THE DARTMOUTH LIBRARY: ITS GROWTH AND NEEDS

None of our institutions here at Dartmouth has had a more interesting history than the College Library. It would be a pleasant task to trace its whole development from its origin in gifts of books to the first President from English and Scotch religious societies. A concise account may be found in the College Catalogue, and for the purpose of the present article it is sufficient to begin with the completion of Wilson Hall in June, 1885.

At this time the Library was estimated to contain 65,280 bound volumes, but there were many duplicates, owing to the consolidation of different collections, and a large number of religious and theological books of merely historical interest. Making all allowances, however, it was, twenty-five years ago, an extensive collection of books for a college library. To quote from the Dartmouth (Vol. VI. p. 99): "Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are the only colleges in America whose libraries contain more books than does ours, and with new books being constantly added to our shelves ... we ought ... to stand ... far above another college with an inferior library."

In order to understand better the present needs of the library, it will be necessary to have a clear idea of the character of the books which made up 'he collection in 1885. Leaving out books at present of no apparent value at all (some duplicates of this class recently disposed of were only saleable because collectors desired the book-plate), the rest may be divided roughly into three classes, I. Books of value on account of their rarity or as affording material for historical, economic or other investigation of earlier conditions. Representing as it did the accumulations of nearly a century and a quarter the Library has at least its fair share of such works. Perhaps the collection of early American newspapers, worth some fifteen thousand dollars, is the best illustration of what is meant. It may be mentioned in passing that the library has only recently been able to commence binding these newspapers and thus preserve them from destruction and make them available for use. 2. Books of general interest, such as travels, biography fiction and poetry, Often by minor authors, and works of a popular, rather than scientific character on a wide range of topics. Works of this kind were in 1885 and still are strongly represented in the Dartmouth Library for the following reason : A considerable part of the whole collection belonged originally to the old student literary societies. When these libraries were consolidated with the College Library it was with the agreement that the College should allow student committees representing these societies to select annually hooks to the value of three hundred and fifty to four hundred dollars. This arrangement was continued till very recently, when the societies vacated their charters, and their existence, which had been only nominal for years, ceased altogether. In former years when the curriculum was narrow and chiefly prescribed, and reading was more general among the students than now, the books thus selected filled a definite educational and cultural demand. The advice of members of the Faculty was sought by the student committees and works of special rather than general interest sometimes bought. 3. Works of special value for the different departments of instruction, such as treatises on the sciences, series of learned periodicals, standard editions of English and foreign" literature of all periods. In works of this nature the Library was relatively weak. Some of the departments then in existence were but poorly provided with books, and the numerous departments added during the past fifteen years, were not, unless by chance, represented at all. It will be seen from the above that in the year 1885 the Dartmouth Library,though large, had in general the character of a public, rather than a college library, adapted to the special needs of various departments of instruction.

From 1885 to 1905 about 48,000 volumes were added, the annual accessions increasing from an average of 1500 volumes in the period 1885-1890 to an average of nearly 3,500 in the period 1900-1905. Of these volumes a considerable number are works of general interest, while the rest constitute the larger part of the working library upon which the teaching force and the students have to depend.

The volumes added to the Library come from three sources, purchase, donation, and binding. The statistics of the five years 1901-1906 show that an average of fifty per cent of the volumes is purchased and thirty-eight per cent, including United States publications, donated. Some institutions, notably Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Bowdoin receive more volumes by gift than they purchase. The remaining twelve per cent of our volumes is the result of binding pamphlets or periodicals, mostly the latter, which, being on the subscription list of the library, belong as far as expense is concerned, with the volumes purchased outright.

For some years the Trustees have appropriated annually the sum of or the library, exclusive of administrative or building expenses. This sum has been expended as follows, according to the total figures available:

Binding $500.00 General periodicals; 230.00 Allotted to departments for books and periodicals 2,125.00 Expended by the Library Committee 745.00 $3,600.00

Besides the sum appropriated by the Trustees there are three funds, the annual incomes from which are devoted to the purchase of books: The Parker Fund of about $275 annually for books in Law and Political Science; the Kenerson Fund of $130 annually, at present being used for forming a special library of standard literature; and the Chamberlain Fund with an income of about $80 for bibliographical works. Some departments, at their discretion, devote laboratory fees, or funds primarily intended for equipment, to books or periodicals, when the need is very great. With this slight exception the regular annual income of the general Library for books and periodicals consists of the Trustee appropriation plus the income of the funds above mentioned, a total sum of $4,085.

The Tuck School library is catalogued in the general catalogue, but kept in the Tuck Building, and has always been financially independent of the general Library. The sum of $3,000 was devoted to equipping it during the first three years of its existence and it now has an income of $500 appropriated by the trustees from the Tuck Fund. The Thayer School library is entirely separate from the general Library, while the Medical School shares like a department of the College in the annual appropriation of the Trustees.

Although the income of the Library had been so increased in the period 1885-1905 that the annual accessions had as shown above considerably more than doubled, and the periodical list had been greatly enlarged, the funds were inadequate to meet the demands which the growth of the College entailed. Under President Tucker several new departments had been added and the scope of the others greatly enlarged. Also, with the development and extension of college education in this country more and more use is made by students here as elsewhere of special department collections of books as well as general works of reference. The library is to some departments what the laboratory is to others, besides being the center of intellectual life for the whole College.

During the last academic year the Library Committee of the Faculty* appointed a sub-committee under the chairmanship of Professor Fay to investigate the needs of the Library and prepare a report to be laid before the Trustees. It is upon this report that the statistical information contained in the present article is based. The report stated the needs of each department in detail and compared the sum expended for books and library administration at Dartmouth with that at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Amherst, and Bowdoin. The average annual expenditure of these institutions for books per student was $10.37, none having so low a figure as Dartmouth, which was only able to spend $4.40 per student. In regard to the relation between total annual running expenses and the sum devoted to books, it appeared that the average of the institutions above named was 3.2 per cent for library administration and 3.1 per cent for books. The figures for Dartmouth were respectively 1.9 per cent and 1. 5 per cent, again the lowest, though Yale was rather a close rival. The report called attention among other things to the fact that an adequate collection of books is even more necessary here than at some other institutions on account of the difficulty of reaching important libraries like those at Harvard, Boston, Providence, and Northampton.

After considering the report the Trustees appropriated the sum of $5,000 to be expended during a period of two years. The Library Committee is using the money for the purchase of sets of periodicals, series of scientific publications, and collections of critical texts, works which the departments tain from their annual appropriations. This will make possible considerable progress in rounding out the working-library of the College, but a larger annual income is urgently needed and will no doubt be forthcoming as soon as funds are available.

Another problem which is demanding solution is that of space, both for storage of books and their convenient use in the library. To relieve the pressure on the present stackroom, the stacks are to be carried up through the room formerly used as a portrait-gallery, but now as a reference room. This will, however, afford relief for only a short time, especially as the stacks must be put farther apart than on the floors below to allow the room to be used at the same time for reference work. The reference rooms are used both for general works and special department collections for reading in connection with numerous courses. The capacity of these rooms is taxed to its Utmost, owing both to the great gain in number of students in College and the relatively larger amount of work performed in the Library. Educationally it is of the highest importance that no check be placed upon the wider development of such work.

A new library building of such size and character as to be sufficient for all demands that can be reasonably foreseen, would, it is estimated, cost about $250,000. A less expensive structure would be only temporary, as the present building has proved to be. The needs of the Library could, however, be very well met by transferring the reference and reading rooms to the present gymnasium building, which, being directly opposite, could be connected by an underground passage if desirable. There would also be ample space for special reference or seminar rooms for the use of the departments, to which books from the present overcrowded stack could be transferred. This plan, which the administration has had in mind for some time, must of course wait for execution until funds can be raised for a new gymnaisum, which has long been needed and could be built for perhaps $50,000. A unique opportunity is thus presented to further the intellectual and physical welfare of the College by a single gift.