College and Research Libraries


By F E L I X E . H I R S C H 

W h y Special Collections in 
College Libraries? 
Mr. Hirsch is librarian of Bard College. 

This paper was presented at the Confer-

ence of Eastern College Librarians, No-

vember 29, 1941. 

WHEN the new library building of A l b i o n C o l l e g e in M i c h i g a n was 
dedicated in June 1938 Randolph G . 

A d a m s of the Clements L i b r a r y in A n n 

A r b o r gave a remarkable address, in which 

he stressed the need for special collections 

in college libraries.1 " I t seems to m e , " he 

said, " t h a t one of the neglected functions 

of the college library is to collect, to pre-

serve, and to make available for properly 

qualified readers those unusual books 

which belong uniquely and appropriately 

to the community in which the college is 

located." A n d later, he stated in even 

more general terms that he thought it a 

particularly important function of a col-

lege library to be a local center of collect-

ing and preserving unusual books. T o 

live up to his own theories, he concluded 

his address by making the announcement 

that he had solicited from some leading 

antiquarian booksellers the g i f t of seven-

teen rarities bearing on the history of A l -

bion College and the state of M i c h i g a n 

and on the development of printing since 

the days of the incunabula. T h e fact that 

the statement was not just made by an 

1 P u b l i s h e d in Albion College Bulletin 34: A u g . 
1938. 

ambitious college librarian but by the head 

of an outstanding research library, adds 

greatly to its weight. It may be taken as 

an invitation to consider here, in some de-

tail, the problem of special collections in 

college libraries, particularly since this 

topic has not yet found in the professional 

literature the careful attention which it 

deserves.2 

W h e n speaking here of the college 

library, I have not so much the big and 

well-endowed institution in mind. A f t e r 

all, the special collections of W i l l i a m s and 

D a r t m o u t h rank w i t h those of the univer-

sities. I think chiefly of the small or me-

dium sized college libraries, like A l b i o n or 

Bard, w i t h a small professional staff, w i t h 

collections of fifty or sixty thousand vol-

umes and w i t h a book and periodical 

budget in the neighborhood of $4000. 

T h e question is, how far do these smaller 

libraries need special collections in order 

to f u l f i l l their educational function and 

how far can they afford administering 

them. Before arriving at any general con-

clusions, it seems desirable to examine the 

2 T h e r e a r e o n l y five i m p o r t a n t g e n e r a l r e f e r e n c e s 
in r e c e n t y e a r s : A d a m s , R . G . " T h e P l a c e of R a r e 
B o o k s in a C o l l e g e or U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y . " College 
and Research Libraries 2:27-32, D e c e m b e r 1940; 
E l d e r , L . W . " S p e c i a l C o l l e c t i o n s P e r t i n e n t to t h e 
C o l l e g e L i b r a r y . " Illinois Libraries 19:19-22, D e c e m -
ber 1937; M c C r u m , B . P . An Estimate of Standards 
for a College Library. R e v i s e d e d i t i o n , 1 9 3 7 . P-
41-42; P o w e l l , L . C . " T h e F u n c t i o n of R a r e B o o k s . " 
College and Research Libraries 1:97-103, D e c e m b e r 
1939; R a n d a l l , W . M . , a n d G o o d r i c h , F . L . D . Prin-
ciples of Colle'ge Library Administration, p. J 9 I - 9 9 -

JUNE, 1942 241 



various types of special collections as they 

are found in college libraries.3 

T h e r e are three major types of special 

collections, not all alike in relevance for a 

college library. T h e first type would be 

the special collection that is related to the 

history of the institution and the founder's 

family, the religious and educational back-

ground of the college, and the geographical 

area in which it is located. T h e second 

type refers to the function of the library to 

promote the appreciation of books; these 

collections deal with the history and 

aesthetics of printing and binding. T h e 

third type is coordinated with the educa-

tional work of the college; these subject 

collections grow out of benefactions of 

friends of the college or out of the teach-

ing and research of faculty members. 

Historical Collections 

T h e r e are quite a few collections of the 

historical type that combine local interest 

with high general significance. T h e large 

and rich collection that the library of 

Mount Holyoke has assembled on M a r y 

Lyon, the founder of the college, has a 

meaning far beyond the campus of South 

Hadley. It bears on the whole early his-

tory of women's education in this country 

and offers sidelights also on social life in 

N e w England; some appreciation of its 

wealth may be gained from a study of 

A . C . Cole's colorful centennial history of 

the college. T h e same recognition is due 

to the Quaker Collection at Haverford, 

which has no rival in this country. Here 

many rare volumes from the earlier days 

of Quakerism, as well as the best of the 

3 T h i s rapid s u r v e y is based on e x p e r i e n c e s and ob-
s e r v a t i o n s made at B a r d College L i b r a r y and on in-
f o r m a t i o n k i n d l y f u r n i s h e d by the f o l l o w i n g l i b r a r i a n s 
and c u r a t o r s : F a n n y B o r d e n , V a s s a r C o l l e g e ; T h o m a s 
E . D r a k e , H a v e r f o r d C o l l e g e ; F l o r a B . L u d i n g t o n , 
M o u n t H o l y o k e C o l l e g e ; T h . E . Norton, L a f a y e t t e 
C o l l e g e ; E d i t h R o w l e y , A l l e g h e n y C o l l e g e ; N . O r w i n 
R u s h , C o l b y C o l l e g e . 

later literature and also manuscript writ-

ings of individual Friends, have been gath-

ered together. T h e y are consulted not 

only by Haverfordians but also by outside 

students of Quakerism. In the opinion of 

the curator of the collection, Professor 

Thomas E. Drake, "Haverford profits 

from the fact that it is a recognized de-

pository of the records of Quaker thought 

and a center for the study and exposition 

of the Quaker way of life." 

Generous gifts have enabled Bard Col-

lege Library in recent years also to develop 

a historical collection that may add to the 

usefulness of the library. T h i s so-called 

Bardiana Collection deals chiefly with the 

history of the founder's family and with 

the early years of the college.4 T h e Bards 

were French Huguenots who came to this 

country early in the eighteenth century 

and rose rapidly to wealth and scholarly 

fame. T h e most renowned member of 

the family, D r . Samuel Bard was one 

of the great figures in the early history of 

Columbia College and also a president of 

the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

T h e Bards owned a large estate in the 

Hudson River Valley which was called 

Hyde P a r k ; from that place the now so 

well-known town of Hyde Park derives its 

name. T h i s collection of documents, let-

ters, pictures, and books has, therefore, a 

meaning for the history of Columbia Uni-

versity as well as that of Dutchess County, 

in which the college is located, and has 

been used by scholars interested in either 

aspect. T h e varying displays of items 

from the collection have appealed to promi-

nent outside visitors just as much as to 

neighbors in the county and to faithful 

alumni. Last but not least, they have 

made some of the students aware of the 

4 T h i s collection is described in the present w r i t e r ' s 
article on the B a r d f a m i l y , in Columbia University 
Quarterly 33:222-41, October 1941. 

242 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



tradition to which the college is linked. 

Recently a special room was designed to 

house this collection adequately and there 

we are also placing the more valuable part 

of the personal library of the founder's 

family. From the educational aspect it 

has never seemed satisfactory to stress only 

the history of the Bard family. W e have 

been trying to bring together also other 

materials that might be useful for students 

seriously interested in the Hudson River 

Valley and its problems. A faculty com-

mittee has just been appointed, of which a 

history professor experienced in regional 

studies is chairman and of which the librar-

ian is also a member, in order to develop 

a suitable program of such studies. There 

are already a few senior projects along 

these lines and the committee hopes to 

stimulate more of them. A s time goes on 

— a n d all these collections need very much 

time and loving attention—we will thus 

add to the original Bardiana Collection a 

working collection for educational pur-

poses. 

Needs of Undergraduate Students 

T h i s is a very important point, for in 

a college library one cannot only think in 

terms of advanced scholarship. W e have 

to keep the needs of undergraduate stu-

dents in mind and have to make the his-

torical collection meaningful to t h e m — 

that is, with the support of the experts on 

the faculty. Otherwise, we would fulfill 

the function of a museum instead of that 

of a college library. T h e reservation that 

students do not fully grasp the value of 

such collections has sometimes been made 

by librarians. Lucius W . Elder of Knox 

College states frankly: "Students go into 

the room of a special collection to study in 

quiet and leave the books therein to rot at 

their leisure." Professor Drake knows of 

undergraduates who remember the Quaker 

Alcove at Haverford "chiefly as a retreat 

from the scrutiny of the watchdogs of the 

library, where tired feet may be elevated 

above one's book as an aid to study or a 

preliminary to sleep." And the situation 

at Lafayette College leaves also something 

to be desired. In the course of a decade, a 

rich collection of books, pamphlets, manu-

scripts, etc., dealing with Lafayette's ca-

reer and with the French participation in 

the American Revolution, has been built 

up there and made readily available to the 

public. However, the librarian, M r . Nor-

ton, declares: " I am not satisfied with the 

use the books get. There is not likely to 

be any improvement or increase in the 

usefulness of the collection until we have 

on the college teaching staff in either 

French or history men who have a special 

interest in this subject." 

Educational Value of Rare Books 

T h e second type of special collections, 

as defined at the outset, is represented at 

Bard by a large group of books that was 

once exhibited under the title, "From 

Gutenberg to Goudy." It includes a leaf 

of the forty-two line Gutenberg Bible, 

some incunabula, a number of works 

printed by Aldus and Estienne, as well as 

famous works of later centuries, including 

some designed by masters of our own day, 

like Updike and Goudy. T h e majority of 

these items were given to the library long 

ago and were kept there under lock and 

key. Only a few years ago did we start 

to display them freely and to use them for 

the purpose of strengthening an under-

standing of the graphic arts among the 

students. T h a t is an important function 

in a college in which the Fine Arts are a 

major field of study. T h i s appreciation of 

fine printing has been deepened by lectures 

JUNE j 1942 243 



given in the library by men like F . W . 

Goudy and Helmut Lehmann-Haupt. 

From my own observations, I would like 

to agree with Blanche P. M c C r u m , librar-

ian of Wellesley College, who, in her an-

nual report for 1939-40, protested against 

the "unqualified assertion sometimes made 

that rare books are a drug on the college 

library market. So they are if treated as 

museum pieces; but when instructors and 

curators join hands in making them part 

of the bone and sinew of teaching and 

when they provide material for theses and 

for original study by students in advanced 

classes, they begin to make the rich con-

tribution to the educational resources of 

the college planned" by the benefactors. 

Librarian and Collector 

O u t of the efforts to evaluate and display 

the treasures of our two collections, the 

nucleus of a third collection was born. A 

neighbor of the college, himself a book 

collector of great distinction, gained con-

fidence in the work of the Bard Library 

when he saw how the staff handled the 

other collections. He decided to present it 

with some samples of masterpieces of Eng-

lish literature of the nineteenth and 

twentieth centuries in order to give new 

inspiration to the study of English at Bard. 

T h e volumes and manuscripts he has do-

nated from time to time are not many in 

number but they are among the choicest 

possessions we have. T h i s friend of Bard 

Library started out with letting us have 

some precious Hardy items. N o w he has 

presented us with Dickens' own auto-

graphed copy of the first edition of Nich-

olas Nickleby and with a set of original 

letters by Sir W a l t e r Scott, in which the 

author gives advice to a young poet—in-

deed a topic of interest to students. Other 

gifts along similar lines may follow. Even 

though this collection is small and does 

not aim by any means at completeness, it 

has its great value to the college com-

munity; for it does make a difference, at 

least to sensitive persons, whether they see 

a famous Hardy poem in a cheap edition 

or in the manuscript. T h e fact that this 

collection is being developed not by the 

initiative of some professor or librarian, 

but by a collector, should not be a reason 

for complaint. O n the contrary, Ran-

dolph G . Adams, in his earlier mentioned 

address, blames librarians for having so 

little conception of the function of the col-

lector. It seems to me that indeed we 

should try to gain their friendship and 

thoughtful advice without ever hunting for 

their possessions. W e are librarians, not 

beggars! 

Relations with Collector 

T h i s attitude is also the only fair one in 

dealing with the book collector who hap-

pens to be a member of the faculty. A t 

Bard we have such a case. T h e professor 

of French, Artine Artinian, has brought 

together in many years of research what is 

probably the largest collection of Maupas-

sant items in existence. W e have been 

permitted to display the collection for a 

number of months and its existence on 

campus has created a sustained interest in 

Maupassant and all he stands for in 

French literature. Collections of similar 

quality may be found on quite a few cam-

puses; they are always worthy of the 

librarian's appreciation and, if needed, his 

cooperation. In some instances, a professor 

who is advanced in years might even pre-

sent his collection to the library of his 

college. Haverford College Library, to 

name just one, has the good fortune of 

falling heir to Rufus M . Jones' Collection 

on European mysticism. 

244 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



Another variety of a gift collection is 

happily represented at the library of A l -

legheny College in Pennsylvania. Three 

years ago, Ida M . Tarbell turned over her 

working collection on Abraham Lincoln 

to the library; this collection consists of all 

the materials that she used when writing 

her Lincoln book. Edith Rowley, the 

librarian, states that from the point of 

view of educational usefulness the collec-

tion is a decided addition to the resources 

of the library. T h e year Miss Tarbell 

presented the material she gave a month 

of lectures on biographic methods, using 

the Lincoln collection for illustrative pur-

poses, and later the head of the history de-

partment gave a seminar course in the 

room now housing the collection. T h r e e 

seniors used phases of Lincoln's life as the 

subject for their so-called comprehensive 

papers. 

Teaching and Collecting 

One group of what we called the sub-

ject collection is not yet found at Bard, 

due chiefly to the fact that the college in 

its present form is still very young. W e 

do not possess any collection that has 

grown out of the actual teaching over a 

long period of years. Such collections will 

help the college library greatly in fulfilling 

its task. Here I think, for instance, of the 

Hardy Collection at Colby College, which 

is the work of Professor Carl J. Weber, 

who in fifteen years of passionate effort 

brought together a collection of unusual 

wealth and comprehensiveness. T h i s col-

lection has added greatly to the nation-

wide reputation of the college and its 

library, and without these materials Pro-

fessor Weber certainly would not have 

written his recent Hardy biography. It is 

no wonder that the librarian of Colby Col-

lege, N . O r w i n Rush, is " f u l l y convinced 

that a special collection, properly handled, 

is a great asset to a college library." Vas-

sar College, to give another example of 

this type, possesses two important collec-

tions that were developed by faculty 

efforts. One is the famous Justice Collec-

tion of material relating to the periodical 

press. It was gathered together by the 

Vassar historian, Lucy M . Salmon, whose 

own widely-used books on newspaper prob-

lems were chiefly based on materials in this 

collection. T h i s collection, by the way, is 

kept up through purchases from the in-

come of a fund and through contributions 

of books, pamphlets, and clippings from 

alumnas of the college; the collection is 

not segregated on the shelves. T h e other 

significant special collection at Vassar is 

devoted to Robert Owen. It includes 

books, pamphlets, and periodical articles 

by and about Robert Owen. T h e collec-

tion was established in connection with 

Professor Herbert Mills' seminar class in 

socialism about forty years ago and in-

cludes many important first editions and 

other rare items. Each year a few items 

are added. 

Administration of Collections 

T h e administration of such collections 

sometimes presents problems. W h o shall 

have control and who is to do the actual 

w o r k ? In a small college it may seem 

preferable to center the special collections 

in the library and administrate them di-

rectly, of course with advice from inter-

ested faculty members. For the larger 

library more flexible arrangements may be 

wiser. A t Vassar, for instance, the de-

partments are entrusted with the care and 

building up of various special collections, 

but the librarian is entitled to exert as 

much supervision as she deems necessary, 

for the general good. 

JUNE j 1942 245 



T h e small and medium sized college 

will of necessity always try to keep the 

expense for special collections as far down 

as possible. I personally would not feel 

that I acted properly if I were spending 

large sums of our fairly limited library 

budget on our special collections. Here or 

there I buy an indispensable item for 

rounding out the Bardiana Collection but 

I certainly would think it outrageous to 

spend some hundreds of dollars for getting 

more incunabula. Other librarians feel 

the same way. Colby never spends more 

than $200 a year for the Hardy Collection. 

Haverford tries to avoid the purchase of 

any very expensive Quaker item that 

would only duplicate material available in 

other libraries around Philadelphia. Even 

a rich college library like Vassar is very 

cautious in acquisitioning for its special 

collections. In most of these colleges there 

are usually some friends of the library, be 

they organized or unorganized, to whose 

loyalty and generosity the purchase of 

large items might be referred. 

Three Great Dangers 

A f t e r this brief survey of special col-

lections, it will not be difficult to arrive 

now at some general conclusions. T h e r e 

are three great dangers apparent to the 

critical observer. Robert B. Downs, in 

his latest report on notable materials added 

to American libraries,5 complains justly 

about the scattering of complementary and 

supplementary materials in widely separate 

areas of the country. " I n a nation," he 

says, "as vast as our own, there may well 

be room for duplication of collections even 

in highly specialized fields. But a reason-

able degree of coordination is obviously 

desirable." 

5 D o w n s , R o b e r t B . " N o t a b l e M a t e r i a l s A d d e d to 
A m e r i c a n L i b r a r i e s , 1939-1940." Library Quarterly 
1 1 : 2 5 7 - 3 0 1 , J u l y 1941. 

Another great danger is that a library 

may try to swallow more than it can chew. 

It is hazardous to accept a special collec-

tion if you have no proper place to house 

it, no decent cases in which to display some 

choice items, no money at all to keep it up, 

no faculty experts to organize and develop 

it, and no staff to catalog and supervise it. 

Adventures of this kind are almost inex-

cusable, for the acceptance of any large-

scale gift implies that you will treat it and 

make it available in an appropriate fashion. 

T h e third and probably greatest danger 

is to have special collections for which 

there is no interest or need whatsoever on 

the college campus. It would seem foolish 

to invest time and money on a collection 

that is not somehow related either to the 

traditions and the environment of the col-

lege, or to the history of bookmaking, or 

to the academic curriculum of the partic-

ular college, or to the scholarly interests 

of faculty members. Certainly it would 

be unwise for the average college library 

to take over a collection on, say, Arabic 

literature, if nobody on campus knows that 

language. N o over-ambition, no competi-

tive spirit, no desire for publicity, no per-

sonal vanity should ever induce a college 

librarian to acquire such a collection that 

would be deadwood in his library but 

might be an asset in a larger institution. 

A New Stimulus 

O n the other hand, we should not forget 

that many of the special collections have a 

good reason for being. O f course, we 

regret the splitting up of materials that the 

scholar might like to examine at one place 

(even though in times of war this segrega-

tion of rarities may have obvious advan-

tages). But we have also to keep in mind 

that many materials would never have be-

come accessible to the public at all if the 

246 C O L L E G E , AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



donor had not intended to do a particular 
library a favor. T h e gentleman w h o gave 
Bard his Hardy items would probably not 
have cared to turn them over to Colby 
College but might have kept them out of 
sight if he had not desired to do something 
constructive for Bard. Also it may be 
said that many special collections in college 
libraries do not duplicate at all the work 
of larger libraries. T h e college library 
that collects materials on the part of the 
country to which it belongs and on the 
history of its own institution may fulfill a 
unique task. Randolph G. Adams, for 
one, is convinced that no other type of 
library is more suited for it. But the most 
pertinent argument for special collections 
would be the fact that they may add 
greatly to the educational value and the 
scholarly rank of the library. Special col-
lections may offer the students working 
tools that no textbook or monograph could 
ever provide. T h e best of these collections 
may instil in the student some lasting en-
thusiasm. T h e y also may strengthen the 
ties that exist between faculty and library. 
T h e y may make the professor and 
the library staff work more distinctly 

towards a. common goal. 
Although we librarians are used to sigh 

about our being overburdened with work, 
it' should not be overlooked that special 
collections may offer us a new stimulus. 
W e are members of a profession that is 
overwhelmed with routine duties. W o u l d 
the cataloger w h o spends most of the time 
just handling Library of Congress cards 
not be happy to get an opportunity of 
doing some real cataloging of truly great 
books? Is this not also a chance for the 
circulation assistant, who hands out aver-
age books all day, suddenly to get excited 
about dealing with some real rarities of 
printing or binding? For the reference 
assistant to answer some more intricate 
bibliographical questions than those that 
usually come to his desk? A s for the 
librarian himself, Lucius W . Elder has 
expressed the feelings of many of his 
colleagues in saying about these special col-
lections : " W h e n the librarian has accumu-
lated a building full of such things and 
when he has found out what to do with 
them, he may then pride himself on having 
liquified one of the chief debts of the 
library to mankind." 

JUNE, 1942 247