Purdue University Library Summary of Reports for three years July lit, 1904 to June 30th, 1907 ^THE members of the Instructional Corps of the University are asked to give some attention to the following summary of the reports made to the President during the last three years, as an opportunity will soon be given to discuss the general subject of the development and administration of the Library. It is the wish of those directly responsible for the development of this department to enlist the active support and intelligent interest of each member of the teaching staff to the end that the library may more effectively perform its work. I. GROWTH. During the three years ending June 30th, 1907, the Library added 4880 volumes exclusive of pamphlets and some miscellaneous material not yet accessioned, an average of 1600 volumes per year. Of these 2445 were purchased at a cost of $4075.00 an average cost per volume of $1.66. 1367 were added by binding, most of these being periodi- cals, and 895 were received as gifts, the larger part being from state and federal government departments. The total estimated contents of the library on the above date was 22,334 volumes and pamphlets. The serial accessions are now very numerous, more than 1000 separate series of sequents being received, totalling about 9000 pieces per year. Of these serials 180 are purchased at a cost of $660.00. The binding of these and 170 other serials received as gifts costs $450.00 or a total of $1100.00 per year for periodicals, an average cost of $2.50 per volume. This year we expect to add 25 new peri- odicals by purchase bringing the cost up to about $1200.00. One of the main features of the Library policy is the importance given to this periodical literature and the effort made to obtain complete sets of such as are currently received. What has been accomplished along this line is shown by the following list of pur- chases during the last three years : Transactions Royal Society of London 93 Science 42 Nature 13 Annalen der Physik, 1877-99 __39 Journal Society Chemical Industry 16 Zeitschrift fur physikalische Chemie 50 American Journal of Mathematics 26 Annals of Mathematics American Journal of Sociology 9 Annals of American Academy Municipal Affairs 6 Journal Institute Electrical Engineers, Lend 33 Street Railway Journal Street Railway Review 8 Engineering News Engineering Record , __ _22 Engineering Transactions A. S. C. E Critic World’s Work 10 Reader 4 Masters in Art 6 Modern Philology 3 __93 vol —42 i < __13 —39 __16 i i —50 “ __26 i c - 6 i 6 9 ,.24 i 6 .. 6 i i -33 i 6 —21 < < 8 i i -10 _.22 i i -10 < i __23 —45 “ -10 i i The Reference Collection has also been strengthened. The fol- lowing works have been added : Universal Encyclopedia 12 vol. New International Encyclopedia 20 Dictionary of the Bible 5 Encyclopedia of Missions 1 German Dictionaries 6 Modern Eloquence 15 Warner’s Library World’s Best Literature 45 Chamber’s Cyclopedia of English Literature 3 Library of Literary Criticism 8 History for Ready Reference 6 Appleton’s Cyclopedia of American Biography, 6 Modern Mechanism 1 Spon’s Encyclopedia of Manufactures 2 Rand & McNally’s Atlas 1 Andree’s Hand Atlas 1 II. USE OF THE LIBRARY. The Library is now open a total of 81% hours per week. The average daily attendance is about 350. Separate record is kept of the evening and Sunday attendance which have been as follows for the past two years. Number evenings open 396, total attendance 12,332, average 31. Number Sundays open 57, total attendance 2183, average 38. On two occasions this fall the attendance during the evening has been 100 or over. The reference use of the Library is large but no statistics have been kept of this part of the work. The circulation of books outside the library now averages 1000 per month, a daily average of 40. Of this circulation last year Fiction was 26.7%, Periodicals 19.7%, Literature 16.1%, Mechanical Engineering 7.8%, other En- gineering subjects 6.4%, Reserved Books 5.4%, Biology, Sociology and History each 3%, Biography 2.1%, Physics 1.6%, other Sciences 1.6%, Art 1.3%, Travel 1%. Last year 997 students, or 55% of the whole, borrowed books from the Library. 22% of these took only 1 volume each, while 44% took 5 or more volumes each. 81% of theSenier class, 62% of the Junior class, 56% of the Sophomore class and 63% of the Fresh- man class used the Library in this way. Last year 534 volumes were placed on “ Reserved Shelves ” and 382 the previous year. Since September 1907, 284 volumes have been reserved and these were used 3756 times, an average of 13 times per volume. Special attention is asked to this feature of the work of the Library and instructors are urged to take further ad- vantage of this method of using Library material. III. FINANCIAL. From 1874 to 1895 the average amount spent for books and periodicals was $500.00 annually. From 1896 to 1904 the average was $1000.00. In 1904-05 the total expenditure for the Library ex- clusive of salaries was $2752.33, in 1905-06 it was $4384.54 and in 1906-07 it was $3705.81. So that from the beginning of the Library to the present time a fair estimate of the expenditure would be $30,000.00 exclusive of salaries, furniture and structural changes in the Reading rooms. In apportioning the Book Fund among the departments no de- finite amount is set aside for each, but the work of the department is taken into account and consideration given to any special needs. The various departments and subjects are divided into classes and an approximate amount assigned to each group or class. In the first group are Mechanical, Civil and Electrical Engineering, Agri- culture and Biology; in the second group are Reference, Literature, Physics, Chemistry, History, Economics, French and German, Do- mestic Economy, Mathematics and Pharmacy; in a third group are Art, Fiction, Biography and Travel. For the last three years the amounts expended annually for the subjects of the first group have ranged from $50.00 to $150.00; for the subjects in the second group the range has been from $25.00 to $100.00; in the third group it has been from $15.00 to $35.00. It is hoped in future to be able to assign amounts ranging from $100.00 to $150.00 for the first group, $50.00 to $100.00 for the second group and from $25.00 to $50.00 for the third group, necessitating an annual expenditure for books alone of $1700.00 or more. V/. M. HEPBURN, January 31, 1908. Librarian.