College and Research Libraries Assignment Abroad T h e f o l l o w i n g papers describe the experiences of f o u r C a l i f o r n i a l i b r a r i a n s d u r i n g recent f o r e i g n assignments. T h e first three w e r e presented at the m e e t i n g of the C o l l e g e , U n i - v e r s i t y and R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s Section of the C a l i f o r n i a L i b r a r y A s s o c i a t i o n , L o n g B e a c h , O c t o b e r 1 5 , 1 9 5 4 . B y R A Y N A R D C . S W A N K i R e p o r t on the Library of the University of the Philippines Dr. Swank is director of libraries, Stanford University. ON J A N U A R Y 2, 1 9 5 4 , I e n p l a n e d a t S a n Francisco and 36 hours later landed at M a n i l a , a f t e r circling the bay still cluttered with sunken Japanese warships. Bataan Peninsula and C o r r e g i d o r lay w e s t w a r d across the bay. A t that time M a n i l a w a s still cele- brating the inauguration of President M a g - saysay. A m o n g those w h o met me at the airport w e r e G a b r i e l Bernardo, librarian of the University of the Philippines, L e w i s Stieg of the University of Southern C a l i f o r n i a , w h o w a s on a Fulbright Scholarship there, and L e V e r n C u t l e r , librarian of Stanford's G r a d u a t e School of Business Administration. T h e next day I moved into C u t l e r ' s cottage on the new campus of the University of the Philippines and began one of the most rewarding assign- ments of my career. M y job w a s to assist the University of the Philippines with the re- habilitation of its w a r - t o r n library program. T h i s job w a s sponsored jointly by the gov- ernment of the Philippines and the Foreign Operations Administration of the U . S . State Department. T h e F O A ( f o r m e r l y M u t u a l Security Agency and Economic Cooperation Administration) offers technical assistance to the less well-developed nations of the w o r l d . Its objective is to build the defensive strength, political stability, economic growth, and social progress necessary f o r the security of the free w o r l d . T h i s technical assistance covers many fields, such as public health, agriculture, in- dustry, natural resources, and public utilities. Education is included as a prerequisite to long range economic progress. T h e education division of F O A has primary responsibility f o r raising the standard of edu- cation at all levels in the less well-developed nations—primary, secondary, and higher. T h e program in higher education is focused on such fields as engineering, agriculture, medicine and business, which contribute to the broad economic objectives of the F O A . E x - cluded are the fine arts, literature, pure science and other fields that are not immedi- ately related to those objectives. In pursuit of these objectives, the F O A has established missions in many parts of the w o r l d , but none is more significant than the mission at M a n i l a . T h e Philippines have been called the show-window of democracy in Southeast A s i a . T h e United States occupied the Islands at the turn of the century, im- ported democratic institutions, established schools, and undertook to prepare the Filipinos for self-government a f t e r 300 years of Spanish domination. F r o m the beginning, the U . S . promised independence to the Filipinos, and it kept that promise precisely on schedule despite the last w a r . T h e Filipinos have appreciated the good faith that the U . S . has shown t o w a r d them, and the other nations of the F a r East are not altogether unaware of it. Y e t these are dark days for democracy in the F a r East, and by now w e can look only to the Philip- pines f o r a convincing demonstration of the democratic w a y of life—convincing, that is, to the other peoples of Southeast A s i a . T h e r e - fore it is essential to our interests that the Philippines be enabled to regain the position of leadership that they held before the w a r . T h e entire nation w a s set back a f u l l quarter cen- tury by f o u r incredible years of Japanese oc- cupation and by the s w i f t destruction that accompanied the liberation. T h e F O A and the government of the Phil- ippines are therefore sponsoring and financing jointly a multitude of projects designed to support the economy of the Philippines. By and large, these projects take the f o r m of supplying the technical know-how required by the Filipinos to do the job f o r themselves. Assistance to the University of the Philippines has taken the specific form of contractual relationships between that university and se- lected American universities, which send teams of faculty experts to develop curricula, improve teaching methods, and stimulate f r u i t f u l community relationships. C o r n e l l University has done a magnificent job at the College of A g r i c u l t u r e of the University of the Philippines, and the University of M i c h i - gan has built an outstanding Institute of P u b - lic Administration f o r the training of Philip- pine government officials. Stanford University thus contracted in the summer of 1953 to help the colleges of engineering, education, business administration and the libraries of the U n i - versity. A team of eight Stanford faculty members spent the entire last academic year at M a n i l a , and another team is on the job again this year. L e V e r n C u t l e r w e n t as a faculty member f o r the C o l l e g e of Business Administration. T h e University of the Philippines is a national university. I t is an American-type institution founded shortly a f t e r the Spanish- American w a r . English is the language of instruction. In addition to the liberal arts college, the university contains a number of professional schools, such as l a w , medicine, agriculture, dentistry, pharmacy and a flour- ishing conservatory of music. Its enrollment approximates 7,000, about the same as Stan- ford. M a n y of its faculty have been trained in the states; there is a constant flow of fac- ulty and students to A m e r i c a n colleges and universities. T h r o u g h the years it has trained a large proportion of the public officials of the Philippines, and many of the faculties of the private colleges of the nation. I t has trained educational leaders throughout Southeast A s i a . Probably no other institution has had, or continues to have, a comparable opportun- ity to stimulate the educational progress of that vast segment of the w o r l d . T h e library of the University of the Philip- pines had a normal and promising g r o w t h before the w a r . It w a s in large measure the creation of G a b r i e l Bernardo, who became librarian of the University in 1924. Bernardo is now deservedly known as the dean of Phil- ippine librarianship. H e is an accomplished scholar, linguist and bibliographer, w h o w a s trained in G e r m a n y by none other than the distinguished library encyclopedist, F r i t z M i l k a u . U n d e r Bernardo's direction, the library w a s organized in the best western tradition, and it occupied the first building in the Philippines designed specifically for library use. Bernardo gave the better part of his life to the creation of that library and to the lead- ership of Philippine librarianship in general. H e lived to see his life's w o r k destroyed ut- terly, yet he still found strength to try again. T h e old university campus w a s located in downtown M a n i l a in the vicinity of the gov- ernment buildings. T h e university and gov- ernment buildings, including the library and the Intramuros, which is the ancient, Spanish walled-city, w e r e the best fortifications avail- able to the Japanese at the time of the libera- tion. T h e w h o l e district w a s leveled by A m e r i c a n artillery at point-blank range. T h e library w a s reduced to rubble. T h e only books ever recovered w e r e a couple of thou- sand charged out to readers at the time of the onslaught. Bernardo s a w this destruction. H e spent the night of the bombardment in the basement of an adjacent building, and escaped at dawn to meet the American troops only a f e w blocks f r o m the library steps. A f t e r the liberation Bernardo sought out the surviving members of his staff and started at once to rebuild his program. H e came to the U . S . to promote g i f t s f r o m American libraries. T h e university built a new campus on the outskirts of M a n i l a — o n the Diliman site of G e n e r a l M c A r t h u r ' s headquarters a f t e r the w a r . A new library building w a s erected. B y the time of my arrival remark- able progress had already been made. T h e new building, as I found it, w a s spa- cious and w e l l designed, but unfinished. I t w a s occupied, but w i t h o u t lights, elevators, floor coverings, permanent furniture, or book shelves. Everything w a s in a state of roughed-up expediency. B u t B e r n a r d o al- ready had a book collection, about 150,000 volumes, and that w a s the first step. T h e collection had been culled largely f r o m the 248 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES g i f t s of American colleges and universities, the most active contributor having been the University of M i c h i g a n . W h i l e there w a s scarcely a complete file of any journal in the entire building, the collections, considering their origin, w e r e nevertheless surprisingly good. Bernardo knew w h a t he w a s doing. H e had a book collection, but if ever the adage w e r e demonstrated that a library is not just a collection of books but a collection organized f o r use, it w a s demonstrated here. In seven years Bernardo had acquired this collection under the most difficult circum- stances, and had built and occupied a new building. B u t with a staff much smaller than he had before the w a r , he had not yet been able to organize an adequate service. O n l y 5 % of the collection had been centrally cata- loged ; the rest w a s merely shelved alphabeti- cally by author or still in packing boxes. T h e faculty and students, did not understand w h y the library w a s still not functioning properly, and accusations of incompetence w e r e some- times directed towards the library staff. T h e y did not realize that university libraries are not created overnight, that Bernardo could not achieve in seven years w h a t had taken 30 years before the w a r . T h e main library service w a s certainly in- adequate. T h e various colleges and depart- ments of the university had therefore taken the only course available to them, as they understood the situation. T h e y had set up their own libraries, solicited their own books, and hired clerical assistants to catalog and service the books, independently of the main library. T h e r e w a s no central catalog of the university's book collections, no check on duplication, little coordination of effort. In fact, there w a s no university-wide library sys- tem. F o r that reason I devoted my attention not to the acquisition of books, which B e r - nardo had w e l l in hand, but to the organiza- tion of a service that would make the existing books available f o r use. In particular I undertook to persuade the university admini- stration that a strong central library organiza- tion w a s needed and to explain the amount of w o r k and expense that the university must devote to the development of that organiza- tion. W i t h i n a week a f t e r my arrival on the cam- pus I w a s d r a f t i n g a large scale cataloging p r o j e c t — j o b descriptions, unit costs, and a l l — not so much because I expected the project to materialize but because I could think of no better w a y to spell out f o r the administration the real nature and magnitude of its library problem. In due course, however, the project did materialize, and a f t e r many tribulations it is now in f u l l swing. T h e university recruited the necessary Filipino staff. T h e F O A auth- orized the purchase of half a million L i b r a r y of Congress catalog cards. L e w Stieg, in- stead of returning to the U . S . this autumn, stayed as a member of the Stanford team to direct the project. L C cards by scores of thousands are now flowing to M a n i l a by w a y of Stanford. If all goes well, the University of the Philippines w i l l again have a w e l l - c a t a - loged library within the next t w o years. In addition to this cataloging project, I pre- pared a general survey report that contained recommendations for the long-range develop- ment of the library program. A s a supple- ment to that report, I submitted a brief statement of my observations about the prob- lem of a national library for the Philippines. T h e B u r e a u of Public Libraries of the Philippine government once administered a central collection which w a s known as the national library. T h i s collection, like the uni- versity collection, w a s destroyed during the w a r . Since the w a r , the B u r e a u of Public Libraries has embarked upon an extensive and very successful program of public library ex- tension throughout the I s l a n d s — a program with many completely centralized features, such as acquisition and cataloging. It seemed to me that the B u r e a u should continue to con- centrate its efforts on that important w o r k and that the creation of a new national schol- arly library should be undertaken by the na- tional university. T h e government is already committed to the support of a m a j o r scholarly collection at the university and ought not dis- sipate its limited resources on t w o or more such collections. I proposed that certain na- tional library services be added to the univer- sity library program until a general survey of all government-supported library services could be made and a fully coordinated pro- gram adopted. Certainly the university has, at the moment, the only library in the Philip- pines of national scholarly significance, and there is little likelihood that any other agency w i l l arise to challenge that status in the fore- seeable f u t u r e . JULY, 1955 25 7 T h e r e is every promise that Philippine libraries w i l l rapidly recover f r o m the w a r . A s already indicated, substantial progress is being realized on the popular library front. M a n y special libraries are springing up in business, industrial, and government agencies. L e w Stieg and I attended the inaugural meet- ing of a new Philippine Special Libraries A s - sociation; indeed, Stieg gave the principal address on education for special librarianship. T h e F O A is providing books in support of various educational programs, including sev- eral departments of the university. F o r ex- ample, Stanford is j u s t now completing a contract w i t h F O A to supply extensive collec- tions on curriculum materials to n training institutions in the Philippines. G i f t s continue to flow f r o m American academic libraries. Nevertheless, the Philippines suffered losses that may never be regained. A large part of the archives of the Spanish period are gone, and none of the m a j o r collections of Philip- piniana survived. A t present it appears that the only good collections of Philippiniana are now in the United States. Philippine scholars may have to come here to study their own country. O n e of the most handsome and considerate favors that this country could show t o w a r d the Philippines might be to send back, in either the original form or in repro- duction, as complete a set as possible of the extant records of the Philippine culture. B y E V E R E T T T . M O O R E Teaching in the Japan Library School Mr. Moore is head, Reference Department, University of California Library, Los Angeles. TH E J A P A N LIBRARY SCHOOL a t K e i o U n i -versity, T o k y o , which w a s established a little more than a year before the end of the occupation of Japan by the Allied P o w e r s , is still functioning healthily, though the original scheme of the school's program has undergone important changes w i t h the re-establishment of independence in that country. W h e n the second visiting American faculty, of which M r s . M o o r e and I w e r e members, finished their term in A u g u s t , 1953, the school w a s w e l l into its third year. It is still pertinent to ask w h y the library school w a s established, and how w e l l it has succeeded in its purpose. W h y w a s a com- pletely new school started? W a s there no education f o r librarianship in Japan before this? T h e question is even asked, whether there are libraries in Japan. H a v e the A m e r - ican instructors taught in Japanese, and if not, how have they carried on their instruction. It w i l l be helpful in answering these ques- tions to refer briefly to the beginning of the library school program. L a t e in 1950, plans w e r e completed by the C i v i l Information and Education Section of the occupation govern- ment in T o k y o (the office of the Supreme Commander f o r the A l l i e d P o w e r s ) , which had w o r k e d jointly w i t h the American L i - brary Association, to establish a training course for librarians in Japan. I t w a s to be patterned a f t e r educational programs in dem- ocratic countries, particularly in the United States. American librarians, including Robert B. D o w n s , V e r n e r Clapp, C h a r l e s H . B r o w n , and F l o r a B. Ludington, had studied the prob- lem of developing a strong library service as one of the essential elements in a democratized Japan. T h e y had recommended establishment of a library school offering a practical course of training for prospective librarians and aim- ing to set new standards of librarianship in all kinds of libraries. I t w a s to be organized and operated during its beginning years by Americans selected by the A L A , under the auspices of the occupation government. T h e original faculty, therefore, which ar- rived in the spring of 1951, w e n t as employees of the United States A r m y . T h e y w e r e bil- leted, fed and provided with transportation by the A r m y . 250 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES T h e director of the new library school w a s Robert L . G i t l e r , then director of the U n i - versity of W a s h i n g t o n School of L i b r a r i a n - ship. A r r i v i n g in Japan in January of 1951, he proceeded to w o r k out plans through the C i v i l Information and Education Section f o r the establishment of a library school in a university not yet decided upon. W o r k i n g through the A L A , he recruited f o u r visiting faculty members and a librarian for an initial term of 18 months. O n the bases of ability and readiness to fit such a novel program into its curricular pat- tern, of suitability of location, and of willing- ness to accept students by transfer f r o m other universities in Japan, K e i o University, in T o k y o , w a s selected as the location for the school. Established in 1858, this private uni- versity has a distinguished record as an insti- tution of independent spirit. In years past it had ventured into unfamiliar educational fields, and so might be expected to accept the somewhat revolutionary character of the pro- posed program in librarianship. K e i o met the conditions set by the organizing authorities, and agreed to give continuing support to the school a f t e r such time as the occupation gov- ernment's sponsorship should be finished. A f t e r about a year's operation on this basis, it became known that government support would be w i t h d r a w n a f t e r the signing of the treaty of peace w i t h Japan. K e i o and the American L i b r a r y Association w e r e suddenly faced with the question of how the school w a s to be continued. T h e university w a s not in a position to take over complete responsibility f o r operation of the library school, even had it been possible to appoint an adequate Japanese faculty to offer f u l l instruction in librarian- ship on the university level. T h e r e f o r e , in the summer of 1952, the Rockefeller Foundation w a s asked to grant a sum to K e i o to make possible the continuance of the library school for five years on the basis of a gradually re- duced American faculty. Each year one less American and one additional Japanese would be appointed. T h e grant w a s made, and in the fall of 1952, my w i f e and I received our appoint- ments to teach f o r one year. T w o other Americans w e r e appointed to the visiting fac- ulty for that y e a r : M i s s N o r m a Cass, head reference librarian of the University of K e n - tucky, and M i s s G e o r g i a Sealoff of the Seattle Public Schools, the latter having stayed on f o r a second year. M r . G i t l e r continued as di- r e c t o r ; in fact, he is remaining in T o k y o to see the program through its transitional period. H i s most recent report on the state of the school w a s given to the A L A Council at Minneapolis in June of I954« H e has made by f a r the greatest contribution to the building of the school, for he is now in his fifth year of service there. T h e confidence shown by Keio University in his leadership is one of the happiest aspects of this program of American-Japanese cooperation. T h o s e w h o had preceded us on the A m e r i - can visiting faculty w e r e M r s . Frances N . Cheney, G e o r g e Peabody C o l l e g e ; Bertha M . Frick, C o l u m b i a ; Hannah H u n t , R o c k f o r d , Illinois, now at W e s t e r n Reserve L i b r a r y School; E d g a r R. Larson, formerly of the L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s ; and Phyllis Jean T a y l o r , formerly of the T e r r i t o r i a l L i b r a r y of H a - waii, w h o served as librarian. T h o s e w h o have served since 1953 are Anne M . Smith, University of British C o l u m b i a ; and M r s . Ruth F . Strout, formerly of the University of D e n v e r , and now at the University of C h i - c a g o ; and the present visiting faculty are G e o r g e Bonn, formerly of the N e w Y o r k Public Library, and recently a Fulbright scholar in J a p a n ; and M a b e l T u r n e r , of the University of W a s h i n g t o n . W h e n w e arrived in Japan on September 1, 1952, w e found that the library school w a s still in the process of adjusting its program to the new post-occupation situation. H a v i n g started out as a government-sponsored school, it had not only to revise its housekeeping and logistical arrangements, but to impress on Japanese librarians, educators and public offi- cials that the school no longer reported to any official agency—certainly not to the American Security Forces still situated in Japan. R e - lationships of the American staff of the library school with the reestablished American E m - bassy in T o k y o had to be w o r k e d out slowly, sometimes painfully. T h i s phase of adjustment to the "civilian status" the school w a s now to enjoy affected us as individuals in a number of ways, and lent an interesting air of pioneering to our first months in Japan. T h e officials at Keio w e r e more surprised than w e w e r e at the completeness of the break w i t h official spon- sorship, not realizing that our private-citizen status would not entitle us to government housing, government transportation, and gov- JULY, 1955 25 7 ernment food, nor w e r e w e to have the privi- lege of buying at American post exchanges and commissaries, nor of belonging to official American clubs. Finding a place to live w a s an exhausting experience. Riding the T o k y o buses and trams and subways w a s sometimes more chal- lenging than carrying two watermelons home on a San Francisco cable car during rush hour. L e a r n i n g to buy food on the Japanese market w i t h the aid of a G I phrase book could be downright adventuresome. But, f o r our part, w e welcomed the absence of e x t r a - territorial privilege and the fact that w e w e r e on our own in Japan. A f t e r K e i o people began to understand our position more clearly, they helped to solve our housing problem, and the professor in charge of international ex- change arrangements soon offered to build us a little house on his property. I t took only six weeks to erect the little structure of wood frame, light plaster walls, and sliding paper doors. W e moved in on A m e r i c a n T h a n k s - giving D a y and stayed there until our depar- ture the f o l l o w i n g September. H o w w e lived in our unprofessional mo- ments makes another tale. W e usually ex- plain that w e did not d w e l l completely on the floor, in Japanese fashion, but averaged per- haps about h a l f - w a y between floor level and chair height. A m o n g the pleasant memories w e have is that of our deep wooden Japanese bath, with built-in gas w a t e r heater, which preserved us f r o m the chills of the r a w and dismal winter weather. T h i s is one of the homely creature comforts that the Japanese set great store by, but it is something of a luxury to have such a bath in one's own home. W e experienced enough of such aspects of Japanese life to give us a real feeling f o r the country and its essential character, and came a w a y with deep affection for our friends and colleagues in Japan. T o return to one of the earlier questions as to how w e t a u g h t : it is generally known that w e did not teach in Japanese, the question re- mains w h y an effort w a s not made to provide instruction in the student's own tongue. T h e answer is simply that American librarians and librarian-teachers w i t h sufficient command of Japanese have not been available f o r such assignment. T h e next best substitute w a s to undertake to teach in English through inter- preters. W h a t success w e had w a s attribut- able largely to the expertness of our interpre- ters. W e could not always be sure how completely or accurately our thoughts w e r e translated, but on the whole w e found there w a s a reassuring success in communication. T h e actual method of teaching w a s to speak through interpreters, for w h o m w e w o u l d al- w a y s pause a f t e r w e had completed a state- ment, so that translations w e r e made before w e became too involved in our remarks. O u r syllabi w e r e prepared by us in English, and Japanese translations w e r e then inserted at regular intervals on the mimeograph stencils, so that our students had bi-lingual outlines to accompany bi-lingual lectures and discussions. W e became accustomed to this method of communicating w i t h individuals or groups of people, and thus relied heavily on interpreters and translators. W h e n w e w e r e able to get our students into situations w h e r e they carried on informal discussion among themselves, our interpreter had to serve as a running commen- tator, approximating the simultaneous trans- lating technique employed in the United N a - tions. T h e question, whether there are libraries in Japan, is perhaps not as impertinent as it might seem at first. O f course, there have, been libraries there for hundreds of years, many of them containing great treasures. T h e task for librarians in Japan today is mainly one of overcoming the general ineffec- tualness of libraries throughout the country as agencies of helpful service, rather than one of creating of new libraries. T h i s condition applies to all kinds of libraries, but perhaps most seriously to school and university li- braries, where, until very recently, the practice of librarianship has been almost entirely a sideline with members of their teaching staffs. T o this day, there are virtually no head li- brarians in universities w h o are professional librarians, as the position is one which is as- signed to professors, usually f o r short terms. T h e r e are very f e w library assistants w h o have had any kind of formal library training. T h e librarian's profession in Japan is, in fact, one of little dignity or attractiveness. So-called trained librarians have had only ele- mentary instruction in library techniques. T h e r e is little difference between the status of the career librarian and that of clerical and general office w o r k e r s . A m a j o r problem in conveying to the Japanese people something of the role that strong and efficiently operated libraries can play, in the community or the 252 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES school or university, or in scientific and in- dustrial research, is one of lifting the pro- fession of librarianship to a place w h e r e com- petent men and women can afford to enter it and be respected f o r the w o r k they do. T h e profession of teaching itself is in a comparably l o w state in J a p a n ; most teachers find it impossible to live on their salaries alone. O f course any real basic changes in university libraries w i l l come about only when methods of teaching, which now f o l l o w the old system of formal lectures, are so liberalized that stu- dents w i l l have to start using books f a r more than is yet dreamed of in many universities in Japan. T h e most satisfying experience in my own teaching came f r o m the summer workshop I conducted f o r a group of ten librarians f r o m various universities in Japan, on problems of university library administration. T h e r e w e r e so many problems concerning matters like centralization or decentralization of collec- tions, the planning of buildings and equipment, and the organization of reference services, which w e r e so similar to the problems w e w o r k w i t h every day in our libraries that it w a s possible to compare notes profitably and to stimulate members of the workshop to w o r k out some interesting ideas among them- selves. T h i s workshop, incidentally, w a s ap- parently the first experience any of the libra- rians in the group had ever had in talking freely about their problems. A f t e r the workshop had ended one of the librarians w r o t e me a note of appreciation, and enclosed a copy of the commemorative picture which had been taken at our last ses- sion. " I am now beginning to w i s h , " he wrote, "that the workshop w a s still in session, where w e could discuss many problems. Such is the difference in feeling that one experienced in this workshop as compared w i t h other courses where w e heard dull lectures. I sometimes wonder, outside of the land and scenery of Japan, w h a t you really think about us. W e have many opportunities to learn about A m e r i c a ; during your year here you must have been able to learn much about Japan and about the backwardness of Japan's library w o r l d . " M u c h of the library school's opportunity for helping Japan to overcome this backwardness lies in demonstrating patterns of better library service and of more effective w a y s of teaching. T h e practice of free discussion and exchange of ideas, which Japanese librarians have known so little of in the past, is likely to pro- duce some interesting results in working out their problems. H a s the library school's program been suc- cessful? It is of course too early to judge the actual success of such a new and still evolving program. Placement of graduates of the school presents many difficult problems, where salaries are so universally low, and where standards of library service do not readily admit the need for more thoroughly and professionally trained personnel. T h e number of graduates w h o have found really promising openings has been small, but there have been numerous signs that practicing li- brarians and educators in the field have been giving attention to the advantages of employ- ing young people of greater ability and ambi- tion and imagination, such as the Japan L i - brary School has sought to attract. T h e N a t i o n a l D i e t L i b r a r y has employed several graduates of the school. I t has also given a number of its untrained employees leaves of absence to attend the library school, then return to the L i b r a r y . T h e new and important International Christian University in T o k y o has employed several graduates of recent classes. T h e M e d i c a l L i b r a r y Associa- tion of Japan has granted scholarships to sev- eral young employees of medical libraries to take the course in librarianship. Recognition of the w o r k of the school has come f r o m as f a r a w a y as H a r v a r d - Y e n c h i n g Institute. A young man on leave from the N a t i o n a l D i e t L i b r a r y , a graduate of the school, has been on its staff f o r three years. O n e of the first-year graduates, M r . M a s a n o b u F u j i - k a w a , a f t e r spending an additional year of study at the G e o r g e Peabody College, re- turned to K e i o in 1953 to become the first regularly appointed Japanese member of the library school faculty. Another graduate, w h o served later as an assistant and interpre- ter at the school, is now at W e s t e r n Reserve on a Fulbright. O f the interpreter group w i t h whom w e worked, one is a Fulbright student at D e n v e r University, and another, M i s s Y u k i k o M o n j i , w h o had previously at- tended library school at Illinois, is now on the cataloging staff of the E a s t Asiatic L i b r a r y on the Berkeley campus of the University of C a l i f o r n i a . T h e s e are examples of young librarians w h o can be looked to to help might- ily in raising library standards in Japan. JULY, 1955 25 7 B y H E N R Y M I L L E R M A D D E N Impressions of Librarianship in A u s t r i a Dr. Madden is librarian, Fresno State Col- lege, Fresno, Calif. Two HUNDRED and twenty-eight years ago the H o l y Roman Emperor, C h a r l e s V I , inspected his newly built library in a w i n g of the H o f b u r g . H i s architect, Fischer von Erlach, had succeeded in adding luster to his own attainments by designing a baroque li- brary which has never been surpassed in mag- nificence as a great hall of state. T h i s library, known as the Bibliotheca P a l a t i n a Vindobo- nensis, or the Imperial C o u r t L i b r a r y , had already a long and distinguished history before it occupied its baroque palace in 1726. It re- mained the chief library of central Europe and is still today, as the A u s t r i a n N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y , one of the great libraries of the w o r l d . Despite lost w a r s , revolutions, and rumors of w a r s — V i e n n a is the rumor capital of the w o r l d — t h e A u s t r i a n N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y has struggled hard to maintain its stature. It is a library of a million and a half volumes, but it has not a single book truck. It has that rarity in Europe, a card catalog, but the main hall has been heated only twice in the twentieth century: in 1908 on the sixtieth anniversary of the reign of K a i s e r F r a n z Joseph, and in 1926 on its own two-hundredth anniversary. It has more tangible wealth in the form of incunab- ula than any other library in the w o r l d , ex- cept the British M u s e u m and the B a v a r i a n State L i b r a r y , yet the salaries paid its librar- ians are barely sufficient to meet the cost of a modest living. I t is rruch more ambitious than most libraries, w i t h smaller means to supnert these ambitions. T h e s e paradoxes characterize the institution that w a s my host for ten months. I w a s in the paradoxical situation of admiring it with- out reservation w h ' l e at the same time being critical of many cf its practices. T h e H a p s b u r g empire g r e w by the a-qu'si- tive instincts of the dynasty. T h i s acquisitive- ness w a s not confined to provinces, but in- cluded all forms of w e a l t h — n a r w h a l tusks, Cellini salt cellars, Brueghels, G r e e k manu- scripts, tapestries, and bocks. T h e result w a s the accumulation of artifacts that the republi- can successors to the Hapsburgs are still try- ing to sort. T h a t is, although the various bibliothecal and museum storehouses of Vienna may have been cataloged, arranged, and made available f o r use according to the notions prev- alent in, let us say, 1800 or 1870, these ever- g r o w i n g stores outgrew the philosophies then current and demanded new treatment. F o r example, the G r e e k manuscripts of the A u s - trian N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y , which have been cata- loged at least twice according to prevalent systems, are now undergoing a complete re- cataloging. T h u s the A u s t r i a n N a t i o n a l L i - brary has a r r e a r s of centuries, while an American library with arrears of six months considers itself hopelessly burdened. W h a t would the American librarian do if he w e r e confronted by a collection in most of the languages of the world (including an extensive lot in A r m e n i a n ) which, until the year 1930, w e r e cataloged only by author and entered on half sheets kept in the form of a sheaf cata- l o g ? W h a t would the A m e r i c a n librarian do if he had no list of subject headings? C o u l d an American librarian think of a col- lection of books to be shelved w i t h o u t any system of classification? B e f o r e you are diz- zied by this barrage of rhetorical questions, it might be w e l l to give thanks that w e are a middle-aged country, and that w e w e r e still younger in the 1870's, when librarians here could start almost f r o m scratch, while A u s - trian librarians w e r e groaning under the ac- cumulation of centuries. T h e marvel is that the A u s t r i a n N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y has succeeded so w e l l in adjusting it- self to ths conflict between means and ends. A f e w landmarks stand out in the history of this adaption to changing needs, and some of them arc really monuments. T h e Imperial L i b r a r y , early in the nineteenth century, in- troduced the use of half sheets in sheaf form f o r its catalog entries, and cataloged all books by this method until 1930. In this it w a s a pioneer, while other libraries w e r e still mak- ing entries in bound volumes. A desirable uniformity of entry w a s achieved by the A u s - trian Instructions published in 1901 during the 254 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES administration of K a r a b a c c k . T h e library determined in 1930 to adopt the international standard card for all w o r k s to be published a f t e r that date, and to make subject entries, although new acquisitions published before 1930 w e r e to be entered in the old sheaf cata- log. A t the same time, in the interest of uniformity in the German-speaking w o r l d , it abandoned its own cataloging instructions and accepted the Prussian Instructions of D z i - atzko, and it cooperated in the Dcutscher Ge- samtkatalog. U n t i l 1918, the A u s t r i a n National L i b r a r y had to act as the chief library in a multi-na- tional empire. A f t e r 1918 it had to adjust itself to a more modest role, to more modest support, and to fit itself into the pattern of libraries in German-speaking countries. W i t h - out sacrificing its most valuable historical tra- ditions, or its obligation as a distinctive na- tional library, the A u s t r i a n N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y has succeeded very nobly in reconciling all these conflicting interests. If I w e r e to single out the strongest point in the practice of librarianship in A u s t r i a , as exemplified in the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y , I should unhesitatingly list the personal attainments of the librarians as the most eminent. T o a de- gree unknown in A m e r i c a the Austrian librar- ians are highly cultivated in languages and the other attributes of a humane education. T h e y use these attainments willingly and with the utmost courtesy in the service both of the library and its readers. I t is a delight to be in contact with librarians w h o have an en- lightened and urbane attitude and w h o know books and their contents. T h i s is not mere bookishness, as it is balanced by an active in- terest in solving problems of library manage- ment which are so much more acute in Europe than in A m e r i c a . A n authority on fourteenth- century manuscripts is at the same time the energetic director of the Acquisitions D e p a r t - ent, and the leading student of Anton Bruckner is responsible f o r the architectural design of the newly completed M u s i c C o l l e c - tion. Such versatility leaves an indelible im- pression on the visitor to the A u s t r i a n N a - tional L i b r a r y . O n the other hand, the weaknesses of li- brarianship in A u s t r i a are only too evident. T h e first of these is the inadequate system of education f o r librarianship, which stems from the unbridgeable gap between the so-called " h i g h e r " and "middle" classes of employees. T o enter the " h i g h e r " clasr, one must have a doctorate, whereas the "middle" class requires enly a matura from a gymnasium. T h i s sepa- ration of classes does not correspond to the supposed difference between "professional" and "clerical" employees in an American li- brary, because the " h i g h e r " employee often perform", the most menial clerical tasks, and the "middle" employee, by virtue of personal competence or long experience, is frequently entrusted with the most responsible cataloging duties, revision, and the like. A would-be librarian who has his doctorate in, let us say, Spanish literature, applies to the M i n i s t r y of Education for appointment f o r a term of 18 months as an apprentice in a "scientific" library. T h e number of appoint- ments of apprentices is always equal to the number of vacancies for librarians anticipated 18 months in the f u t u r e . T h e first year of the apprenticeship may be spent in any library, as directed by the M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n ; the last six months must be spent at the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y . T h e r e is no fixed course of instruc- tion, and the candidate learns by observation and questioning. T h i s method of instruction is rather w a s t e f u l of the time of the librarians w h o must answer the questions, and causes unnecessary duplication of effort. O n the other hand, the number of candidates is so small that regular courses of instruction would hardly repay the effort involved in giv- ing them. A t the end of this apprenticeship the candidate must pass a very severe exami- nation, requiring encyclopedic knowledge, but his passing it is almost a foregone conclusion, because to flunk him would be a reflection on the ability of the official in the M i n i s t r y of Education w h o selected him f o r the appoint- ment as an apprentice. W h e n I w a s in Vienna, tbere w e r e only five apprentices in the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y training in this republic of seven m'llion people. T h e libraries under the control of the M i n i s t r y of Education are the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y , those of the Universities of Vienna, G r a z , and Inns- bruck, the Technical Universities in Vienna and G r a z , the schools of agriculture, forestry, and veterinary medicine, and the libraries of the various federal museums, archives, minis- tries, and offices. W i t h only five replacements going to all these libraries, it is readily ap- parent that recruitment is not a problem in A u s t r i a . A s I mentioned earlier, there is a somewhat JULY, 1955 255 unfortunate gap between the " h i g h e r " and the "middle" service, between P h . D . ' s and the others. W h i l e it cannot be denied that the doctorate is a desirable preliminary to li- brarianship, it is true also that many persons w i t h o u t it are equally competent. Undesirable as this gap is, there is an even greater abyss between the so-called "scien- tific" librarians, and the librarians of the public libraries, or Volksbiichereien. T h e G e r m a n term is a much better description, f o r in the American sense there are no public libraries in A u s t r i a . T h e r e are collections of popular readings, both fiction and non-fiction, but there is no reference service, and there is a small fee f o r each loan. T h e municipali- ties give only limited support to these public libraries, and their l o w l y status is symbolized by the fact that their employees are not eli- gible to membership in the Association of A u s t r i a n Libraries. T h e unity of the A m e r i - can library profession, which w e take so much f o r granted, a l w a y s excites the amazement of A u s t r i a n librarians w h o visit us. In saying that there are no public libraries in A u s t r i a , I do not wish to give the impres- sion that access to scientific w o r k s is denied to a reader. A l l the university and provincial libraries are open to the public, and are used by them more extensively than is the case with our college and university libraries. T h e traffic in interlibrary loans is much higher in A u s t r i a , in proportion to its population, than in A m e r i c a . T h e American visitor to an A u s t r i a n li- brary, accustomed at home to a blaze of fluorescent lighting, clattering typewriters, pneumatic tubes, and other audio-visual signs of business-like activity, might at first be deceived by the crepuscular inch-candles of light cast by 20-watt bulbs, the shuffling of library servants bearing a truck load of books in a sling over their shoulders, and the w r i t i n g of catalog half-sheets w i t h a steel nib pen, into thinking that no business can be done with any dispatch. T h i s is f a r f r o m the case. T h e r e is a keenness of dispatch of w o r k which makes a deep impression on an A m e r i c a n . In the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y , for example, Publishers' Weekly is circulated to all subject specialists, w h o expeditiously mark their recommenda- tions f o r purchase, despite the fact that the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y has less to spend annually f o r books than a large A m e r i c a n college library. W i t h these limited funds, the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y is expected to cover the most important w o r k s published in Europe and A m e r i c a . T h i s really hopeless task is still approached in a determined and knowledgeable manner. So knowledgeable, in fact, is the approach that one library inquired of me w i t h some indig- nation w h y the listing in Publishers' Weekly is not by subject matter, but in one alphabet by author, thus making the scanning of this list by the several subject specialists a time- w a s t i n g procedure. I might echo this question m y s e l f ! If one, therefore, can preserve his eyesight in this saving of electricity, and refrain f r o m groaning in unison w i t h the bearer of a sling-load of books, and use the steel pen that w a s good enough for Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, one quickly sees that the service of a library in A u s t r i a is no less informed or competent than in our own country, and that the personal attainments of its librarians occasionally make an American uncomfortable. F o r example, H o f r a t D r . Stummvoll, the energetic and genial director general of the N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y , w h o visited the United States a f e w years ago, is fluent in Swedish and T u r k i s h , is a D o c t o r of Philo- sophy and a D o c t o r of Engineering, a virtu- oso on the accordion, and a connoisseur of wines. In this typical w e l t e r of personal attain- ments the ability to w o r k concentratedly on matters of library economy, to use a some- w h a t antiquated expression, is by no means lost. T o give one example, the L u b e t z k y report has excited great interest among A u s - trian librarians, despite the fact that the principle of corporate authorship is not known in A u s t r i a n cataloging practice. A s in other G e r m a n speaking libraries, the publications of societies, academic, and governmental agencies are entered by title, so that there is a forest of Berichte, Mitteilungen, Transactions, and the like. M a n y of the younger librarians are in f a v o r of introducing corporate authors, and the L u b e t z k y report has given them an op- portunity to debate this A m e r i c a n practice, w i t h both w a r m t h and information. T h e w a r m t h sometimes becomes actual heat, a quality less common in professional debates among A m e r i c a n librarians. I should like to devote a f e w w o r d s to the relationship between an A m e r i c a n visitor and his professional colleagues in A u s t r i a , which w e may regard as typically European. 256 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES In the extensive and highly administered sys- tem of exchanges now existing, there is a regrettable underlying notion that the E u r o - pean specialist w h o comes to A m e r i c a must be kept in such a state of open-mouthed wonder at our technical achievements that he will require medical attention on returning to Europe to get his j a w back in place, that he w i l l at once put a pencil-sharpener on every desk, install a C o c a - C o l a dispenser, and otherwise show that he has learned the lessons of technical proficiency as practiced in the United States. T h e corollary also is expected: the A m e r i - can sent to Europe w i l l at once assist in demolishing a structure based on tradition. H e is expected to do this by bombarding his hosts w i t h prosy lectures, by looking disdain- f u l l y through rimless eyeglasses at Victorian (or, in the case of A u s t r i a , Francisco-Joseph- inian) office practices, and by other means not calculated to win friends or influence people. T h i s attitude simply w i l l not w o r k , mainly because it confuses side issues w i t h central problems. L i k e all other Europeans, the A u s t r i a n s are tired of being lectured at, tired of being made to feel that they can learn something about everything f r o m an American expert. T h e visiting American must realize that he is a guest of his hosts, even if they do not directly foot the bill. If he must lecture, let him do so with a little humor. Because this is not expected in any lecturer, either A u s t r i a n or American, the listeners w i l l think he is another M a r k T w a i n . If he must make suggestions, let them be made diffidently and modestly. If he gets impatient, let him remember that the library in which he is accepted as a colleague w a s built 50 years before the United States w a s heard of. If he can do all this, he w i l l find that he is doing much direct good, that he is accepted as a valued colleague, and that he cannot avoid a feeling of deep regret when he must leave the hospitable circle of his A u s t r i a n friends. B y R U T H P E R R Y Nigeria's University Library Mrs. Perry is chief, Reference Division in the Hoover Institute and Library at Stanford University. She spent the last year in Nigeria. ON T H E WEST COAST o f A f r i c a , n o t f a r above the equator, the past six years have seen the g r o w t h of a new university col- lege whose standards are high, whose build- ings have been described as "the best that modern architecture has yet offered tropical A f r i c a , " and whose students have already made an outstanding name f o r themselves in advanced degree w o r k at the University of London. In N o v e m b e r of 1954 the new building f o r N i g e r i a ' s University College L i - brary w a s formally opened, a building de- signed to house eventually a quarter of a million books and accommodate 250 readers. T o the librarian, John H a r r i s , w h o has been with the library f r o m its start, the day rep- resented a milestone, not the last by any means, in the progress t o w a r d s a library which would take its place on even terms w i t h the university libraries of the rest of the w o r l d . T h a t the University College L i b r a r y is w e l l along the path t o w a r d this goal is due to the vision and hard w o r k of the librarian and his staff during the past six years. N i g e r i a , with the exception of India, has the largest population of any unit of the British Commonwealth, more than 30 million people. I t is wholly an A f r i c a n country. T h e r e is no race problem as in some other parts of A f r i c a , because there has never been alien settlement. T h e small number of Europeans in the country are there as traders, teachers, government officials or missionaries, and are gradually w o r k i n g themselves out of their jobs, as A f r i c a n s are trained to take over the tasks of the country. T h e University College of N i g e r i a w a s established in 1948 with an initial grant of $4,200,000 f r o m the Colonial Development and W e l f a r e Fund of G r e a t Britain, but is now the financial responsibility of the N i - gerian government. Its purpose is to supply JULY, 1955 25 7 to students in N i g e r i a the higher education f o r which they have, in the past, found it necessary to go to England or the United States. It stands in special relationship to the University of London, and until the university college is fully developed, examinations and degrees are the responsibility of that univer- sity. T h e site chosen for the new college w a s an area of rolling hill country just outside the town of Ibadan, inland about 100 miles f r o m L a g o s , the capital. Ibadan is the largest A f r i c a n town on the continent, w i t h a population of almost 500,000 of whom less than 1,000 are Europeans. I t is the seat of government for the W e s t e r n Region, one of the three m a j o r administrative regions of N i g e r i a , and is the home of the N i g e r i a n College of A r t s , Science, and T e c h n o l o g y , and of a government teacher training college. D u r i n g its first f e w years the University College w a s housed on a temporary site several miles f r o m the present location, and used the buildings of a f o r m e r army hospital. T h e r e w e r e hastily erected one-story buildings similar to those built on many college cam- puses in the United States during the W o r l d W a r . U n t i l its move into the new building in September, 1954, the library occupied t w o of these buildings, w i t h some expansions and additions f r o m time to time. T o build a university library f r o m the beginning is an experience which comes to f e w people these days. T h e r e w e r e to be many difficulties during the first years, but books f o r the library w e r e no problem. F i r s t to arrive w e r e 10,000 volumes f r o m the library of the old H i g h e r C o l l e g e of Y a b a , which had been discontinued when the University C o l l e g e w a s established. T h i s w a s a well-rounded collection, designed primarily f o r undergrad- uate use. N e x t , w a s the 18,000-volume library of H e n r y C a r r , one of the first N i - gerians to take a part in the administrative life of the country, deposited by the N i g e r i a n government which had purchased it on his death. W h i l e it contained many books of general interest, its great value lay in the books on A f r i c a and the manuscript materials of the early days of the British administration. T o g e t h e r with a l a t e r acquisition, the private library of H e r b e r t M a c a u l a y , C a r r ' s collection formed the nucleus of the present day A f ricana collection of the library, which numbers more than 4,000 volumes. M a c a u l a y w a s one of the first N i g e r i a n nationalists and founder of the N i g e r i a n N a t i o n a l Democratic P a r t y . A n important early g i f t w a s the 10,000- volume library of F . M o n t a g u e D y k e , an Englishman whose life interest w a s in tropical agriculture. T h e s e and others initial g i f t s and purchases w e r e supplemented by a capital expenditure of $84,000 for books and journals, and the library has, at present, an annual budget of $21,000 f o r this purpose. T h u s the librarian found himself w i t h a book stock of something like 50,000 volumes, many of them still in cases, some riddled by insects or attacked by mold. In addition he w a s faced w i t h the task of building up a staff which could make these books available f o r use as quickly as possible. T h i s staff, a f t e r six years, now numbers about 35, ex- cluding the librarian, of w h o m f o u r rank as senior staff, three of these being Europeans, and one an A f r i c a n . T h e junior staff is composed entirely of A f r i c a n s . W i t h o u t going into the details of the many problems faced in those first years, many of which are common to any library in its beginning, it is of interest to discuss the un- common problems, notably those peculiar to the tropics, insect infestation and destruction by mold and damp. In the w o r d s of the librarian ( w r i t t e n in 1949) : " T h e rainy season has brought very real problems of preservation. M o l d appears on books over- night, some binding materials being particu- larly susceptible. Papers and cards become soggy and limp. Staples produce rust. L e a t h e r g r o w s fungus. Q u e e r things g r o w on microfilm cameras and readers and on film." T h e super-shiny American bindings of tech- nical books proved to be the hosts of the longest fungi of all. Counter-measures w e r e at once put in hand, not only treatment of the books themselves, but such general meas- ures as making book shelves as open as possi- ble, to provide ventilation and to prevent insects nesting behind the books. Six boys w e r e employed to go over the books with a poisonous f o r m u l a designed not only to com- bat insects, but to prevent mold. T h i s w a s a mixture of t w o gallons of methylated spirit w i t h five ounces of mercuric chloride and five ounces of phenol. A check of results a f e w years later showed that this f o r m u l a had a lasting effect, and in the rainy seasons of sub- sequent years the formation of mold w a s 258 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES greatly diminished. T h e books w e r e treated by brushing the solution on the inside of the book in the angle between the cover and the book, and all over the outside cover. In the meantime, the staff w a s beginning the task of preparing some sort of catalog of these books to make them available f o r use. A welcome g i f t f r o m America w a s the com- plete L i b r a r y of Congress catalog, presented by the Carnegie Corporation of N e w Y o r k . T h e scheme of classification decided upon w a s the Bliss, which, although developed by an American, has been more widely used in G r e a t Britain than in the United States. A simple author catalog w a s compiled, eliminat- ing as much descriptive cataloging as possi- ble f o r these first books, to get them on the shelves as quickly as possible. By December, 1949, 10,000 books had been classified and cataloged and w e r e ready for use. In the past f e w years, there has been some re-cataloging of this early w o r k , and the library now has a complete author cata- log of its 80,000 volumes, supplemented by a shelf-list which is being developed into a classed catalog. T h e r e are no plans f o r complete subject cataloging. Several biblio- graphic aids have been compiled under the direction of M r . H a r r i s . T w o of the larger items are a list of serial holdings and a catalog of A f r i c a n a in the library. D u r i n g the past six years, the book collec- tions have been built up to supply the needs of the various teaching departments, which include the Faculties of A r t s , Science, M e d i - cine, and A g r i c u l t u r e and V e t e r i n a r y Science. A departmental library has been set up in the W e s t A f r i c a n Institute of Social and Eco- nomic Research, a non-teaching research in- stitution w i t h headquarters on the campus. T h e s e books also are ordered and cataloged by the University L i b r a r y . T h e student body of the college numbers about 500 and the faculty over 100. M o s t of the w o r k done is at the undergraduate level but some advanced w o r k is given as honors courses requiring an additional year of resi- dence. T h e library's collections, however, are planned not only f o r this undergraduate w o r k , but also to supply the research needs of the faculty. M a n y of the younger faculty mem- bers find it possible to complete research f o r their P h . D . degrees at the English universities while here at Ibadan. A large number of scholarly journals are received by gift, purchase or exchange, some 1,300 serial titles being currently received. M i c r o c a r d reproductions of such titles as Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesell- schaft, Berlin, and Zhurnal eksperimentafnoi i teoreticheskoi fiziki, M o s c o w , have been pur- chased w h e r e is w a s impossible to obtain the originals. Exchange agreements w i t h more than 200 libraries, largely in Europe and America, have been of great assistance in building up the collections. Since 1950, the N i g e r i a n government's Publications Ordinance has required the deposit in the library of t w o copies of everything published in Nigeria, and the library issues lists of these publications annually. T h e University College L i b r a r y has, f r o m the beginning, conceived as an important part of its function the exploration of the biblio- graphical resources of the country and the preservation, in the library, of materials thus located, in the original if possible, or on microfilm. In 1953, with the arrival of an O x f o r d - t r a i n e d A r a b i c scholar, M r . W . E. Kensdale, an attempt w a s made to locate A r a b i c manuscripts from the M o s l e m areas of northern N i g e r i a . D u r i n g a six-week trip to the north, M r . Kensdale secured more than 150 of these manuscripts, and w a s able to b o r r o w for microfilming certain additional items. M o s t of these date from the period of the Fulani jihad about 150 years ago, 39 of them being by Shehu U s m a n dan Fodio, the Fulani whose armies conquered most of northern N i g e r i a in the early part of the nineteenth century, and whose empire lasted f o r about 100 years. W h i l e the larger part of the book collection is in English, with some French or G e r m a n , some vernacular materials also have been acquired. A number of early histories of Nigerian tribes and towns have appeared in the local languages and form a part of the library's A f r i c a n a collection. T h e current output of vernacular publications may be in- dicated by the list of Nigerian publications for 1953, which has material in eight of the local languages. H o w e v e r , most of it con- sists of adult education pamphlets or religious texts issued by the missions. T h e problem of cataloging these books has been met by the use of students from the different regions or of visiting anthropologists, familiar with some little-known language. O n e of the essentials of any library is JULY3 1955 259 access to binding services. T h i s w a s among the first problems to be considered at Ibadan, since it w a s obvious that the usual custom followed by small libraries in the United States and G r e a t Britain of sending out books to commercial binders w a s impossible in Nigeria. Equipment and materials w e r e purchased in England, and a master printer and binder of Ibadan, M r . F . E . Balogun, w a s placed in charge. In 1951, M r . Balogun spent nine months in G r e a t Britain w h e r e he w o r k e d in the bindery of the University of London L i b r a r y and took courses at the London School of Printing. T h e first bindery equipment included a small platen press which w a s used f o r printing f o r m s and stationery for the library and other departments of the University. T h i s w o r k proved very satis- factory, and the press w i t h improved equip- ment has now g r o w n into an important adjunct of the university, doing not only all printing f o r the college, but some outside w o r k . T h e difficulties of a limited amount of type and hand setting which characterized the early years have now been largely over- come, and w o r k of professional standards issues f r o m this press. I t is now financially independent of the library but remains under the general supervision of the librarian. In the bindery the making of pamphlet boxes and routine library binding are carried on by a staff of five under M r . Balogun, all w o r k being done by hand. Experiments in the use of local hand-dyed cloths for end papers and in the production of book covers f r o m locally woven grass mats have proved very successful, as has the use of the b e a u t i f u l leather tanned and dyed in northern N i g e r i a . W h i l e the w o r k of organizing the catalog- ing, binding and other departments w a s going on, it w a s necessary to plan for the new building that w o u l d be the permanent home of the library on the new site of the U n i v e r - sity. T h e first plans drawn, which included complete air conditioning, proved to be im- possibly expensive. I t w a s necessary to start again f r o m the beginning. In 1952, the sum of $403,200 w a s voted for the construction of a new building. W o r k began in June, 1952. In A u g u s t of 1954, a f t e r six years of housing the library in crowded temporary quarters, the new building w a s completed. T h e move was complicated by rain on every day of the project, but by the date of the foundation day ceremony, N o v e m b e r 17th, (which cele- brated also the opening of an assembly hall, a chapel, and an arts t h e a t r e ) , all w a s in readi- ness. A characteristic of the new University C o l l e g e buildings at Ibadan is the f r e e use of color to accent the predominating white against the setting of A f r i c a ' s tropical green. Panels of brick red break the line of the north w a l l of the library. W i n d o w embrasures are lined in blue. Externally, the library building is of simple design. I t is a concrete rectangle 44 by 200 feet, w i t h an additional reading room in f r o n t of and adjoining the reference room. T h e entrance hall is centered on the long side of the rectangle. I t contains the circula- tion desk, and the stairs and elevator to the f o u r upper floors. T h e ground floor has the reference room and adjoining reading room, and the cataloging w o r k r o o m . T h e second floor has open book stacks with study tables along one side of the room. T h e third floor has the serials stacks, the microfilm reader room, and the A f r i c a n a room. O n the fourth floor are the librarian's office and additional stack space, and on the top floor the bindery and storage space. T h e third and f o u r t h floors have study carrels for faculty or visiting scholars. E v e r y w h e r e the emphasis is on the free circulation of air. H o l l o w tile pipes, set in the walls, ventilate the stair w e l l . In the reading rooms and officers on either side of the stairs, the end w a l l s are solid, but the side w a l l s consist of doors set 18 inches apart. T h e y stand open except in stormy weather. A six-foot balcony, entirely screened, runs the length of the building front and back, on all floors except the ground floor. T o avoid an architectural hiatus, a conventional open-work design covers this screening between the white uprights of the balconies, adding greatly to the decorative value of the building. Book stacks on the upper floors are so placed in relation to the side w a l l s that they do not interfere w i t h the circulation of air from the open doors. T h i s c a r e f u l planning throughout the building has resulted in rooms that are a l w a y s pleas- antly cool, even in the heat of a tropical afternoon. In the basement, in addition to the receiv- ing room, it is planned to have an air-condi- tioned room f o r manuscript storage and a similar room f o r photocopying service and the (Continued on page 269) 260 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES that are suitable for college classroom u s e : T h e A O O p a q u e i o o o ( P r i c e a p p r o x . $ 2 5 5 ) , A m e r i c a n O p t i c a l C o m p a n y , 80 H e a r d Street, C h e l s e a , M a s s a c h u s e t t s . E R M — 1 4 , C a t a l o g # 4 1 - 2 3 - 7 1 - 1 4 , s h o w n a b o v e ( P r i c e a p p r o x . $ 1 7 5 ) B a u s c h a n d L o m b O p t i c a l Co., I n s t r u m e n t S a l e s D i v i s i o n , R o c h e s t e r 2, N e w Y o r k . V u - L y t e , C a t a l o g #3008 ( P r i c e a p p r o x . $278.50), C h a r l e s B e s e l e r C o m p a n y , 60 B a d g e r A v e n u e , N e w a r k 8, N e w J e r s e y . T S - 3 S p o t l i g h t ( P r i c e a p p r o x . $287.50), S q u i b b - T a y l o r Inc., 1213 S. A k a r d , D a l l a s , T e x a s . T h e o p a q u e p r o j e c t o r is one of the most v e r s a t i l e m a c h i n e s in the A - V field. W e r e c o m m e n d it to y o u as a h e l p f u l d e v i c e in m a k i n g y o u r m a t e r i a l s i n t e r e s t i n g a n d m o r e m e a n i n g f u l . Balopticon ERM for opaque projection Nigeria's University Library (Continued from page 260) storage of films and phonograph records. O n e of the first purchases made f o r the library w a s a microfilm camera, three reading machines, and a reflex photocopying device similar to the C o n t o u r a . L a t e r additions to the photographic equipment have included a contact printer, an enlarger, and a microcard reader. T h e library films regularly the files of the principal N i g e r i a n newspapers, in addi- tion to doing a large amount of other w o r k for the university and for outsiders. N i g e r i a ' s university library has already made f o r itself a place in the educational life of the country. A s time goes on it will undoubtedly play a leading part in W e s t A f r i c a ' s f u t u r e . I t has been founded and developed w i t h the broad aim of supplying knowledge, not only to the university students and faculty, but to any serious reader in Nigeria, and with the purpose of assisting in library development throughout the entire country. T o quote the librarian again: " I t is obvious that our own f u t u r e as a university library is bound up with the educational and cultural development of the country as a whole. W i t h o u t a broad system of libraries to provide reading matter f o r the Nigerian public, w e can be little more than an ivory t o w e r of academic learning. N o university can hope to flourish in an intellectual vacuum." T h e library has already taken a leading part in the development of libraries for all the people. U n d e r its auspices a ten-day training course f o r librarians in charge of village libraries w a s given in 1950. In 1953, a conference of librarians from all over A f r i c a , sponsored by U N E S C O , w a s held at the university. G r o w i n g out of this meeting, a professional association of librarians, the W e s t A f r i c a n L i b r a r y Association, w a s formed. T h e first issue of its bulletin appeared in M a r c h , 1954, with M r . H a r r i s as editor. T h e librarian w o r k s closely with other members of the profession in the L a g o s libraries and in the regional library system of the north, and his advice is always available to officials in any part of the country. T h a t there is still much to be done, and that there are lacunae, especially in the serials files prior to 1949, no one knows better than the librarian, but the library has made a good start towards its goal. Its f u t u r e w i l l be one librarians everywhere w i l l w a t c h w i t h great interest. JULY, 1955 269