College and Research Libraries By R O B E R T H . M U L L E R Future Library Building Trends Among Colleges and Universities Dr. Muller is director of libraries, South- ern Illinois University. IT is S A F E to predict that over one h u n -dred million dollars is going to be spent by A m e r i c a n institutions of higher educa- tion f o r the construction of n e w library buildings in the next five to 10 years. I n addition, perhaps f o r t y million dollars will be spent f o r additions to existing s t r u c t u r e s . A c c o r d i n g to a survey conducted in the fall of 1949 by the A . C . R . L . C o m m i t t e e on College and U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y Buildings, 103 institutions are c u r r e n t l y w o r k i n g on preliminary plans for n e w library buildings, and 84 institutions are p l a n n i n g additions to existing library buildings. A b o u t one half of the institutions r e p o r t i n g n e w build- ings in the offing have completed pre- liminary drawings, and 6 0 per cent have made cost estimates. Cooperation Such a tremendous volume of construc- tion calls f o r cooperation a m o n g librarians. By pooling their knowledge, their observa- tions and their talents, they may be able to avoid the pitfalls to which the independent w o r k e r is o f t e n subject. T h e accompany- ing tabulation is designed to enable li- brarians and architects to locate institutions of similar size and n a t u r e if they feel t h a t by exchanging their experiences, they can help each other. Such a use of the tabula- tion is eminently practical. ^Another possi- ble use is t h a t it may provide justification f o r not discontinuing the Cooperative C o m - mittee on College and University L i b r a r y Building Plans, which has been of inesti- mable benefit to the m a n y institutions t h a t participated in its deliberations since its es- tablishment in 1944.1 If the Cooperative C o m m i t t e e continues in existence, it is likely to continue to be the meeting-ground chiefly for librarians and architects of very large institutions. T h e r e is much at stake in the p l a n n i n g of a large library building, and there still remains a sufficient n u m b e r of large buildings in the early stages of plan- n i n g to provide ample subject m a t t e r f o r discussion in f u t u r e meetings of the Co- operative C o m m i t t e e . Nevertheless, it should not be overlooked t h a t approximately 75 per cent of the li- b r a r y buildings expected to be constructed in the near f u t u r e will cost less than one million dollars each. Cooperation a m o n g librarians in the p l a n n i n g of these smaller buildings is unquestionably desirable. T h e s e smaller buildings will generally pro- vide storage facilities f o r not m o r e t h a n 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 v o l u m e s ; and the n u m b e r of read- ers to be accommodated in any one of these buildings will be less than 500. Seating Capacity Present seating capacities are insufficient in m a n y of the 103 libraries, especially in those of larger institutions. O n l y three out of 21 institutions enroling 3 3 0 0 or more stu- 1 T h e a r c h i t e c t s a n d l i b r a r i a n s p r e s e n t at the 1 9 5 0 m e e t i n g o f t h e c o m m i t t e e a t A n n A r b o r , M i c h . , r e a c t e d u n f a v o r a b l y to a s u g g e s t i o n t h a t t h e c o m m i t t e e m i g h t n o w d i s b a n d s i n c e m o s t of t h e o r i g i n a l m e m b e r s ap- p e a r e d to h a v e s o l v e d t h e i r l i b r a r y b u i l d i n g p r o b l e m s . JANUARY, 1951 33 7 Library Building Plans of Colleges and Universities January 1950 Name of Institution Library in g . Estimated Seats Prelim- Separate Volumes »/„• Cost to Be inary Building Main ^ a m (including P l a f n n e d Pro- Plans Now and Building, ? u ' l d ' equipment) I o r vided l y 4 8 Drawn Year 1948 { S f i Completed 1 9 4 8 •a nnn nnn i nnn nnn onnn no mA v „ „ inn7 Indiana University, Bloomington1 $4,000,000 1,000,000 2000 23,974 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia2 2,000,000 600,000 1900 18,916 Wayne University, Detroit 4,000,000 1,000,000 3000 18,455 Michigan State College, East Lansing3 2,500,000 500,000 3000 15,870 University of Maryland, College Park 2,000,000 500,000 2000 12,302 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge4 10,223 University of Chicago5 6,000,000 1,500,000 2000 9519 University of Utah, Salt Lake City® 2,000,000 750,000 1200 8924 University of Houston, Houston, Tex.' 1,500,000 241 8692 Alabama Polytech. Institute, Auburn8 1,500,000 500,000 1500 7655 Washington University, St. Louis, Mo 2,500,000 1,000,000 750 7402 Virginia Polytech. Institute, Blacksburg9 1,500,000 400,000 1200 5546 Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 1,500,000 250,000 950 5376 North Carolina State College, Raleigh10 1,500,000 350,000 800 5227 Butler University, Indianapolis, Ind 300,000 200 5115 Florida State University, Tallahassee11 1,000,000 1,000,000 1277 5109 Youngstown College, Youngstown, Ohio 650,000 100,000 550 4679 Rensselaer Polytech. Institute, Troy, N . Y 750,000 200,000 600 4268 University of Idaho, Moscow12 3634 University of Wyoming, Laramie 1,000,000 3488 Canisius College, Buffalo, N.Y.1 3 600,000 100,000 200 3457 Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh14 2,000,000 350,000 750 3350 Drexel Institute of Technology, Philadelphia 3347 Fresno State College, Fresno, Calif 700,000 150,000 1200 3052 Southern Illinois University, Carbondale15 2,300,000 350,000 1500 3002 St. Bernardine of Siena College, Loudonville, N.Y. 1 8 . . 500,000 250,000 300 2752 Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland17 2567 De Pauw University, Greencastle, Ind 2168 Texas College of Arts & Industries, Kingsville 800,000 150,000 500 2099 East Texas State Teachers College, Commerce18 850,000 300,000 800 2097 University of Portland, Portland, Ore 500,000 250,000 750 1970 Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind.19 1957 Southwest Missouri State College, Springfield 900,000 200,000 . . . . 1893 Upsala College, East Orange, N.J.20 200,000 . . . 1800 Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.21 500,000 . . . . 1744 State Teachers College, Milwaukee, Wis 800,000 130,000 600 1715 Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash 500,000 250,000 750 1642 Idaho State College, Pocatello 750,000 100,000 250 1605 Colgate University, Hamilton, N . Y 1,000,000 300,000 500 1528 Evansville College, Evansville, Ind.22 100,000 400 1502 Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio23 200,000 300 1468 Simmons College, Boston, Mass.24 1,000,000 100,000 300 1425 Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia 850,000 300,000 800 1422 Trinity University, San Antonio, Tex.26 350,000 250,000 500 1414 Furman University, Greenville, S.C.26 1400 Western Illinois State College, Macomb 2,500,000 100,000 800 1389 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 1271 Howard College, Birmingham, Ala 1,000,000 200,000 800 1210 Stfete Teachers College, Cortland, N.Y 1162 College of the Pacific, Stockton, Calif 400,000 150,000 550 1146 Beloit College, Beloit, Wis 1061 Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa 500,000 250,000 350 1035 New York State TeacherB College, Brockport 1013 State Teachers College, California, Pa 1012 Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio 944 Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.2' 700,000 500,000 . . . . 908 Pacific Union College, Angwin, Calif. 100,000 . . . . 907 State Teachers College, Mansfield, Pa 856 Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash 835 Anderson Coll. & Theological Seminary, Anderson, Ind.28 250,000 75,000 . . . . 827 Houghton College, Houghton, N . Y 816 Millsaps College, Jackson, Miss 300,000 790 West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon 350,000 40,000 200 787 College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minn 500,000 100,000 400 786 Nebraska State Teachers College, Wayne29 200,000 100,000 300 756 Yes, 1907 Yes, 1891 No Yes, 1925 Yes, 1931 Yes, 1926 Yes, 1912 Yes, 1935 Yes, 1908 Yes, 1904 Yes, 1905 Yes, 1906 Yes, 1926 No Yes, 1930 No No No Yes, 1923 No No No Yes, 1933 Yes, 1904 No No Yes, 1908 No Yes, 1930 Y e s , 1880 No Yes Yes, 1910 No No No Yes, 1890 No Yes, 1892 No Yes, 1903 Yes Yes, 1906 No No Yes No Yes, 1925 Yes, 1905 Yes, 1906 No No No No No No Yes, 1904 No No Yes, 1924-25 No No No 500,000 707,440 269,388 220,000 135,000 247,247 516,830 200 000 41,300 140,000 264,953 123,009 102,000 96,415 125,000 165,578 4 7 j 000 125,000 142,458 44,000 73,000 92,892 90,998 64,000 29,797 2 6 1 , 1 0 8 65,000 25,000 1 8 0 , 0 0 0 80,000 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 83,000 44,900 40,000 45,000 120,000 151,504 25,000 4,000 38,000 200,000 38,100 25,000 82,000 33,000 68,389 38,741 500 650 618 655 500 375 580 900 100 235 277 110 150 220 360 700 200 573 237 139 250 450 428 107,109 312 41,000 110 93,639 450 272 265 130 539 150 112 130 215 135 240 146 150 150 '80 175 170 160 236 130 115 160 100 120 130 140 i28 80 90 158 156 1 Maximum cost estimate: $5,000,000. Addition built 1927. Plan to erect undergraduate building at estimated cost of $1,500,000, and enlarge and remodel present building for a graduate and research library. 2 Earlier preliminary plans rejected. Contract expected to be let within a year. Ultimate capacity: 2,000,000 volumes, 2400 seats. Cost excludes equipment. 3 Appropriation requested from state legislature. 4 So far, study of needs only. 5 Maximum capacity: 2,000,000 volumes. Maximum cost: $8,000,000. 6 Maximum capacity: 1,000,000 volumes 1500 seats. Maximum cost estimate: $3,000,000. 7 Building under construction. 8 Cost of first unit only. 9 Expansion to 600,000 volumes planned. 1 0 Maximum capacity: 400,000 volumes, 900 seats. 1 1 Seating capacity: i to $ of enrolment at time of construction. 1 2 Building in 1960 or later. 1 3 Earlier plans rejected. Building not expected before 1953. 1 4 Maximum seating capacity: 1000.15 Contract drawing com- pleted; 25 per cent of building will be only partially finished and without equipment; ultimate expansion: 500,000 volumes, 2000 seats. 1 6 Pre- liminary plans of 1948 rejected. Maximum seating: 400. Maximum cost estimate: $700,000. 1 7 Other buildings have priority. 1 8 Maximum seating: 1000. 1 9 Contract with architect signed. 2 0 Other buildings have priority. 21 Addition built 1916. 2 2 Maximum capacity: 500,000 volumes, 500 seats. Location determined. 2 3 Addition built 1925 and 1947. 2 4 Prewar plans to be revised. Maximum seating: 400. 2 5 Present building is a temporary structure. 2 6 Entire school to be moved to new campus. 2 7 Maximum cost estimate: $1,000,000. 2 8 Maximum cost estimate: $350,000. Maximum capacity: 100,000. 2 9 Expecting to build by 1951. Maximum cost estimate: $300,000. 34 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES Name of Institution Estimated Cost (including equipment) State Teachers College, Whitewater, Wis Goucher College, Baltimore, Md.30 1,000,000 Maryland State Teachers College, Towson 700,000 Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Va Humboldt State College, Areata, Calif." 350,000 University of Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa Thiel College, Greenville, Pa.®! 350,000 Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md 300,000 Kentucky State College, Frankfort Roanoke College, Salem, Va Eastern New Mexico University, Portales 450,000 Samuel Houston College, Austin, Tex Southwestern College, Winfield, Kan 150,000 Beaver College, Jenkintown, Pa Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio 700,000 Eastern Oregon College of Education, La Grange 260,000 Seton Hill College, Greensburg, Pa 341,000 Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Mich College of St. Rose, Albany, N.Y.33 400,000 Shepherd State College, Shepherdstown, W.Va State Teachers College, Oneonta, N.Y State Teachers College, Valley City, N.D.M 200,000 New Jersey State Teachers College, Glassboro 150,000 Principia College, Elsah ,111 450,000 Adams State College, Alamosa, Colo Keuka College, Keuka Park, N.Y 125,000 D'Youville College, Buffalo, N . Y Nazareth College, Rochester, N.Y.35 Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, S.D.33 50,000 St. Mary College, Xavier, Kan Hollins College, Hollins College, V a . " Blackburn College, Carlinville, 111 College of Med. Evangelists, Loma Linda, Calif Bennington College, Bennington, Vt Coker College, Hartsville, S.C 150,000 Blue Mountain College, Blue Mountain, Miss 50,000 Georgian Court College, Lakewood, N .J 100,000 Rocky Mountain College, Billings, Mont 3 0 Present building occupied by library since 1934.31 Maximum seating: 350. 3 2 Maximum seating: 250. 3 3 Present building is a residence purchased 1939. 3 4 Architect engaged. Maximum capacity: 80,000 volumes. 3 5 Plans drawn 10 years ago will probably be changed. 3 6 Plans are for museum, later to be used as library. 3 7 Maximum capacity: 100,000 volumes. Library in Seats Prelim- Separate Volumes Seats Volumes to Be Enrol- inary Building Main Main Planned Pro- ment, Plans Now and Building, Build- for vided 1948 Drawn Year 1948 ing, Completed 1948 750 No 45,000 128 120,000 740 X Yes, 1893 100,000 113 100,000 736 No 100,000 100,000 722 No 28,000 72 90,000 300 712 X No 24,500 110 75,000 125 680 X No 75,000 200 659 X No . 25,000 80 60,000 200 655 X No 25,000 60,000 654 Yes 20,275 115 633 X Yes, 1879 27,000 74 250,000 700 623 X No 27,000 250,000 616 No 14,243 i20 601 X No 26,000 85 100,000 300 600 No 20,000 112 229,000 287 600 X Yes, 1912 105,000 70 50,000 176 600 X No 23,337 140 75,000 150 549 X No 32,000 120 75,000 400 532 No 100 80,000 120 523 X Yes 20,000 70 80,000 497 No 21,000 79 485 X No 34,704 150 60,000 150 485 No 38,000 103 60,000 300 473 No 33,535 86 100,000 250 455 X Yes 40,000 125 454 X No 40,000 60,000 100 431 X No 36,591 48 60,000 428 No 27,312 96 75,000 '250 426 X No 75,000 388 X No 21,000 60 150,000 369 No 21,000 90,000 231 347 X Yes, 1908 45,358 124 50,000 150 345 No 15,000 100 50,000 329 X No 19,900 46 307 No 30,000 64 75,000 200 291 X No 24,000 75 100,000 100 266 X No 18,500 50 150,000 200 234 X No 30,000 88 150,000 220 X No 30,000 40 dents reported seating capacities in the main library of over 10 per cent of the enrol- m e n t . O u t of 87 libraries r e p o r t i n g seat- ing capacity, only 16 provided seats f o r 2 0 per cent or m o r e of the 1948 s t u d e n t body in their old library buildings. L i b r a r y buildings of the f u t u r e are ex- pected to provide seats f o r not less t h a n 10 per cent of the 1948 e n r o l m e n t . Rela- tively f e w buildings ( 1 8 out of 62 report- i n g ) will provide seats f o r over 4 0 per cent of the c u r r e n t e n r o l m e n t , and most of these will be f o r smaller institutions anticipating great increases in e n r o l m e n t . T h e larger institutions e n r o l i n g 3 5 0 0 stu- dents or more generally plan to seat between 10 and 2 0 per cent of their s t u d e n t s in their f u t u r e main libraries. H o w e v e r , whereas most smaller institutions will merely dou- ble or treble their present seating capacities in their n e w buildings, several of the large institutions will provide f r o m f o u r to six times as m a n y seats in their n e w main li- brary buildings as w e r e available in 1948. Volume Capacity W i t h the exception of the U n i v e r s i t y of Pennsylvania, which is p l a n n i n g only the first u n i t of its n e w library building, all institutions r e p o r t i n g appear to provide book storage facilities in excess of w h a t is available in their main libraries at present. P l a n n e d book storage capacity is most commonly t w o to three times as large as 1948 holdings. O n l y 10 out of 54 institutions r e p o r t i n g on this aspect expect to have over f o u r times as m u c h book storage space in their n e w build- ings as w a s needed f o r their 1948 holdings. JANUARY, 1951 35 7 Combination Buildings O n l y a very small n u m b e r of institutions are p l a n n i n g buildings t h a t w i l l combine facilities f o r the library w i t h facilities f o r other campus f u n c t i o n s . W h e r e such com- bination buildings exist, expansion is o f t e n possible by g r a d u a l l y pushing the extrane- ous operations out of the building occupied by the l i b r a r y . Other Solutions I n a f e w cases, expansion w i l l take the f o r m of separate storage facilities, such as are being planned f o r the U n i v e r s i t y of K e n t u c k y . O n several campuses, the con- struction of d e p a r t m e n t a l libraries will b r i n g about relief in the main l i b r a r y build- ing. A f e w librarians faced w i t h the problem of overcrowded stacks have f o u n d limited solutions in the preservation of records t h r o u g h microfilm and microcard, the sub- stitution of storage stacks f o r r e g u l a r stacks and, most ingeniously, the shelving of books by size and in c a r d b o a r d boxes, as recom- mended by F r e m o n t R i d e r . 2 T h e problem of squeezing more readers into a given floor area is not quite so easily solved. I n m a n y l i b r a r i e s the lack of adequate facilities f o r readers seems m u c h more serious t h a n the lack of storage facilities f o r books. Why New Buildings? W h a t are the forces t h a t give rise to library b u i l d i n g c o n s t r u c t i o n ? In the case of additions to existing buildings, the answer is t h a t expanded acquisitions p r o g r a m s and increased e n r o l m e n t s have o f t e n made existing buildings too small. O f the addi- 2 R i d e r , F r e m o n t . Compact Book Storage. N e w Y o r k , H a d h a m P r e s s , 1949. tions to existing buildings c u r r e n t l y planned, over one third are additions to buildings constructed w i t h i n the last 2 0 years, indicat- ing t h a t m a n y l i b r a r y planners of the recent past seriously u n d e r e s t i m a t e d f u t u r e re- q u i r e m e n t s . T h e r e are, however, a f e w in- stitutions t h a t have c a r e f u l l y designed pro- g r a m s of expansion. A n o u t s t a n d i n g ex- ample is the U n i v e r s i t y of Illinois ( 1 9 2 6 ) , which constructed its first additional u n i t in 1928, a n o t h e r one in 1929 and a third one in 1940. O f the 103 new buildings, 62 are being planned f o r institutions t h a t have never had a separate library building. M o s t of these institutions are small, w i t h e n r o l m e n t s of f e w e r t h a n 1000 students. A library building may enable them to become academically m o r e respectable. O f the 41 buildings t h a t are to replace existing build- ings, only 18 will replace buildings t h a t are over 4 0 years old. S u m m a r i z i n g the forces t h a t make f o r n e w library building construction, the most i m p o r t a n t one seems to be the c u r r e n t non- existence of a library b u i l d i n g on m a n y campuses. T h r e e other influences are ex- panded acquisitions programs, unprece- dented .increases in s t u d e n t e n r o l m e n t and obsolescence of old buildings. T h e accompanying t a b u l a t i o n includes only those institutions which r e t u r n e d the questionnaire t h a t w a s mailed to all institu- tions listed in American Utiiversities and Colleges.3 T h e tabulation is the second in a series of three, the first of w h i c h appeared in J u l y . 4 T h e t h i r d and final t a b u l a t i o n will list library buildings completed between 1929 and 1949. 3 B r u m b a u g h , A . J . , ed. American Universities and Colleges, 5th e d . A m e r i c a n C o u n c i l on E d u c a t i o n , 1949. 4 M u l l e r , R o b e r t H . " L i b r a r y B u i l d i n g C o n s t r u c t i o n A m o n g Colleges a n d U n i v e r s i t i e s , 1950." College and Research Libraries, 11:259-61, J u l y 1950. 36 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES