College and Research Libraries


B y W A R R E N L . P E R R Y 

Can the Small College Library 
Afford Rare Books? 
Warren L. Perry is librarian at the Col-
lege of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington. 

IF WE accept the fact that rare books involve us in the problems and expense 
of special preparation, special custody, and 
special use, can the small college library 
afford them? From the point of view of 
the administrator I would like to ask and 
perhaps answer certain inescapable ques-
tions involved in the possession of rare 
books. 

W e hold for our library the following 
as a goal: A l l books and periodicals, docu-
ments, serials or other materials shall be 
of such nature that their presence can be 
justified by their useful relation to our 
curriculum and our cultural purpose. 
Likewise all of our equipment, and all of 
our technical processes must be efficiently 
directed toward the interpretation and 
distribution of our resources to our 
patrons, either students or faculty, so that 
we may be a true service institution. W e 
may miss our goal but we strive for it. 

Should w e then have rare books and 
give the careful and expensive custody due 
them? W h a t rarities have a place in the 
small college library plan? H o w are we 
to obtain them? 

W e are being told today that the 
accumulative stage of library development 
is over and that we have entered on a 
phase of refining and sifting, with an 
emphasis on functioning materials and 

their distribution, and not mere numerical 
growth. T h i s may be quite true of many 
institutions, but most of the small college 
libraries I know in this area, have not yet 
reached the stage where they may become 
more useful by growing smaller. 

W e can, however, profit by determining 
policies of growth here in the f a r west, 
developing wisely so that we need not 
later throw out books and other materials 
which have been expensive to acquire, 
process, and house, and which will also be 
expensive to discard. I know of only one 
librarian who is articulate on the question 
of cost accounting a discard program. H e 
is convinced that it is cheaper to keep a 
book than to "uncatalog" it. 

T h e libraries not now blessed or 
burdened with rare book accumulations, 
or perhaps with only a start on a small 
scale toward treasure rooms, should de-
velop definite conceptions of the ultimate 
desirable content of their collections of 
rarities. If we have a Shaw list of rare 
books for the college library, I have not 
heard of it. I have seen many rare book 
collections and treasure rooms in various 
libraries. W e r e a survey to be made I 
am sure that there would prove to be 
almost no similarity or correlation among 
them. 

T h i s is a typical small college library 
here in the w e s t : It has 30 to 50,000 
volumes; a staff of 1 to 3 trained 
librarians, perhaps 1 clerical assistant 

104 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



working half time, and 1 0 to 1 5 student 
helpers, most of them under National 
Youth Administration appointment. A 
student body 400 to 600 in size and a 
faculty of about 50 are served. T h i s 
library may be housed none too adequately 
in any of the following: an outgrown 
Carnegie building erected in 1 9 0 7 ; tem-
porary quarters in a classroom building; a 
remodeled dormitory, church, gymnasium, 
or powerhouse. I envy a f e w of my 
colleagues who operate in modern library 
buildings but most of them feel that their 
quarters are already too small. In addi-
tion such a library is comparatively young 
in years and supports a liberal arts 
curriculum. 

Two Types of Collections 

College libraries are apt to find them-
selves blessed and burdened with two types 
of collections, rather loosely called "rare 
book collections:" 

1 . Special collections from the subject 
angle. T h e y may without doubt contain 
rarities if at all extensive. Special collec-
tions are of questionable value to the small 
college library. Seldom is the curriculum 
detailed enough to make the possession of 
a special collection very useful. 

2. Memorial collections. Again these 
may contain rarities, but the memorial 
feature comes first. Here again we must 
qualify. N o one doubts the value of the 
Widener memorial at Harvard. Still I 
have heard rumors that the strategic place 
in the building which it occupies might 
better be used for more essential library 
purposes. 

T h e memorial collection is often a white 
elephant and inclines to be a frozen asset 
of books, which is not kept alive and 
growing because of its memorial character. 

I can approach this problem with an 

open mind. I have no rare book collec-
tion now to care for and administer, or to 
justify. It would be wise for my library 
and any other similarly situated institution 
to evolve a rare book policy in advance of 
rare book ownership. W e never know 
when the moment will come and some 
lavish gift will precipitate us into the 
pleasures and trials of rare book custody. 

I have no wish to discount the cultural 
stimulation of rare books, or to speak 
against their presence in college libraries, 
however small. T h e small institution, 
none too well supported by funds, staff 
and equipment, should not, however, un-
thinkingly undertake the custody of any 
and all printed materials, rare or other-
wise. 

Libraries connected with educational in-
stitutions range from the simple elemen-
tary school library, to the university 
library, complex and all-inclusive. Some-
where in between lies the college library. 
It must partake of the qualities of both 
extremes. T h e college librarian must de-
termine his limits and boundaries, aided 
intelligently by some of his faculty and 
hampered exceedingly by the indifference 
or perhaps blind zeal of others. Here 
stated and accepted policies are helpful. 
F o r example, one college library has an 
established policy against acquisition by 
g i f t or purchase of any books, rare or 
otherwise, in languages not taught in the 
college. 

Definitions of Rare Books 

A t this point perhaps I should define a 
rare book. A f e w months ago I so-
licited definitions from a number of my 
colleagues. T h e y contained the follow-
ing, among others: 

I. All books costing over $25- Is it not 

DECEMBER, 1939 105 



a mistake to regard Bossert, Das Orna-
mentwerk as rare and lock it up somewhere? 
Its greatest use lies in the studio of the art 
department, and I know of libraries that 
have cheerfully cut it up into separate pages 
so that more students could use it at once. 
It costs us $ 2 9 . 7 5 ; a lost investment if we 
lock it up, and regard is as a rarity. It is 
in print and readily replaceable. 

2. All books from a certain donor. A n -
other rather superficial definition of a rare 
book, though it no doubt pleases the donor. 
T h i s definition comes from a library which 
apparently has a memorial masquerading as 
a rare book collection. 

3. All books by certain authors, admittedly 
without reference to actual rarity. T h i s 
indicates to me a special subject collection 
hampered as to use by the " r a r e " designation 
if it involves the type of custody deserved by 
actual rarities. 

4. Arbitrary date designations, equally un-
satisfactory. 

I w o u l d seem to be e l i m i n a t i n g the pos-
sibility of r a r e books e n t i r e l y . W e need 
to be s u r e t h a t w e a r e u s i n g o u r o w n 
d e f i n i t i o n s of r a r i t y a n d h a v e not t a k e n 
o v e r t h e p r i v a t e c o l l e c t o r ' s p o i n t of v i e w . 
W e h a v e done so, I t h i n k , if w e find o u r -
s e l v e s t a k i n g c a r e o f : 

First editions for the sake only of their 
primary state 

Fine printing and binding as art objects 
Books of great age for their age alone 
Special collections of books on subjects not 

related to the fields of the curriculum 

(Apropos of the last, an eastern liberal 
arts college library has recently issued a 
short-title catalog running to 1 3 1 pages, list-
ing its special collection on dogs. H o w 
much more useful would have been a library 
handbook! If the college has one, I have not 
seen it.) 

Relics and museum items 

( A western institution of 70,000 volumes 
announced in its last annual report the acqui-
sition of the following: " T w o revolvers and 
a pearl gold-hilted sword . . . taken from 

Confederate prisoners; a cane belonging to 
President Franklin Pierce; and four volumes 
covering the business transactions from 
1 8 1 6 - 1 8 2 7 of the M a d e i r a branch of a N e w 
Y o r k exporting firm.") 

Suggested Content of Rare Book Collec-

tions 

I f w e a r e t o h a v e r a r e book c o l l e c t i o n s , 

a n d M r . P o w e l l 1 t e l l s us h o w t h e y a r e 

to be u s e f u l a n d h e l p f u l , a n d hence j u s t i -

fied, w h a t s h o u l d be t h e i r c o n t e n t ? 

1. A bibliographical museum, selected to 
show by samples, history of books, printing, 
illustration, and binding. It need not be 
large or costly. I am told that such a col-
lection of about 300 volumes could be 
brought together for less than $5,000. 

2. Memorabilia of the institution, a defi-
nite obligation not to be neglected. Such a 
collection should contain: ( 1 ) college publi-
cations, ( 2 ) material about the college, ( 3 ) 
books by members of the faculty, students, 
alumni, etc. 

3. Books really scarce and hard to find, 
which w e all must have and use in the col-
lege field. T h e y are not necessarily expen-
sive but seldom on the market; for example: 

Masson's Life of Milton. One N e w 
Y o r k firm has seven standing orders un-
filled. 

Essays in Critical Realism. 1922. I have 
seen one quotation in twelve years. 

Bent's early volumes on Life Histories 
of American Birds, issued by the U . S . N a -
tional Museum, available free on request 
less than twenty years ago but now exceed-
ingly scarce. 

Ridgway's Color Standards and Color 
Nomenclature. 

If we have such titles we must protect 
them. T h e y will not grow commoner, nor 
are they likely to be reprinted. 

4. Significant and useful reference ma-
terial, perhaps in manuscript, about our own 
regions and their resources as contrasted 
with local history of the genealogical and 
pioneer narrative type, interesting to have 

1 See " T h e Function of Rare B o o k s " in this issue 
PP. 97-103. 

106 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



but not of primary usefulness in a liberal 
arts college library. 

M o s t rare book collections do not f u n c -
tion because they have accumulated w i t h -
out plan as a result of gifts. Is a book 
ever really f r e e ? A r e w e honest if w e 
accept and house gifts that cannot f u n c -
tion in our curriculum, which are costly 
to catalog and to maintain? W e give all 
too little attention to the cost of accepting 
and keeping gifts. 

I come to the same conclusions w h e n -
ever I take up a library question. W e 
w i l l really be money ahead in the long run 
if w e cold-bloodedly buy our rare book 

collections on a well-worked-out plan, to 

provide us w i t h the unusual book mate-

rials w e need to use. I t w i l l perhaps be 

many w e a r y years before w e get a balanced 

useful collection together f r o m gifts, 

and many civil w a r swords and first edi-

tions w i l l be accumulated in the mean-

time. 

I hope that the small college library 

can remain a functioning unit pared down 

to material, use of which justifies its pres-

ence, leaving the activities of the museum, 

the archives, and the all-inclusive research 

library to the institutions whose programs 

j u s t i f y the attendant expense. 

DECEMBER, 1939 107