College and Research Libraries B y J O H N S . D A V I D S O N The Use of Books in a College Library Mr. Davidson is librarian of the Muhlen- berg College Library, Allentown, Pa. CO M P R E H E N S I V E S T U D I E S h a v e b e e n m a d e o f t h e r e a d i n g h a b i t s o f c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s . H o w e v e r , n o s t u d y o f t h e u s e o f b o o k s , i.e., w h a t h a p p e n s t o b o o k s o n c e t h e y a r e p l a c e d o n c o l l e g e l i b r a r y s h e l v e s , h a s b e e n m a d e a v a i l a b l e . S u c h a s t u d y , i n a l i m i t e d w a y , w a s u n d e r t a k e n a t t h e M u h l e n b e r g C o l l e g e L i b r a r y , A l l e n t o w n , P a . A w a r e o f l o w b o o k c i r c u l a t i o n , t h e l i b r a r i a n w a s i m p e l l e d t o i n q u i r e i f t h e c a u s e m i g h t n o t l i e p a r t l y i n t h e b o o k s t h e m s e l v e s . R e s u l t s o f t h e s t u d y w e r e m o s t r e v e a l i n g a n d t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t a t l e a s t s h o u l d d e t e r m i n e t h e f u t u r e l i b r a r y p o l i c y i n r e g a r d t o a c q u i s i t i o n s . T h e f o l l o w i n g f a c t s a r e o f i n t e r e s t a s b a c k g r o u n d f o r e v a l u a t i n g t h e s t u d y . M u h l e n b e r g C o l l e g e i s a L u t h e r a n c h u r c h - r e l a t e d i n s t i t u t i o n f o r m e n . T h e e n r o l m e n t a v e r a g e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y 5 4 0 r e g u l a r s t u d e n t s a y e a r o v e r t h e p e r i o d i n c l u d e d i n t h e s t u d y . T h e r e w e r e , h o w - e v e r , a p p r o x i m a t e l y 7 0 0 a c t i v e l i b r a r y b o r - r o w e r s . T h e a p p r o x i m a t e n u m b e r o f b o o k s i n t h e l i b r a r y w a s 6 0 , 0 0 0 , a n d t h e s t a c k s w e r e o p e n t o s t u d e n t s a n d o t h e r s a l i k e . Scope and Procedure T h e s t u d y w a s u n d e r t a k e n i n S e p t e m - b e r 1 9 4 2 a n d w a s c o n f i n e d t o t h e 2 1 4 2 b o o k s a d d e d t o t h e m a i n b o o k c o l l e c t i o n d u r i n g t h e t w e l v e m o n t h s f r o m S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 0 , t o S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 1 . B o o k s a d d e d t o t h e r e f e r e n c e c o l l e c t i o n a n d t o o t h e r n o n - c i r c u l a t i n g c o l l e c t i o n s w e r e e x c l u d e d . T h e p e r i o d c h o s e n m e a n t t h a t a l l o f t h e b o o k s i n c l u d e d i n t h e s t u d y h a d b e e n o n t h e s h e l v e s f r o m o n e t o t w o y e a r s . C i r - c u l a t i o n c o u n t w a s n o t c o n f i n e d t o t h e 1 9 4 0 - 4 1 p e r i o d b u t i n c l u d e d c i r c u l a t i o n f r o m S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 0 , t o S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 2 , t h u s t a k i n g i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n n o t o n l y t h e i m - m e d i a t e r e a c t i o n t o a n e w a c q u i s i t i o n b u t a l s o w h a t u s e h a d b e e n m a d e o f i t o v e r a l o n g e r p e r i o d o f t i m e . T h e c o u n t i n c l u d e d h o m e u s e a n d l i b r a r y u s e e x c l u s i v e o f r e s e r v e s h e l f u s e , e x c e p t t h a t o n e c o u n t w a s g i v e n f o r e a c h t i m e a b o o k w a s p l a c e d o n t h e r e s e r v e s h e l v e s . T h i s w a s f e l t t o b e f a i r , a s n o r - m a l c i r c u l a t i o n w a s l i m i t e d t o s o m e e x t e n t b y t h e r e m o v a l o f b o o k s f r o m t h e s t a c k s f o r r e s e r v e b o o k u s e s . A l t h o u g h t h e l i - b r a r y e n c o u r a g e s b o r r o w e r s t o f i n d t h e i r o w n b o o k s i n t h e s t a c k s , r e l a t i v e l y l i t t l e u s e o f b o o k s i s m a d e i n t h e s t a c k s t h e m - s e l v e s . A l l b o o k s m u s t b e s i g n e d f o r a t t h e m a i n c i r c u l a t i o n d e s k w h e t h e r t h e y a r e t o b e t a k e n f r o m t h e l i b r a r y o r u s e d i n i t . T h e r e f o r e t h e c i r c u l a t i o n f i g u r e s g i v e n a r e r e a s o n a b l y c o r r e c t f o r t h e t o t a l u s e m a d e o f t h e l i b r a r y h o l d i n g s , e x c l u s i v e o f r e f e r e n c e b o o k s , b o o k s f r o m s p e c i a l c o l - l e c t i o n s , a n d r e s e r v e b o o k s a f t e r t h e y w e r e 294 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES p l a c e d o n t h e r e s e r v e s h e l v e s . T h e p r o c e d u r e w a s r e l a t i v e l y s i m p l e . M o n t h l y m i m e o g r a p h e d l i s t s o f n e w a c - q u i s i t i o n s a r e i s s u e d b y t h e l i b r a r y , a n d t h e s e s e r v e d a s a c h e c k l i s t . T h e a c t u a l w o r k w a s d o n e i n t h e s t a c k s , a n d e a c h b o o k a p p e a r i n g o n t h e m o n t h l y l i s t s w a s e x a m i n e d f o r t h e i n f o r m a t i o n s o u g h t . T h e i n f o r m a t i o n o b t a i n e d c o n s i s t e d o f t h e n u m b e r o f g i f t b o o k s a n d t h e n u m b e r o f p u r c h a s e d b o o k s , t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f b o o k s c i r c u l a t e d , t h e t o t a l c i r c u l a t i o n o f e a c h b o o k , a n d t h e n u m b e r o f r e n e w a l s i n c l u d e d i n t h e t o t a l c i r c u l a t i o n . I n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e l i b r a r y b o o k p l a t e s r e v e a l e d t h e n u m b e r o f g i f t b o o k s a n d p u r c h a s e d b o o k s . T h e b o o k c a r d s s h o w e d t h e n u m b e r o f b o o k s c i r c u l a t e d a n d t h e t o t a l c i r c u l a t i o n o f e a c h b o o k , w i t h e a c h s i g n a t u r e c o u n t e d a s a c i r c u l a t i o n . T h e b o o k c a r d s a l s o i n d i c a t e d w h i c h b o o k s h a d b e e n p l a c e d o n t h e r e s e r v e s h e l v e s , a n d o n e c i r c u l a t i o n c o u n t w a s r e c o r d e d f o r e a c h t i m e a b o o k w a s s o p l a c e d . R e n e w a l s w e r e i n d i c a t e d o n t h e b o o k c a r d s b y t h e w o r d " r e n e w a l " i n s t e a d o f r e p e a t i n g t h e b o r r o w e r ' s n a m e . I n f o r m a t i o n w a s r e - c o r d e d d i r e c t l y o n t h e t w e l v e m o n t h l y l i s t s , a l o n g s i d e t h e c a l l n u m b e r s o f t h e b o o k s . I n t h i s w a y a c t u a l t i t l e s w e r e s t u d i e d a s w e l l a s t h e b r o a d e r c l a s s i f i c a - t i o n s . Findings O f t h e 2 1 4 2 b o o k s a d d e d t o t h e m a i n c o l l e c t i o n f r o m S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 0 , t o S e p t . I , 1 9 4 1 , 1 1 w e r e n o l o n g e r o n t h e s h e l v e s b y S e p t e m b e r 1 9 4 2 , t h e t i m e o f t h e s t u d y . T h e r e f o r e , s i n c e i n f o r m a t i o n f o r o n l y 2 1 3 1 b o o k s w a s a v a i l a b l e , t h i s n u m b e r w a s u s e d a s t h e b a s i c n u m b e r i n d e t e r m i n i n g a v e r - a g e s . ( S e e T a b l e I . ) O f t h e 2 1 3 1 b o o k s e x a m i n e d , 9 6 5 , o r 4 5 . 3 p e r c e n t , c i r c u l a t e d f r o m S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 0 , t o S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 2 . I n v e r s e l y , 1 1 6 6 , o r 5 4 . 7 p e r c e n t , s h o w e d n o e v i d e n c e o f u s e w h a t s o e v e r . T h e t o t a l c i r c u l a t i o n c o u n t n a t u r a l l y w a s d e r i v e d f r o m t h e n u m b e r o f b o o k s c i r c u l a t e d , i.e., 9 6 5 . T h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f c i r c u l a t i o n s f o r t h e s e b o o k s w a s 3 8 8 3 . I n c i d e n t a l l y , t h e g r e a t e s t n u m - b e r o f c i r c u l a t i o n s f o r a s i n g l e b o o k , 4 6 , was for For Whom the Bell Tolls. O f t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f c i r c u l a t i o n s , T A B L E I C I R C U L A T I O N OF 1 9 4 0 - 4 1 A C Q U I S I T I O N S N u m b e r o f N u m b e r o f t i t l e s P e r c e n t N u m b e r o f P e r c e n t C l a s s t i t l e s c i r c u l a t e d c i r c u l a t e d c i r c u l a t i o n s c i r c u l a t i c G e n e r a l w o r k s 1 7 6 3 5 - 3 1 3 • 3 P h i l o s o p h y 6 1 4 0 6 5 . 6 1 7 9 4 . 6 R e l i g i o n 2 1 4 8 0 3 7 4 2 2 7 5 - 8 S o c i a l s c i e n c e s 3 0 2 1 1 6 3 8 . 4 2 9 2 7 - 5 P h i l o l o g y 6 3 1 5 2 3 . 8 3 4 • 9 S c i e n c e 2 2 0 1 3 5 6 0 . 3 4 4 6 1 1 - 5 U s e f u l a r t s 1 3 6 5 2 3 8 . 2 1 8 5 4 - 8 F i n e a r t s 7 7 4 6 5 9 - 7 1 6 4 4 . 2 L i t e r a t u r e 4 7 9 1 8 2 3 8 . 4 5 4 9 1 4 . 1 H i s t o r y 3 9 7 1 5 5 3 8 . 9 4 4 6 1 1 - 5 F i c t i o n 1 6 5 1 3 8 8 3 . 6 1 3 4 8 3 4 - 7 T o t a l s 2 1 3 1 9 6 5 3 8 8 3 SEPTEMBER, 1943 2 77 415> or 10.7 per cent, were renewals. These figures have little significance by themselves, however, and for this reason a breakdown by classes is not included here. It may be of interest that the highest percentage of renewals was in philology (20.5 per cent) and the lowest in general works ( n o n e ) . Gift Books T a b l e I I shows that it is obvious that g i f t books in no w a y measured up indication to the librarian of the unusual importance of fiction in the total circula- tion of books. T h e following facts are of significance: O n l y 7.8 per cent of the books included in the study were classified as fiction. Y e t 83.6 per cent of this fiction circulated, and 34.7 per cent of the total circulation was fiction. T h e M u h l e n b e r g library has no fiction in the 813 and 823 classifications; however, all other fiction, including that in English translation, is classified with T A B L E I I CIRCULATION OF 1 9 4 0 - 4 1 G I F T BOOKS Number of Number of titles Per cent Number of Per cent Class titles circulated circulated circulations circulatk General works 8 1 1 2 . 5 2 .2 Philosophy 2 4 1 0 4 1 . 7 60 6.0 Religion 1 2 6 28 2 2 . 2 5i 5-1 Social sciences 1 8 2 45 2 4 . 7 9 2 9.5 Philology 47 2 4-3 3 •3 Science 93 39 4 1 . 9 1 1 9 12.0 Useful arts 87 17 1 9 . 5 27 2.7 Fine arts 3i 1 6 5 1 . 6 48 4-8 Literature 1 8 6 36 1 9 . 4 87 9.0 History 1 2 0 39 32.5 75 7-5 Fiction 9i 68 74-7 432 434 Totals 995 3 0 1 9 9 6 in use to all books considered together. Nine hundred and ninety-five g i f t books constituted 46.7 per cent of all the books studied, yet they accounted for only 31.2 per cent of the books circulated and only 25.6 per cent of the total circulation. T h e percentage of renewals was almost identical with the percentage of renewals of all books studied—10.4 per cent for g i f t books and 10.7 per cent for the entire group. Fiction T h e findings of the study were the first 296 literature in the 833, 843, 853, 863, and other fiction classifications. A truer pic- ture of fiction circulation, then, and one that would increase the percentage of fic- tion circulation considerably, could be ob- tained by transferring the fiction sections of the literature classification to the fiction classification. Conclusions T h e fact that over 54 per cent of the books placed in the main book collection from one to t w o years before the study was made had failed to circulate at all COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES a p p e a r s t o t h e l i b r a r i a n t o i n d i c a t e s o m e - t h i n g a m i s s i n t h e s e l e c t i o n o f b o o k s q u i t e a s m u c h a s i n t h e r e a d i n g h a b i t s o f b o r - r o w e r s . W i t h o u t a v a i l a b l e f i g u r e s f o r c o m p a r i s o n , h o w e v e r , i t m i g h t b e w r o n g t o u n d e r t a k e t o o d r a s t i c a c u r t a i l m e n t o f a c q u i s i t i o n s o r t o o g r e a t a c h a n g e i n t h e t y p e s o f b o o k s a d d e d . I t w o u l d b e p r o f i t - a b l e t o r e p e a t t h e s t u d y i n p e r h a p s f i v e y e a r s , w i t h t h e s a m e b o o k s u s e d . I n t h i s w a y , b o o k s t h a t h a d c o n t i n u e d t o c i r c u - l a t e o v e r t h i s l o n g e r p e r i o d w o u l d s e r v e t o i n d i c a t e w h a t t y p e s o f a c q u i s i t i o n s w e r e r e l a t i v e l y p e r m a n e n t i n t h e i r v a l u e , a n d f u t u r e a c q u i s i t i o n i n g c o u l d b e i n f l u e n c e d b y t h e s e t y p e s . I t m i g h t a l s o b e p r o f i t a b l e t o u n d e r t a k e a s i m i l a r s t u d y c o v e r i n g a d i f f e r e n t g r o u p o f a c q u i s i t i o n s . I n v i e w o f t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f b o o k s i n t h e l i b r a r y a n d t h e t o t a l c i r c u l a t i o n o f b o o k s , t h o s e b o o k s a n d c i r c u l a t i o n s i n - c l u d e d i n t h e s t u d y r e v e a l o t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g f a c t s . F r o m S e p t . i , 1 9 4 0 , t o S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 2 , t h e 6 0 , 0 0 0 b o o k s i n t h e l i b r a r y c i r c u l a t e d 1 8 , 0 5 6 t i m e s . D u r i n g t h e s a m e p e r i o d , 2 1 3 1 o f t h e s e b o o k s c i r c u - l a t e d 3 8 8 3 t i m e s . T h e r e f o r e 5 7 , 8 6 9 b o o k s c i r c u l a t e d o n l y 1 4 , 1 7 3 t i m e s , o r . 2 o f a c i r c u l a t i o n p e r b o o k . T h i s c o m p a r e s m o s t u n f a v o r a b l y w i t h t h e 1 . 8 c i r c u l a t i o n s p e r b o o k w i t h i n t h e g r o u p s t u d i e d ( t h a t i s , t h e f a i r l y r e c e n t a c q u i s i t i o n s ) a n d g i v e s s o m e i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e d i m i n i s h i n g c i r c u - l a t i o n o f o l d e r b o o k s . I t i s d i s m a y i n g t o n o t e t h e d e a d w o o d o n t h e s h e l v e s . T h e o n l y c o m p a r i s o n s p o s s i b l e w i t h i n t h e s t u d y i t s e l f w e r e b e t w e e n g i f t b o o k s a n d p u r c h a s e d b o o k s . A s T a b l e I I r e - v e a l s , g i f t b o o k s a s a g r o u p w e r e m u c h l e s s u s e d t h a n a l l t h e b o o k s c o n s i d e r e d t o g e t h e r . T o e m p h a s i z e t h i s d i f f e r e n c e , p u r c h a s e d b o o k s c o n s t i t u t e d 5 3 . 3 p e r c e n t o f a l l t h e b o o k s s t u d i e d , 6 8 . 8 p e r c e n t o f a l l t h e b o o k s c i r c u l a t e d , a n d 7 4 . 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l c i r c u l a t i o n s . F u r t h e r m o r e , w h i l e t h e r e w e r e 1 . 8 c i r c u l a t i o n s p e r b o o k f o r a l l b o o k s s t u d i e d , t h e r e w a s o n e c i r - c u l a t i o n p e r b o o k f o r g i f t b o o k s . H e r e , i t s e e m s , i s a m p l e p r o o f t h a t t h e b o o k s t h e m s e l v e s a r e a d e t e r m i n i n g f a c t o r i n c i r - c u l a t i o n . I t w o u l d a p p e a r , t h e n , t h a t a r e d u c t i o n i n t h e n u m b e r o f g i f t b o o k s a c c e s s i o n e d i s i n o r d e r , t h i s r e d u c t i o n t o b e r e l a t e d t o t h e f i g u r e s i n T a b l e I I f o r t h e u s e o f g i f t b o o k s i n e a c h c l a s s . T h e t y p e a n d q u a l i t y o f g i f t b o o k s v a r y c o n s i d e r a b l y f r o m y e a r t o y e a r , o f c o u r s e . F r o m S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 0 , t o S e p t . 1 , 1 9 4 1 , t h e M u h l e n b e r g l i b r a r y r e c e i v e d 1 4 9 7 b o o k s a s g i f t s a n d a d d e d 9 9 5 , o r 6 6 . 4 p e r c e n t , o f t h e s e t o i t s c o l l e c t i o n . I n i t s b r o a d e r a s p e c t s , t h e s t u d y s e e m s t o r e - e m p h a s i z e t h e n e e d f o r t h e a c c e p t a n c e a n d m a i n t e n a n c e o f a d e f i n i t e p o l i c y f o r t h e a c q u i s i t i o n i n g o f b o o k s i n a c o l l e g e l i b r a r y w h i c h i s b a s e d o n o t h e r f a c t o r s t h a n g i f t s , i n d i v i d u a l r e q u e s t s , s i z e o f d e p a r t m e n t s , a n d s i m i l a r d e v i c e s n o w i n u s e . W h e t h e r g e n e r a l p r i n c i p l e s c a n b e w o r k e d o u t f o r a l l l i b r a r i e s o f a s i m i l a r t y p e o r w h e t h e r e a c h m u s t w o r k o u t i t s o w n p o l i c y i s a m a t t e r f o r f u r t h e r c o n - s i d e r a t i o n . SEPTEMBER, 1943 2 77