College and Research Libraries B y H E L E N M A R G A R E T R E Y N O L D S University Library Buildings in the United States 1890-1939 Miss Reynolds is assistant, Richer Li- brary, University of Illinois. Introduction THIS is an historical study of university l i b r a r y buildings in the U n i t e d States f r o m 1 8 9 0 through 1 9 3 9 . I t assumes an historical development of university libraries in the U n i t e d States and that the archi- tectural development of their buildings is a necessary part of that history. T h e term university includes only the members of the A m e r i c a n Association of Universities (as of 1 9 3 9 ) . Library build- ings are defined as buildings designed f o r the library purposes of the university and housing exclusively or primarily the uni- versity's l i b r a r y materials. N o buildings have been considered which w e r e completed before 1 8 9 0 or a f t e r 1 9 3 9 , and the year of completion has been taken as the determining date. If built in sec- tions, the date when the first unit w a s completed has been used as the key date. T h e period of time is assumed to be a f a i r l y natural division of the subject matter be- cause of evidence of a building boom in university library buildings in the 1 8 9 0 ' s and because W o r l d W a r I I interposed a cessation of building activities in the 1 9 4 0 ' s . T h i r t y - e i g h t buildings at twenty-seven universities meet the above requirements. P l a n n i n g has been emphasized rather than structure. E q u i p p i n g , heating, light- ing, ventilating, and f u r n i s h i n g of the build- ings have been omitted. D a t a have been d r a w n p r i m a r i l y f r o m professional library literature and university publications. A r c h i t e c t u r a l literature has recorded very little more than occasional plans. Conclusions have been derived f r o m a study of f a c t u a l data and floor plans of individual buildings, supplemented by such articles and contemporary expressions of opinion as seemed to cast light on the de- velopments noted. Backgrounds U n i v e r s i t y library buildings in the U n i t e d States cannot be understood apart f r o m the evolution of the university in the U n i t e d States. A real revolution in A m e r i c a n higher education took place f r o m 1 8 5 0 to 1 9 1 7 w i t h the rise and establishment of the uni- versity idea. A s a result of this educational development, the traditional A m e r i c a n col- lege w i t h its rigidly prescribed c u r r i c u l u m w a s t r a n s f o r m e d by the addition of profes- sional schools, graduate schools, a new range of electives, and a greatly expanded c u r r i c u l u m . T h e base of education w a s broadened democratically w i t h the introduc- tion of state universities and land g r a n t colleges.1 B y 1 8 9 0 the university w a s w e l l established, and by 1 9 0 0 the Association of A m e r i c a n LTniversities had been organized. " T h e condition of membership w a s at first the maintenance of a strong graduate school, but later the effective organization of high grade professional schools in connection w i t h the university w a s made a coordinate 1 W . H. Cowley, " T h e University in the United States of America," The University Outside Europe, edited by Edward Bradby. London, Oxford, 1939, p. 37-1x2. APRIL, 1953 12 7 prerequisite f o r m e m b e r s h i p . " 2 Associated w i t h these requirements w e r e other univer- sity ideals such as the conservation of k n o w l e d g e , the extension of the bounds of k n o w l e d g e by research, and the dissemina- tion of k n o w l e d g e . G r o w t h and change have been constant characteristics of the universities in the f i f t y years since 1 8 9 0 . T h e r e has been an enormous expansion of university enroll- ments and a corresponding increase in the size of university faculties. T h e r e have been many changes in courses of study, n e w theories on the means of achieving educa- tional goals, and perhaps most important of all, alterations in methods of teaching. 3 T h e university l i b r a r y had changed by 1 8 9 0 f r o m a small collection of books, scarcely used and r a r e l y added to by pur- chase, to a place w h e r e both students and f a c u l t y spent much time " e v e r y day con- sulting many authorities on subjects f o r - merly taught f r o m a single b o o k . " 4 F r o m then on, the l i b r a r y became a laboratory of the social sciences; and this, combined w i t h an expansion of c u r r i c u l a r interest, the n e w requirement of research facilities f o r g r a d u a t e students and f a c u l t y , and the rapid expansion of publishing output, created a continuous demand f o r more and more l i b r a r y materials. Since before W o r l d W a r I , it w a s recognized that the university l i b r a r y must continue to g r o w and that the g r o w t h must be unlimited, 5 but it w a s not until w e l l into the post-war period that study revealed the rapid rate of g r o w t h of research libraries.6 G r o w t h had been at- tended by more intensive use per person, due to the change in educational methods, 2 K . B . Babcock, "Universities, Association of Ameri- c a n , " A Cyclopedia of Education, edited by Paul Mon- roe. N . Y . , Macmillan, 1 9 1 1 , vol. 5, p. 682. 3 W . H . Cowley, op. cit., pp. 3 7 - 1 1 2 . 4 Kansas University, Tenth Biennial Report, 1895-96. Topeka, Kansas State Print Co., 1896, p. 16. 6 "Report of the S u r v e y Committee," Bulletin of Brown University 2 7 : 1 3 3 , Oct. 1930. 8 Fremont Rider, The Scholar and the Future of the Research Library. N . Y . , Hadham, 1944, p. 8. and by a greater number of persons using university libraries as the result of a demo- cratic base of higher education in the U n i t e d States. T h i s in turn had meant an adminis- trative g r o w t h of libraries as the volume and diversity of materials on the one hand and the v o l u m e of readers on the other have had to have progressively specialized handling. Factors Influencing the Character of University Library Buildings A s the university l i b r a r y had developed in complexity, its physical f o r m , the l i b r a r y building, might be expected to do likewise, influenced not only by educational methods but also by financial factors, the existence of a body of professional library opinion, the status of architectural design and build- ing technique, and the influence of previous l i b r a r y buildings. T h e trend of building requirements be- tween 1 8 9 0 and 1 9 3 9 f o r university library buildings as determined by general educa- tional f a c t o r s w a s t w o - f o l d : a steadily in- creasing administrative need of a centrally located building which w o u l d a f f o r d fire- proof protection and adequate facilities f o r the use of the university's l i b r a r y ; and need of steadily expanding facilities f o r readers, storage, and administration. A centrally located building, though more accessible, could only meet the second edu- cational requirement by being, at the outset, a much l a r g e r building than required. A building which w o u l d be flexible enough to adequately meet expansion needs w o u l d more reasonably be erected in sections over a period of time, and a location near the periphery of the campus w o u l d therefore be f a v o r e d . A n alleviating f a c t o r has been the tendency of universities to have both a centralized general collection and a sys- tem of college and departmental libraries. T h e source of buildings f u n d s has o f t e n 150 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES # been a factor determining whether a large building would be erected initially or whether the building would be erected sec- tionally. V a l u e of ground and its avail- ability has often determined whether expan- sion would be vertical or horizontal. T h e influence of the university librarian and the status of library science have been important elements influencing the course followed by university library buildings. In the early 1 8 9 0 ' s a f e w universities were without a professional librarian when li- brary buildings were planned, and there was considerable disagreement even among librarians upon many matters of building policy. A f e w principles were standardized by Soule's now well-known eleven points in 1 8 9 1 . 7 T h e s e were followed with a steady stream of publicity on individual buildings, but not until the 1 9 3 0 ' s did the institutions of higher education have a statement in print of their specific standards in G e r - ould's College Library Building. T h u s when a building w a s in prospect, each insti- tution had to survey the field of accomplish- ment and select what seemed best. T h e features which were thought successful in several buildings were quite likely to be reproduced again and again—a situation very conducive to the evolution of a stereo- typed pattern. American architecture in general passed through three general phases between 1 8 9 0 and 1 9 3 9 . T h e revival of the Romanesque, which was waning in the first years of the 1890's, yielded to an eclectic period about 1 8 9 3 , which particularly favored the classic style due to the influence of the W o r l d ' s Columbian Exposition.8 T h e eclectic period in turn gave w a y to the modern style about the time of W o r l d W a r I. H o w - ever, the style of architecture in use f o r 7 C. C. Soule, " P o i n t s of Agreement Among Librarians as to Library Architecture." Library Journal 1 6 : 1 7 - 1 9 , Dec. 1 8 9 1 . s T . E . Tallmadge, The Story of Architecture in America. N . Y . , Norton [ 0 1 9 3 6 ] , p. 166, 234. collegiate buildings up into the 1 9 3 0 ' s w a s influenced by the styles used between 1 8 9 3 and 1 9 1 7 because of a new development in the architectural treatment of colleges and universities—the campus plan. T h e stimu- lus of this movement w a s the plan com- missioned f o r Stanford University in 1 8 8 6 . T h e idea was taken up by the University of C a l i f o r n i a in 1898, and it soon gained popularity on other campuses. Conse- quently, the first years of the twentieth century found the style and probable loca- tion of f u t u r e library buildings being pre- ordained by the higher principle of order of the whole university community. A t the same time that logic entered the planning of entire campuses, logical plan- ning of the individual building w a s develop- ing during the 1 8 9 0 ' s and the early twentieth century. T h e philosophy of architects was being influenced by the Ecole de B e a u x A r t s in Paris as more and more American architects were imbued with the tradition of designing the interior f o r its function and letting the building be expres- sive of the design thus developed. Building technique was at a stage in 1 8 9 0 where it could respond to changing architectural demands and to the require- ments of a developing library science. T h e introduction of skyscraper construction about 1 8 8 4 had paved the w a y f o r carrying to any desired heights the stack idea which had been introduced in the United States at H a r v a r d University in 1 8 7 7 . W h e r e a s early library buildings in the United States had to plan on daylight or gaslight f o r the use of books, electric lighting was success- f u l l y installed in university libraries in the 1880's, and its potentialities were avail- able. Perhaps the most p o w e r f u l influence of all in determining the course which univer- sity library buildings would take was w h a t had been attempted in previous library de- APRIL, 1953 187 12 7 signs. B e f o r e 1 8 9 0 some nine institutions in the United States which were later to develop as universities had built library buildings. T h e earliest of these w a s built in 1 8 4 1 at H a r v a r d and has been called "the conventional American library build- i n g " plan.9 Soule described it as " a church- like interior . . . adapted to library uses by shelving the bays as alcoves, and breaking their height by a g a l l e r y . " 1 0 University libraries in the United States in the 1 8 4 0 ' s and 1 8 5 0 ' s did not yet feel the impact of the growth problem; the alcove arrange- ment answered w e l l enough f o r a small collection. A church-like structure suited the monumental purposes of the builders, but other monumental building types were also adapted to library use by the tiered- gallery arrangement of books. M e a n w h i l e three famous library build- ings were erected in E u r o p e : the new Ste. Genevieve L i b r a r y , Paris, 1 8 4 3 ; the Biblio- theque Nationale, Paris, 1 8 5 4 ; and the British M u s e u m , London, 1 8 5 7 . In Ste. Genevieve the reading room w a s on the top floor of the building with the books being stored below i t ; the Bibliotheque Nationale had a book stack which adjoined a large reading r o o m ; while the British M u s e u m was* a huge circular reading room sur- rounded by stacks. T h e s e plans were the first to deal with the problem occasioned by the enormous gains in the output of publishing houses and the necessity of pro- viding f o r a larger reading public. T h e result w a s the " f r a n k segregation of reading rooms and store r o o m s . " 1 1 I n the 1 8 7 0 ' s and 1 8 8 0 ' s the growth problem w a s beginning to confront a f e w universities in the United States. H a r v a r d 9 W . F . Poole, " T h e Construction of Library Build- i n g s . " Library Journal 6:69-77, A p r . 1881. 1 0 C. C. Soule, " L i b r a r y , " A Dictionary of Architec- ture and Building, by Russell Sturgis. N . Y . , Macmil- lan, 1 9 0 1 , vol. 2, col. 751. 1 1 P . P . Cret, " L i b r a r y Architecture," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed. London: Encyclopaedia Britan- nica Co. [C1936], vol. 14, p. 26. first solved it by the use of a storage w i n g in the form of a book stack, using the same principles as the Bibliotheque Nationale. H o w e v e r there was by no means unanimity of opinion among librarians as to the pre- ferred means of handling books which were separated f r o m the reading room f o r storage. A n opposing school of thought w a s led by Poole, and it held out f o r storage in book rooms in which book cases could be aligned in ranges, but in which a space of some eight feet w a s l e f t between the top of the cases and the ceiling to insure air, light, and ventilation. A Design Problem and Its Solution: Transitional Buildings T h e university library buildings which were erected f r o m 1 8 9 0 through 1 9 3 9 f a l l naturally into two groups, the first of which is here called transitional and in- cludes buildings erected between 1 8 9 0 and 1 9 1 0 . Since the use of a large single room arranged on the tiered-alcove plan had fallen into disfavor and universities were being faced with g r o w i n g collections and a need to administer them effectively f o r use, a definite commitment to the separation of readers and books was required of the transitional university library building. T h e design problem w a s that of establishing relationships between a reading room, storage unit, seminar rooms and staff rooms. T h e solution must also provide f o r a period of growth. T h e transitional libraries represent ex- perimental attempts to incorporate theories of library administration in the layout of buildings. Space w i l l not permit here a detailed analysis of the variety of plans at- tempted ; a summation of types w i l l have to suffice. T h e r e were three basic w a y s in which the elements of the transitional library plan 152 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES were combined: ( a ) a linear arrangement with the reading room and storage element arranged in a line to form a rectangular g r o u p ; ( b ) a centralized plan which had a square or octagonal reading room around which the other elements of the library Were distributed, making a ground plan of a G r e e k cross, usually surmounted with a dome; ( c ) an angular arrangement of two wings, one containing the reading room, the other the storage element, m a k i n g a ground plan of an L or T , sometimes with other wings added to f o r m an I or U . I n the linear arrangement, the reading room and the book storage element could be placed side-by-side or end-to-end. If Poole's book room storage was used, the two elements would balance well side by side, but expansion was rarely possible. If the more compact and economical stack storage w a s used, the stack and the reading room must be balanced asymmetrically, but the building could then usually have stack additions. A n end-to-end arrangement with the entrance through the reading room put the stack at the rear of the building where it could conveniently be expanded, but this arrangement meant traffic through the reading room. Seminars could easily be located on upper floors of the library, but staff w o r k rooms which needed to be near the circulation desk were pressed f o r space in each type of linear building. T h e domed buildings met the need f o r flexibility and expansion even less success- f u l l y , and from the point of view of use the reading rooms were often disturbed by traffic. T h e angular solutions were by f a r the most satisfactory. T h e L arrangement had good points, but the T offered more pos- sibility f o r expansion and adaptation. T h e most successful use of the T w a s the same general plan as that later exploited by the Carnegie libraries: a reading room wing was adjoined at the rear center by a stack wing. T h e entrance at the center of the reading room w i n g opened into a delivery hall to the l e f t and right of which were reading rooms, and straight ahead w a s the loan desk in direct contact with the stack. A s a class the transitional buildings had certain features in common. T h e main reading room, book room or stack, and loan desk were almost always on the floor to which the reader was admitted. T h i s was usually the first floor. A definite sepa- ration of loan activities from the reading room was an exception rather than the rule, although there w a s a distinct tendency in that direction. In orientation of book storage to the main floor of the library, the first tendency was to have the first tier of stack or the first floor of book rooms on the level with the reading room. W i t h the increasing popularity of the stack arrange- ment, it was soon discovered to be an advantage if the middle tier of the stack could coincide with the reading room floor level. I n practical terms this meant less distance to be traversed vertically from the delivery desk. T h i s was accomplished by using a sloping site, or by elevating the main floor above ground and using a monu- mental stair. A very strong tendency can be remarked to house in the library building educational activities which had no relation to library work due to the necessity f o r building big- ger libraries at the outset than would be actually needed for several years. O n the whole the type of plans selected were more likely to be based on the tradi- tional plans f o r monumental buildings, which would afford opportunities f o r tow- ers, buttresses, domes, columns, etc. T h e experimental attempts to introduce plan- ning based on needs may be regarded as the development of the delivery room, the orientation of the mid-stack tier to the loan APRIL, 1953 153 desk level, and the development of the angular plan. A Design Problem and Us Solution: Modern Buildings T h e university library buildings here designated as the modern group include those erected between 1 9 1 1 and 1939- T h e y f o r m ( w i t h t w o exceptions) a closely related group exhibiting elaborations of the basic T plan of transitional buildings. T w o variable factors appear throughout the g r o u p : ( a ) the building w a s compact in plan or it w a s opened up by light courts, and ( b ) the stack w a s at the rear of the building or it w a s the central core of the building. T h e University of T e x a s L i b r a r y , 1 9 1 1 , w a s the earliest example. A rear-stack building of moderate size, it shows clearly the relation to the T type of transitional building. T h e reading room w a s at the f r o n t of the building and separated from the stack by a delivery room, the administra- tive rooms of the library, and the single stair. T h e disposition of the elements w a s not different f r o m the transitional T , but the whole arrangement had been moved to the second floor, which permitted the entrance to be in the center of the main w i n g while a single large reading room was obtained in a location removed f r o m the noise of the entrance. T o this basic arrangement the University of C a l i f o r n i a , 1 9 1 2 , added lateral and rear wings to surround a stack lighted from above as at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. T h e delivery hall w a s expanded, and the staff rooms moved into a location in one of the lateral wings. T h e building was erected in two separate stages, and by the time it was completed in 1 9 1 7 a differ- entiation of readers had been created: un- dergraduate reserve, general and graduate on the first, second, and third floors, respec- tively. T h i s w a s the prototype arrange- ment which subsequent university library buildings followed. T h e first open plan w a s G i l m a n H a l l , J o h n s Hopkins, 1 9 1 4 . Basically a reversed prototype, it had the stack split by a light court in order that graduate research might be carried on with all the books immediately at hand. T h e principle of definite provi- sion f o r graduate w o r k in the stack was furthered at H a r v a r d , 1 9 1 5 , where indi- vidual stalls lined each outside w a l l of an open quadrangular stack. F o u r of the remaining university library buildings had compact building plans and eleven others were designed with open plans; but only one of the compact build- ings, and only two of the open plans were designed with a completely enclosed stack. T h e reason may be found partly in the fact that all of the university library build- ings erected a f t e r the H a r v a r d building made provision f o r cubicles or something similar in the stacks. D a y l i g h t w a s im- portant f o r such use, and could be achieved by a rear stack or by light courts intro- duced between the stack and the lateral wings or between the stack and the reading room w i n g . Theoretically, site and archi- tectural treatment of the building permit- ting, the library erected with stack at the rear, as the first unit of the University of C a l i f o r n i a building showed, could expand both stack and lateral wings, and finally completely enclose the stack to make the building a compact whole. Perhaps all rear stack buildings ought to be regarded as still incomplete realizations of the fullest use of their possibilities in the development of a rectangular building. I n the 1 9 3 0 ' s a f e w buildings began to appear which utilized a tower stack. T h e Y a l e University building of 1 9 3 1 w a s one of the two modern buildings to depart from the prototype plan. Its distinctive feature was organization on a single level at the base of a stack which formed a tower. T h e 154 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES University of T e x a s building, 1 9 3 3 , incor- porated a tower stack with an open proto- type plan. It remained for South H a l l , Columbia U n i v e r s i t y 1 2 to use a stack which projected above the rest of the building as a solution which permitted a compact base and still would permit the periphery of the stacks in the tower to be used f o r study purposes. T h e modern university library buildings have developed along principles of physical organization which were inherent in the T plan as used at the University of T e x a s and in the rectangular plan used f o r the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. T h e main reading room, delivery hall, and entrance to the stacks occupied a position on one of the floors above the first. T h i s was usually the second floor, although occasionally in late buildings it was higher. O n the same floor level with the reading room, delivery hall, etc., one of the lateral wings of the building contained additional reading rooms, and in the other lateral w i n g was usually to be found one of the administrative units of the library. T h e first floor of the building was the favored location f o r re- served book rooms and the location to which the administrative quarters were w i t h d r a w n when they did not occur on the same floor level with the delivery hall. T h e floors above the main reading room generally contained the provisions f o r grad- uate reading rooms, seminars, studies, etc. T h e tendency has been to centralize the stack with reading and w o r k rooms distrib- uted around its periphery. T h i s was completely realized in central-stack build- ings and only partially so in rear-stack buildings. The Planning of Particular Elements I n addition to the design problem of establishing relationships, much planning has gone into the three specific provisions 1 2 Now known as Butler Library. of the l i b r a r y : the accommodation of the library's collection, the accommodation of readers, and the provision f o r the adminis- trative element of the library. F o r several years after 1 8 9 0 there were both book rooms and stacks, but after 1 9 0 3 stack construction had won out in the plan- ning of university library buildings f o r by then the stack structure had been consid- erably refined. T h e first stacks in tran- sitional buildings showed experimental attempts to perfect lighting by trying to ensnare as much daylight as possible. A s the technique of handling electricity im- proved, the necessity f o r daylight to enable books to be found diminished, although the desirability of daylight f o r graduate study became a separate problem. T h e principles of university library growth were not f u l l y understood when the transitional buildings were planned, but there w a s another factor which caused seri- ous overcrowding of many a building before it w a s a decade o l d : the method of gauging capacity. Henderson has traced the evolu- tion of library science on this point from the 1 8 8 0 ' s into the 1 9 3 0 ' s . 1 3 F o r univer- sity library buildings capacity w a s being figured at eight books per lineal foot in 1 8 9 0 , but the standard was progressively lowered until a figure of five books per lineal foot of shelving w a s being used in 1 9 3 1 . T h e cubook developed by Hender- son w a s used in figuring the capacity of Columbia's South H a l l in 1 9 3 4 . T h e factor of diverse types of material had also to be reckoned and was closely related to specialized service to readers. Special stacking w a s developed f o r news- papers from about 1 9 1 9 . M a p s and rare books were stored in separate rooms from about the same period. O n l y the most recent of university libraries had planned provision f o r storing photographic film. 1 3 R . W . Henderson, " T h e Cubook: a Suggested Unit for Book Stack Measurement." Library Journal 59: 865-68, Nov. 1 5 , 1934. APRIL, 1953 155 In planning the library buildings f o r the use of readers, the principal development between 1 8 9 0 and 1 9 3 9 w a s probably pro- vision f o r increasing numbers of readers. D a t a on standards employed in planning are meager and conspicuous by their absence up to about 1 9 2 0 . T h e University of C a l i f o r - nia must have planned f o r not more than ten per cent of the student body. B y 1 9 1 9 it w a s considered necessary to plan the U n i - versity of M i c h i g a n L i b r a r y to take care of about twenty per cent of the enrollment, and the ration of seats to readers was raised to a third by the University of N o r t h Caro- lina in 1 9 2 9 . G r o w t h w a s accompanied by gradual dif- ferentiation between service areas. T h e transitional buildings were f a i r l y uniform in their provisions: loan, reference, and periodical service were all in the general reading room. Occasionally periodicals, and sometimes newspapers, were put in a separate room. F o r readers permitted to enter the stacks, there were a f e w tables, and there w a s scarcely a transitional build- ing which did not pride itself on the number of its seminar rooms. In the modern build- ings reserved book reading rooms were found to be a requirement by 1 9 2 0 , and the recreational reading room w a s appear- ing. T h e periodical room had also become a separate division. Consequently the main reading room became a general reading and reference room. Between 1 9 1 1 and 1 9 2 0 the principle of individual study units in the stack f o r advanced students and faculty researchers w a s developed, and the seminar collections of the transitional buildings be- came a graduate reading room with small adjacent rooms f o r actual class meetings. T h e whole trend in providing f o r both books and readers has been a growth f r o m simple provisions f o r a rather homogeneous body of readers to complex provisions f o r definitely classified readers. T h e r e has been corresponding change in the provision f o r the administration of uni- versity libraries. In the earliest of the transitional buildings, the librarian's office was located adjacent to the delivery desk and in direct or very close contact with the small cataloging room. Receiving rooms were almost always located directly beneath the cataloging room. T h e catalog was usually located where it w a s equally acces- sible to the catalog room and to readers. In the modern group of buildings, the administrative departments needed larger quarters and the tendency was for them to w i t h d r a w to one of the lateral wings of the prototype building, with the librarian's office even more w i t h d r a w n f r o m lines of traffic but accessible to administrative de- partments. W o r k rooms which were at first somewhat small and partitioned off have developed uniformly to be large rooms lacking fixed partitions. A s with the plan- ning of accommodations f o r readers, data on the standards employed in planning the amount of floor space required f o r adminis- trative departments are almost non-existent, and it has not been possible to determine w h a t standards were used in the specific buildings studied. Conclusions Between 1 8 9 0 and 1 9 3 9 university library buildings have shown a very remarkable development, the buildings ranging from comparatively simple structures in which the library occupied principally one floor, to the complex buildings of the thirties, of several floors and with stacks up to twenty- eight tiers in height. T h e extremes of the development suggest a course of evolution. T h e first stage is to be sought among the angular T type transitional buildings. T h i s type should be regarded as one of the several experimental efforts in combining the separated reading and storage elements 156 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES of the library and as a necessary adjustment to such factors as the following. T h e reading room was traditionally the important element of the university library plan. T h e first stacks in transitional build- ings occupied a relatively small area in comparison to the reading room; and by reason of the fact that it was necessary to give the stack special architectural treat- ment, the two elements would not balance well if used side-by-side. N o r had an end- to-end arrangement been successful because of the traffic which had been brought through the reading room. O n the other hand, the stack needed to be in close contact with the reading room for a successful plan. T h e r e was also the growing realization of the need of a delivery room separate from the reading room and of the need of plan- ning the building f o r expansion. T h e T plan was the solution which seemed to combine most successfully all these needs. T h e next stage is to be found in the University of T e x a s L i b r a r y , 1 9 1 1 . Rising enrollments and increased use of the library made larger reading rooms desirable, and they could be obtained with a T plan only by putting them on the second floor, where they gained in light and in freedom f r o m the noises associated with the main en- trance. Separation of loan activities f r o m the reading room could be gained by intro- ducing the delivery hall and stair hall be- tween the reading room and the stack. W i t h the University of California build- ing, the pattern of development for the sub- sequent university library buildings was definitely set. T o the basic T plan of the University of T e x a s were added lateral and rear wings which completely surrounded the stack, making it the central focus of the building. T h e administrative rooms, which were formerly centered near the loan desk, gravitated naturally into a lateral wing of the building, and at the same time the still unsatiated demand f o r reading room space expanded reading rooms into the other lateral wing. T h e administrative need for differentiating services to readers found ready use now f o r rooms on the first floor to satisfy the needs of the numbers of stu- dents doing required reading, while seminars and other graduate facilities found more seclusion on the top floor of the building. Although the prototype was established, it was amenable to adaptation and responsive to new educational ideas, and these two qualities were to delay the more logical development of university library buildings as compact buildings making the greatest use of the advances in building technique. T h e specific factors which influenced library buildings at this stage were the prosecution of campus plans and the development of the idea of individual cubicles in the stacks. T h e first of these factors encouraged horizontal rather than vertical expansion, and the sec- ond factor invited the introduction of light courts. G i l m a n H a l l is the prime example of the latter tendency. T h e final stage of the evolution is found in those buildings which have developed the stack as a tower. T h i s was first tentatively combined with open plans, as at Y a l e U n i - versity and the University of T e x a s . H o w - ever, with the tower resolving the problem of providing light along the periphery of the stacks f o r cubicles, the compact plan which had the stacks as the core of the building was resumed in South H a l l , Co- lumbia University, which may be regarded as the highest development of the prototype plan. T h e s e conclusions are based on an isolated study of the university library building, and it must be recognized that as only a small section of the total body of library archi- tecture in the United States, university library buildings did not develop in an iso- (Continued on page 166) APRIL, 1953 157 loan privileges. B y making the material easier to obtain and w i t h d r a w , it was be- lieved that these hours would be satisfactory. T h i s seems to be the case. In order to obtain the student reaction to these variants from the policy of the main university library, and also to obtain their reactions to the library in general, a short questionnaire was submitted to sam- ple classes of students towards the end of the spring quarter. T h e results were both helpful and g r a t i f y i n g . Eighty-nine per cent of the students ap- proved the service schedule and observed that the more generous loan privileges of reserve and non-reserve material made it unnecessary to visit the library evenings or Saturdays. E i g h t y - t w o per cent of the students in these classes (which also contained some juniors and seniors) had used the library, and over one-half used it at least once a week. T h e results seem to reveal that those who do use the freshman-sophomore li- brary, use it more than they do the main library, even though the freshman-sopho- more library contains only books. T h e main complaint mentioned in the replies w a s that the library w a s not open to general use by all students as it was to the freshmen and sophomores. T h i s is because upperclassmen are encouraged to borrow books from the main library which does have other copies of most titles stocked in the freshman-sophomore library. T h i s then is a beginning at Minnesota toward bringing undergraduate students into closer contact with library materials. T h e present intention is to keep a moder- ately sized but active collection on hand within each department area. Books su- perseded or no longer useful w i l l be with- drawn and replaced by newer material, with research playing no part of this library's objective. In line with this objective, loans from the freshman-sophomore library are not made to faculty or staff members of the university, but only to students. T h e r e has been a strenuous attempt at streamlining records and files and it has allowed the library to be staffed lightly and yet to give service to patrons. B y means of tickler files, carbon insert circulation forms, and other time saving forms, our records are simple to maintain, yet sufficient and accurate. I t appears that the library has been relatively successful. T h e r e are many small problems to be ironed out, but with modi- fications and changes as time goes by, to- gether with the allowance for new develop- ments, it should definitely prove an ex- cellent as well as an economical w a y of bringing student and book together. University Library Buildings (Continued from page 157) lated environment. F u r t h e r study of the libraries of institutions of higher education in the United States, of the public libraries in the United States, and even of the li- braries of other countries would be needed to fill out the picture. T h e study of university library buildings built in the United States between 1 8 4 1 and 1 8 8 9 would also have a great deal to add to both the history of university library architecture and perhaps to the history of architectural development in the nation. 166 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES