College and Research Libraries By W A R R E N B. K U H N N e w Mexico's Undergraduate Library- Three Years Later Mr. Kuhn is circulation librarian, Uni- versity of New Mexico, AIbuquerque, New Mexico. BA R R I E R S between students and the books they need have long been a perennial problem of the university and college li- brarian. Indeed so perennial have they be- come, that they have achieved the somewhat dubious distinction of consistent inclusion in keynote addresses and alumni speeches as one of those afflictions that, like the boils of Job, are always with us. N o r has attention to this bibliographic "hex" been found wanting. Advances in open-stacks, more intensive bibliographic control, decentralized subject-departmental collections—all have been used to banish the ugly witches of inefficient service and outmoded stack methods. But in all the rush and scramble of new experimentation, predominant focus was on the graduate student and the faculty mem- ber. T h e luckless freshman still wandered his lonely way, unaided by any save a sympathetic reference soul or a loan desk clerk w h o happened to be caught momen- tarily snatching a breath of air in the safe shadow of the catalog. In fact, in a recent symposium on trends in university libraries, Arthur M . M c - Anally, speaking of just one of the above advances, decentralized subject-depart- mental organization, stated that in such library systems the needs of undergraduates tend to be overlooked, and poorly served. H e observed that corrections for this situa- tion were being found in the inauguration of open-shelf undergraduate libraries. These were to be either in the main building, or in a separate building.1 In the same symposium, Leslie W . D u n - lap noted an increase in browsing rooms. Provision of such rooms were explained as "compensation" for the rigors of institu- tional atmosphere, detailed classification, and lack of direct access to the general collection. Dunlap wondered though, if such rooms might not be serving as substi- tutes for services which librarians should be performing elsewhere.2 Whether university and college librarians considered such soul-searching or not, the tide had definitely turned by 1949. T h e undergraduate suddenly found himself the center of library concern with the opening of a number of open-shelf undergraduate collections. M o s t notable was the estab- lishment of Harvard's Lamont Library in 1949. Others, which utilized the main library building for the collection, were Yale, Chicago, Duke, Texas, Illinois and U C L A . By 1951, in that one year alone, four such libraries were begun at Minne- sota, Oklahoma, Iowa and N e w Mexico. It is with the last-named institution that w e are concerned at the moment. After three years of operation, the University of N e w Mexico Library can now report on its Undergraduate Room experiment—its 1 A r t h u r M. M c A n a l l y , " O r g a n i z a t i o n of College and U n i v e r s i t y Libraries," Library Trends, 1120-36, J u l y , 1952. 2 Leslie W . Dunlap, " S e r v i c e s to R e a d e r s , " Library Trends, 1149-57, July, 1952'. 148 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES initial purposes, its achievements, its fail- ings, and its peculiar problems. A N I D E A G A I N S M O M E N T U M In his biennial report for 1947-49, Arthur M . McAnally, then University Librarian, devoted almost an entire section on future improvements to the need for an undergraduate reading room where fresh- men and sophomores could freely select their own reading from open shelves. His concern was that the barriers between undergraduate students and books should be eliminated as far as possible.3 However, the establishment of an under- graduate room at the N e w Mexico Library had to wait, albeit impatiently, the lessen- ing of the strain on facilities brought about by post-war enrollment. Focus was on answering current requirements. Circula- tion was at an all-time peak of 163,000. By 1950, circulation had fallen to 154,169, and by the following year to 138,585, with indications that the flood- tide had passed and normal enrollment was just around the corner. D o w n from the shelves and out of the rearmost filing cab- inets came the long-needed plans for change. Foremost among them was that for the Undergraduate Room. David Otis Kelley, who had assumed control of the library in 1949, went almost immediately into conference with members of his staff. Spring of 1951 found plans drawn-up for conversion of the old Re- serve Room into an open-shelf Under- graduate Room, which would house both reserve books and a larger, non-reserve two- week book collection. These plans were then discussed at length with the Faculty Library Committee, which approved and gave the go-ahead signals. Initial plans for the room followed the 3 N e w M e x i c o , U n i v e r s i t y . Biennial Report of the President, 1947-49. Albuquerque, 1949. suggestion of Randall and Goodrich: six volumes per linear foot of shelving.4 O n the estimates of 1,230 linear feet available with the addition of locally constructed wooden shelving, open-shelf book stock at capacity would reach 7,380 books. T h i s figure has proved to be far below current capacity, which is now in the neighborhood of 13,000 volumes. In this, of course, are included not only two-week books, but two- hour and three-day reserves. Thus, with- in the short space of three years, the room has almost doubled itself and currently threatens to overflow into the nearby lobby. Both staff and faculty saw the need for the proposed room as having a dual pur- pose : ( 1 ) house the reserve book collection, and ( 2 ) provide our undergraduate stu- dents with an open-shelf, ground-level stack, pleasantly arranged and composed of a broad but selective range of titles. In formulating a definite policy, the Faculty Library Committee with the Uni- versity Library, agreed upon the follow- ing principles concerning the nature of the collection: 1. The books should be related to under- graduate interest. They should not be materials for graduate and faculty re- search. 2. There should be a coverage of the significant divisions of a departmental field. 3. There should be books for recreational general reading. (Here were expected many books of general interest all edu- cated men and women could well know.) 4. Most of the books should be in the English language. 5. Periodicals should not be added to this collection. 6. Duplication should be held to a mini- mum. Some will be necessary and desir- able. 4 W i l l i a m M. Randall, and F. L. D . Goodrich, Prin- ciples of College Library Administration ( 2 d e d . ; Chi- cago: A m e r i c a n Library Association and the U n i v e r s i t y of Chicago P r e s s , 1 9 4 1 ) . APRIL, 1955 149 C O O P E R A T I O N B E T W E E N F A C U L T Y A N D L I B R A R Y S T A F F T h e next steps were to decide which books were to be included in the two-week collection, w h o would select them, and how they were to be arranged. Obviously, the first task was not that of the library alone. W h i l e subject special- ists did exist on the staff, they by no means felt competent enough to supervise all selec- tion, and due to the important question of space for selected titles, the fine points and differences of opinion over inclusion could be settled best by the academic departments. These, by their very nature, represented scores of subject specialists. Accordingly, questionnaires were sent out to each department requesting opinions as to which books of the University's collec- tion should be included in the new under- graduate room. A statement of purpose was added to the request, and a brief ex- planation of why each department would be limited more or less to a specific number of titles. T h e latter was based on library usage by departmental staff and students, number of courses taught, size of depart- ment, etc. A serious question arose as to the shelf arrangement which would best suit the needs of the new collection. Typically, the University of N e w Mexico Library, with certain exceptions, is arranged by the D e w e y Decimal system. Should the items in the new room be kept in the same classi- fication ? A f t e r due consideration, it was decided that since the new room was to be designed primarily as an undergraduate room with all that that broad term signifies, arrange- ment of books should be readily under- standable and easily used by those un- familiar to library classifications. Also, it was thought that it might be a worthwhile experiment to use a very simplified subject- divisional arrangement, with emphasis upon those areas of study in the curriculum. T h u s while faculty members ( w h o were intrigued by the possibilities of the new room) were engaged in a thorough selec- tion of titles, the library staff studied the curriculum for the purpose of setting up broad subject classifications. A f t e r considerable thought and experi- menting, the following 15 subject divisions were selected: Anthropology & Sociology Biological Sciences Business Adm. & Economics Education Engineering English, Speech and Journalism Fine Arts General Geology & Geography History Law & Government Library Science Modern & Classical Languages Philosophy & Psychology Physical Sciences Library science was later dropped. Re- cently, however, English, Speech and Journalism, because of overcrowding, were divided into ( 1 ) English and Speech, and ( 2 ) Journalism. W i t h i n the broad subject classification, books were arranged by D e w e y classifica- tion, already lettered on the spine of each volume. P H Y S I C A L P L A N N I N G W h i l e the process of book selection and arrangement was being carried on, conver- sion of the room which was to house the undergraduate collection was in progress. Although originally planned as a reserve book room, the southwest w i n g of the library had no stack or shelf arrangements as part of its physical makeup, except four double-faced ranges and one single-faced range behind a long charging counter occu- 150 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES pying the northeast corner of the room. Entrance to the room was by a large open doorway from the wide south lobby, and access behind the desk was by means of a gate from the room itself, as well as a door and sloping ramp from the central lobby. It was this latter entrance which was to provide grief as time went on, being some three steps lower than the south lobby itself. T h i s meant that book trucks must be tightly and manually maneuvered through the door up a narrow incline before reach- ing a level space behind the Reserve Desk. T h e main entrance could be reached by book truck only in a roundabout way, through both the library's technical proc- esses room and another reading room. Ar- tistic stone flagging in the south lobby added no little amount to the noise as heavily laden book trucks made their way across it. Parallel tables filled the length of the old room. University carpenters were con- sulted and 10 double-faced and 13 single- faced wooden ranges were constructed and installed. These formed free-standing sec- tions of shelving projecting out from the walls to make study alcoves in which the tables were placed. Every inch of available wall space was used, and six surplus book- shelves have since been added to ease book- crowding in certain areas. G e r o u l d , in his The College Library Building, speaks of the obsolescence of al- coves in reading room planning. H e cites the uneconomical use of floor space, 5 ° % more square feet needed per reader, and that such rooms are difficult, to supervise, since readers are not visible from desk. H e also mentions a loss of light in the cen- tral portion of the room.5 Actually, the choice of alcoves was delib- 8 James Thayer Gerould, The College Library Build- ing; Its Planning and Equipment (Chicago: American Library Association, 1 9 3 2 ) . erate, to provide a "browsing-room" atmos- phere to the barren, table-upon-table mili- tary appearance of most reading rooms. A secondary purpose, providing shelf space, was also peculiar to N e w M e x i c o ; wall design had placed large heating outlets in almost every wall. By installing alcoves perpendicular to the wall no interference or damage from the building's heating sys- tem would be incurred. T h i s arrangement has been most satis- factory and rapid reader turnover has re- sulted in no seating problem. Seating capacity of the room is 114. Despite Gerould's warning, the room has not been particularly hard to supervise, and since an aisle occupies the central portion of the room there is no loss of light. However, lighting has never been a problem since the south wing, as do all ground floor wings, has large, tall windows on three sides and the proportion of brilliant, sunlit days in N e w Mexico is extremely high. T h e alcoves and their single-faced ranges were originally designed to hold some 32 shelves per range ( w i t h approximately 20-25 books per s h e l f ) . Initial planning for the room envisioned a total of some 7,400 books as ultimate capacity, not count- ing those on closed reserve behind the al- ready constructed Reserve Desk (steel shelves). Such planning, while adequate for early purposes, had to be discarded as the book collection steadily mounted. W h e r e four shelves had been before, five were now the rule, each holding a capacity load. In fact, only in the Fine Arts section (due to book size) and in one area of Business Administration and Economics, are there still four shelves in any compartment; all others now have five shelves per compart- ment, or a total of 40 shelves per range. T h e six surplus bookshelves have added 68 more shelves in overcrowded sections, a APRIL, 1955 151 T A B L E I G r o w t h o f the U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w M e x i c o ' s U n d e r g r a d u a t e L i b r a r y S u b j e c t D i v i s i o n s T w o - h o u r r e s e r v e s T h r e e - d a y r e s e r v e s a n d t w o - w e e k r e g u l a r l o a n s E n g l i s h , S p e e c h & J o u r n a l i s m H i s t o r y B u s i n e s s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n & E c o n o m i c s P h i l o s o p h y & P s y c h o l o g y F i n e A r t s M o d e r n & C l a s s i c a l L a n g u a g e s L a w & G o v e r n m e n t E d u c a t i o n A n t h r o p o l o g y & S o c i o l o g y G e o l o g y & G e o g r a p h y G e n e r a l B i o l o g i c a l S c i e n c e s L i b r a r y S c i e n c e P h y s i c a l S c i e n c e s E n g i n e e r i n g T o t a l s : S e p t e m b e r 1 9 5 1 1 S e p t e m b e r 19542 2 , 6 4 2 2 , 8 0 0 821 2 , 3 8 0 * 536 1 , 4 0 0 424 720 32 9 800 295 600 266 480 249 460 2 1 5 1 , 2 0 0 168 720 1 1 2 220 88 580 7 9 380 41 ** 30 160 15 120 6 , 3 1 0 1 3 , 0 2 0 1 Figures represent actual count. 2 Figures represent approximate count. * Of which 160 are Journalism and 2,220 English & Speech under current division. ** This subject division removed; books returned to stacks or absorbed in other divisions. grand total of 511 shelves in use for the room. (See Table I . ) Traffic control was handled by the con- struction of a five-foot high, paneled, wooden barrier placed across the wide en- tranceway to the room. A two-foot space was left between the barrier and the re- serve desk to provide entrance and exit, with a return book slot immediately to the right upon entering. T h e rear of the barrier (that facing the interior of the room) was provided with shelves. As a step, toward future traffic control, turnstiles have been investigated, but cost has pre- vented any serious thought of their adop- tion. O P E R A T I O N O F T H E R O O M In p r e - " U G " days, the Reserve Room and the Circulation Desk were under the direction of two different persons, and actually organized as two separate depart- ments, which caused no end of trouble and confusion. By 1950, both had been con- solidated within the circulation department, under the control of the circulation librar- ian. T h i s aided policy planning and tighter student control, though only student assist- ants operated the reserve desk. W i t h the advent of the increased collec- tion in 1951, a full-time non-professional was hired to directly supervise the newly- designated Undergraduate Room and made immediately responsible to the circulation librarian. T o her were assigned from 4-8 student assistants, who occasionally rotated their hours between the " U G " Room and the Circulation Desk proper, with the major portion of their work time at the Undergraduate Room desk. Ordinarily students are not interchangeable between the " U G " room and the Circulation Desk, since intimate daily acquaintance with " U G " practices is necessary, but a number of students are given periodic training in the room and kept in "reserve" at the Circula- tion Desk, to be used if sudden personnel crises develop in the " U G " room. T h i s practice has eased sudden critical schedul- ing problems. W i t h shelves built, supervision and room arrangement decided, and books selected, 152 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES the next step was actual shift of volumes to the room and the most logical placement of the subject sections. Here, consideration of major divisions of knowledge gave us our answer, and the room was divided into three main areas: social sciences, humani- ties and the natural and physical sciences. T h u s Anthropology, Sociology, Business Administration and Economics were fol- lowed by L a w and Government, and Educa- tion with Philosophy and Psychology as an intermediary step to History, then Eng- lish, Speech and Journalism, Modern and Classical Languages and Fine Arts, and on to the sciences. T h i s arrangement, how- ever, due to heavy growth in some areas and less in others, proved unwieldy and gave way to the present arbitrary locations. Large printed signs were made by a uni- versity art class and placed at the end of each range facing the open central aisle. Smaller, individual signs, alternately col- ored, were placed above each compartment to facilitate finding the section wanted. T h e Reserve Desk, of course, remained as it was, serving as the charging desk now for the entire collection. Reserve books, however, were broken down into two-hour loans (to be kept behind the desk on closed shelves), and three-day loans, shelved in their appropriate sections on the open- shelves. T o differentiate between each type, three differently colored date-due slips were used: ( i ) yellow for two-hour books; ( 2 ) pink for three-day; and ( 3 ) blue for two-week. T h e pinks slips were later abandoned and blue used for both three-day and two-weeks, the difference being noted by a "three-day" stamp. T h i s change was made necessary by the laborious and time- consuming job of removing pink-slips at the end of each semester when removing items from reserve. A quick dab of the stamp n o w solves the problem. Although conceivably all reserve books could be removed at the end of each term, it was found desirable to leave those items listed as "three-day" in the room by chang- ing them to two-week loans. M o s t were standard, readable undergraduate items and certainly likely to be used again a term or so later. Keeping them not only added to the breadth of the collection, but also saved time when placing new lists on reserve. Two-hour books were not involved in this, since they are normally personal copies or " D o N o t Circulate" items—journals, series, periodicals, unbound pamphlets, doc- uments, single copies of heavily used texts, etc. T h e y are not placed on open shelves, but instead returned to the stacks at the end of each semester. T w o - w e e k loans are handled somewhat differently. As new books are received by the library, a substantial proportion of those considered to be most likely for inclusion in the collection are given to the circulation librarian for appraisal. If approved, each new item is slipped for shelving in one of the fifteen " U G " subject areas and turned over to the " U G " staff for processing. Processing, of course, is simplified. Each book must receive a shelf-list and author card, a book card, and a locator card for the main file at the Circulation Desk. In the case of reserve books, an additional card is added for filing in a course card file. A t one time book charges in the Under- graduate Room were the same Keysort marginal punched cards used by the main Circulation Desk. However, since the price of punched cards remained high and could be used only once, long yellow book cards were substituted and inserted in each book in the " U G " room. These bear call num- ber, author and title, and have room for some twenty signatures, thus allowing them to be used over and over. Of course, with the loss of punched cards, a modified "due-date" arrangement was necessary for " U G " charges. These are now divided into two-hour, three- A P R I L , 1955 153 day and two-week sections, with the largest being the latter. T h i s two-week section is again subdivided into four more sections, each holding those cards for books due within one of the four weeks of the succeed- ing month. Overdue items are metal-tabbed and, as with overdues in the Circulation Depart- ment, receive a single postal overdue notice, then one week later a bill listing cost of book, and finally a "Last Resort" letter, which notifies the borrower of inclusion on a dean's list of delinquent borrowers as well as a "Hold Card" being filed against his name as a deterrent to future registration. Fines are as f o l l o w s : Two-week loans: a day for each day the book is overdue, not in- cluding holidays. Two-hour books: 15^ per book for the first hour or portion thereof, and 5