The College and University Library (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from The College and University Library The first business of a college library is to serve its immediate and definite constituency, the faculty and students of the college of which it is a part. There are remoter constituencies which properly may be served whenever it can be done without prejudice to those having first claim (A.L.A. Bulletin, 4:762-69). These are the alumni; scholars everywhere (either by direct use or through interlibrary loans); a resident public (sometimes, in university towns); affiliated schools; other libraries. College libraries are usually free to all comers for reference use and allow a limited circulation, chiefly (sometimes only) among officers and students of the college. The librarians of most college libraries would confess to a willingness to be of the utmost general service to all, consistent with full justice to the college community, yet despite this cordial attitude they are naturally not widely used beyond their own special clientele. The foregoing formal statements give no full sense of the spirit and ways in which the modern college library serves its students - ways unknown a generation ago. Free and full access to the books is the keynote and chiefest of these services. Enticing lists of vacation reading are common, while increasingly liberal borrowing privileges give to students all the advantages and range of a public library. And all these services are in addition to the library's work in connection with the regular courses of instruction. The University (as Distinct from the College) Library Strict, ideal terminology assigns undergraduate work to a college, professional and graduate work to a university. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.