an alternate mode of life for nonclub upper classmen, a faculty-ad- ministrative committee working closely with the university librarian developed the fundamental concept of the new quadrangle, of which a compact, under- graduate working library was to be a supremely important part. From the be- ginning it was visualized that this must be a place where undergraduates would live in an atmosphere conducive to in- tellectual and cultural growth, and M r . Kuhn is Chief of the Circulation De- partment of Princeton University Library. His master's in library science is from Columbia. where in the words of William S. Dix, the university librarian, "a real library would do more than any other archi- tectural feature to bring this about." Such a library, too, necessarily had to be an integral part of the university library, but in a way permitting a definite sense of pride in their library to be built up by resident students. T h e J u l i a n Street library contains principally those books most in demand at the main library for the curriculum- stimulated reading of its undergraduate patrons. In addition, it includes lively and important supplementary material, standard classics essential to the develop- ment of the "whole man," a basic refer- ence collection, light literature for recre- ation, and books of value suggested by residents of the quadrangle themselves. As a result its titles cover the entire range of the Princeton curriculum: religion, politics, economics, art and archaeology, sociology and anthropology, science, music, Oriental studies, including Asian and Near Eastern materials, and Slavic studies, plus the traditional academic fields. At present the collection consists of five thousand volumes which will be increased by one thousand books each year to the library's maximal capacity of ten thousand volumes. As to specifics, textbooks have not been included, nor literary sets. For ex- ample, only five of Dickens's works have been chosen; if an undergraduate desires to read further he is encouraged to de- 504 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S velop his specialty in depth with the full resources of the university library. In foreign literature both the original and the translation are purchased; for ex- ample, Thomas Mann is represented in both English and German editions, and the same practice is repeated with other important writers such as Balzac, Lorca and others. Although the library is open to all, actual circulation is confined to residents of the new quadrangle and members of the Woodrow Wilson Society, an under- graduate campus society that uses the new hall as its social and intellectual center. These last two groups number 465 persons. T h e collections have been housed in an attractive modern room with book- lined walls and alcoves with more shelv- ing, study tables, and comfortable chairs. Its entrance is on ground level and as a separate wing is free from any noise or disturbance from the dining and social wing of the new hall. Smoking is per- mitted, and a single student on desk duty near the combined entrance-exit permits use of the wing from 1:00 P.M. until midnight, seven days a week. T h e Princeton identification card is used for all circulation control. Participation on the part of the under- graduates in the development of the new library has been encouraged by the ap- pointment of an advisory committee. T h i s is composed of representatives of the Woodrow Wilson Society, residents of the quadrangle, and faculty and li- brary staff. It meets regularly to con- sider matters of policy and to make de- cisions on book selection. T h e collection has been visualized as primarily an extension of the Princeton University library. It is not intended to support advanced research of any na- ture, but a student will be able to study for general courses in the new library and to find books for general reading and browsing. T h e r e will also be a mod- est number of scholarly periodicals. These are expendable, and no back files are maintained. All planning, book selection, process- ing, and administrative responsibility was placed in the hands of a senior uni- versity library officer, the author of this article, who, early in 1957 made initial visits to both Harvard and Yale to study the strengths and weaknesses of residence hall libraries. These visits helped estab- lish several primary operating rules. Not only must a library be integrally part of the university library, but financial con- trol of all residence library funds must remain in the hands of the university li- brary. Growth is dependent on the staff and facilities of the main library, and far more efficient cataloging and pur- chasing can be accomplished in this man- ner. In the Yale and Harvard experience many of their older residence hall librar- ies were the results of early gifts, be- quests, and accretions, the latter coming about through interest in certain subject fields by masters and tutors of the vari- ous houses. Drastic weeding had been forced upon them, and they complained of lopsidedness that had existed. By their generous warnings about such dangers, the Julian Street library was able to avoid many pitfalls and mistakes. It was decided immediately that all books in Street would be duplicated in the main library collection, and their classification would be similar for easy movement back and forth since even- tually there would be considerable weed- ing of unused titles. An author catalog was planned, as well as a separate shelf list in the main library for bibliographic control. Since by the time the library began operation it was felt the collection should be fairly well established, a figure of four thousands books was aimed at for the starting goal. T h i s also furnished initial budget perspectives. T h e next, and single most important step, of course, was book selection. It was then that the project ran up against the common problem: the current awe- N O V E M B E R 1 9 6 2 505 some lack of appropriate bibliographic aids. Most of the standard works were out of date, notably Lamont and Shaw; and the "new Shaw" was still on the drawing boards. Even the newest lists by Jones and Jordan, while good, were annual compilations and of little use for our comprehensive purpose. As the new- est (at the time) of the Harvard residence libraries was at Quincy House, Princeton asked for and was obligingly sent an electrostatic copy of its shelf list. T h i s very bulky package of galleylike sheets was broken down into its component Uewey parts and each subject area thus obtained was submitted to our faculty departmental chairmen with a covering letter from the librarian. Each was asked to approve, delete, and make suggestions for new titles. As a guide to setting up a percentage system of books in the subject fields for the original four-thousand-vol- urae list, a percentage breakdown of un- dergraduate departmental course elec- tions was used. In some areas, such as science, the percentage of books was kept flexible since strict adherence to the numbers of men enrolled in these pro- grams would have overbalanced total library holdings. It is interesting to note that the science section is growing rap- idly and is heavily used. Over a period of months the lists were returned, some indicating fair agreement with the many standard works on the Harvard list, but most with freshly- drawn lists of their own. Many depart- ments were most enthusiastic over the opportunity and submitted extensive suggestions. Others appointed faculty representatives to work with the project, designating particularly those men alert to the requirements and thinking of the undergraduates. At some point soon the cumulative lists will be recirculated among the faculty for further additions and changes. T h i s review will certainly be prior to any distribution of what might be termed a "finished" bibli- ography. Once the major proportion of lists was in, processing personnel were hired and suitable work and stack holding space provided in the main library build- ing. Since all titles were to be duplicated, processing consisted mainly of ordering in bidk, receiving and checking, and cataloging received titles by the book- truck load at the main catalog. Letter- ing, labeling, and other similar chores were done only when enough volumes had been cataloged to allow for produc- tion-line methods. T h e processing staff consisted of a part-time supervisory person with previ- ous library and cataloging experience and a full-time clerk-typist. T h e project begun in April 1960 and scheduled for completion that fall was extended as the result of construction difficulties through September 1961, but this extra time proved necessary for really adequate processing of approximately forty-five hundred volumes. During the summers the project typist was replaced with locally hired college girls who did card typing, lettering, and other processing. Book orders were divided roughly into three categories: (1) Bulk orders to a single jobber, (2) university press items, and (3) foreign books. Bulk orders were expedited by means of typewritten lists, each ranging from several hundred titles to several thou- sand at a time, with covering letter. Regular blank library invoices, stamped with the project's designation, were sent to the jobber separately. Although it is standard practice at Princeton to cancel titles temporarily out of stock, the jobber was requested to keep these on file for later filing with an agreement that all orders not received after ninety days would be considered canceled. Individ- ual work cards had been typed from the original faculty book lists and these were used in the preparation of all book or- ders and also as a check-in record. At first cataloging was accomplished by the simple expedient of the part-time supervisor transferring to a process slip information from the main catalog, the 506 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S typist preparing catalog cards from each work slip. However, it was soon discov- ered that since a good many titles were now available only in new editions, as distinct from copies, these had to be turned over to the main library catalog department for processing. About one- fifth of the way through the project, the increasing number of new editions and the growing burden to the main catalog department resulted in the adoption of LC cards. Project LC orders specified a main card for the university library cata- log, a shelf list card, and a full set for the Street catalog. Once the book was cataloged, all proc- essing was done by project clerical per- sonnel. T h i s included preparation of book pockets, a bookcard, and plastic book jacketing. Attractive covers were particularly wanted and more than 80 per cent of our collection is now jacketed in plastic. Since the Street Library is a phased op- eration, its budget was similarly ar- ranged in three distinct phases, although actual costs are naturally available only for the one completed. (See T a b l e 1.) An additional nonrecurring cost has also been provided to cover preparation and distribution of a preliminary multi- lithed book list of the library, complete with periodic supplements. Funds for construction and the first ten thousand books as well as an endow- ment which will enable the library to add the several hundred new books each year are the gift of Graham Mattison, Princeton '26, in memory of Julian Street, author and playwright. Mr. Street, whose son, Julian Street, Jr., '25, is a Princeton alumnus, lived for many years in Princeton and remained a close friend of the campus and the under- graduates during his lifetime. A char- coal sketch of him done in 1915 by James Montgomery Flagg has been do- nated to the library by Mrs. Street, and is mounted within the entranceway. A collection of Street imprints are shelved near the reference section. Bookplates were designed by Thomas M. Cleland, Phase I. T A B L E 1 I N I T I A L 4,000 V O L U M E S (April 1960—September 1961) Proposed expenditures $20,000—Books ($5.00 per volume) 10,000—Processing Phase II. Phase I I I . $30,000 Actual expenditure $20,000—Books (4,400 purchased) 6,275—Processing (Includes wages, equipment and supplies, moving to new building, etc.) F I R S T F I V E Y E A R S O F O P E R A T I O N Acquisition, 1000 books per year—$5,000.00 per year Student salaries (including $75 monthly for student manager re- sponsible for scheduling, daily operation, etc.) Equivalent of junior cataloger (half-time) A F T E R F I R S T F I V E Y E A R S Acquisitions—$1,000.00 per year (200 volumes per year at $5.00 per volume) Student salaries Processing (14 time, junior cataloger; for addition of 200 new volumes, and withdrawal of a similar quantity of obsolete or little-used volumes) N O V E M B E R 1 9 6 2 507 noted typographer and a close personal friend of Julian Street. T h e architectural firm of Sherwood, Mills and Smith designed the entire quadrangle, including the library wing. Traditional Princeton ashlar stone is used for retaining walls and foundations, while the buildings themselves are of brick with limestone facing. Bookshelves completely line all avail- able wall space to a height of six feet, with shelving 12" deep. T h e room itself is divided into a number of reading al- coves by the use of freestanding double- faced wooden ranges. T h r e e waist-high ranges form three lounging alcoves, com- plete with easy chairs and couches, while other alcoves and open spaces are pro- vided with solid birch-wood tables with satin chrome legs. All tables and straight chairs are modeled after those in Fire- stone library. Easy chairs and couches are covered in a heavy, durable, attrac- tive plastic. A fruitwood finish is used throughout as the dominating wood tone, including the parquet floor, and all special furniture is finished to match. Seating is for fifty-one. Casement-type windows line the north and south walls with fireproof, full-length curtains. A series of domed skylights provide further daylight illumination and, at night, fluorescent ceiling lighting is used. As reader space and book duplication grows increasingly necessary at Prince- ton, the Julian Street library should pro- vide real assistance in meeting those needs. It will also provide, in the way lauded by Wilson so many years ago, continuing opportunity to find in com- fortable surroundings a ready supply of those books intended to arouse the ap- petite of the mind for the "habit and freedom" of reading. " T h e End of Education"? " A core curriculum is one in which the children bring apples to school, eat them, and p l a n t the cores in the school grounds. T h e y watch them sprout and grow i n t o leaves and blossoms and then fruit. T h i s is Science. T h e y paste pieces of bark and twigs and leaves on paper and they paint pictures of the apples in a dish. T h i s is Art. " T h e children sit around under the tree singing ' I n the Shade of the O l d Apple T r e e . ' T h i s is Music. T h e story of J o h n n y Appleseed is told them. T h i s is Library Study. T h e y climb the tree and pick the apples. T h i s is Physical Edu- cation. " T h e y count the apples, 'taking away' the wormy ones. T h i s is Arithmetic. I n their own words, they tell what a tree is a n d what they felt when they saw the cores turn i n t o trees. T h e y also write letters to the N a t i o n a l Apple Growers' Association. T h i s is Language Arts. T h e gifted children do enrichment research by reading Kilmer's ' T r e e s ' or by finding out about Isaac Newton, the Apple of Discord, T h e Garden of Eden, W i l l i a m T e l l and o t h e r apple-y events. " T h e y learn such words as arbor, I'arbre, Apfel, Baum, manzana. T h i s is Foreign Languages. " T h e boys build boxes to store the apples. T h i s is Industrial Arts. A n d the girls bake them and sauce them and pie them. T h i s is Homemaking. T h e n every- o n e eats them a n d learns about their n u t r i t i o n a l value. T h i s is Health Education. " T h e s e activities have been performed without a text-book o r a workbook. " W h e n all the apples are gone, they take the cores once again and plant them in the school grounds and watch them grow and flower and fruit. Pretty soon, you cannot see the school for the trees. T h i s is called The End of Educa- tion."—Columbia Forum, as reprinted in Toronto Education Quarterly, A u t u m n 1961. 508 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S