College and Research Libraries


American Junior Colleges. W a l t e r C r o s b y 

Eells, ed. American C o u n c i l on E d u -

cation, W a s h i n g t o n , 1940. 585P. $3.50. 

T H I S BOOK a p p e a r s  a s a c o m p a n i o n v o l -

ume to the popular handbook, American 

Universities and Colleges, r e c e n t l y p u b -

lished in its fourth edition. Its publication 

w a s made possible through special coopera-

tive arrangements between the A m e r i c a n 

Council on Education and the A m e r i c a n 

Association of Junior Colleges, and 

through a grant from the Carnegie C o r -

poration of N e w Y o r k . T h e w o r k of 

compilation w a s directed by W a l t e r 

Crosby Eells, executive secretary of the 

A m e r i c a n Association of Junior Colleges. 

Prior to the publication of this volume, 

no single reference tool supplied such au-

thoritative, complete, and recent informa-

tion on the junior colleges of the U n i t e d 

States. Brief information is supplied for 

junior colleges, as for all other institutions 

of higher education, in the annual Educa-

tional Directory issued by the Office of 

Education. T h e H u r t s ' College Blue 

Book, 1939, includes in concise tabular 

form, information on 563 junior colleges 

and supplies in equally compact form, 

statements of junior college standards. 

A third source of information is the " J u n -

ior College D i r e c t o r y , " a regular feature 

of the January issue of the Junior College 

Journal. 

T h e broader reference value of the new 

h a n d b o o k , American Junior Colleges, is 

apparent from a review of its organization 

and content. In P a r t I, an introductory 

chapter presents definitions and discussion 

of types of junior colleges. T h e r e f o l l o w s 

a review of the development of the junior 

college movement, and a digest of its 

present status. T h e tabular summaries 

and graphs reproduced in this section are 

based on the data published in the 1940 

" J u n i o r College D i r e c t o r y " which covered 

575 institutions. 

A chapter setting forth problems, faults, 

and trends in accreditation is followed by 

an invaluable presentation of accrediting 

practices, lists, and standards, first for 

each of the five regional associations and 

the t w o national agencies; then for each 

of the 48 states, the District of Columbia, 

and the C a n a l Zone. 

Exhibits for each of 494 junior colleges, 

alphabetically arranged by key name of 

the institution, constitute P a r t I I . H e r e , 

for example, one may find succinct state-

ments as to type and control, accreditation, 

requirements for admission and gradua-

tion, fees, staff, recent educational develop-

ments, greatest problems, enrollment and 

classification of students, library, publi-

cations, finances, buildings and grounds, 

and chief administrative officers. T h e 

information originally secured from the in-

stitutions (on a blank reproduced in A p -

pendix V I I ) was later submitted to each 

college in tentative publication form for 

approval or modification. Variations in 

figures cited in the exhibits, apparently 

"round numbers" being supplied by some 

and specific figures by others ( f o r library 

holdings, volumes added, and the l i k e ) , 

are obviously beyond the power of the 

editor to control. 

P a r t I I I is made up of seven appendices 

presenting information on the A m e r i c a n 

Council of Education and the A m e r i c a n 

Association of Junior Colleges, directories 

of junior college organizations and soci-

eties, classified lists of junior colleges, and 

a tabular summary of the curricula of-

fered by junior colleges in 1938-39. 

A general index which is not inclusive 

is supplemented by an Institutional Index 

and an Index of Administrative Officers. 

T o g e t h e r they supply adequate and ac-

MARC hi, 1941 153 



curate reference to the contents of the 

volume. F o r m a t and typography are w e l l 

adapted to the subject matter and add to 

the ease of use. 

L a t e r editions may see improvement, 

but it is difficult to believe that this first 

edition of American Junior Colleges w i l l 

not prove as indispensable to adminis-

trators, students, and librarians as has its 

predecessor, A merican Universities and 

Colleges.—Lois E. Engleman, Frances 

Shimer Junior College Library, Mount 

Carroll, III. 

The Junior College Library Program. 

H a r l e n M a r t i n A d a m s . Joint publica-

tion of the A m e r i c a n L i b r a r y Associa-

tion and Stanford University Press, 

Stanford U n i v e r s i t y , C a l i f . , 1940. xii, 

92p. $2. 

T H I S is a very useful book. In its 
t w e l v e pages of introduction and ninety-

t w o pages of text, it reviews and epito-

mizes the literature on the junior college 

library. It dismisses the quantitative 

standards of past years and pleads for an 

active, educational, cooperative program 

based on conscious analysis of school and 

library functions. T h e data of the book 

w e r e derived from the 136 junior colleges 

(out of 178 selected by the C a r n e g i e C o r -

poration for visitation) which replied to a 

questionnaire. Reference is made through-

out the volume to current aims and prac-

tices; hence, its vitality and appeal. F o l -

l o w i n g a short introduction stating scope 

and plan of the book are six chapters: ( 1 ) 

Standards and f u n c t i o n s ; ( 2 ) T h e library 

and the curriculum (trends and correla-

tions) ; ( 3 ) T h e library and the student 

(instruction, guidance, silent reading, 

reading p r o g r a m ) ; ( 4 ) Administration 

and o r g a n i z a t i o n ; ( 5 ) T h e new library 

program at M e n l o Junior C o l l e g e ( C a l i -

f o r n i a ) ; ( 6 ) Selected basic principles. 

Bibliography and index f o l l o w . M o s t 

stimulating, perhaps, are the t w o chapters 

on trends in function and curriculum cor-

relation and the account of the M e n l o 

R e a d i n g C o u n c i l . O n e w o u l d judge that 

the library at M e n l o really functions. 

It is interesting to note the trends in 

junior college library literature. M i s s 

Ermine Stone's book1 states the accepted 

junior college library functions as com-

pletely and effectively as does the present 

book, but stresses organization, finances, 

and to some extent quantitative standards. 

D r . B. L a m a r Johnson's description of the 

Stephens C o l l e g e library plan2 emphasizes 

the central activity of the library in the 

instructional program and demands a 

broad concept of library materials. T h e 

present book makes a fresh statement of 

current practices and trends t o w a r d in-

tegration, correlation, and planned library 

participation in the educational process. 

I t is to be noted, perhaps, that all three 

of these landmark books are w r i t t e n by 

librarians of private junior colleges. 

M e d i t a t i o n upon these books in connec-

tion w i t h D r . W a l t e r  C . Eells' recent 

directory-summary3 leads one to feel that 

over 575 junior colleges ( w i t h 196,000 

students) have many of the same prob-

lems that confront the four-year colleges 

and universities. It does not seem to the 

reviewer, however, that  w e may transfer 

and apply directly and completely the 

experiences and inferences of a junior col-

lege library program to a four-year col-

lege. A f t e r all, a two-year " p r e p a r a t o r y " 

program is but the first t w o years of 

college, even though some junior colleges 

1 Stone, E r m i n e . The Junior College Library. 
A . L . A . , 1932. 

2 J o h n s o n , B. L a m a r . Vitalising a College Library. 
A.L.A., 1939. 

3 Eells. W a l t e r Crosby, ed. American Junior Col-
leges. A m e r i c a n Council on E d u c a t i o n , 1940. 

154 ' COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES