Something Borrowed, Something New

Something Borrowed, Something New

CAMPUS

RESCUE SQUAD Instead of being thrown away, unwanted books are offered to other libraries or a business called Better World Books, which collects and sells books “online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide.”

WELL CONNECTED As part of an interlibrary loan partnership called Borrow Direct, Dartmouth and 13 other libraries offer access to more than 60 million volumes. Last year Dartmouth loaned 28,709 books through the program and borrowed 13,306.

JEWEL BOX This glazed “lantern’ of bookstacks at Rauner Special Collections library (pictured) maintains temperature and humidity levels for the sensitive collection, protecting them in a vapor-tight environment while making them more visually accessible.

MIDNIGHT OIL During reading and finals periods, BakerBerry stays open 24 hours a day. Regular hours are 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., although some areas, such as Jones Media Center, close earlier.

CHART TOPPERS The most frequently checked-out book since the College began tracking in 2012 is Paula Hawkins’ Girl on the Train, which has circulated 34 times. The most popular movie rental is Good Will Hunting (1997). The library’s two copies have circulated 728 times.

THE BORROWERS Baker-Berry Library registered more than 1.4 million visits last year. Top months October and April both notched about 173,000 visits.

A GROWING COLLECTION About 25,000 new items are added each year to Dartmouth’s holdings, including books, CDs, DVDs and other items.

RESIDENT EXPERTS Twelve of the College’s 30 subject librarians work in Baker-Berry. Areas of expertise include everything from Hebrew to nursing to Arctic studies.

OUT OF SIGHT The College has an off-site shelving facility where it stores more than 500,000 library books and other items at 56 Etna Road in Lebanon due to space constraints. Gone but not forgotten, they are still available through the online catalog.

FINES AND MISDEMEANORS College libraries combined take in about $40,000 in overdue fees each year. Students cannot graduate without paying fees charged to their accounts. College staffers pay fines directly. Books on reserve can amass particularly heavy fines—a buck an hour—sometimes beginning only two hours after a book is checked out.

FACTS FROM THE STACKS

“There is no friend as loyal as a book,” said Ernest Hemingway. And there are few places better to find those friends than in Dartmouth’s various libraries. Here we take you behind the scenes of all the book keeping. —Gayne Kalustian ’17

Gayne Kalustian ’17