College and Research Libraries The Public Library Serves The University Student B Y H A R O L D L . H A M I L L TH E M O S T S E R I O U S service problem faced by many public libraries today is that of meeting the needs of the stu- dent in the college or university located in a large city or metropolitan area. T h i s paper excludes from our consideration the situation such as that at Princeton or at Stanford, where the great major- ity of students live on or near the cam- pus, and thus have access to the univer- sity library whenever it is open. Los Angeles is the seat of two large urban universities—the University of Southern California, with an enrollment of nearly seventeen thousand students, and the University of California at Los Angeles, with about the same number. T h e Los Angeles State College has an enrollment of over 14,000, and the newer San Fernando Valley State College will soon approach, or even exceed, this size. Numerous other smaller colleges and specialized schools are scattered through- out Los Angeles and the metropolitan area. Relatively few of the students en- rolled at the universities and the state colleges live on campus or even near it. T h e city of Los Angeles alone spreads over almost 460 square miles, and the county covers ten times that area. Public transportation is generally poor, and in some parts of the area completely non- existent, with the result that our people are highly dependent on automobile transportation. Students spend only a part of their day on campus. After they have attended their classes, they transport themselves by automobile, often in car pools, back to homes located in parts of the metro- M r . Hamill is Librarian, Los Angeles Pub- lic Library. This paper was given at the ALA Conference, Cleveland, July 1961. politan area far removed from the uni- versity or college library. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that for reference and reading needs con- nected with his courses the student turns to the nearest public library which has suitable materials. In Los Angeles the student finds that most of his needs can be met in the collections of the Los An- geles Public Library, which, although they are certainly not unlimited, do in- clude over 2,700,000 volumes and twenty- five thousand serial titles. Student use of the central library is, of course, particu- larly heavy, but our larger regional branches with collections numbering up to seventy-five thousand volumes are also drawn upon to supply a great many stu- dent needs. I am not trying to say that we have by any means all the services and all the copies needed, but, generally speaking, students have discovered that they have a fairly good chance of finding what they want at the public library. T h i s situation, I am sure, from what I have been told and from what I have seen in our professional literature, is one which holds true in other large urban centers. T h e many difficulties encount- ered by the public library in meeting this onrush of university and college students are augmented by armies of other stu- dents of all ages from elementary grades through high school. Although students have always been an important section J A N U A R Y 1 9 6 2 11 of the public library's clientele, since the end of the war, and particularly dur- ing the past three or four years, public libraries have actually been overwhelmed at many times by the student horde. In fact, many members of our library staff are considerably concerned that the non- student adult feels unwelcome in the confusion and hubbub created by stu- dent use. In many libraries, students have become the tail that wags the dog, and other would-be users of the library are simply not able to get access to the materials they need or to receive the pro- fessional services they have every right to expect. Transportation problems loom large in Los Angeles, but putting them aside for a moment, I think we should ask at this point whether university and college libraries are adequate for present-day stu- dent needs. In 1959 the Council of the American Library Association adopted an official statement of Goals for Action. T h e first item on the list was this: "Li- brary collections and services for every school, college, and university that will support the instructional program and stimulate student interest in reading and in continued self-education." Let me stress that this is still a goal, and is far from actuality. T h e universities of Los Angeles which I mentioned earlier both have excellent libraries managed by intelligent and progressive librarians. But here, as elsewhere in California and throughout the nation, several factors have operated to keep library facilities in universities and colleges well below a level of complete adequacy to meet student needs. First of all, in recent years the university and college populations have expanded enormously. T h e sheer bulk of students has produced a demand for duplication of copies far beyond the ability of most university and college li- braries to supply. Meanwhile, changed patterns of education at all levels of schooling are placing heavier reliance on the use of source materials and serial publications, less on single textbook and classroom lecture methods. Small won- der then that students hunt diligently throughout the metropolitan area for the books or serial files needed for their reading assignments or papers. In the social sciences department of our central library within the past year or two we have had to put on special reference loan for control purposes approximately four- teen hundred titles which our experi- enced staff knows will be called upon heavily by students. In Los Angeles, and I am sure elsewhere, the need for such drastic measures has been compounded by the fact that many new colleges and junior colleges have been established and their libraries have not yet had an op- portunity to achieve anything like the necessary depth of collections or ade- quate duplication of copies. Under these circumstances, is it any wonder that stu- dents follow every possible and practical avenue to meet their full library needs? P U B L I C L I B R A R Y ' S R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y I have described some of the difficul- ties under which the public library la- bors in this situation. It is true that stu- dents have overrun its facilities, that they have in some cases driven out adult non- student users. Perhaps we should ask at this point whether the public library can and should continue to serve the uni- versity and college student. It is my con- tinued and firm belief that it must accept the responsibility to serve students to the best of its ability. Not only would the public library be socially unjustified in erecting barriers against students, but it should actually welcome the opportunity to encourage students to become life-long consumers of its wares. Moreover, I believe that our larger public libraries are in a unique position to supplement the university and col- lege libraries in meeting the needs of students. T h e average large public li- brary has long files of periodicals, serials, 12 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S and government documents, important collections of specialized pamphlets and materials in microform. Unless the stu- dent is enrolled in a university with a very large collection of materials, he may not be able to find some of these things in his own educational institution and must perforce use the public library. One automatic check on student use of public libraries lies in the fact that few public libraries buy textbooks as such. In the Los Angeles Public Library's policy statement on library service to students, our position on textbooks is stated thus: I t is the responsibility o f the L o s Angeles P u b l i c L i b r a r y to provide c i r c u l a t i n g ma- terials a n d r e f e r e n c e service to m e e t or s u p p l e m e n t the needs o f students. L o c a l e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s are e x p e c t e d to supply t e x t b o o k s a n d r e l a t e d materials f o r s t u d e n t use. T e x t b o o k s purchased by the library are a c q u i r e d p r i m a r i l y f o r s u b j e c t c o n t e n t a n d value to the g e n e r a l r e a d e r a n d are d u p l i c a t e d only in sufficient quan- tity to m e e t n o r m a l c o m m u n i t y demands. T h e use o f rare, i r r e p l a c e a b l e materials is restricted to research purposes. It is true that the university collec- tions and public library collections taken together cannot completely supply the need for duplicate copies. It is my hope that the increasing publication of classics and specialized titles in paperback form will be a substantial contribution to the need for heavy duplication. Paperbacks are generally helpful, however, only in the field of monographs. For periodicals and serials with backfiles running from twenty to fifty years or more, the student will continue to be completely dependent upon the larger and longer-established libraries, whether university or public. T h e newer educational methods men- tioned earlier lean heavily on assign- ments involving serial titles. Visitors to our central library from other cities and other countries, both librarians and lay- men, never fail to be impressed by the great number of students using our bound periodicals and other serials. Many of these, of course, are high school students. In former days a student taking a course in history, art, philosophy, or one of the social sciences might have need to consult this kind of material once or twice a year for a term paper. But under the present methods some of our students, particularly the superior ones, are involved in assignments which bring them to the library to consult serial files two or three times a month or oftener. Therefore, where we used to have scores of requests of this kind in a week we now have hundreds or even thousands. It seems to me, then, that the public library has a golden opportunity to in- troduce the student at an impressionable age to an institution which, as an edu- cated person, he should use freely all of his life. Students of all ages and of all categories, if they are willing to settle down and behave themselves, should be made welcome in their public library. In many cases the student's way of life and his transportation habits actually make his use of the public library man- datory. T h i s is not to say that the public library should unduly solicit the patron- age of this important group of users or that it should attempt to serve them to the extent of penalizing the general body of adult users. But certainly, as young citizens, students have a right to use their public library as fully as their needs require and circumstances permit. Keep- ing a perfect balance between the needs of students and those of the other adult readers is, I realize, perhaps more easily said than done. In practically every one of our major cities someone, usually the executive of the largest public library in the area, has made an attempt to bring together school authorities, other librarians, curriculum planners, college and university authori- ties from various levels and in various groupings to see whether a more intelli- gent and cooperative job of library serv- J A N U A R Y 1 9 6 2 13 ice to students can be achieved. T o date, these attempts have produced some ac- complishments, but I am afraid that in most cases not enough headway has been made. At two gatherings of this kind in Los Angeles, I have received the impres- sion that many of the college and uni- versity librarians in the area feel that the problem would be solved if the public library would only set up residence re- quirements for the use of its materials by students, and thereby turn back to their college or university at least some of the army of students. I cannot believe that this is a valid solution to what I agree is a difficult problem. T o library users patterns of accessibility are more important than legal boundaries. In meetings of college and university li- brarians with public librarians, attention is also often given to cooperative agree- ments for acquisition of materials. Al- though such agreements are healthy, par- ticularly in the area of more highly spe- cialized research materials, we must re- member that demand for use is likely to override strictly logical divisions of ma- terial. In parceling out fields of speciali- zation, therefore, we must remember to be realistic, and must be generous in planning for considerable duplication in the vast areas of materials used by under- graduates in colleges or universities. Bringing public librarians and univer- sity librarians together only to commis- erate or to plan ways to "share the pov- erty" does not attack the real problem. How then can they cooperate to real purpose? L A C K O F B A S I C P L A N N I N G First, let me say that I wish I could report that all of this greatly increased use by students of libraries has come about in an orderly and intelligent way. I wish I could think that it is the prod- uct of years of informed planning and detailed knowledge on the part of edu- cators of all levels—administrators, cur- riculum planners, teachers, and libra- rians. But such is certainly not the case. Curriculum planners make no attempt to find out whether the libraries in their institutions can meet the needs of the curriculum. Teachers directly responsible for assignments are often uninformed and oblivious to what those assignments require in the way of library materials. Certainly administrators and appropri- ating bodies seem unaware of the fact that the changed curriculum has placed vast new demands upon libraries and even more unaware that their libraries are ill-equipped to meet these demands. I am repeating only what has been said a hundred times before when I say that public librarians and university libra- rians need to work together through our professional associations and at the local level on the serious problem of educating teachers in the student use of libraries. At the local level we need also to know more about each other's resources in or- der to do an intelligent j o b of using what we have to the best advantage. Even more importantly, the public li- brarian and university and college li- brarian should aid each other in the presentation of their financial needs to administrators and appropriating bodies. We need to understand each other's sit- uation and to help each other develop strategy. As an example of what I mean by strategy, let me cite a comment made at a Los Angeles meeting called to dis- cuss the student problem. It was sug- gested that perhaps the Los Angeles Pub- lic Library should refuse all interlibrary loans to universities and colleges in the area, thus strengthening the budget re- quest made by the college and university libraries for book money to purchase the materials they lack. Parenthetically, I might point out that some of the public libraries in the Los Angeles metropoli- tan area are taking what might seem on the surface to be a step backward by can- celing their reciprocal agreements with neighboring cities and raising their non- 14 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S resident fees. While this certainly seems to go against the pattern of cooperation toward which libraries have been mov- ing, it may actually be a painful but necessary step to convince appropriating bodies and the general public that the word "free" in "free public library" is not to be taken too literally. Not only do we need greater under- standing and closer cooperation between the libraries of educational institutions on the one hand and public libraries on the other, but we certainly need a vast increase in the resources of both. While there is a faint chance that American education may not continue to go in the direction of the pursuit of excellence, of toughened-up courses, and of greatly ex- panded educational institutions, it seems likely that these trends will continue and even be strengthened. Educational costs will continue to rise and the administra- tive librarian must be ready to fight for a great increase in library budgets. I n t h e Library Quarterly J a n u a r y 1 9 6 0 , Sara Fenwick described the situation created by students of high school age in a suburban part of Chicago. From the facts she set forth, the conclusion was clear that the resources of all the libraries available, both school and public, were inadequate to meet student needs. It was obvious that the problem could not be solved simply by working out under- standings or cooperative measures be- tween the two kinds of institutions. T h i s is the same kind of problem that exists in university libraries and public librar- ies, namely, that there are simply not enough books, librarians, or physical fa- cilities to meet the needs of modern edu- cation. In the long run, the only real solution lies in the upgrading of libraries of all kinds. Such upgrading will require the establishment and general acceptance of high standards and the achievement of those standards through adequate fi- nancing of library service. At a recent meeting of public librar- ians with college, university, and school librarians, Everrett Moore, assistant li- brarian at UCLA, made what I regarded as the most telling comment of the after- noon. He said that the total library re- sources of the metropolitan area should be regarded as a vast pool, to be drawn upon by users of all kinds. I fully agree with him. I would only add that if it is to serve the purposes of modern society to the full, this vast pool must be greatly deepened and broadened through the heroic efforts of all of us. Funds for Archivists, Librarians, Researchers T h e H a r v a r d G r a d u a t e School o f Business Administration a n n o u n c e s the availability of funds to aid archivists, librarians, and researchers interested in investigating topics in e c o n o m i c a n d business history or in studying the acquisition and h a n d l i n g of archival ma- terial, manuscripts, a n d books in this field. T h e school's u n i q u e resources in these areas will be available to such persons d u r i n g the s u m m e r of 1962. M e m b e r s of the Business History G r o u p a n d the staff o f B a k e r L i b r a r y will be available for c o n s u l t a t i o n and guidance, b u t a p p l i c a n t s who receive assistance will be free to pursue their projects as they t h i n k best. T h e criterion f o r awarding financial aid will be primarily the e x t e n t to which the use of the school's resources can be e x p e c t e d to advance proposed projects. T h i s decision will be made by a c o m m i t t e e o f faculty m e m b e r s at the H a r v a r d Business School. T h e a m o u n t of aid will be adjusted to the r e q u i r e m e n t s of the individuals who are selected. I n q u i r i e s may be addressed to Professor R a l p h W . Hidv, M o r g a n 304, H a r v a r d G r a d u a t e School of Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n , Soldiers Field, Boston 63, Mass. J A N U A R Y 1 9 6 2 27