College and Research Libraries By BERTHA M . FRICK A Traveler,s,Eye Vie-w of Libraries in the Near East Miss Frick is assistant profess{)r of li- brary service, Columbia University. EARLY IN 1948 I was given a seven-month sabbatical leave for travel abroad. Although half of the time was spent in various European countries, this paper concerns my tour of the ~ear and Middle East. My real reason for travel- ing to those parts was to visit the lands whose civilization had produced the oldest books in the world and the largest libraries of antiquity; to see the region which had evolved the alphabet and where still re- mains the oldest alphabetic inscription· ex- tant; and to climb the famous Behistun Rock in Iran, whose trilingual record had furnished the key to the deciphering of cuneiform script. My way began at Alex- andria, and after going up and down the ~ile I crossed the Mediterranean to visit Syria, Trans-] ordan, Iraq and Iran. Whenever time per.mitted and fancy dic- tated, I visited libraries in a casual way just as one drops into a library when mak- ing a short stay in an American town. In none of them did I present a letter of in- troduction-only my personal visiting card -nor proceed according to organized plan . In all of them I met with friendly cour- tesy, intelligence and a respect for Ameri- can librarianship which was truly touching. These random remarks are impressions of some of the situations which interested me. The "V ulcania" had Alexandria as its port of call and most of its Egypt-bound passengers hurried to Cairo as fast as the train could carry them. Even though I knew very well that not a trace of the glory of the huge libraries of the Pto1emies remained-that doubt exists even as to their exact location-! could not resist lingering in Alexandria to tread the ground and see the sites where the immortal Euclid must have walked and contemplated while evolv- ing his Elements, where the 70 rabbis la- boriously translated the Pentateuch into Greek and where St. Mark preached the Gospel. Finally that part of me which is cataloger wanted to see the surroundings which met the eye of Callimachus in the third century B.C. when, though a poet and a philosopher, he also worked out a system of classifying and arranging the thousands of rolls whi~h made him the most famous cataloger in history. A great deal of imagination was required to try to recreate the original setting, but the incomparable Mediterranean sparkled in the morning sun, changed into iridescent hues of blue and green and reflected the violent colors of the sunset even as they had for the tired eyes of cataloger Calli- machus. In one way this was an ideal starting point for a cataloger's pilgrimage. True to the heritage of Callimachus, I was to find that cataloging is still considered not only the most important but practically the only professional activity in libraries visited. Alexandria Farouk I. University is located in Alex- andria and its Central Ljbrary was my first library call. While English is spoken wide- 388 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES ly among the educated in Egypt (and among the guides and beggars in Cairo and Luxor) Alexandria is not m·1ch of a tour- ist city so that requests for directions are not always understood. I took the pre- caution to have the hotel manager write down the name and address of the univer- sity in Arabic. This proved to be of no 4elp to the taxi-driver, but he showed the slip to a policeman who could read and he gave the necessary directions. At the uni- versity, as at all others in Egypt at this time, there were q1any policemen standing about because of frequent student riots. One librarian complained that today's stu- dents were always striking about something -by such a method they had even succeeded in having tuition fees abolished. He was discouraged by their attitude and thought it much less scholarly than in his day (he was apparently about 40 years old). The librarian of the Central Library, Burhan al-Din Zaki, is a thoroughly intelli- gent, ambitious and energetic individual. Everything was in great confusion that morning as they were moving into new quarters-a few rooms of an ugly, bare university building-but the librarian was as gracious and cordial as though I were the very person he had been hoping would arnve. His English was perfect, and he was anxious to show me his new quarters and to discuss library problems. Chief among these problems was the sudden growth of the library which was even more startling than the alarming rate of increase in American institutions. In 1942 the li- brary had only 2000 volumes; in February 1948 it had 100,000, increased mainly by purchasing whole collections as, for ex- ample, that of the late Prince Ibrahim Hiliny, for , which Zaki had helped prepare a printed catalog, and the German Library of Information. Since the university grants several kinds of advanced degrees, has a student body of 3000 and a faculty of OCTOBER~ 1949 500, most of the book use had fallen on the libraries of the different schools before the Central Library started to grow. As is to be expected under such circum- stances, the catalog department was a busy place with one trained cataloger and seven assistants, all men of course. The catalog was very businesslike-an alphabetic author list with a classified subject file arranged by the Dewey Decimal Classification. The latter had no index but as these files are kept in the catalog- department their staff mem- oers help the readers use them. There was also a reference room with the kind of collection that I was to find typi- cal-a set of Larousse (Grand Diction- noire) J , a set of La Grande Encyclopedie_, an eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Bri- tannica, a few miscellaneous items in Euro- pean languages and several shelves of books in Arabic. These were presided over by a servant, seated on a raised platform which provided an unobstructed view of the room, who was clad in a long white garment colorfully set off by a wide red cummer- bund and fez to match-the "reference at- tendant!" Next day I went to the Library of the Faculty of Arts of the same Farouk I. University, located in another part of the city. When I arrived at the rather bleak- looking building I was halted by one of the usual blue-uniformed, red-fezzed police- men. Very courteous, as is universal among Egyptians, and very intelligent, although not understanding a word I said, he con- ducted me into the building to find an English-speaking student to be my guide. We entered the reading room, quite small and with every one of the 40 seats occupied by students, including a few women. The librarian's office was behind this room, sep- arated from it by a half-partition only. Here presided Mohamed Mahmoud El- Sorougy who donned his fez in great haste and obvious embarrassment as I entered- 389 it is a mark of courtesy to wear, not to re- move, this jaunty headgear. His English was fluent and he was eager to show me his library and to ask questions-but not, of course, until after he had clapped his hands and a servant had appeared with the inevi- table tiny cups of sweet black coffee which accompany every sort of transaction. Here, as in most of the Egyptian uni- versity libraries, the books in European languages outnumber the Arabic language books by at least three to one, and are ar- ranged by language. Of the 10,000 v~l­ umes (for 1000 students) most numerous ~ere those in English, French and German. Few, indeed, were the American books. Everywhere there was this same lack and the same reasons given for it-American books have always been expensive and now "we have no dollars." Within each lan- guage books were arranged in chronological order. More modern was the catalog, made by the only other professional assistant in the library. He was a shy but intelligent little man who confided to me that he wanted to take some correspondence courses in library subjects, from an American in- stitution, in order to advance himself. He had apparently caught the germ of the West. Cairo The libraries of Cairo have received more attention in literature than all the remain- ing libraries of the Near East put to- gether. Mention will be made, therefore, of only a few things which I particularly enjoyed. Mr. Kandil, the director-general of the National or Egyptian Library (formerly called the Khedivial Library), is a gracious, polished gentleman radiating his French education and his political background ac- quired at the State Education Department. The librarian is Mr. Omar, who made an extended visit to this country in the summer of I 948. Both of these officials were ex- cited over an adventurous innovation they were about to launch-namely, the opening of two branch libraries that were to have open shelves. Small residential buildings had been secured, books selected and placed on the shelves, and suitable staff members delegated to take charge. Everything had been organized to admit the neighborhood readers, even the garden surrounding the quarters had been arranged for alfresco reading. And still the doors were not opened. What would happen? Would readers mutilate the books? (An attendant was stationed in each of the three or four tiny rqoms.) Would readers walk off with the books? (A guard was placed at the door and a one-way traffic scheme worked out.) Would madame, the Ameri- can librarian, be so kind as to accompany these gentlemen and examine the building, go over the plans of operation and decide whether such a daring program would suc- ceed? At the time my reaction, conc-ealed of course, was just what yours probably is at this moment. Only after visits to a num- ber of libraries in the Near East could I appreciate the pioneer spirit of these con- scientious Cairo librarians, for the idea of open shelves is simply nonexistent. What makes this all the more striking is that al- most all of the libraries of the American colleges and universities scattered through this part of the world have adopted the oriental policy of hands-off, rather than setting an American example of open shelf libraries. Recalling the history of the de- velopment of open access in this country one can understand the native librarian's cau- tious attitude. It is difficult to be sym- pathetic with the stand taken in the Ameri- can institutions. Among the books at theN ational Library the most impressive . sight to western eyes is the extensive exhibition of Korans. Some 390 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES of these are very old, written in the same monumental Kufic script which, carved in stone, decorates the mosques. One Koran is , written entirely in gold, others are beau- tifully decorated in gold and shades of blue, the predominant color in mosques and books alike. Several of the Korans are of gigantic size, the largest one measur- ing 36" x 46". This is probably the largest manuscript in the world, thus discrediting western book · history in which the Codex Gigas (16" x 32"), in the University Li- brary at Stockholm, is said to be the world's largest manuscript. As in European collections the proportion of manuscripts to printed books is surpris- ing to one used to American libraries. Ac- cording to the director, the National Library has 7 50,000 volumes, about half of them in western languages, and 70,000 manuscripts. (This may be the place to state that none of the volume count of libraries, as given to me on the spot and set down immediately in a notebook, agrees with the figures in the World of Learning, 1948.) Throughout the Moslem world there are numerous theological colleges, attached to mosques, with book collections for their specialized field. Most famous of these mosques is the Al-Azhar in Cairo, housing a university founded in 970 A.D., and thus invalidating the claims of Bologna and other western institutions of being the old- est universities in the world. These mad- rassehs are noisy places as the boys chant their lessons aloud. Strange as Egypt appeared to me at the time, in appraising it after seeing countries farther east, by contrast the Egyptians' at- titude towards libraries and library service is far more like that of America than it is like that of their neighbors. Except for the handsome, black-tasseled red fez, the ever-present prayer beads and the sociable thimble-size cups of coffee, there is not so much difference between librarians there OCTOBER~ 1949 and here. They were sincere in their desire to give book service and to improve their . libraries, and were as anxious as Americans to discuss library problems. They are piti- fully aware of how far behind modern standards they are . They are not willing to keep on doing things as they have always been done, which is the traditional attitude of much of the Near East. They are so sure than American librarians have all the right answers. They turn to us so eagerly that we can only hope that we shall not fail them. Damascus By the time Damascus, oldest city in the world, is reached the West seems very far away. Appropriate to the antiquity of the city is the 700-year-old building which houses the Academy Library. Its neighbor on one side is the Great Mosque, where the head of St. John the Baptist is said to be buried, and not far away on the other side is the tomb of Saladin, the Mohammedan conquerer of Jerusalem in the twelfth cen- tury. One enters a quiet courtyard off of which open the rooms housing the libra~y. The building is ancient and the collection contains many early manuscripts, but as a library, maintained for the members of the academy, it is only about 20 years old. In that time it has acquired about 6ooo printed books and 4500 manuscripts. The books are arranged by size but the catalog is mod- ern and is divided into three files-author, title and subject. The manuscripts were in a separate room in which a king and his son lie buried. (Who they were I did not discover, but it is to be hoped that they were patrons of learning.) A small exhibition included a commentary on the Koran, written on paper and dated 266 A. H. (about 879 A.D.) This is thought to be the oldest Moham- medan manuscript written on paper in exist- ence. Because of my interest in it the 391 courteous attendant opened the case and in- sisted upon placing it in my hands so that I might examine it carefully. Teheran Not until Iran was reached did I see buildings which resembled libraries. The Persians dearly love imposing architecture and part of the late Reza Shah's program for modernizing his country was to widen a few of the narrow streets and to erect large buildings on them. In most other countries books are acquired and thus de- mand a building. But in Persia the N a- tiona! Library was both founded and built in 1937. It is situated in Teheran next to a magnificent museum which utilizes the m~st modern methods of lighting and dis- play. The pair of buildings, with their beautifully landscaped grounds, form an im- pressive civic center. Like so much in Persia, however, there is more "front" than substance. The museum has a splendid col- lection reflecting the country's long history and artistic achievements, but the library has less than 50,000 volumes. In time, no doubt, the collection will grow up to the building. A few days later, driving from Persepolis to Shiraz, the car was halted over and over to let pass a nomad tribe moving from winter to summer quarters. As the camels, asses, sheep, tribesmen and their women and children streamed past, it was as though the pages of the Genesis had come to life and Abraham or Isaac or Jacob and his sons were driving their flocks before us. As long as there remain large sections of the country like this, it will not be sur- prising if the shelves of the large National Library fill slowly. The Shah's collection of manuscripts is housed in a part of the Gulistan Palace, in the main part of which are displayed both the fabulous "Peacock Throne" and the enormous "Alabaster Throne" on which the monarchs are crowned. One room of the manuscript quarters is fitted like a private library and presided over by a bearded old scholar . who obviously l'oves his treasures. Beautiful illuminated manuscripts were shown to us, all from the East-Egypt, Syria and Turkey, as well as Persia itself. It was a magnificent display of the finest of Islamic bookmaking, ancient and modern. Many volumes contained no text, being col- lections of miniatures only. Others existed as specimens of fine calligraphy, ever a high- ly cultivated and admired branch of art in Persia and used often in ornamentation of buildings as well as of books. Perhaps some day these handsome volumes will become a part of the National Library even as a com- parable collection of western manuscripts, once the property of English kings, is now the Royal Collection in the British Mu- seum. Meshed Unique among cities is Meshed, holy city of Persia and place of pilgrimage for mem- bers of the Shia sect of the Mohaq1medans, to some of whom . it is more sacred than Mecca. The shrine built over and around the tomb of Imam Reza is also the burial place of his eighth-century contemporary, Haroun al-Raschid, of Arabian Nights fame. From the air, as the plane descends slowly to the bleak, desert airport, the ex- tensive shrine buildings, with one gleaming gold dome and minaret and another of bright turquoise blue, dominate the city. The shrine buildings are enclosed by a high wall and guards are on constant duty in the watch towers. One of these buildings contains the tomb, housed in a small richly decorated room. One of the doors to this room is of silver, the other of gold. Both are well worn from the pious kisses of de- vout pilgrimages. Entrance to the shrine is absolutely for- bidden to all but Moslems (so that I visited it one night disguised in an all-con- 392 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES cealing chadur) but the museum and the li- brary are open to all. They are both housed in one imposing new building near the shrine but are outside its enclosing and forbidding walls. The librarian's office makes you think that you are indeed in the land of the Arabian Nights. It is a spa- cious, airy room, much larger than the reading room and very nearly as commodi- O'JS as the room housing the books. Luxuri- ously furnished, only its massive desk gives the room an official appearance. Every inch of floor space is covered by dozens of hand- woven Persian rugs, large and small and ~ith a brilliant variety of colors and de- signs. The librarian presiding over this splendor knew no European languages, so we held a three-cornered conversation with my Persian-speaking American hostess act- ing as interpreter. The Shrine Library was founded in the fifteenth century. It is open to all and ac- quires books in all fields of knowledge, mainly in Persian or Arabic as befits the needs of its clientele. The library contains 24,000 volumes of which more than a third are manuscripts, some of these being of great beauty and great antiquity. There is, of course, no open access to the shelves but printed books are circulated if the li- brary has two copies so that one can always be had in the Library. It is, in fact, their policy to secure duplicates if possible, as otherwise a book cannot be circulated. The small reading room had but one long table. On the shelves, in addition to a few Arabic and Persian reference books, there were the usual La Grande, Larousse and Britannica! One of the attendants took us through the "stacks" and the books have as 1 uxurious housing as the librarian. Both floors, lower ·for printed books and upper for manuscripts, were completely covered with rugs on which one's feet sank in soundless c~mfort making "silence" signs unnecessary. Books were kept in hand- OCTOBER~ 1949 made wooden cases and were carefully pro- tected by glass doors-a precaution against · the swirling yellow dust of the region not deemed necessary for meat and other foods exposed in the open markets nor for the sad, fly-covered naked infants asleep in the streets outside. Then followed a tour of the exhibition room, opened only on special occasions. My visit coincided, fortunately, with that of the prime minister from Iraq. The Shrine Library contains more than 1000 manuscripts of the Koran and some of the most magnificent of these were on dis- play, including the one which has been called the most beautiful book in the world. Each page contains only a few lines of care- ful writing, executed either on a gold back- ground or framed in gold with delicate gilt scrolls wandering between the lines. These writing panels are set in wide decorative borders of intricate design, a different pat- tern on each of the book's 1200 pages. Any pair of facing pages is a masterpiece of lovely color and graceful line. To view page after page is dazzling. While this Koran was the most elaborate, dozens of others had individual pages which often rivalled this one in beauty. As calligraphy has ever been a highly re- spected art in the East many volumes carry the scribe's name and date. One of these has an association which makes it of interest to a westerner. The colophon states that the Koran was written by Ibrahim Sultan who was the son of Gobar Shad, the widow of Shah Rukh, son of Tamerlane. Not all the library's treasures were of a religious nature. Also on display was a fine eleventh-century paper copy of the De Materia Medica of the Greek physician, Dioscorides. Although written in Arabic, its numerous water color paintings of the plants and animals described were very similar to those in the Pierpont Morgan's tenth-century vellum manuscript of the 393 same work, but in Greek. I was free to examine page after page. It so happened that this was the last book in the last library that I visited in Persia. Here in this most fanatical and out-of-the-way city in the Middle East, I was more at home for the moment than I had been in the whole trip. Imagination carried me back to the Morgan Library and I saw again the pages of their Dioscorides. If in this account there has been more of books than of libraries, it is due in part, at least, to the fact that except for E gypt a library is looked upon mu~h less as an insti- tution to disseminate information, than as an organization to collect and catalog books. These are to be used , yes, but above all to be preserved. Research Libraries in Germany (Continued from page ]So) the last. Besides those books which prove to have been instruments of Nazi propa- ganda, there are many, by apparently non- political authors which, when carefully ex- amined, show the infiltration of Hitler's tenets. One of the most effective methods of the Nazi party was to camouflage propa- ganda in this way, and many authors either consciously or unconsciously helped in this campaign. 4 It is impossible to destroy all these books, but they present a problem and even a danger as long as great parts of the German population still incline to national- ism and antisemitism. In the postwar publi- cations of German librarians these problems have not been touched any more than other educational and political problems. This apparent oversight has its source in the tradi- tion of German librarianship and the train- ing of librarians. The fields covered in the United States by the duties of the "readers' adviser" are almost unknown in Germany. 4 Lehmann-Haupt , Hellmut. "What the Nazi s Did to Childr en' s Book s." The H orn B oo k Magazine, 2 5 :220-2 3 0, MaycJune 1949 . Book selection and annotation, display of instructive and valuable books, and personal advice to readers are not to be found in . the research libraries. This is all the more unfortunate since, in Germany, research li- braries also fulfil the functions of public li- braries. The so-called "volksbuechereien" are not the equivalent of public libraries and have only small book collections selected for uneducated readers. The gap between the professional librarian working in research libraries and the librarian of "volksbuechereien" who, indeed, per- formed some educational work, was al- ways great and does J?Ot seem to have di- minished. The professional librarian did not take into consideration that he too had educational tasks and that the adult reader needed his guidance. The reorganization of the libraries, so well performed in many respects , has not balanced this lack in Ger- man librarianship-a .lack which may per- haps prove more disastrous ·for German cul- ture than the loss of books. 394 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES