College and Research Libraries The Silliman University Library: An Appraisal and a Vision THE SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY library in Du- maguete City, Philippines, was started during the school year 1906-07, six years after the founding of Silliman. The li- brary started its services with only two bookcases and one small room in Silli- man Hall._ The first donation of books was made by Harry V. Church, a promi- nent educator of Berwyn, Illinois.1 From its humble beginnings the library demon- strated a steady growth. At the end of Silliman's first quarter-century there were approximately eight thousand volumes in the library plus several hundred maga- zines. At the outbreak of the war in 1941, the collection numbered twenty-five thou- sand volumes, then probably the biggest library collection in the country outside Manila. The war years unfortunately caused a tremendous setback in the growth of Silli- man University library. Its collection was almost completely destroyed. In 1945 the library was re-established. From the ruins of the prewar collection some five thou- sand volumes-badly tattered, mutilated, and out of date-were salvaged. These formed the nucleus of a new collection. In the ensuing years, the library slowly but steadily grew. Now the collection in- cludes more than eighty-five thousand volumes. This steady growth has been made possible through donations by friends and sympathizers of Silliman at home and abroad. Not to be overlooked, of course, is the annual book budget, however limited it is. For the current aca- 1 David S. Hibbard, The First Quarter: A Brief His- to'!'Y of SiUiman Institute During the First Twenty- Fwe Years of Its Existence (Manila: Philippine Edu- cation Co., Inc., 1926), p.23. BY GORGONIO D. SIEGA Mr. Siega is University Librarian, Silli- man University. demic year Silliman University has set aside P17,000 for the acquisition of cur- rent books and periodicals. Among the donors of books and peri- odicals to Silliman have been the univer- sities of California and Chicago, and Co- lumbia, Western Reserve, Purdue and Stanford universities. Other agencies, like the United States Book Exchange, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Reader's Service at Stony Point, New York, also have generously contributed to the growth of the collection. Financial grants have been received from the Henry Luce Foun- dation, Rockefeller Foundation, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, and from Francis C. Frary and other personal friends of Silliman Uni- versity. According to a study of university li- braries in the Philippines conducted by the writer, based on the official report of the Bureau of Private Schools, the com- bined library holdings of the twenty-three universities, public and private, for the school year 1958-59, totaled 879,598 vol- umes.2 Silliman University has the third largest collection in the Philippines and · ranked first in the number of books per student. While the national average was twelve books per student, Silliman had approximately thirty books per student. The library collection, however, falls short of American standards. In fact, no 2 Gorgonio D. Siega, "Libraries of Philippine Uni- versities," Philippine Journal of Education, XXXIX (June 1960), 12. 292 COLLEG~ AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES single university in the Philippines today meets the minimum standards set by the ALA for college libraries, much less for university libraries. With present enroll- ment at Silliman it ought to have at least one hundred seventy thousand volumes of carefully selected books if it is to serve the university effectively. The Fenn sm;- vey team says: The book collection is most imp,ressive to one who is familiar with other university li- braries in the Philippines. It is excelled in size and quality only by that of the Univer- sity of the Philippines. However, its excel- lence is relative, and there are many weak- nesses. Too few of the books are on the American Library Association's list of books essential to a college library. For a univer- sity library, the percentage would be still lower.a The system of libraries at Silliman Uni- versity consists of the university library and branch libraries in the colleges of engineering, law, nursing, and theology. Branch libraries are also maintained in the high school and elementary school. It operates on a so-called coordinated decentralized system. Each branch li- brary except the elementary school li- brary is managed by a full-time librarian. The university library is open thirteen hours daily except on Sunday. Statistics show that .over one thousand books are circulated daily. Within the limits of its resources the Silliman University library actively supports the instructional and research needs of the university. In addi- tion, it also serves the community. On a number of occasions it has served as a center for visiting researchers in the neighboring towns and provinces; it ex- tends its facilities to the teachers and offi- cials of the Bureau of Public Schools, particularly when seminars and work- shops are held in Dumaguete City. This public service is unavoidable, for the Sil- liman University library seems to be the 8 William P. Fenn, A Survey of SiUiman University (New York: Board of Foreign Missions of the Pres- byterian Church in the United States of America, 1956)' p.51. JULY 1964 only library in the region whose collec- tion is reasonably adequate. If the Silliman University library en- joys today an enviable reputation among the libraries in the Philippines it is not because of the thousands of volumes it has on its shelves. Rather, it is in the quality of service it renders. Among Phil- ippines libraries, it has pioneered in the "open shelf" system and it has done so successfully. Quoting the Fenn survey again: The library impresses us as one of the most efficient and progressive units on the cam- pus. There is evidence of a clear under- standing of the place of books in education and an indefatigable determination to make the most of limited resources. Books that are worth cataloging_.:._and they are not in- considerable-have been cataloged. More important, they are made available through the open-stack system. We are inclined to accept the opinion that it is the best work- ing library in the Philippines. 4 Indeed, concerted efforts among the li- brary staff and faculty members are ex- erted to promote the love for books and to develop lasting habits of reading. An- nouncements of latest book acquisitions are brought to the attention of the faculty and staff through the Weekly Calendar, and book displays are regularly prepared. Periodicals (more than eight hundred different titles are received currently) are also available on open shelves and stu- dents are free to browse among them at any time the library is open. As Silliman University library con- tinues to grow, and grow it must, it is fraught with many problems. One very pressing problem is the fact that the li- brary collection has outgrown the size of Hibbard Hall where it is presently housed. The stacks are congested; so are the reading rooms. The university ad- ministration is raising funds for the con- struction of a library annex and to re- model Hibbard Hall to conform to the design of modern library buildings. It 'Ibid., p.52. 293 recognizes the fact that the library must be more than just a place to store books; it must also be an excellent place for study, an attractive place to browse. The reading rooms must have more comfort- able seats and tables, inviting in decor and attractive in furnishings. Private stu- dent carrels and faculty studies are pro- vided to serve those students and faculty members who need some element of pri- vacy for concentration and study. The library collection needs to be strengthened not only in printed materials but also in such media as microfilms, microcards, and other audio-visual mate- rials related to the academic program and the researches that are done in Silliman University. The administration also hopes to make the library services even more effective with the use of modern library equipment such as book charging ma- chines. More of the time of the profes- sional staff must be devoted to reader WORKING CONDITIONS (Continued from page 262) ures do not include the extra hours one room is open for study only. Low Median High Average School Year Vacation Periods 62.5 85 101 84.5 15 40 64 39.4 In requesting information about fac- ulty rank or status, no attempt was made to distinguish between the two or to in- quire about details of faculty titles. It was found that twenty-five institutions give faculty rank or status to all librarians, twelve give it only to the head librarian, nine give it to specific staff members (usually department heads and higher) , and three do not give it to any staff mem- ber. In the question about sabbatical leave, some answers implied that it was auto- guidance, the preparation of bibliogra- phies, and the indexing and abstracting of articles and books that have research and professional value. Ultimately, the Silliman University library hopes to be- come the bibliographical center in the Visayas. With a vitalized educational program at Silliman University and its dedication to the pursuit of excellence in education, new challenges and opportunities for greater library services present them- selves. These challenges can be met with quality library facilities, quality library collections, and quality staff members. "This triad is indivisible for one cannot exist without the others, and each needs to be excellent in itself if educational ob- jectives are to be realized." 5 •• 5 Flora Belle Ludington, "Books and Libraries : Tools of the Academic World," in Of, By, and For Librarians, comp. by John David Marshall (Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1960), p.106. matic for certain or all library staff mem- bers, while some answers indicated that library staff members could apply for sab- batical leave. A summary showed that thirteen institutions give sabbatical leave to all librarians; eight give it to the head librarian only; two give it to the head li- brarian, assistant librarian, and depart- ment head; and twenty-six have no · defi- nite policy or did not answer the question. Most of the questionnaires had an an- swer about the type of sabbatical leave in effect at the institution. The most-used plan is full pay for one semester or half pay for two semesters. Some institutions have variations, such as one semester with full pay or one year with half pay. Those institutions on the quarter system usually give one quarter with full pay, two quar- ters with two-thirds pay, and three quar- ters with half pay. In a few cases, leave was granted without pay. •• 294 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES :