Yale's libraries grapple with modern challenges

Yale is home to one of the finest and largest collections of books in the world. However, despite the quality of Yale's library system, it is not without flaws, particularly when it comes to the residential college libraries and the field of digital literature.

The residential college libraries were used by students until the 1960s for research purposes. Their proximity made them more attractive resources than other campus libraries. Now that college libraries no longer serve that purpose, few materials are acquired each year, and the libraries are used most often as study spaces and recreational reading facilities. In response to this new role, some college libraries have endeavored to improve their lighting and increase student comfort.

CAYTE PUSHKAREVA/YH While the stacks of Sterling Memorial Library offer many choices for the avid reader, residential college libraries offer few.

Nevertheless, few students use the libraries for research, and many have never touched the available reading material. Most of the books in the libraries are outdated, often predating 1960. "The books really are just a background and students rarely use them," Jeff Montez, JE '02, who heads the Jonathan Edwards Library and Computer Committee, said.

On the other hand, some college libraries contain works of great value; Jonathan Edwards College has a collection of old and rare books, some of them original works by the college's namesake. But not all of JE's peers are so lucky—in Morse College, students have been encouraged to donate their books at the end of the year to the library. However, the library loses some potential donations to Morse's own on-line book exchange. Surprisingly, neither of Morse's book programs are well known to Morsels." I've never even heard of such programs. They really haven't been advertised to my knowledge. I think that the idea is interesting, though," Birkir Gunnarsson, MC '02, asserted.

In addition to a lack of publicity, college libraries suffer from their lack of a circulation system. Books cannot be catalogued or protected from theft. In most cases, no one knows when a college's library books are missing.

In contrast to the low-tech college libraries, the Yale library system has expanded its collection of digital literature within the past five years. However, the system faces problems because the library does not own the digital materials. Scott Bennett, who heads the staff of the Sterling Memorial Library, explained, "The story is more complex with digital literature. Books on paper we purchase and own. Often with digital information, we are licensing the information and do not own it. We purchase access for a defined term and the whole library profession is currently wrestling with these new arrangements, which are so different from our customary practice with printed books and journals. We don't have a satisfactory arrangement for ensuring very long-term access to much digital material," he said.

On the other hand, book acquisition continues to be well-facilitated in the Yale library system. As Bennett maintained, "We have about 60 librarians who have significant responsibility for understanding the University' s academic interests and we need to be sure that we build collections responsive to that." In addition, students and professors who request that materials be purchased are almost always accommodated.

The influx of new materials, however, constantly outruns the available shelving space. Although most of the books are stored within the shelving capacity of the libraries, some of the books that are used less often are stored in off-campus locations. Yale Law School sends any book or periodical that has not been checked out more than once in 10 years to storage in Hamden, Conn. to be retrieved only upon request.

Unfortunately, each year some books are simply discarded. As Blair Kauffman of the Law Library explains, "We keep most of the things we buy, as that is the nature of a research library, but we do discard a small subset of ephemeral material that doesn't have value any longer." The libraries also sometimes replace books with microfilm or online versions, discard extra copies of books, and replace worn books with newer copies. The discarded books are sent to the New Haven public library and to other universities around the world that cannot afford to purchase the materials.

Yale's library network, like the university itself, forms a large and complicated picture. As technological developments increase the possibility for efficiency and service, they also engender new challenges for a library system striving to order and define its component parts. Only time will tell whether fledgling college libraries can be resuscitated as intellectual centers and brought into the digital web of Yale's 21st-century libraries.

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