College and Research Libraries


By E D W I N T . C O M A N , J R . 

Advancing the University 
Library Frontier 
Edwin T. Coman, Jr., is librarian, Grad-
uate School of Business Library, Stanford 
University, California. 

TH E L I B R A R I A N O W E S a responsibility to the faculty, students, alumni, and to 
his library to make it a useful and strong 
institution through close cooperation with 
groups within and without the university 
and adequate publicity regarding library 
resources and activities. As a librarian 
dealing with graduates of a considerable 
number of universities and colleges, I am 
continually surprised at the inability of 
students to use the library effectively and 
their undeveloped appreciation of the cul-
tural value of books. 

W h i l e it is primarily the faculty's re-
sponsibility to develop reading interests in 
students, nevertheless, librarians should 
share this responsibility. Save in a few 
notable instances, we are failing miserably 
to develop permanent reading interests in 
students. T o o often the attitude is that 
we have a fine collection of books, ade-
quately housed and cataloged, and that it 
is the student's own responsibility to come 
and use it. T h e student of today is the 
alumnus of tomorrow and in these days 
of shrinking endowment income the li-
brary cannot have too many alumni 
friends. If a student in his undergraduate 
days learns to use the library and acquires 
a genuine interest in books, he is apt to 
become an outpost for the library. 

Any program to link the student and 
the alumnus to the library should be care-
fully planned over a long period and 
should be coordinated with the teaching 
departments, the alumni organizations, 
and any special activities of the library. 
T o o often a program is abandoned because 
of lack of general response and support, 
the inability to reach large numbers of 
students, and in some instances, perhaps, 
because the library staff does not want to 
be bothered with the extra work involved. 
M u c h of this discouragement can be 
avoided if a flexible plan is worked out 
with the realization that development will 
take place over a longer period. Judicious 
cooperation with the teaching departments 
and administration will also help to 
smooth the way. T h e librarian should 
be aware of the needs and interests of his 
faculty and in turn keep them informed 
as to additions to the library and of no-
table collections. Very often a member 
of the faculty, through his outside con-
tacts, can be of great assistance in building 
up the library where it is weak. T h i s 
interchange also brings a mutual under-
standing of the activities of both depart-
ments. W h e n P r o f . William Lyon 
Phelps paraded in cap and gown at the 
head of his class to deposit two first edi-
tions of Browning in the Yale University 
Library, the undergraduates were made 
very much aware of the treasures stored in 
that building. T h e active interest of the 

SEPT EMBER, 1941 337 



faculty also can be of the greatest as-
sistance in focusing student interest in the 
library. 

T h e library's relationships fall naturally 
into three parts—those with the faculty, 
the students, and the alumni. T h e obli-
gations to the faculty and to the students 
should take first place and this includes 
teaching the student how to use the library 
effectively, making him appreciate its re-
sources and possibilities as a direct help to 
him with the task at hand, and attempting 
to arouse his interest in the cultural value 
of books. 

Student Orientation 

T h e average library orientation course 
for freshmen is useless. T h e new student, 
suddenly placed in an unfamiliar environ-
ment, is so confused during his first few 
weeks that he is unable to assimilate most 
of the information put before him. If 
there must be a general orientation course 
it would be better to plan it for a period 
toward the middle of the first semester 
when the freshman has begun to know 
his way around. A much better way is 
to seek the cooperation of the instructors 
in various subject fields so that the library 
and the work in hand may be closely 
related in the mind of the student. T h e 
case method, whereby the student learns 
how to use the library while he is writing 
a report, will bring more appreciation of 
the library to him than a month of lec-
tures. I t also enables the librarian to 
appeal to the students through their specific 
interests. An added advantage is that the 
groups are smaller and the instruction can 
be on a more nearly individual basis. T h e 
plan of conducting classes in the library 
as worked out by B. Lamar Johnson at 
Stephens College seems an admirable one 
where facilities are available and the 

groups involved are not too large. 
F u r t h e r cooperation with other depart-

ments in the compilation of reading lists 
and assistance to students in the prepara-
tion of bibliographies, both as to form and 
content, widen the influence of the library. 
Several of the departments in the physical 
and natural sciences at Stanford Univer-
sity make a strong effort to acquaint their 
students with the reference tools and gen-
eral works in their fields, thereby making 
the students much more effective in their 
use of the library. 

Stimulation of Cultural Reading 

A large proportion of the present gener-
ation of college students has a definite 
lack in its cultural background—there 
is little evidence of contact with books. 
T h i s is understandable because of the ab-
sence of effective libraries in elementary 
and high schools, the absence of public 
libraries in many communities, the lack 
of books in homes, and the general trend 
toward commercialized entertainment. I t 
is the duty of the library at least to expose 
the students to the enjoyment of books. 
A browsing room equipped with challeng-
ing reading matter, tastefully furnished 
with comfortable chairs and ashtrays, is 
good bait to interest students in recrea-
tional reading. Another way of enhanc-
ing the book interest is the small library 
in the living unit. 

T h e r e is too much of a tendency to 
say to the s t u d e n t : " H e r e is a book— 
read it." If the student can be aroused 
to ask for books a long step has been taken 
to interest him in the library. T h e en-
couragement of the building up of a per-
sonal library on the part of the student 
is decidedly worth while and can be done 
through exhibits and the offering of prizes 
for the best student collections. T h e stu-

338 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH ) L I B R A R I E S 



dent book contests at Yale produced some 
astonishingly fine collections of first edi-
tions and fine bindings. T h e students 
who respond are well on the way to be-
coming book collectors and upon gradua-
tion should become key men in the li-
brary's alumni contact. 

T h e library owes an obligation to the 
undergraduate and there is evidence that 
to date it has not discharged it very well. 
Furthermore, this obligation continues, in 
lesser degree, to the alumnus. It is much 
to the advantage of the library for the 
alumni and other individuals to develop 
an awareness of the library, its needs, and 
problems. 

Mix with Alumni Groups 

Librarians tend too much to talk and 
associate with each other. T h i s is all very 
pleasant and stimulating but we need to 
get out of our libraries and tell our stories 
to new groups who little understand the 
functions of either the library or the li-
brarian. A certain amount of judicious 
mixing with alumni groups and business 
men in Rotary, Kiwanis, or other gather-
ings provides an opportunity, particularly 
if the librarian can speak on his favorite 
topics, to promote interest in the library. 

As a part of a plan to f u r t h e r the li-
brary no opportunity to inform the public 
of the library's activities should be neg-
lected. In addition to speeches before 
alumni groups, the more articles in alumni 
and other publications the better. A well 
thought out campaign of feature articles 
of newsworthy value can do much in dis-
pelling ignorance. In connection with 
these articles it is well to note the sug-
gestion of Willis Kerr, librarian of Clare-
mont Colleges Libraries, where he points 
out that it is wise to let people know how 
they can help the library. 

I t is a truism that people can be most 
easily approached through their own in-
terests and enthusiasms. It is a pity that 
librarians do not more fully utilize these 
opportunities. T h e man who is interested 
in some field to the point where he is 
anxious to know more about it can be 
fairly easily induced to transfer this in-
terest into building up the library in his 
field. M a n y business men can be enlisted 
to contribute funds or books or both to 
enable the library to have material dealing 
with his business or industry. Of course, 
if a man is a collector, it is a simple matter 
to gain his interest in library activities and 
he very often arouses an interest in others 
with his enthusiasm. 

T h i s brings us naturally to the Friends 
of the Library organizations. I t seems to 
be generally agreed that such groups 
should be distinct from the library. If 
the librarian has been able to develop any 
bibliographic enthusiasms among the stu-
dents, such individuals should become, on 
graduation, a nucleus around which to 
form Friends of the Library. T h e most 
important ingredient is to have a few 
enthusiastic individuals with sufficient 
background and bibliographical skill to in-
telligently direct the group. T h e success 
of their activities is attested by the sub-
stantial gifts in money, valuable books, 
and manuscripts which they have been 
able to direct to libraries. T h e y form 
excellent outposts for the library and also 
bring to it the very best kind of publicity. 

Gifts and Endowments 

T h e library particularly lends itself to 
gifts both large and small. Even two or 
three dollars buys one book and when 
properly acknowledged and plated with a 
gift plate makes the donor feel that he has 
made a tangible contribution to the li-

SEPT EMBER, 1941 339 



brary. Funds from two thousand dollars, 
set up as an endowment, the income to 
purchase books in a specific field, can be of 
great assistance—providing the field is so 
broadly indicated as to impose no undue 
restrictions on the use of the funds. An-
other phase of the endowment is to utilize 
it as a memorial to an alumnus. T h i s can 
be done by setting aside a memorial book-
shelf for the books purchased with these 
f u n d s ; or better, from a library point of 
view, plating the books with a memorial 
bookplate and shelving them in their 
proper place in the general book collec-
tion. 

T h e problem of building up a sustained 
and tangible interest in the library is not 
an easy one to solve. However, it is 

susceptible to solution if the librarian 
utilizes the same ingenuity as in the ad-
ministration of his library, the selection 
of books, or the planning of a new build-
ing. T h e librarian must come out from 
behind the stacks and bring the library to 
the public, just as the manufacturer in-
troduces a new product to the market. 
T h e campaign should be well integrated 
and tested over a sufficient length of time 
so that the unsuccessful features may be 
discarded and effort be concentrated on 
those that work. M a n y of the sugges-
tions outlined in this paper have been tried 
in the G r a d u a t e School of Business Li-
brary and have been sufficiently successful 
to justify f u r t h e r activities and expansion 
along these lines. 

340 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH ) L I B R A R I E S