College and Research Libraries


By SIDNEY B U T L E R S M I T H 

The N e w L. S. U. Library in Action 

6 6 T T IS T H E BEST university library build-
A ing in the country." So says a for-

mer university vice-president, president 
and chancellor—and one without any 
connection to Louisiana State University. 

Now, of course, such a statement is 
only an expression of opinion and one 
that can only be justified if the word 
"best" is adequately defined. This defi-
nition is not my present purpose which is 
rather to describe the new Louisiana 
State University Library and to recount 
a little of how it got the way it is. 

Any new library building requires a 
great deal of preliminary planning, and 
many questions must be raised so that 
specific answers can be given before a 
library can be built. It may be recalled 
that some of the questions were pointed 
out about two years ago as they related 
to L.S.U.1 They have been under consid-
eration by all library planners in one 
form or another since time began. 

Here are some of the answers which 
have been given at L.S.U.: 

T h e new Louisiana State University 
Library is an air conditioned, modular, 
open shelf, divisional library. It is a big 
building—324' x 192'. T h e module is 27' 
x 24'. T h e simple rectangular building 
has twelve modules in one direction and 
eight in the other. All of which means 
that each of the three floors is about an 
acre and a half in size, and there is a 
total of 186,000 square feet. 

T h e lighting is nearly uniform through-
out with a high light intensity at table 
height. T h e lighting (except for incan-

1 S i d n e y B u t l e r S m i t h , " D r e a m s and a New Build-
i n g . " C R L X V I I I ( 1 9 5 7 ) , 132-140. 

Dr. Smith is Director of Libraries, 
Louisiana State University. 

descents in the corridors and stairways) 
is done by fluorescent fixtures recessed 
into the ceiling. Each fixture is eight feet 
long and contains two tubes four feet 
long. 

T h e library has a divisional arrange-
ment-social science, humanities, and sci-
ence. Each division has one half of a 
floor where the books and periodicals 
are arranged by Dewey Classification 
number and all are open shelves. Current 
journals are arranged alphabetically on 
sloping shelves with back issues of the 
current volume on a flat shelf below the 
recent issue. 

Seating is provided at large four- by 
six-foot tables, at individual carrels, in 
informal occasional groups; and double 
carrels are provided in rows within the 
stacks so that no one is ever very far 
from a place to sit while browsing in the 
collections. Study enclosures—161 alto-
gether—are provided in the divisions for 
assignment to faculty and graduate stu-
dents who are working on projects, pa-
pers, or theses. 

T h e location of the new L.S.U. Li-
brary, very close to most classrooms and 
laboratory buildings, made a centralized 
building possible. From a library pro-
gram which formerly included a main 
library and nine branches, the new build-
ing allows for consolidation of the collec-
tions, with only the chemistry library 
remaining outside in its former quarters. 

In addition to the divisions the library 
also contains several specialized rooms. 
There is a documents room for all Unit-
ed States and United Nations publica-
tions. Newspapers are housed in a sepa-
rate room adjacent to the material in 
micro form where reading machines are 
available. (The photoduplication labora-

194 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH L I B R A R I E S -



tory remains in the old building.) A 
large listening room is provided next to 
nine small booths where students can 
come individually or in small groups to 
hear recorded music, speeches, or drama. 

T h e Louisiana Collection is shelved 
along with rare books in a handsome 
cypress-panelled room on the second 
floor. T h i s area is situated next to the 
archives department which has recently 
come under the administration of the 
library. 

L.S.U. has long had a distinguished 
and well known library school. T h e 
school now has quarters for faculty of-
fices, classrooms and library in the new 
building. Technical services are situated 
in a large area on the main floor adjacent 
to the receiving room on one side, and to 
the card catalog and bibliography collec-
tion on the other. Seminar and typing 
rooms have been provided on each floor. 
Rooms for group study or conferences 
are available. Smoking is permitted in 
two areas, one in the basement and one 
on the second floor. 

T h e goal for the library was room 
enough for one million volumes and for 
over two thousand people all to be using 
it at the same time. Such an operation 
naturally entailed decisions on basic li-
brary services. Where, for example, 
would we do our reference work? In the 
divisions, each staffed by four full time 
professional staff members, supplement-
ed by two twenty-hour trainees who are 
graduate students and by a number of 
student assistants. Reference books are 
in each division according to Dewey 
number which also determines the loca-
tion of all material. What about reserve 
books? Shelved in the divisions on open 
shelves, arranged usually by course but 
sometimes by department. How do we 
circulate books? At check points at the 
two doors where all material going from 
the library is inspected and that which 
is library material is charged out. How 
many catalogs are there for such a large 

library? One, located on the first floor. 
Everyone coming to the building goes 
right by it. Since documents are shelved 
in their own room, arranged by the Su-
perintendent of Documents classification, 
and do not appear in the public catalog, 
there is a documents catalog. Serials hold-
ings which formerly were given in the 
public catalog by year are no longer 
available in this way. T h e r e is a serials 
record giving full serials information 
just a few feet away from the catalog. 

T h e lobby and the adjacent open area 
which houses the card catalog become 
the central information center of the Li-
brary. Here is an information desk staffed 
from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. by professional 
librarians. Staff members from the public 
services and technical services plus the 
administrative heads have assignments 
varying in length from one to four hours 
at this desk and are thus aware of the 
many kinds of questions which are asked. 

What influence did the building have 
on the number of staff members? T h r e e 
factors made it possible or necessary to 
begin operation in the new building with 
the same staff as existed last year: (1) 
the branch librarians could be used in 
the new library, thus augmenting the 
former main library staff; (2) budgets 
were such that increases were not possi-
ble; (3) we wanted to experiment and 
see what was needed. W e may well need 
to request some additional staff, particu-
larly among clerical personnel, but if we 
do we will have some experience to tell 
us where the increases should be. 

T h e building has a warm and inviting 
quality about it even though the lines 
are contemporary and simple. R e d birch 
plywood panelling in many rooms and 
corridors, and vinyl plastic floors serve 
as a handsome neutral background for 
colorful columns and brightly uphol-
stered chairs or Naugahyde chair backs. 

With the library designed so that by 
closing the back door control of the en-
tire building is possible at the front 

MAY 1959 195 



c h e c k p o i n t s , w e c a n s t a y o p e n u n t i l m i d -
n i g h t as a s t u d y h a l l b y h a v i n g t w o m a -
t u r e s t u d e n t a s s i s t a n t s o n d u t y , o n e a t 
t h e c h e c k p o i n t s a n d o n e t o b e a v a i l a b l e 
i n a n y p a r t o f t h e b u i l d i n g . 

W h a t d o e s t h i s k i n d o f a b u i l d i n g d o 
f o r s t u d e n t use? N a t u r a l l y i t is t o o e a r l y 
t o t e l l , f o r t h e b u i l d i n g o p e n e d o n a f u l l 
s c h e d u l e o n S e p t e m b e r 12, 1 9 5 8 . B u t i n 
o u r first f u l l c a l e n d a r m o n t h o f o p e r a -
t i o n a f t e r t h a t w e w e r e v i s i t e d b y a b o u t 
h a l f t h e s t u d e n t b o d y a d a y . ( T h a t is, w e 
f r e q u e n t l y h a v e five t h o u s a n d p e o p l e 

c o m e i n t h e d o o r — o u t o f a t e n t h o u s a n d 
s t u d e n t b o d y — t h o u g h w e k n o w t h a t 
s o m e p e o p l e c o m e i n s e v e r a l t i m e s . ) A n d 
f r o m t h e n u m b e r o f b o o k s a n d j o u r n a l s 
w h i c h h a d t o b e r e p l a c e d o n t h e s h e l v e s 
w e f e e l t h a t t h e o p e n s h e l f a r r a n g e m e n t 
h a s m u c h t o b e s a i d f o r i t . T h e w h o l e 
q u e s t i o n o f h o w t h e t r a n s i t i o n was m a d e 
t o t h e n e w b u i l d i n g is a s u b j e c t a l l o f i t s 
o w n . B r i e f l y , w e p r e p a r e d a f o u r - p a g e 
l e a f l e t o n t h e n e w b u i l d i n g , a c o p y o f 
w h i c h w a s h a n d e d t o e v e r y o n e o n t h e 

(Continued on page 221) 

Cataloging in Source Seeks Answers 
T h e L i b r a r y of Congress, under a grant from the Council on Library R e -

sources, Inc., is currently r u n n i n g an e x p e r i m e n t in supplying cataloging 
i n f o r m a t i o n to be printed within books themselves. D u r i n g the year of the 
e x p e r i m e n t ( J u l y 1958-July 1959) cataloging information is appearing in 
over a thousand titles being published by trade, religious, government, univer-
sity, and society publishers. 

As part of this testing project, the L i b r a r y is eager to receive as much 
i n f o r m a t i o n as possible as to the reaction on the proposal. How would 
libraries use this information if it were made generally available and what 
effect would it have on their procedures and on their organization? Some two 
hundred libraries of various sizes and kinds and locations have been selected 
for depth interviews by consultants working for L C on a consumer reaction 
survey, but voluntary expressions are being sought from all interested libraries. 
L i b r a r i a n s are urged to write to the address below summarizing the reactions of 
their professional staffs to the ideas following. 

I t is hoped that books carrying their own cataloging information (being 
cataloged in source) would help libraries and their users by (a) getting new 
books to users faster, (b) cutting the present high cost of cataloging, and 
(c) providing greater standardization in the identification of books. W i t h 

these goals in mind, what would cataloging in source mean to your library? 
Might it: (1) affect your library's ordering procedures, book selection, ref-
erence, or bibliographical work (particularly if bibliographic publishers and 
all libraries used the same form of a u t h o r and title entry)? (2) affect your 
library's methods of o b t a i n i n g and preparing catalog cards? (3) simplify or 
complicate your library's work? (4) e l i m i n a t e e q u i p m e n t or create need for new 
e q u i p m e n t ? (5) affect inter-library relationships such as library systems, cen-
tralized or cooperative cataloging or processing, library deposits, inter-library 
loans, u n i o n catalogs? 

F o r the sake of greater bibliographical standardization, would you be willing 
to adopt the L C form of author and title entries? Always, or with specific ex-
ceptions? 

You are urged to get your opinions on record by sending them (favorable or 
unfavorable) to the D i r e c t o r of this C I S Consumer R e a c t i o n Survey: Miss 
Esther J . Piercy, E n o c h Pratt F r e e Library, B a l t i m o r e 1, Maryland. 

196 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH L I B R A R I E S -



N e w L.S.U. Library 

(Continued from page 196) 

first day of classes. T h e staff members in 
all areas were alert to the numerous ques-
tions of location which would be asked, 
and, identified by small plastic name 
tags, they were on hand to give what 
help was needed. From the vantage point 
of only a couple of months' experience 
we think the students and faculty found 
their way with remarkable ease. Natural-
ly this was gratifying to watch. 

T h e L.S.U. Library is big and bright, 
convenient and comfortable. It has a 
floor plan which merits study,2 and it has 
a plan of operation which may be of in-
terest elsewhere. T h e most important 
thing about it, however, is not its size 
but the flexible, adaptable quality of its 
interior, and this characteristic is of use 
in buildings a tenth the size or three 
times as big. 

Such a building does not just happen. 
It is the result of much thought on the 
part of many people over many months. 
University faculty and administration 
considered various library possibilities 
for more than a decade. In 1954 the 

2 A C R L L i b r a r y Building P l a n s I n s t i t u t e . " P r o c e e d -
ings of the Meetings A t . . . Rosement College, J u l y 3, 
1 9 5 5 . " Edited by W a l t e r W . W r i g h t . Chicago: A C R L , 
1956. ( A C R L Monograph Number 1 5 ) , pp. 146-153. 

Louisiana legislature appropriated $3,-
500,000 to build it. Even before that con-
sultants, Angus Snead Macdonald and 
Keyes D. Metcalf, had given advice. T h e 
firm of Bodman and Murrell and Smith, 
known for some time as outstanding Bat-
on Rouge architects were chosen, along 
with their associates, Post and Harelson, 
to design the building. Visits were made 
by architects and library and university 
personnel to several buildings around the 
country. Everything possible was done 
to call on expert advice, and at every 
stage the library was consulted and was 
kept informed of all decisions. At all 
times the library administration was able 
to make its wishes known—and in al-
most all cases its wishes became those of 
the architects and the university. At least 
the three essential groups knew each 
other's viewpoint and differences could 
be resolved or accepted. 

While it cannot be assumed that Loui-
siana State University has perfected its 
library service, it is safe to say that its 
new library is a distinguished one which 
was planned with care and which by 
design can be altered as new needs arise 
or new approaches are suggested. 

Missouri Medical Library 

(Continued from page 209) 

tive and efficient place. T h e effective use 
of color on walls, ceilings, floors, and 
furniture is a major factor in creating 
the comfortable and alive feeling in the 
library. T h e use of the collection, oral 
and written comments by staff, faculty, 

and students, and the day-to-day activities 
of the library staff, all emphasize the ad-
vantages of'the new quarters. It is heart-
ening to see the library become such an 
active part of Missouri's new Medical 
Center. 

MAY 1959 221