College and Research Libraries


JULIE H. NOTT and MARJORIE WHEELER 

Library Service by Contract: 

A Joint Venture 
A mutually beneficial solution to the problem of university libraries 
service to smaller libraries is exemplified by a long-term contract be-
tween the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest and Southern 
Methodist University. For two years the libraries in these research 
and educational institutions, located fifteen miles apart, have enjoyed 
such a contract, characterized by rapid messenger service, an annual 
contribution for acquisitions and cost-of-service reimbursements, and 
a full-time librarian's salary furnished by the special library. For 
special libraries with heavy demands, this type of agreement may be 
a realistic arrangement in which the smaller library ccpays its way." 

DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS there has 
been interest in the problem of univer-
sity service to special libraries. The di-
lemma of the university library in trying 
to meet increasing demands of smaller 
libraries without jeopardizing faculty 
and student service has been a difficult 
one. Most university libraries have con-
tinued to furnish interlibrary loans with-
out charge, free reference service, and 
photocopy at cost-thus serving on a 
direct-cost basis.1 A more realistic solu-
tion is that exemplified by Stanford 
University in establishing its Technical 
Information Service for industry based 
on a fee per item delivered. This has 
proved quite successful in recovering 
both direct and indirect costs. 2 The pres-
ent paper describes another approach to 
the problem-that of service by contract 

1 Natalie N. Nicholson, "Service to Industry and 
Research Parks by College and University Libraries," 
Library Trends, XIV (January 1966), 262-72. 

2 Jack Pooler and David C. Weber, "The Technical 
Information Service in the Stanford University Librar-
ies," College & Research Libraries, XXV (September 
1964)' 393-99. 

Mrs. Nott is GRCSW contract librarian 
at Southern Methodist University, and Mrs. 
Wheeler is librarian of the Graduate Re-
search Center of the Southwest, Dallas. 

between a university library (Southern 
Methodist University) and a nearby spe-
cial library (Graduate Research Center 
of the Southwest). 

Southern Methodist University (SMU) 
only recently celebrated its fiftieth anni-
versity. It is a university of about 
seventy-eight hundred students offering 
graduate degrees in an ever-increasing 
number of fields. It has four libraries, 
the newest of which is the science 
library, built in 1961. It was partially 
financed by local industrial benefactors 
and is dedicated to the support of aca-
demic and industrial research in the 
region. 

The Graduate Research Center of the 
Southwest ( GRCSW) was chartered in 
1961 by a group of Dallas businessmen 
concerned with the need to enhance the 
development of graduate education in 
science and engineering in the South-
west. It was established as a nonprofit 
educational institution with a two-fold 
purpose: ( 1) to serve as a center for 
postdoctoral study, and to cooperate 
with colleges and universities in the re-
gion in training graduate students; and 
( 2 ) to sponsor basic research in fields of 
major importance to present-day science 

I 107 



108 I College & Research Libraries • March, 1967 

and technological development. Interdis-
ciplinary divisions in various degrees of 
development have been formed in the 
fields of atmospheric and space sciences, 
geosciences, mathematical physics, biol-
ogy, and materials sciences. 

To date the GRCSW policy has been 
to maintain a small specialized library. 
Its broad objective is to "provide library 
service equivalent to that of a large 
university library through ties to a 
coordinating area library system."3 Con-
sequently, a contract was executed, 
effective September 1964, between SMU 
and GRCSW, the pertinent aspects of 
which are as follows: 
GRCSW is responsible to SMU for: 
1. $5000 annual fee to be used for SMU 

acquisitions; GRCSW has the privi-
lege of making recommendations. 

2. Salary (plus normal SMU fringe bene-
fits) for a full-time librarian to work 
in the SMU science library exclusively 
for GRCSW. 

3. 15¢ per page for Xerox 914 reproduc-
tion and comparable charges for use 
of other photolab equipment. 

4. Messenger service twice daily be-
tween SMU and GRCSW. 

5. Miscellaneous expenses including a 
20 per cent overhead charge, postage, 
and telephone costs. 

6. Direct costs of material obtained in 
lieu of interlibrary loans from other 
libraries. 

SMU is responsible to GRCSW for: 
1. Loan of their books, journals (photo-

copies when requested, or when arti-
cle is short), reports, government 
documents, and maps. 

2. Interlibrary loan service for material 
requested which is not in SMU 
libraries. 

3. Office space and supplies for librarian 
working for GRCSW. 

4. Supporting capabilities of SMU sci-
ence library staff. 

3 Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, Plan 
for GRCSW Library Service, [1964J, p. 1. 

5. Study room reserved for GRCSW per-
sonnel. 

6. Fifty copies of each monthly acquisi-
tions bulletin. 

GRCSW personnel may initiate requests 
from SMU by: 
7. Photolab and equipment for reading • 

microfilm, microfiche, and microcards. 
1. Contacting their librarian at GRCSW. 
2. Phoning their librarian at SMU (a 

telephone recorder provides the means 
for leaving requests, day or night, if 
no one is in the SMU office). 

3. Going to SMU to use and check out ~ 
material personally. 

Most requests are initiated at the 
GRCSW library, for much of what is 
needed may be found there. The two 
librarians (at SMU and GRCSW) are 
in constant telephone contact. 

Both SMU and GRCSW feel that the 
contract has been mutually beneficial. In 
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1966, a 
total of 5,261 items was supplied by 
SMU; of these, 550 items were obtained 
from other libraries. GRCSW paid a 
total of approximately $20,200 to SMU 
during the same time period, of which 
$5000 was invested in acquisitions. 

The obvious advantage to GRCSW is 
the availability of a large collection of 
library materials conveniently located 
and efficiently serviced, furnished on a 
mutually agreed cost basis. The SMU 
science library, besides pursuing its own 
goals of academic service, benefits by 
continuing to develop equipment, per-
sonnel, and experience in its broad plan 
of supporting academic and industrial 
research in the region. Both participants 
have found that an annual contribution 
for acquisitions and a cost-of-service fee 
rather than a charge per item has simpli-
fied the quarterly billing procedures. An 
additional advantage has been that of 
having a GRCSW librarian on the job at 
SMU, for this keeps GRCSW requests 
from disrupting service for faculty and 4 

students at SMU. 



Although the contract has been ex-
tremely successful in its two years of 
existence, the librarians involved feel 
that there are questions which could be 
posed for future consideration by both 
institutions: 
1. Should cooperative acquisitions be 

developed to a greater extent? Too 
often the same material is purchased 
by both libraries primarily for use by 
GRCSW scientists. 

2. Is the financial arrangement fair to 
both institutions? 

Library Service by Contract I 109 

3. Has GRCSW become overly depen-
dent on SMU to the extent that it has 
not developed its own resources ade-
quately or efficiently? 

This article was written in response to 
considerable interest shown in the joint 
venture to provide adequate library ser-
vice for GRCSW. It appears to be a 
workable, practical solution to the prob-
lems of university service to special 
libraries. Perhaps other libraries could 
benefit from such an arrangement to 
their mutual advantage. • •