College and Research Libraries


ments. Books and magazines considered 

w e r e examined by teachers and librarians 

for teachability and readability. 

Books purchased w e r e first placed in 

the general library on reserve. L a t e r a 

classroom library w a s set up. T h i s soon 

proved impractical because the rapidly in-

creasing enrolment in the field and the 

expanded number of related courses of-

fered made the effective administration of 

the materials extremely difficult. A c c o r d -

ingly, aviation materials have for the most 

part been returned to the general library. 

T e m p o r a r y classroom collections are, how-

ever, established as needed for selected 

units of instruction. 

O u r present organization now appears 

to meet adequately the instructional needs 

in aviation. Since, however, flexibility is 

an essential of functional library admin-

istration, the library staff is alert to the 

possibilities of developing new methods of 

making materials available w h e n and 

w h e r e they are needed. Changes in cir-

culation routines and location of materials 

w i l l accordingly be made as required. 

Streamlining of ordering and cataloging 

routines to maintain a steady flow-of ac-

cessions is particularly helpful in meeting 

the changing needs of new fields of in-

struction. 

T h e development of attitudes, habits, 

and skills in the effective use of tools of 

learning is an important function of each 

course in the curriculum. T h e attainment 

of these goals demands much more than the 

selection of appropriate materials and the 

location of such materials where they can 

be used most effectively. T h e methods 

for attaining these ends represent a sig-

nificant instructional problem upon which 

teachers and librarians must w o r k together 

in all fields. 

Summary 

1. T h e function of the library in ter-

minal education is identical w i t h its 

function in every other aspect of the edu-

cational program. 

2. T h e selection of materials f o r some 

of the newer vocational courses requires 

the cooperation of practitioners in voca-

tions as w e l l as of teachers and librarians. 

3. Flexibility of administration is a sig-

nificant aid to meeting the instructional 

needs of an educational program. 

B y J O H N B L A N C H A R D M A C I N N E S 

The Small Private School for Men 
Mr. Maclnnes is instructor in economics 

and accounting, Kicker Junior College, 

Houlton, Maine, and was formerly librar-

ian, Conant Library, Nichols Junior Col-

lege., Dudley, Massachusetts. 

DU R I N G M Y I N C U M B E N C Y as l i b r a r i a n of Nichols Junior C o l l e g e the library 
was completely reorganized w i t h a v i e w to 

making it fit more adequately the needs 

of the institution. T h e educational pro-

gram carried on w a s entirely professional 

and largely terminal, although some stu-

dents did transfer a f t e r graduation to 

four-year colleges for further w o r k in busi-

ness administration. T h e great majority 

of the students w e n t directly into business 

after g r a d u a t i o n — t h a t w a s before the 

146 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



w a r — a n d the library facilities w e r e organ-

ized and operated w i t h that fact in mind. 

I t was, in the main, a technical profes-

sional library for students of business and, 

to a lesser degree, a general library for 

their enjoyment and for other uses. 

A n ordinary complete system and rou-

tine of college library service w a s main-

tained, w h i c h there is little need for me 

to discuss. T w o especial aspects, how-

ever, do stand out, which may be of some 

interest to others engaged in the field. 

Guidance and Personnel Program 

T h e first direction in which the library 

facilities w e r e unusually developed, I 

think, w a s in relation to the guidance and 

personnel program. T h e school carried 

on an elaborate guidance program under 

the administration of the department of 

psychology, managed by t w o instructors, 

the dean, and three members of a Boston 

personnel firm, the M i l l e r Associates, Inc., 

which specializes in personnel consulta-

tion and education. U n d e r the leadership 

of the department of psychology the w h o l e 

faculty were encouraged and expected to 

engage to some extent in guidance w o r k . 

In that w a y the guidance program w a s a 

cooperative undertaking w i t h the faculty, 

in a literal sense, under technical pro-

fessional guidance. Specific vocational 

orientation w a s facilitated through an 

advisory council of business men, w h o 

sponsored the further extension of the 

guidance program under actual conditions 

of employment in various selected firms 

w h i c h cooperated w i t h the institution to 

this end. T h e actual operation of such a 

program involved a considerable amount of 

supervised, directed reading over a w i d e 

variety of subjects, w i t h conferences under 

a quasi-tutorial system, and it w a s at this 

juncture that the library facilities came 

into fullest use. A considerable amount 

of appropriate material w a s acquired and 

the librarian was expected to be conversant 

w i t h it and w i t h the problems involved in 

specific cases and, if need be, to supple-

ment assigned readings by additional 

reading recommended by him on his o w n 

initiative. Such a program necessarily re-

quired some familiarity w i t h the fields of 

psychology and vocational guidance but w a s 

eminently w o r t h w h i l e in terms of enthu-

siastic response and significant results. 

A v a i l a b l e funds w e r e limited for the 

amount of material needed, and accord-

ingly a staggered system of assignments 

w a s worked out by the librarian and the 

other faculty so that greater efficiency 

could be had both in the use of students' 

time and of the library facilities, w h i l e 

at the same time avoiding unnecessary 

multiplication of reserve copies. A con-

siderable amount of bookkeeping w a s en-

tailed at first but in time w a s whittled 

down to easily feasible proportions. T h e 

library became, along w i t h the conference 

room, the veritable center of the guidance 

program. 

Thesis Preparation 

T h e second aspect of library service at 

Nichols Junior College that merits descrip-

tion concerned the thesis requirement for 

graduation. N a t u r a l l y , the library w a s 

used a great deal in the preparation of 

theses. T h e selection and use of material 

— b o o k s , periodicals, and current govern-

ment publications, as w e l l as occasional 

private m a t e r i a l — w e r e made under the 

supervision of the librarian and involved 

frequent conferences as to scope of treat-

ment, range of subject matter, availability 

and accessibility of materials, and methods 

MARCH', 1943 147 



of research and w r i t i n g . T h e librarian 

w a s chairman of the faculty committee in 

charge of theses and research w o r k , and 

the emphasis w a s laid as much on tech-

nique and apparatus as on the actual or 

alleged significance of the papers them-

selves. W e did not expect a student at 

the fourteenth-grade level to produce a 

great piece of research, but w e did demand 

an honest piece of w o r k , thoroughly and 

accurately done a f t e r adequate, but not 

elaborate, investigation and research. 

Little Adult Education 

T h e r e w e r e no extension classes, no 

night school classes, and only occasionally 

public lectures of such a character as 

w o u l d w a r r a n t their being regarded as 

adult education. W h a t f e w there w e r e 

pertained to the field of international rela-

tions and involved very little use of the 

library by the public, although its limited 

resources in that direction w e r e never re-

fused to any one. 

Education in Business Administration 

In general, the school w a s organized 

and operated chiefly as an institution of 

terminal education in business adminis-

tration. T o this end the subjects pertain-

ing to business education w e r e telescoped 

into a two-year intensive course, the 

general policy being to attain an integrated 

program of correlated subjects in the 

field, w i t h little else of a general nature. 

In this connection the library w a s thought 

of, not as a storehouse of great literature, 

but as a kind of book-laboratory, not a 

place for browsing especially, but rather 

a place for hunting out and for exploring. 

I t w a s the librarian's job to see that the 

library facilities could and did meet this 

purely utilitarian end adequately, effec-

tively, and quickly. 

» 

148 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES