College and Research Libraries


be stored in the deposit l i b r a r y ? ( 3 ) S o m e 

of t h e p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s and o t h e r s m a l l e r 

i n s t i t u t i o n s h a v e rarities w h i c h they can-

not p r e s e r v e p r o p e r l y or w h i c h they m u s t 

house in b u i l d i n g s t h a t are n o t f i r e p r o o f . 

A g a i n it m i g h t be desirable to o b t a i n state 

f u n d s f o r the p r o p e r p r e s e r v a t i o n of such 

m a t e r i a l in a u n i t of t h e deposit l i b r a r y 

specially c o n s t r u c t e d t o t a k e c a r e of a 

l i m i t e d n u m b e r of r a r e books. W i t h the 

w h o l e s a l e d e s t r u c t i o n of c u l t u r a l o b j e c t s 

in E u r o p e , increased responsibility f a l l s on 

the s h o u l d e r s of A m e r i c a n s to see t h a t 

r a r e and v a l u a b l e m a t e r i a l in l i b r a r i e s 

here is p r o p e r l y p r e s e r v e d . H e r e is one 

m e a n s by w h i c h r a r i t i e s c o u l d be safe-

g u a r d e d f o r s m a l l e r i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d y e t 

be m a d e a v a i l a b l e to t h e m f o r use w h e n 

needed. 

References 

M a s s a c h u s e t t s . L a w s , Statutes, etc. " A n 
A c t to Incorporate N e w England Deposit 
L i b r a r y and R e g u l a t i n g the O p e r a t i o n of 
Said L i b r a r y and A u t h o r i z i n g C e r t a i n L i -
braries to M a k e U s e of Its Facilities." 
( I n Massachusetts. G e n e r a l C o u r t . 
Acts and Resolves, 1941, chapter 240.) 

M e t c a l f , K e y e s D . " T h e N e w England 
Deposit L i b r a r y . " Library Quarterly 
12:622-28, J u l y 1942. 

O s b o r n , A n d r e w D . " B o o k s f o r the D e -
posit L i b r a r y . " Harvard University Li-
brary Notes 4:80-83, M a r c h 1942. 

W o r k , R . L . " N e w England Deposit L i -
b r a r y . " Library Journal 67:358, A p r i l 
1942. 

B y H A R O L D L . L E U P P 

Storage of Little-Used 
Library Materials 

Mr. Leupp is librarian of the University 

of California Library, Berkeley. 

DESPITE t h e o r e t i c a l o b j e c t i o n s to divi-sion of the collections, in t h e c o l d 
l i g h t of f i n a n c i a l a n d o t h e r p r a c t i c a l con-

siderations the s t o r a g e m e t h o d of d e a l i n g 

w i t h a c c u m u l a t i o n s of l i t t l e - u s e d m a t e r i a l s 

in a l a r g e l i b r a r y c e r t a i n l y h a s its points. 

T h e p r i n c i p a l difficulties i n v o l v e d , no one 

of w h i c h seems necessarily i n s u r m o u n t a b l e , 

appear to be a b o u t as f o l l o w s : 

(1) Difficulty of selecting material to be 

stored 

T o c o m b o u t the c o l l e c t i o n s title by 

title w o u l d be a f o r m i d a b l e u n d e r t a k i n g . 

R e c o r d s of use w o u l d n o t help m u c h , since 

the u n r e c o r d e d use of c e r t a i n m a t e r i a l s is 

e x t e n s i v e a n d i m p o r t a n t . V e r y l a r g e li-

braries p r o b a b l y w i l l i n c l u d e c o n s i d e r a b l e 

g r o u p s of l i t t l e - u s e d m a t e r i a l , t r a n s f e r of 

w h i c h to s t o r a g e w o u l d be n o t o n l y a 

r e l a t i v e l y simple m a t t e r b u t w o u l d release 

a m a x i m u m of shelf space w i t h s l i g h t ex-

p e n d i t u r e of time and l a b o r . B u t e v e n 

H a r v a r d , w i t h its f o u r m i l l i o n v o l u m e s , 

a c c o r d i n g to m y i n f o r m a t i o n , p l a n s to 

s t o r e o n l y t h r e e h u n d r e d t h o u s a n d , o r 

28 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



a b o u t per cent of t h e m . I n a w o r k i n g 

l i b r a r y of s m a l l e r size, say of less t h a n a 

m i l l i o n and a h a l f v o l u m e s , there are less 

l i k e l y to be l a r g e g r o u p s of m a t e r i a l w h i c h 

m i g h t be separated f r o m the m a i n c o l l e c -

tion w i t h reasonable assurance t h a t they 

w o u l d be needed o n l y i n f r e q u e n t l y . F o r 

such a l i b r a r y to select f o r s t o r a g e e n o u g h 

books a p p r e c i a b l y to ease congestion in the 

stacks w o u l d be, by the c o m b i n g - o u t p r o c -

ess, a s l o w , l a b o r i o u s , and costly process. 

T h e U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a L i b r a r y , f o r 

instance, w o u l d h a v e to select s o m e t h i n g 

like t h i r t y - f i v e t h o u s a n d v o l u m e s to p r o -

v i d e shelf space f o r the accretions of a 

single y e a r . 

(2) Changing catalog and other records 

I n t r a n s f e r r i n g g r o u p s of m a t e r i a l f r o m 

one of the u n i v e r s i t y ' s l i b r a r i e s to a n o t h e r , 

w e h a v e f o u n d a l t e r a t i o n of the r e c o r d s 

the most t r o u b l e s o m e and costly f e a t u r e of 

the u n d e r t a k i n g . G e n e r a l l y accepted li-

b r a r y p r o c e d u r e seems to h a v e enmeshed 

books in such a w e b of r e c o r d s t h a t it has 

become a l m o s t as costly to relocate a book, 

or to discard it, as to secure and process it 

in the first p l a c e . L i b r a r i a n s w o u l d do 

w e l l to r e s t u d y this s i t u a t i o n , to e l i m i n a t e 

a l l r e c o r d s n o t a b s o l u t e l y essential t o li-

b r a r y o p e r a t i o n as p r e s e n t l y c o n d u c t e d , a n d 

to t r y to s i m p l i f y those w h i c h r e m a i n . I n 

a d d i t i o n , the sacredness of close classifica-

tion i n v o l v i n g l o n g and c o m p l i c a t e d c a l l 

n u m b e r s m i g h t w e l l be s u b j e c t e d to scru-

t i n y . B o t h m a t t e r s h a v e a d i r e c t b e a r i n g 

u p o n the cost and d i f f i c u l t y of t r a n s f e r to 

s t o r a g e : the c o m p l i c a t i o n s they e n t a i l ren-

der it d o u b t f u l w h e t h e r the relief a f f o r d e d 

by s t o r a g e of t h o u s a n d s of i n d i v i d u a l books 

w o u l d j u s t i f y the cost. W i t h p r o c e d u r e 

less e l a b o r a t e and m o r e elastic, t r a n s f e r of 

books to s t o r a g e m i g h t be m a d e a r e l a t i v e l y 

simple m a t t e r . I t w o u l d be m u c h less 

d i f f i c u l t to c o r r e c t initial e r r o r s in choice 

of m a t e r i a l to be stored, p e r m i t t i n g a m o r e 

s w e e p i n g a p p r o a c h t o the p r o b l e m of selec-

tion. 

(3) Cost of maintenance 

T h e N e w E n g l a n d D e p o s i t L i b r a r y pro-

g r a m seems w e l l a d a p t e d t o c o n d i t i o n s 

such as those w h i c h o b t a i n in the B o s t o n 

area and in other m e t r o p o l i t a n areas such 

as those c e n t e r i n g in N e w Y o r k or C h i -

c a g o . I t s essence is c o o p e r a t i o n of neigh-

b o r i n g l i b r a r i e s of l a r g e size, each 

c o n t r i b u t i n g t o the cost and each deposit-

i n g a considerable body of m a t e r i a l . I 

d o u b t if the p l a n is e q u a l l y w e l l a d a p t e d to 

libraries not l o c a t e d in or near l i b r a r y cen-

ters. U n l e s s the c o o p e r a t i n g l i b r a r i e s are 

of s o m e w h a t similar c h a r a c t e r and at least 

a p p r o a c h e q u a l i t y in size or v a l u e of con-

tent, most of the expense a n d a l l of the 

g r i e f w o u l d f a l l to the share of the domi-

n a n t institution, w h i c h also w o u l d be the 

one least l i k e l y to benefit f r o m the m a t e r i -

als stored by the other c o l l a b o r a t o r s . I f 

this v i e w is c o r r e c t , the m o s t i m m e d i a t e 

question f o r the d o m i n a n t l i b r a r y to deter-

m i n e is w h e t h e r c o o p e r a t i v e s t o r a g e is the 

m o s t e c o n o m i c a l and o t h e r w i s e s a t i s f a c t o r y 

w a y of a v o i d i n g , or m o r e p r o b a b l y of post-

p o n i n g , congestion of its o w n stacks. G e n -

e r a l l y , I t h i n k the a n s w e r w o u l d be " N o . " 

If t h a t is so, there r e m a i n s the question 

w h e t h e r the d o m i n a n t l i b r a r y ' s c o n t r i b u -

tion of l i t t l e - u s e d m a t e r i a l to the c o m m o n 

pool w o u l d r e n d e r this m a t e r i a l m o r e ac-

cessible to o t h e r c o l l a b o r a t o r s . A n affirm-

ative a n s w e r w o u l d raise the f u r t h e r 

question of w h e t h e r this r e s u l t c o u l d n o t 

be reached, w i t h o u t t h e m a c h i n e r y and e x -

pense, by simple m o d i f i c a t i o n of the l o a n 

r e g u l a t i o n s of t h e d o m i n a n t l i b r a r y . 

W h e t h e r it is s t o r a g e or s o m e t h i n g else, 

a solution m u s t be f o u n d t o the p r o b l e m 

DECEMBER, 1943 29 



of s t a c k c o n g e s t i o n w h i c h f a c e s m o s t li-

b r a r i e s a n d a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i e s . P u b l i c 

l i b r a r y s y s t e m s s e r v i n g a m u n i c i p a l i t y , or 

a w i d e r a r e a s u c h as a c o u n t y , h a v e an 

a n s w e r in m u l t i p l i c a t i o n of d i s t r i b u t i n g 

a g e n c i e s . T h i s s o l u t i o n is n o t o p e n t o the 

r e f e r e n c e l i b r a r y or, e x c e p t to a v e r y l i m -

ited e x t e n t , to the c o l l e g e or u n i v e r s i t y li-

b r a r y . F o r the u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y n o t y e t 

c o n f i n e d w i t h i n the r i g i d w a l l s of an ar-

c h i t e c t u r a l m o n u m e n t , the s o l u t i o n seems 

to lie in a m a i n b u i l d i n g f u n c t i o n a l in 

c h a r a c t e r so l o c a t e d a n d p l a n n e d t h a t it 

c a n be e x t e n d e d i n d e f i n i t e l y . F o r a u n i -

v e r s i t y l i b r a r y a l r e a d y e m b a l m e d in a 

m o n u m e n t a l b u i l d i n g , a p a r t i a l s o l u t i o n lies 

in l i m i t e d d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n ; this, h o w e v e r , 

w i l l m e r e l y p o s t p o n e the d a y of r e c k o n i n g . 

L i b r a r i e s w h i c h do n o t f i n d the c o o p -

e r a t i v e s t o r a g e p l a n s u i t e d to t h e i r c o n d i -

t i o n s ( a n d I t h i n k this w i l l be t r u e of a 

l a r g e m a j o r i t y of u n i v e r s i t y a n d c o l l e g e 

l i b r a r i e s ) s h o u l d a n d p r o b a b l y w i l l e x p ' o r e 

the possibilities of s t o r a g e of t h e i r l e a s t -

used m a t e r i a l s o f f c a m p u s or on c a m p u s in 

a b u i l d i n g m o r e s i m p l y c o n s t r u c t e d and 

less d e s i r a b l y l o c a t e d t h a n t h e m a i n l i b r a r y 

b u i l d i n g . S u c h a s t o r e h o u s e m a y be 

p l a n n e d f o r s t o r a g e s o l e l y or f o r s t o r a g e 

a n d o c c a s i o n a l r e a d e r use. T h e f i r s t w i l l 

p r o v i d e m a x i m u m s t o r a g e c a p a c i t y w i t h 

m i n i m u m r e q u i r e m e n t s : f r e e d o m f r o m 

d a m p n e s s a n d e x c e s s i v e s u n l i g h t or e x -

t r e m e s of t e m p e r a t u r e on the n e g a t i v e side, 

a n d on t h e p o s i t i v e , s h e l v i n g , a t a b l e or 

t w o , one o r m o r e b o o k t r u c k s , a b o o k l i f t 

if the books a r e h o u s e d o n m o r e t h a n one 

l e v e l , a d e q u a t e if m o d e s t a r t i f i c i a l l i g h t i n g , 

and m e s s e n g e r s e r v i c e . T h e second w i l l 

i n v o l v e , in a d d i t i o n to the f o r e g o i n g , h e a t 

a n d v e n t i l a t i o n , t o i l e t f a c i l i t i e s , t e l e p h o n e 

c o n n e c t i o n w i t h the m a i n l i b r a r y , r e a d e r 

a c c o m m o d a t i o n s , m o r e a r t i f i c i a l l i g h t , pos-

s i b l y a r u d i m e n t a r y c a t a l o g , a n d a t t e n d -

a n t s . T h e second p l a n w i l l be m o r e c o s t l y 

b u t w i l l insure less f r e q u e n t r e c a l l s of 

s t o r e d b o o k s to the m a i n l i b r a r y . O n this 

p o i n t the e x p e r i e n c e s of I o w a S t a t e C o l -

l e g e L i b r a r y a n d O h i o S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y 

L i b r a r y , as set f o r t h in the m i n u t e s of t h e 

D e c e m b e r 1 9 4 0 m e e t i n g of the A s s o c i a t i o n 

of R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s , a r e i l l u m i n a t i n g : 

M r . B r o w n spoke of the w a r e h o u s e recently 
constructed on the I o w a State C o l l e g e cam-
pus at a cost per v o l u m e considerably l o w e r 
than the proposed Boston building. H e 
stated that seventy thousand volumes, ap-
p r o x i m a t e l y one f i f t h of his collection, had 
been sent there and that these had been 
c a r e f u l l y selected, but that the circulation 
w a s a v e r a g i n g f i f t y v o l u m e s per day. M r . 
M a n c h e s t e r , w h o has about the same num-
ber of v o l u m e s stored at O h i o State, re-
ported a similar experience. 

A t t h e U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a a spe-

cial c o m m i t t e e has been s t u d y i n g the li-

b r a r y p r o b l e m of the B e r k e l e y c a m p u s f o r 

m o r e t h a n t w o y e a r s . A m o n g the s u g -

g e s t i o n s c o n s i d e r e d by t h e c o m m i t t e e is one 

w h i c h i n v o l v e s c o n s t r u c t i o n of a b u i l d i n g 

of r a t h e r s i m p l e t y p e f o r a l o w e r d i v i s i o n 

l i b r a r y . A s e p a r a t e l o w e r d i v i s i o n l i b r a r y 

w o u l d r e l i e v e the p r e s s u r e on r e a d i n g 

r o o m space in the m a i n b u i l d i n g b u t a l o n e 

w o u l d n o t m a t e r i a l l y ease c o n g e s t i o n in 

the s t a c k s . I t s h o u l d be f e a s i b l e to so p l a n 

the b u i l d i n g as to p r o v i d e a c o n s i d e r a b l e 

s t o r a g e a r e a w i t h i n its w a l l s . P r o b a b l y 

this w o u l d cost m o r e t h a n o f f - c a m p u s stor-

a g e b u t c e r t a i n l y m u c h less t h a n e n l a r g e -

m e n t of the m a i n b u i l d i n g , a n d the neces-

s a r y j u x t a p o s i t i o n of the t w o b u i l d i n g s 

w o u l d i n s u r e t h e c o n s i d e r a b l e a d v a n t a g e of 

h o u s i n g the s t o r e d books in close p r o x i m i t y 

to the m a i n c o l l e c t i o n . L i t t l e e q u i p m e n t 

w o u l d be r e q u i r e d o t h e r t h a n s h e l v i n g , 

w h i l e o p e r a t i n g cost w o u l d be n e g l i g i b l e . 

30 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES