College and Research Libraries


B y J O H N S. D A V I D S O N 

Literary Society Libraries 
at Muhlenberg College 

Mr. Davidson is librarian, Muhlenberg 

College. 

4 " U H L E N B E R G C O L L E G E w a s e s t a b l i s h e d 

in 1 8 6 7 to some e x t e n t as successor to 

t w o e a r l i e r A l l e n t o w n institutions, the first 

f o u n d e d in 1848 as a p r e p a r a t o r y school, 

the second d e v e l o p i n g f r o m the first as a 

p r e p a r a t o r y and c o l l e g i a t e institution. 

M u h l e n b e r g itself began by o f f e r i n g college, 

academic, p r e p a r a t o r y , and p r i m a r y pro-

g r a m s and c o n t i n u e d to operate a secondary 

school u n t i l 1 9 3 9 . 

T h e first class at M u h l e n b e r g consisted 

of t w e n t y - f i v e s t u d e n t s in the " C o l l e g i a t e 

D e p a r t m e n t " and 1 3 6 students in the three 

l o w e r d e p a r t m e n t s . D u r i n g the first f o r t y -

five years of its e x i s t e n c e — t h e period of 

the l i t e r a r y society l i b r a r i e s — t h e t o t a l en-

r o l l m e n t w a s quite e v e n l y divided b e t w e e n 

c o l l e g i a t e and non-collegiate students. 

T h e r e w e r e periods of ups and d o w n s f o r 

each g r o u p , b u t the total e n r o l l m e n t s f o r 

these f o r t y - f i v e years w e r e 3 , 7 6 2 in the 

c o l l e g e d e p a r t m e n t and 3 , 3 1 6 in the 

p r e p a r a t o r y d e p a r t m e n t s . I n 1 9 1 2 , the last 

y e a r u n d e r consideration, there w a s a col-

l e g i a t e e n r o l l m e n t of 1 3 2 — n o l a r g e r n u m -

ber e v e r h a v i n g been e n r o l l e d — a n d a prepa-

r a t o r y e n r o l l m e n t of 1 2 3 . 

T h e s e f i g u r e s are g i v e n t o i l l u s t r a t e the 

f a c t that f o r a l m o s t its first half c e n t u r y 

at least M u h l e n b e r g did not c o n c e n t r a t e 

its e d u c a t i o n a l e n d e a v o r s at the c o l l e g i a t e 

l e v e l . T h e o r i g i n a l c h a r t e r c a l l e d f o r 

" . . . an A c a d e m y to consist of a p r i m a r y 

School, a C o l l e g e , and such other appro-

priate d e p a r t m e n t s as the patrons and 

m a n a g e r s of said I n s t i t u t e shall find them-

selves able to m a i n t a i n , by the name, style 

a n d t i t l e o f M U H L E N B E R G C O L L E G E . . . . " 

T h e w h o l e C o l l e g e w a s housed in one build-

ing, and there is evidence t h a t at least oc-

casionally m e m b e r s of the C o l l e g e f a c u l t y 

t a u g h t courses in the l o w e r d e p a r t m e n t s . 

T o w h a t e x t e n t this l a c k of concentra-

tion on e d u c a t i o n at the c o l l e g i a t e level 

affected the d e v e l o p m e n t of an i n s t i t u t i o n a l 

l i b r a r y is a m a t t e r of c o n j e c t u r e . C e r t a i n l y 

the r i g i d l y prescribed courses of studies in 

the p r e p a r a t o r y d e p a r t m e n t s d e m a n d e d no 

books other than t e x t b o o k s in this area. I t 

seems reasonable to assume, t h e r e f o r e , that 

the divided e f f o r t s of the i n s t i t u t i o n 

w e a k e n e d the emphasis on h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n 

and on the d e v e l o p m e n t of a l i b r a r y to serve 

the needs of higher e d u c a t i o n . B y w a y of 

contrast, it is astonishing to see w h a t the 

c o l l e g i a t e - c o n t r o l l e d l i t e r a r y societies did 

to p r o v i d e books and other r e a d i n g mate-

rials f o r their o w n use. 

Some c r e d i t m u s t be g i v e n the C o l l e g e 

f o r its a t t e m p t s at c r e a t i n g an institutional 

l i b r a r y . I t is t r u e t h a t the o r i g i n a l c h a r t e r , 

the statutes, the several a n n o u n c e m e n t s and 

addresses m a d e at the o p e n i n g of the in-

stitution contain no m e n t i o n of a l i b r a r y . 

I t is also t r u e that an e a r l y act of the 

C o l l e g e w a s to divide e q u a l l y the 100 

books it had inherited f r o m its predecessor 

and to present t h e m to t w o of the l i t e r a r y 

societies, instead of u s i n g them as a nu-

cleus f o r a l i b r a r y of its o w n . 

H o w e v e r , the first t w o C o l l e g e c a t a l o g s 

APRIL, 1955 
19 7 



( 1 8 6 7 and 1 8 6 8 ) state t h a t a l i b r a r y is to 

be p r o v i d e d ; the t h i r d t h r o u g h the f i f t e e n t h 

c a t a l o g s ( 1 8 6 9 - 1 8 8 1 ) c o n t a i n the f o l l o w -

i n g : " T h e b u i l d i n g is f u l l y p r o v i d e d w i t h 

a C h a p e l , L i b r a r y , R e c i t a t i o n , and R e a d i n g 

rooms, e t c . " T h e r e a f t e r , t h r o u g h 1904, 

each a n n u a l c a t a l o g c o n t a i n s a s i m i l a r 

t h o u g h d i f f e r e n t l y w o r d e d s t a t e m e n t , and 

in a n o t h e r p a r t of each c a t a l o g a section 

entitled " D o n a t i o n s to the L i b r a r y and 

M i n e r a l o g i c a l C a b i n e t " is a d d e d . 

T h e t w o m o s t i n f l u e n t i a l l i t e r a r y soci-

eties at M u h l e n b e r g , the E u t e r p e a n and the 

S o p h r o n i a n , w e r e o r g a n i z e d o n l y seven days 

a f t e r the official o p e n i n g of the institution 

in S e p t e m b e r of 1 8 6 7 . M o s t of the " C o l -

l e g i a t e D e p a r t m e n t " students had trans-

f e r r e d f r o m o t h e r colleges w h e r e they had 

been m e m b e r s of l i t e r a r y societies. T h e y 

divided themselves by l o t . " A c a d e m i c s " 

w e r e a l l o w e d to j o i n either g r o u p if they 

w i s h e d to do so, b u t the societies w e r e 

p r e d o m i n a n t l y " c o l l e g i a t e " in the e a r l y days 

and e n t i r e l y so by 1 8 9 1 , a l t h o u g h " A c a -

d e m i c s " w e r e a l l o w e d to b o r r o w society 

books t h e r e a f t e r . B y J a n u a r y 1868, there 

w e r e t h i r t y - f i v e E u t e r p e a n s and t h i r t y - o n e 

S o p h r o n i a n s . 

M e m b e r s h i p in one or the o t h e r society 

w a s c o m p u l s o r y f o r m a n y years, but there 

is no indication of a n y c o m p u l s i o n on the 

p a r t of the C o l l e g e f o r the establishment of 

the societies in the first place, a l t h o u g h they 

q u i c k l y became semi-official at least. 

T o w a r d the end of O c t o b e r , 1 8 6 7 , the 

C o l l e g e Regulations w e r e adopted and 

p r i n t e d . T w o of these pertain to l i t e r a r y 

societies: N o . 1 7 reads, " N o l i t e r a r y or 

other society shall exist in the C o l l e g e , ex-

cept by permission of the F a c u l t y , and their 

a p p r o v a l of its C o n s t i t u t i o n " ; and N o . 

22, " W e d n e s d a y a f t e r n o o n of each w e e k is 

devoted to the exercises of the L i t e r a r y 

Societies. S t u d e n t s w h o are n o t members, 

or w h o are not in a t t e n d a n c e , shall r e m a i n 

in their rooms d u r i n g hours of s t u d y . " 

A l t h o u g h the activities of the societies 

w e r e by no means confined to the b u i l d i n g 

of libraries, the o b j e c t of the E u t e r p e a n 

Society, as set f o r t h in its c o n s t i t u t i o n 

( A r t i c l e I , Section 2 ) is p a r t i c u l a r l y inter-

e s t i n g : " T h e o b j e c t of this association shall 

be the d i f f u s i o n of liberal principles and the 

p r o m o t i o n of social, i n t e l l e c t u a l , and m o r a l 

i m p r o v e m e n t of its m e m b e r s by the estab-

lishment of a L i b r a r y , R e a d i n g R o o m , and 

so f o r t h , and have a m p l e p o w e r to p e r f o r m 

such acts as m a y be necessary to these ob-

j e c t s . " I n addition, a l i b r a r i a n and 

assistant l i b r a r i a n are c a l l e d f o r , and in 

the b y l a w s five r e g u l a t i o n s g o v e r n i n g the 

l i b r a r y are p r o m u l g a t e d . M o s t i n t e r e s t i n g 

of these is the first, t h a t , " T h e L i b r a r y 

shall be opened on W e d n e s d a y A f t e r n o o n 

f r o m 1 to i f O ' C l o c k and on S a t u r d a y s 

f r o m 8 to M o s t significant, perhaps, 

is the r e g u l a t i o n p e r m i t t i n g books to cir-

c u l a t e f r e e l y f o r t w o w e e k s , s u b j e c t to 

r e n e w a l . 

T h e S o p h r o n i a n Society c o n s t i t u t i o n does 

n o t e m p h a s i z e the l i b r a r y as does the 

E u t e r p e a n , and it is at least i n t e r e s t i n g to 

note t h a t the f o r m e r g r o u p n e v e r had as 

l a r g e a l i b r a r y as the l a t t e r . H o w e v e r , the 

S o p h r o n i a n does c a l l f o r a l i b r a r i a n and an 

assistant l i b r a r i a n , and in the b y l a w s f o r a 

l i b r a r y c o m m i t t e e w h i c h " . . . shall purchase 

and receive all books, v o t e d by the S o c i e t y , 

c a t a l o g u e , and label the same w i t h i n one 

w e e k a f t e r their a r r i v a l ; and h a v e g e n e r a l 

supervision of the L i b r a r y . " 

O n e of the S o p h r o n i a n r e g u l a t i o n s puts a 

r a t h e r h e a v y b u r d e n of responsibility on the 

l i b r a r i a n and the president of the l i b r a r y 

c o m m i t t e e . A r t i c l e 9, S e c t i o n 6 of the 

b y l a w s states, " T h e L i b r a r i a n as l o n g as 

he has possession of the l i b r a r y A l c o v e keys, 

shall be held p e r s o n a l l y responsible f o r a n y 

books or other p r o p e r t y of the Society, de-

posited in said A l c o v e s , t h a t m a y be stolen 

184 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



or l o s t ; and he and the P r e s i d e n t of the 

L i b r a r y C o m m i t t e e shall be t o g e t h e r held 

responsible f o r a l l p r o p e r t y of Society not 

deposited in said A l c o v e s , b u t placed in the 

L i b r a r y - h a l l . " 

W i t h such a s t a r t as to membership and 

c o n s t i t u t i o n a l a u t h o r i t y , the t w o societies 

wrent to w o r k at once to assemble collections 

of books, w i t h the f o l l o w i n g r e s u l t s : 

B y J a n u a r y 10, 1 8 6 8 — f o u r m o n t h s a f t e r 

its o r g a n i z a t i o n — t h e E u t e r p e a n Society had 

390 books in its l i b r a r y and $ 1 0 4 . 5 0 on 

hand w i t h w h i c h to buy m o r e . In A p r i l of 

the same year it b o r r o w e d $200 in o r d e r to 

buy a d d i t i o n a l books. B y 1 8 7 5 it had 

1 , 2 2 5 ; by 1892 it had 2 , 1 5 1 . 

D u r i n g the same period the S o p h r o n i a n 

S o c i e t y did n e a r l y as w e l l . B y the end of 

the 1 8 7 1 school y e a r it possessed 800 books, 

h a v i n g spent n e a r l y $ 1 , 0 0 0 in three years 

f o r books and f u r n i s h i n g s . I n 1 8 7 4 , it 

spent $ 1 2 5 f o r n e w s h e l v i n g . I n 1892 

there w e r e 1 , 7 0 0 books in the l i b r a r y . T h e 

society books w e r e of e x c e l l e n t q u a l i t y , 

s t r o n g in the E n g l i s h and A m e r i c a n l i t e r a r y 

classics and s t a n d a r d w o r k s , a discriminat-

i n g c o l l e c t i o n to have been assembled by 

u n d e r g r a d u a t e students. 

A comparison of these e a r l y libraries w i t h 

the C o l l e g e l i b r a r y m a y serve to emphasize 

the i m p o r t a n c e of the f o r m e r . U n f o r t u -

n a t e l y in none of the three accession books 

w e r e entries d a t e d ; t h e r e f o r e y e a r - f o r - y e a r 

comparisons are impossible. H o w e v e r the 

C o l l e g e l i b r a r y added a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2 , 5 0 0 

books in about the first t w e n t y years w h i l e 

the t w o society libraries combined added 

3 , 8 5 1 in the first t w e n t y - f i v e years. 

I n addition to t r a i l i n g in q u a n t i t y , the 

C o l l e g e l i b r a r y appears to h a v e been even 

m o r e deficient in q u a l i t y — a t least in those 

items w h i c h w o u l d appeal to or be readily 

u s e f u l to college students. T h e first 2,500 

accessioned C o l l e g e books f a l l r o u g h l y into 

the f o l l o w i n g g r o u p s : f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e 

(chiefly G e r m a n , then L a t i n ) , 1 , 2 0 0 ; 

E n g l i s h l a n g u a g e other than v a r i o u s g o v -

e r n m e n t publications, 8 0 0 ; g o v e r n m e n t 

publications, 500. I t w a s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 

t w e n t y years before the first p l a y of Shake-

speare w a s added to the l i b r a r y , and t h a t 

in P o p e ' s edition. Robinson Crusoe in A r a -

bic came l o n g b e f o r e Robinson Crusoe in 

E n g l i s h . 

T h e r e is, m o r e o v e r , some evidence to 

indicate that f o r m o r e than the first t w e n t y 

years of its existence the C o l l e g e l i b r a r y 

consisted e n t i r e l y of g i f t books. T h e F a c -

u l t y m i n u t e s of J a n u a r y 30, 1889, include 

a r e c o m m e n d a t i o n t h a t S m i t h ' s Bible Dic-

tionary be purchased f o r the C o l l e g e 

l i b r a r y . N o e n t r y of a like sort precedes it 

in a n y e x t a n t minutes, a l t h o u g h m a n y 

resolutions to t h a n k l i b r a r y donors do. 

T h u s , w h i l e the society libraries had been 

spending several thousands of d o l l a r s f o r 

books, the C o l l e g e had a p p a r e n t l y spent 

n o t h i n g . 

A n o t h e r significant difference lies in the 

f a c t t h a t f o r the first eleven y e a r s no books 

w e r e c i r c u l a t e d f r o m the C o l l e g e l i b r a r y , 

w h i l e the societies made their books readily 

a v a i l a b l e f o r outside use. 

U n f o r t u n a t e l y there w a s m u c h duplica-

tion of titles b e t w e e n the t w o society li-

braries, and a f t e r the first t w e n t y - f i v e years 

the C o l l e g e l i b r a r y c o n t r i b u t e d a t h i r d 

copy in m a n y instances. I n perspective it 

seems u n f o r t u n a t e that some plan of coop-

erative acquisitions c o u l d not have been 

f o l l o w e d by the three libraries located in 

the same b u i l d i n g and designed to serve a 

single s t u d e n t b o d y of 1 3 2 students. 

A f t e r the first t w e n t y - f i v e years the so-

ciety libraries v e r y n e a r l y stopped g r o w i n g . 

N o definite reason can be assigned f o r this 

s l a c k e n i n g off d u r i n g the f o l l o w i n g ten 

years, as the societies themselves remained 

active and i m p o r t a n t . I t is t r u e that the 

C o l l e g e l i b r a r y w a s b e c o m i n g considerably 

APRIL, 1955 
19 7 



l a r g e r , but it c o n t i n u e d to be the least in-

teresting or v a l u a b l e to c o l l e g e students. 

N e v e r t h e l e s s , d u r i n g the last t w e n t y y e a r s 

of their existence the E u t e r p e a n Society 

added o n l y 7 5 1 books and the S o p h r o n i a n 

o n l y 7 4 5 . 

I n the f a l l of 1 9 0 4 an e v e n t o c c u r r e d 

w h i c h had a p r o f o u n d e f f e c t on the society 

libraries. T h e C o l l e g e w a s m o v e d to a n e w 

location, and the three libraries, instead of 

being housed s e p a r a t e l y , f o r convenience 

w e r e shelved in the same room. A l t h o u g h 

kept a p a r t , the books became accessible to 

members and n o n - m e m b e r s a l i k e , and a n y 

earlier sense of pride in possession and 

a t t a i n m e n t m u s t h a v e been lost. F o r seven 

m o r e y e a r s — u n t i l the end of the 1 9 1 2 

s p r i n g t e r m — t h e libraries w e r e m a i n t a i n e d 

in this status. D u r i n g the s u m m e r of 1 9 1 2 , 

w i t h the consent of the societies, they w e r e 

combined p h y s i c a l l y into a single C o l l e g e 

l i b r a r y . A t t h a t time the C o l l e g e had 

1 3 , 3 0 7 books, the E u t e r p e a n S o c i e t y 2 , 9 0 1 , 

the S o p h r o n i a n 2 , 4 4 5 . 

Shades of the society libraries r e m a i n e d 

f o r m a n y years, h o w e v e r . T h e societies 

themselves c o n t i n u e d to exist u n t i l 1 9 1 9 

and c o n t r i b u t e d some books as g i f t s to the 

combined l i b r a r y . A s l a t e as 1 9 2 4 books 

w e r e accessioned in the society accession 

books and bore a society d e s i g n a t i o n — t h i s 

in o r d e r to use up the b l a n k pages, accord-

i n g to the l i b r a r i a n ! 

A third " l i t e r a r y " society, not p r e v i o u s l y 

m e n t i o n e d , existed a t M u h l e n b e r g f o r 

t h i r t y - s i x years, f r o m 1868 u n t i l 1 9 0 4 . A c -

c o r d i n g t o its c o n s t i t u t i o n , A r t i c l e I, " T h i s 

society shall be k n o w n by the n a m e of the 

F r a n k l i n S o c i e t y of M u h l e n b e r g C o l l e g e , 

its o b j e c t b e i n g to f u r n i s h the m e m b e r s of 

this society w i t h the n e w s p a p e r s and peri-

odicals of the d a y . " M e m b e r s h i p w a s open 

to " . . . any s t u d e n t or i n s t r u c t o r p a y i n g 

his fees and s i g n i n g the c o n s t i t u t i o n . . . . " 

T h e society m a i n t a i n e d a r e a d i n g room 

w h i c h w a s " . . . open b e t w e e n six and eight 

o ' c l o c k A . M . ; and b e t w e e n the hours of 

eleven A . M . and t w o o ' c l o c k P . M . ; and 

f r o m f o u r o ' c l o c k P . M . to the r i n g i n g of 

the e v e n i n g C h a p e l - b e l l ; e x c e p t on S a t u r d a y 

w h e n it shall be open the w h o l e d a y . " 

T h e w h o l e c o n c e p t of this society, then, 

w a s d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h a t of the E u t e r p e a n 

and S o p h r o n i a n societies. I t e n g a g e d in no 

debates, declamations, or o t h e r l i t e r a r y ex-

ercises. I t s c o n s t i t u t i o n c a l l e d f o r m e e t i n g s 

o n l y three times a y e a r r a t h e r t h a n w e e k l y . 

I t s f a c i l i t i e s w e r e a v a i l a b l e m a n y h o u r s each 

d a y , in w h i c h respect it seems m o r e n e a r l y 

to have resembled a c o l l e g e l i b r a r y t o d a y 

t h a n did the libraries of the o t h e r t w o 

societies. 

P e r h a p s u n f o r t u n a t e l y it r e g a r d e d its 

m a t e r i a l as e p h e m e r a l . P a p e r s w e r e re-

m o v e d f r o m the file e v e r y W e d n e s d a y , and 

the second last T h u r s d a y of each session 

they w e r e disposed of at p u b l i c sale. T h e r e 

is no record of l o n g files of periodicals being 

m a i n t a i n e d n o r b i n d i n g b e i n g done. O n the 

c o n t r a r y , at least one title w a s presented t o 

the C o l l e g e l i b r a r y w h e n the S o c i e t y w a s 

. . t h r o u g h w i t h i t , " and others w e r e 

sold to a professor a f t e r t w o w e e k s ! 

E x c e p t f o r the addition of certain mem-

bers of the f a c u l t y , membership in the 

F r a n k l i n S o c i e t y w a s of necessity composed 

of s t u d e n t s w h o belonged to the other t w o 

l i t e r a r y groups. H e r e then, in a d d i t i o n to 

s u p p l y i n g most of their o w n books, the 

s t u d e n t s of the C o l l e g e w e r e s u p p l y i n g most 

of their o w n n e w s p a p e r s and periodicals, 

an a d d i t i o n a l f i n a n c i a l b u r d e n on t h e m and 

an a d d i t i o n a l relief f o r the C o l l e g e itself 

f r o m f i n a n c i a l responsibility. T h e first spe-

cific m e n t i o n in the C o l l e g e F a c u l t y m i n u t e s 

of the F r a n k l i n Society records the a p p r o v a l 

of the S o c i e t y ' s c o n s t i t u t i o n on F e b r u a r y 

1 7 , 1868 ; the second, on S e p t e m b e r 7, 1868, 

states, "Resolved, t h a t the R e a d i n g - R o o m 

be c o m m i t t e d to the care of the F r a n k l i n 

186 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



Society u n d e r the supervision of the c o l l e g e 

L i b r a r i a n . Resolved, t h a t P r o f . R i c h a r d s 

be L i b r a r i a n of the I n s t i t u t i o n . " I n 1886 

the R e a d i n g R o o m w a s " f r e s c o e d " by the 

F r a n k l i n S o c i e t y . 

I t w o u l d appear t h a t the students paid 

w e l l f o r their society memberships. T h e 

a c c o u n t of one t y p i c a l E u t e r p e a n m e m b e r 

reveals t h a t he paid that g r o u p $28.05 

d u r i n g his f o u r years in c o l l e g e f r o m 1 8 7 2 

to 1 8 7 6 . A n o t h e r paid $ 2 6 . 6 0 d u r i n g his 

f o u r - y e a r stay. If these students w e r e 

members of the F r a n k l i n Society also, they 

paid fees of $1.00 a year in addition, not 

i n c l u d i n g fines. T h e s t u d e n t s as a g r o u p 

w e r e n o t w e a l t h y , and f o r the sake of com-

parison f u l l t u i t i o n f o r a year w a s $ 4 5 . 0 0 

at the t i m e ; board w a s f i f t y - f o u r cents a 

d a y . 

In the absence of a n y c r i t i c a l c o m m e n -

taries on the relationships of the C o l l e g e 

and l i t e r a r y societies in the e a r l y period, 

there can be no m o r e than surmises as to 

w h y the business of s u p p l y i n g r e a d i n g ma-

terials f e l l so l a r g e l y to the societies. I t 

has been stated that the s t u d e n t s of 1 8 6 7 

had belonged to l i t e r a r y societies e l s e w h e r e 

and t h e r e f o r e r e c o g n i z e d the v a l u e of t h e m . 

D i d these students begin their w o r k w i t h 

unnecessary enthusiasm and e f f e c t i v e n e s s ? 

H a d they n o t u n d e r t a k e n such ambitious 

p r o g r a m s w o u l d the C o l l e g e have assumed 

g r e a t e r responsibilities i t s e l f ? 

O n the o t h e r hand the C o l l e g e m a y have 

f e l t t h a t the initiative and responsibility 

assumed by the students w a s a v a l u a b l e 

exercise in itself. L i b r a r y fees, w h i c h m i g h t 

h a v e been levied u n d e r d i f f e r e n t c i r c u m -

stances, w e r e n o t w a r r a n t e d , and t h a t p a r t 

of the society dues w h i c h w e n t f o r l i b r a r y 

purposes m a y h a v e been considered a reason-

able substitute. 

A s the record stands, h o w e v e r , it w a s the 

students themselves, t h r o u g h their l i t e r a r y 

societies, w h o carried the b u r d e n of f u r n i s h -

i n g r e a d i n g m a t e r i a l s f o r their o w n use. 

Mountain Plains Library Association Loan Fund 
It is proposed that the M P L A create and finance six loan funds to be used by persons in 

the seven states in the M P L A area to attend accredited library schools. A qualified person 
may b o r r o w up to $200. 

P o l i c y . — T h e L o a n Fund w i l l be administered by a committee of three, appointed by the 
President of M P L A . T h e appointment should be f o r three years, and a new one to be 
appointed each year to provide continuity. O n e of the three serving a third year term w i l l 
be made chairman. Applications f o r the loan may be made at any time, and may be sent to 
any member of the committee or any officer of the Association w h o w i l l f o r w a r d the applica-
tion to the chairman of the committee. T w o librarians' names must be given as references. 
Each recipient of a loan must sign a promissory note and state when and w h e r e he is going 
to library school. If he does not attend school at that time, the loan is due immediately. 

T h e N o t e . — T h e note is to be in the custody of the treasurer of M P L A , and payments 
should be made to him. 

L e n g t h o f L o a n . — T h e loan shall not run f o r more than one year a f t e r the borrower com-
pletes the period of library school stated in his application. 

I n t e r e s t . — T h e loan shall bear an interest rate of 1% per month on the unpaid balance, 
starting the time the b o r r o w e r finishes the period in library school stated in the application. 

P a y m e n t s . — T h e loan may be paid in ten equal monthly installments, plus interest, or the 
balance, plus interest, may be repaid at any time. T h e treasurer is to send a monthly statement 
to anyone owing money on one of these loans. 

APRIL, 1955 
19 7