TOWARD A NEW LIBRARY BUILDING

Wilson Hall, whose dull romanesque walls more or less shelter the college library, was occupied in 1885. It was built to house not only the library, but the administrative offices and the art gallery, and apparently a student body of over 500 was not considered. The resulting conditions may easily be imagined. The reading room has absorbed the art gallery, despite its poor light and worse ventilation, and is still too small. Each year's addition of books now requires either the construction of inflammable pine shelving in awkward corners, or the storage of older books, or both. Not to dwell on these and other difficulties, suffice it to say that the Trustees, being aware of them, appointed a sub-committee on plans for a new library building. This committee chose from the college officers an advisory council consisting of the Librarian, the Business Manager, and Professors C. D. Adams, E. J. Bartlett, Emery, Foster, Poor, Updyke, and Young.

It appeared that it was the duty of this council to discover what sort of library building the faculty desired; to decide what general type was best suited to Dartmouth; to settle that certain not uncommon features of such buildings were eminently undesirable; in general, to codify the requirements of the college as to its library. A preliminary report prepared by this Council was submitted to the Trustees at the October meeting. It has seemed probable that an abstract of this report, with explanatory comment, would be of general interest. It may be as well to state that the following is the Librarian's personal interpretation of the report.

To begin with, the Council decided that the library might be headed off from the road to infinity. It was keenly realized that the building must be capable of easy enlargement. But the opinion prevailed that the library of Dartmouth College need not plan to become one of the great research centers, where everything published should be acquired and kept forever. The ideal for Dartmouth seems to be a collection and a building adequate to the needs of work actually being done. Books superseded or more appropriate elsewhere might wisely be disposed of.

The Council took a definite stand in favor of the centralization of the book collections of the college. In practice, this would mean that no more department libraries than now exist would be permitted. Those now existing are chiefly scientific, intensely specialized, necessary laboratory adjuncts, and not greatly missed from the general library. But to remove, for instance, the material on economics, with its myriad interrelations with history, sociology, and literature, to another building, would be disastrous.

On the allied questions of seminar rooms and faculty offices the decisions were in line with the apparent trend of the college toward specialization in instruction rather than in research. The departmental suites— office, conference room, book room—in vogue in some big university plants, seem out of place in a library for Dartmouth College. A room for each department likely to need it—call it seminar room, conference room, or what you will-somewhere not too far from the stack, will surely be provided. Beyond this the Council was not willing to go.

Assuming that every dollar available for a library building ought to be used for library purposes the Council was agreed that faculty offices, class rooms, museums, and art galleries should not be provided for. This decision, however, need not be interpreted as shutting the door against the use of a little appropriate space for the exhibition of some of the college's historic records and relics. And it was admitted that one small lecture room, in a remote corner, would be very useful for the occasional lectures requiring the handling of many books or documents.

Most of the non-laboratory courses require of students a lot of collateral reading, which has to be done in the library. The Council was certain that the use of this instructional method would continue and increase. To handle properly this part of the use of the library some special provision in the planning of reading rooms will be necessary. Students create more or less disturbance, or better, perhaps, atmosphere of unrest, when using the books reserved for collateral reading. They rush in, acquire a book, bolt a few pages, and hustle out, giving the room in which they read more resemblance to a cafeteria than to a library. It would seem best to segregate this variety of reading and provide for the protection of the books used. The cafeteria apparently finds that its "honor system" is rarely violated; the library cannot say as much for the use of its "reserved" books.

The council was certain also that the encouragement of recreational reading is a library duty. Translated into terms of building plans, this principle means a room for this sort of reading, a room with the comfort and the atmosphere of a club reading room-though whether this atmosphere necessarily implies tobacco smoke the Council did not venture to decide. This room should be obvious from the main entrance, should look inviting, and should contain inviting books, magazines, and papers.

Somewhat along the same line, the Council recorded its belief that administrative efficiency might wisely, at least to some appreciable extent, be sacrificed to secure the psychological effect of appropriate environment. This would mean, for instance, that the huge open spaces, so common in modern libraries because cheap to build and easy to administer, might well be cut up by enough alcoves or partitions to give some suggestion of privacy and of the old time scholar's library.

Having laid down these general principles the report proceeds to detail the functions of a library planned in accordance therewith, and to suggest the broad outlines of the necessary construction. Most of this is of interest only to the Librarian and the architect. The more important of these items may be briefly listed.

A. Storage; involving a stack which can be enlarged, a number of rooms for the storage and use of special collections, and generous shelf space in the reading rooms.

B. Preservation; implying fireproof construction, a storage vault, and up-to-date cleaning and ventilating.

C. Use. Under this head the report specifies the usual requirements for card catalog and delivery space; and lists the different sorts of reading and study that should be provided for, including work in the book-stack, seminar and conference work, debaters' conferences, typewriter notetaking.

D. Administration; implying proper provision of space for the routine of staff work, and due attention to supervision, quick delivery, and quiet.

It follows to determine the amount of floor space required for the adequate performance of each of these many functions, and then to arrange the units of construction so determined into a set of floor plans. This matter of arrangement is really the crux of the whole undertaking. Theoretically, all the chief units of the plan, stack, reading rooms, administrative rooms, must be grouped about one point in a single plane. Practically this is impossible, hence shifting and compromise. These matters the Council has not yet discussed, since it became obvious that such discussion would be rather futile without professional architectural help. Accordingly the Trustees, on receiving the report, voted an appropriation therefor, as recorded on another page.

The Librarian meanwhile has made preliminary estimates of the floor space required in order to have some basis for discussion. From these it would appear that a fireproof building embodying the desired features, built for use rather than show, would cost from $350,000 to $450,000. And it now seems probable that a library built at the minimum figure would have to be very carefully, and perhaps a little awkwardly, planned so that every vital part could be enlarged.

The Council discussed also the problem of a site; a matter involving many difficulties, most of which are entirely outside its province. Viewing the possibilities of the college property, the Council sought to decide where the library ought to go in order to be most useful and most accessible. To quote from the report:—

"The college library is in regular use by a large part of the college community. It is the constant effort of the faculty to increase its use by students. Upon such use depends the proper performance of much of the instructional work of the college. Research work by members of the faculty is in many lines dependent upon constant recourse to the library. These being the conditions, it is of vital importance to the efficiency; of college instruction and research that the library building be in a central and commanding position. If it is even slightly removed from the center of college activities there will be waste of time, and excuse for non-use. There is no indication that the north end of the campus will cease to be the active center of the college. Therefore the college library should be there located." This, of course, means the block containing Webster, Butterfield, and the College Church; but exactly where in that block remains to be settled.

Probably none of those most interested have quite the same mental pic- ture of this future library. But to some, at least, comes a similar visiona long, low, and simple fagade, the restrained, delicate, and subtly adapted result of a loving study of Old Dartmouth, standing half-revealed at the north end of the campus. Within there will be no rotunda and no grand staircase. The alcoved reading rooms will open out on either hand, quick to reach, inviting in comfort and in atmosphere, yet somewhat stately—rooms memororable to their users in after years. Thus the vision—Prosit!

Nathaniel L. Goodrich, Librarian of the College