^^-.X'^ t -n Sw>«l Stanford University New building of the Stanford University Library, and a history of tiie Library , 1891-1919. ..V 1 A ., 1. ^' . ^i3'-u^''?^-^ «^'::T:^5:,M^^1SJl_^ •7^.' ,i •%'• :,••• ■'..'^>1^- 12.5. ,<^..\ ^ -^mm. ^m'-zy^ a^i XI Cornell University Library The original of this bool< is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924015396447 NEW BUILDING OF THE STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND A HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY 1891-1919 c.v -.A ..,_»-..«-, STANFORD UNIVERSITY n 1919 I : eA R Ar, «^3 College of A Property of "hi 'Or 'tecturs, -£<'! Univesitf CONTENTS PAGE FOREWORD . . . . 7 President Ray Lv.max \\'ili5ur THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 1891-191'> . John Maxson Stillafax Professor of Cheuiistry, Emeritus AS DESCRIBED BY THE ARCHITECTS . 19 John Bakewell, Jr., axmi Arthur Brown, Jr. P^ROM THE LIBRARIAN'S \IE\VP01\T 27 George Thoma.s Clark HE NEW LIBRARY BUILDING materializes a dream once before almost a reality. When one studies the simple and effective arrange- ment of the building with its many Conveniences, made possible through experience, he cannot but think that perhaps the earthquake may have been kind even in its rude shattering of former hopes. The new library forms a worthy center for the intellectual life of the University. Physically the space in front of the building has become the heart of the campus. Its presence has turned a former thoroughfare into a busy enclosed space that eventually will be parked and take the same relationship to student life as the inner quadrangle. The influence of new university buildings on the streams of student traffic is most interesting and has to be taken full account of in planning both buildings and grounds. The erection of the library has hastened the inevitable rearrangement of roads through the campus so as to provide easy access to the residence district, in spite of the three projected quadrangles that will form a long rectangle lying as a complete block across the direct course from Palo Alto. The erection of connect- ing arcades between the three quadrangles will further emphasize the unity of the central group of university buildings. In all of these future developments the new library, attractive without and beautiful in its simplicity within, will take its firm place as the very core of our life of scholarship. RAY LYMAN WILBUR. EEADINU ROOM, THOMAS WEI.TON STANFORD BUILDING ORIGINAL LlIiRARY IX IXXER (lUADRANGLE THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 1891-1919 On October 1st, 1891, when Stanford University first opened its doors for instruction, there were 3,000 volumes in its library, according to the report of Librarian Edwin H. Woodruff, now Dean of the Law School of Cornell Uni- versity. Some of these were working material hastily gathered in accordance with advance requests ; the greater number were miscellaneous literature, govern- ment documents, etc. The home of the library was in the building now (1919) occupied by the law library in the inner quadrangle. Librarian Woodruff at the end of this first year reported that the library was housed in one large room comfortably accommodating one hundred readers, while its shelves were capable of holding 18,000 volumes, of which 8,000 were on hand at the close of the year. The accessions of this first year were largely books most immediately and urgently needed by the various departments of instruction, including classics, modern languages and literatures, physical and biological sciences, and the various branches of engineering, a family whose appetite for books was in the early years far greater than the University could satisfy. In the first few years it is safe to say that the most important of the works available for student use were in the private collections of the professors. It is worthy of note that in this first year of library existence was made the first important gift to the library — some 2,000 books on railroads, the nucleus of the important collection known as the Hopkins Railway Library, now com- prising some 10,000 volumes, the gift of Mr. Timothy Hopkins, to whose unfailing interest the library has many times since been indebted for valuable accessions. 10 STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY At the end of the second year the Hbrary had a staff consisting of the Hbrarian and two student assistants and contained 15,600 teoks and 4,700 pam- phlets, an increase due in part to further donations by Mr. Hopkins to the Railway Library, and to the newly established Hopkins Seaside Laboratory at Pacific Grove. Some valuable accessions of works in history were received from the late John T. Doyle of Menlo Parle. INTERIOR OF ORIGIN.\L LIBRARY At the close of the second year of Stanford occurred the death of Senator Stanford. This event occurred at a time of severe financial stringency amounting" almost to a panic. There followed the attempt by court proceedings to invali- date the deed of property to Stanford University on account of alleged govern- ment claims against the railroad. Though eventually thrown out of court, this suit, following upon the financial stringency, rendered the support of the University itself very difficult for some years, and left little for the library. Nevertheless valuable additions were made even in this third year through the continued gen- erosity of Mr. Plopkins. The annual report of the librarian for that year states that the bills for books ordered by the University were less than $2,000, while bills authorized and paid STANFORD I'MVERSrTV LIBRARY 11 by Mr. Hopkins were nearly $6,000. In this year also was acquired by purchase through private subscriptions and eventually from the proceeds of a great fair or kirmess, in which nearh' the whole I'niversity took part, the valuable library of Professor Hildebrand of Germany on Germanic philology and early literature. This collection comprised about 4,600 volumes and over 1,000 pamphlets. THE THOMAS WELTO>f ST.VNFORD LIBRARY IS THE CENTRAL BUILDING OF THIS GROUP In 1895 Librarian Woodruff left on leave of absence, during which he ac- cepted a professorship of law at Cornell University. Assistant Librarian F. J. Teggart became acting librarian until August, 1896, when Mr. Herbert C. Nash was appointed librarian. Mr. Xash had for a long time been private secretary for Senator Stanford. Though not trained in library methods his intelligence and fine personal qualities were of great service in helping to bridge over the difficult and lean years of the library, for the needs of the LTniversity following the period of the government suit and the subsequent settling of the estate during a period of financial stress left but scanty margin for the growth of the library. Only the more necessary books and journals could be purchased. The generosity of friends of the Uni- versity continued, however. Thomas Welton Stanford presented a valuable col- lection of some two thousand works on Australia, and valuable donations from President David Starr Jordan, Timothy Hopkins, and John T. Doyle were received. 12 STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY In 1898, Mr. Teggart resigning to accept the librarianship of the important Mechanics Library of San Francisco, Mr. A. V. Babine was appointed associate librarian. The urgent need of a catalogue being now felt, Mr. Babine organized a volunteer force of 78 students and, working for a week-end period, a rough card catalogue of some 12,000 volumes was prepared. The temporary quarters of the library being outgrown, a new library in the outer quadrangle was built at a cost of $300,000, the gift of Thomas Welton Stanford of Australia. By January, 1900, this building was ready for occupation, and the removal of the library, now numbering about 50,000 volumes, to its new home was carried out by the voluntary assistance of some 250 students under the direction of Mr. Babine and the library staff, consisting then of five members and five student assistants. The building thus vacated by the general library was then occupied by the offices and library of the Department of Law. A substantial nucleus for this library had been provided by the acquisition by purchase or gift of the valuable libraries of Supreme Justice Stephen J. Field, Judge I_-orenzo Sawyer, and Judge F. E. Spencer. In 1901 Mr. IMelvin G. Dodge, librarian of Hamilton College, replaced Mr. Babine, resigned as associate librarian, and in this year Librarian Nash received leave of absence on account of illness. His death in the following year left Associate Librarian Dodge as acting librarian, a position he held until 1907. Under Mr. Dodge's administration was begun the serious task of classifying and cataloguing the library, a work the necessity of which had been often emphasized by his predecessors, but not undertaken by reason of lack of funds. The Dewey, or decimal, system of classification was adopted and the dictionary form of card catalogue. In 1904, as it was evident that the library building in the outer quadrangle would not be adequate for the permanent home of the growing library, and moreover as the quadrangle structure did not offer the adequate guarantee of protection from destruction by fire which the increasing value of the collections made desirable, Mrs. Stanford began the construction of a new library building in front of the quadrangle buildings. This building was about completed, except for interior finishing and furnishing, when it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1906 beyond hope of economical reconstruction. Notable accessions and gifts to the library during these years were some 500 additional volumes to the Australian collection by Thomas Welton Stanford, a gift of $1,000 from Hon. James D. Phelan for the purchase of books on political economy, the valuable library on ichthyology of President David Starr Jordan, consisting of several thousand books and pamphlets donated by Dr. Jordan, a collection of works on Egyptology from Mr. Hopkins, $1,000 from Mr. Herbert Hoover for the purchase of works on Australia and the Far East, and $250 from STANFOKD UNIVERSITY LI15RARY 13 j\Ir. D. P. Mitchell for the same puriX)se. ATr. Charles G. Lathrop, JMr. John T. Doyle, and Mr. Hopkins were also contributors. In 1900 also the chemical library of Professor G. M. Richardson, deceased, was purchased. Through the efforts of Professor George E. Howard, then professor of history, a valuable series of the British Parliamentary documents was purchased in London by Mrs. Stanford for $1,500, consisting of some 3,500 volumes unbound. This valuable series has since been supplemented by additional purchases and is regularly kept up, forming a notable feature of the library. UNCOMPLETED LIBRARY WRECKED IN 1906 In February, 1905, ]\Irs. Jane L. Stanford, about to depart for Honolulu for the benefit of her health, delivered to the Board of Trustees a letter of instruc- tion with respect to the disposition of her jewels which in 1899 had been trans- ferred to the Trustees to ensure the completion of the ^Memorial Church. In this letter she said : ". . . I was subsequently enabled to erect the Memorial Church without the necessity of resorting to the sale of these jewels. In view of the facts and of my interest in the future development of the University Library, I now request the Trustees to establish and maintain a library fund, and upon the sale of said jewels, after my departure from this life, I desire that the proceeds 14 STAXI'ORD L'NINERSITV L1J5KARY therefrom be paid into said fund and be preserved intact and invested in bonds or real estate as a part of the capital of the endowment and that the income there- from be used exclusively for the purchase of books and other publications. I desire the fund to be known and designated as the Jewel Fund. I have created and selected a Library Committee of the Board of Trustees, under the supervi- sion of which all such purchases should be made." From this journey Mrs. Stanford did not return alive.- Then followed in April, 1906, the earthquake which destroyed the newly erected library building and entailed disastrous damage to other university structures. The loss by fire of the important libraries in San Francisco made the Uni- versity more than ever dependent on its own resources, and made evident the necessity of a more rapid development of the library than heretofore, and in accordance with that necessity the Board of Trustees appropriated a sum of $21,000 for the purchase of books for the year 1906-07. In 1907 the position of librarian, vacant since the death of Mr. Nash, was filled by the selection of Mr. George T. Clark, then the successful librarian of the San Francisco Public Library, and previously connected with the Library of the University of California and with the California State Library. Under his leadership the Stanford Library entered upon a new era of development. In 1908, in accordance with the instructions of Mrs. Stanford, the Board of Trustees established the "Jewel Fund." The resolution establishing the fund reads in part as follows : "Now, therefore, in order to carry out said plan of Mrs. Stanford and to establish and maintain an adequate library fund and to perform the promise made by this Board to her, it is — ^Resolved, that a fund of five hundred thousand (500,000) dollars to be known and designated as the Jewel Fund is hereby created and established, which fund shall be preserved intact, and shall be separately invested and kept invested in bonds or real estate by the Board of Trustees, and the income of said fund .shall be used exclusively in the purchase of books and other publications for the Library of the Leland Stanford Junior University, under the supervision and direction of the Library Committee of this 'Board of Trustees." The immediate result of this action was to make available for the purchase of books about $20,000 a year. In 1910 the Board of Trustees accepted the design of Mr. E. H. Blashfield for a book-plate to be placed in all books purchased on account of the Jewel Fund. The larger appropriations brought with them problems of apportionment of the funds with due regard to the needs and desires of the various departments, for all departments were lacking fundamental material. The library committee of the Academic Council, authorized by the library committee of the Board of Trustees and in consultation with the librarian and the department faculties, adopted a system of allotment by units, which, with occasional revisions from year to year, satisfactorily solved the problem. As the more urgent needs of some lELWD-STIMFOi© dfYMDM^VNTOERSIIT Bookplate designed by E. H. Blashfield 16 STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY departments were satisfied while the needs of others were insistent, a more flexible system became desirable, and this was accomplished by making no fixed appro- priation to any department but by setting a maximum amount for each department, to the limit of which that department might file recommendations for purchases, while balances remaining unexpended one month prior to the close of the academic year might be applied by the librarian with the approval of the library committee as most needed. This system has worked satisfactorily, as it removes from any department the sense of responsibility for expending a fixed amount regardless of its needs, and affords opportunity for supplementary assignments for departmental or general necessities. A special appropriation of $40,000 for the purchase of sets of serial publica- tions in sciences, engineering, history, literature, languages, etc., to be expended during a period of five years, furnished a great asset for advanced study in all departments. Under this appropriation were purchased nearly four hundred complete or nearly complete sets. A valuable addition to the library was made in 1910 by purchase of the late John R. Jarboe's collection of works on the French Revolution, consisting of 1,246 volumes and pamphlets, many of great rarity and interest. In 1911 also was purchased the botanical library of Professor W. R. Dudley, deceased, con- sisting of some 450 volumes. In 1908 the Cooper Medical College, its real and personal property, was trans- ferred to Stanford University as the foundation of its School of Medicine, and in 1910 the Trustees of the Levi C. Lane Medical Library Trust transferred its property to Stanford University. This comprised the library of some 30,000 volumes, a building site, and a fund of $110,298.81 for building and ecjuipment. To this foundation valuable additions were made by gifts from various sources: Dr. Adolph Barkan, $10,000, for books relating to eye, ear, etc. ; Charles G. La- throp, $5,000; J. Henry Meyer, $2,500; Antoine Borel, $2,500; Edward Coleman, $2,500; Henry L. Dodge Memorial Fund, $5,000; Henry Gibbons Memorial Fund, $1,946.60, and the library of 1,000 volumes of the late Dr. G. L. Simmons of Sacramento from Drs. G. C. and S. E. Simmons, and smaller donations too numerous to mention here. On November 3, 1912, was dedicated the Lane Medical Library building on the lot on the southeast corner of Webster and Sacramento streets, San Francisco. The building cost about $150,000, and the library then numbered 32,000 volumes. In 1911 this collection had been constituted an integral part of the University library under the control of _the University librarian. Valuable accessions to the general library in recent years have been through the purchase of the valuable professional libraries of President Emeritus John Casper Branner on geology, and of the late Professor Ewald Fliigel on English philology and Early English literature. Donors whose names are especially prominent are Timothy Hopkins, Thomas Welton Stanford, David Starr Jordan, STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 17 John C. Branner, Herbert Hoover, Charles G. Lathrop, Horace Davis, and J. E. Hewston, though the list might be greatly extended. The administration of the library is immediately under the control of the librarian, subject to such authority as is naturally vested in the President and the Board of Trustees, or its library committee. A committee elected by the Academic Council acts as advisory in matters relating to faculty and departmental interests. Under the articles of organization of the faculty it is provided that the librarian shall be appointed in the same manner as professors are appointed and shall be a member of the Academic Council. He ranks as a professor. It is established that he shall have custody of all books, etc., belonging to the University library or to department libraries, and that he shall have control of all assistants who shall be employed in the administration of the library. Many of the departments, particularly those in science, find it essential to have working collections of books in their respective departments, and their needs are met by the transfer provisionally of the required material from the general library. As it may happen that claims of departments may conflict with one another or with those of users of the general library, it has been resolved by the library committee of the Academic Council that "any serials or other publications that are consulted to any considerable extent by members of more than one department or by detached individuals ought to be left at all times in the main library." In the fall of 1913, the Board of Trustees, realizing the inconveniently congested state of the present library quarters, decided to construct a new building which should furnish adequate facilities for the growth of the library for many years to come and afford the greatest protection from risk of fire. Librarian Clark was therefore delegated to visit the principal libraries of the • eastern states and to recommend general plans and requirements for submission to the architects. In the fall of that year tentative plans on the basis of his sug- gestions were submitted for criticism and suggestions to the library staff and other University officers. The plans as worked out in cooperation between the librarian and the architects were adopted and contracts signed. The entrance of this nation into the war naturally much delayed the completion of the building, especially as no effort was made to hasten the construction considering the national needs in other directions. At present the University library, which has a staff of twenty-four members and ten student assistants, comprises over 300,000 volumes, about 45,000 of which are permanently housed in the Lane Medical Library in San Francisco, and some 22,000 in the Law Library, while more shifting collections are shelved in the scat- tered departmental libraries. The library building just constructed will accommo- date some 700,000 volumes. At the rate of increase in recent years this should give adequate accommodation for fifty years to come. Looking even farther ahead, the plans of the present building make provision for possible needs of ex- tension in the future so that eventually the present capacity may be doubled. Dm 'I- •i -V .L>.\g; s ,"0 < D < a AS DESCRIBED BY THE ARCHITECTS In order better to understand the design of the new Stanford Library and the reason why it is placed where it is, it may be well to consider for a moment the general scheme and plan of the University buildings. As very often happens, the most interesting architectural feature of the origi- nal design of the University, the arcade treatment, was an idea suggested by the clients. Senator Stanford and his wife started with the idea of a monastic plan, the plan of the old mission architecture so characteristic of the earl)» days of California. The work was entrusted to H. H. Richardson, who, unfortunately, died before the plans were completed. Richardson was an exponent of the Romanesque style of architecture, and the founders' ideas as to the use of the mission style were somewhat modified in the actual design, the Romanesque style being substituted for the mission. The successors of Mr. Richardson, the firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, actually completed the scheme and erected the original buildings of the University. The buildings are grouped in quadrangles, the first of which was completed at the time the University was opened. This quadrangle is a series of buildings tied together by arcades, which form a number of small courts with one large central court. The buildings themselves are of many kinds, designed for widely dififering pur- . poses, but all are of the same general type, and all are tied together and screened by the arcades, which not only run around the whole group but also around the central court, while still other branches of this arcade system connect the inner court at various points with the outer arcades. In other words, the arcade or out-of-door circulation system is the governing feature of the plan and design of this central quadrangle. The arcades, with their unity of design, screen the dissimilarity of the separate units and give to the whole group continuity and interest. They are also of great practical value as a means of communication between the dififerent rooms. The approach to the University is along a broad avenue, which is a continu- ation of the main or transverse axis of the whole group. Approaching along this avenue one looks directly across the central quadrangle and sees the Memorial Church at' the end of the vista. Originally the Church, which is an imposing structure, was crowned with a Romanesque tower and spire. This spire was omitted when the Church was restored. Thus it may be seen that the quadrangle has a central axis approached by the avenue and more or less open on that side, and with the Church as the main feature, situated at the end of this central axis. In addition to this main axis, there is the other principal axis drawn at a right angle to it through the center of the central court. This axis is left open at both ends. ^ STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 21 In designing the second quadrangle, which is to be placed to the left of the central quadrangle, it was felt that this axis should be preserved and enrphasized, and so the library was placed in such a position as to terminate this cross vista in the same way that the Church terminates the vista of the central axis. The remainder of the second quadrangle will follow the same scheme of arcades which has been made the feature of the general plan, and when the buildings adjacent to the library are completed the library will have a large open court in front flanked with smaller buildings. The fact that these flankings and lower buildings are to be tied into the library on each side and in front should be born in mind. This is the reason why it was felt that the large mass of the library was necessary both in order to preserve this axis and also to relieve the monotony of the long rows of lower buildings. These lower buildings are needed to complete the composition at this point and, until they have been erected, the library must of course be considered as an uncompleted structure. The library was kept in the same style as the older buildings, though an attempt has been made to vary the elements somewhat in order to give interest and variety to the whole group. The large mass of the front facade is broken up somewhat by advancing the central portion out over the arcade and construct- ing low arcades on either side of this central motive. The buttresses and large arches above the entrance, with their bold reveals, give a play of light and shade and also emphasize the massiveness of this central figure. The building is 180 feet wide by 235 feet deep. It is of steel frame construc- tion with reinforced concrete floors and roof slabs, the latter covered with red tile in harmony with the other buildings of the University. The main facade is of San Jose sandstone, and the side and rear fagades are of buff brick trimmed with sandstone. The three figures over the entrances, representing Art, Philoso- phy, and Science, give interest and a certain amount of necessary contrast to the heavy walls. Entering and crossing the arcade, which eventually will become part of the circulating system of the second quadrangle, we enter the building. Directly in the center is the grand stairway leading up to the main floor and delivery room. This stairway is surrounded with a colonnade on the main floor. As one goes up the stair his eye is drawn up into the dome and arches at the top of the delivery room. Just as the library itself is the central feature of the second quadrangle, this space under the cupola is the central feature of the library. It is the place where the staff and the public meet, and sentimentally, as well as actually, it is the heart of the library. For this reason it is given great height, and, in combination with the stairway, it forms the architectural feature of the building. The shape of this room and its proportions lend themselves admirably to a Romanesque treatment. There is a very strong suggestion of the Byzantine, as is quite often found in Romanesque work, which is further carried out by the hanging lights. COLONNADE SURROUNDING STAIRWAY STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 25 The reading room, which opens directly off of this delivery space to the left, is a well-proportioned room 42 feet by 177 feet and 31 feet high, light, airy, and simple. In this room, as in the whole interior treatment, it was attempted to express the somewhat ascetic character of the monastic architecture of the early middle ages, which is the type used in the University buildings. The archi- tectural effects are all those of design and proportion, and the materials and means made use of are all simple and economical. It was felt that luxury and extravagance should have no place in this building. In most cases, the practical use to which the room or space is to be put determines its treatment and character. At the right of the delivery hall is the main stack, equipped with shelves for 310,000 volumes, but with an ultimate capacity of 678,000 volumes. Directly facing the main stairway is the space for the card catalogue, behind which are the library administration rooms in direct contact with the stack room on the one hand and the main reading room on the other. At the opposite end of the building, across the western front, are arranged the periodical room, 41 feet by 88 feet, 31 feet high; and two smaller rooms, the Timothy Hopkins room and the faculty reading room. On the third story is the seminar library, 45 feet by 89 feet, with five seminar rooms, while in the mezzanine between the second and third floors are four additional seminars and also eleven cubicles to be used for special assign- ment. These and the seminar rooms are reached by a secondary staircase leading from the delivery hall. GROUND FLOOR PLAN 3 C A L L IN r r, L T FROM THE LIBRARIAN'S VIEWPOINT The building just vacated, tlie liome of the Stanford University Library for nineteen yeai's, served a two-fold purpose. It provided space, rather inadequately of late, for books and readers, and it also demonstrated many opportunities for improvement. For example, on one side of the reading room which should have been a place of undisturbed quiet, were the outside doors through which every- one must pass on entering or leaving the library, while on the opposite side was the loan desk, where more or less talking was inevitable. In the new building there is no occasion to pass through the reading room to arrive at .some other destination, and from it the business of the loan desk is entirely separated. In numberless other details the experience in the old building pointed the way to something better in the new. The building has been so well described by the architects in the foregoing article that it is necessary to add only a brief explanation of .some of its details. Beginning with the gr'ound floor, the reserved book room is an attempt to give better service in handling the material for required reading in certain lecture courses, and at the same time relieve the loan desk of a large amount of routine. The room is equipped with 124 individual desks and fixed opera chairs. The lx)oks, arranged according to courses, are on open wall shelves with the exception of the few on which the demand may be concentrated for the time being, which are kept behind the counter and are issued as "hour" books. An electric time stamp avoids controversy as to when a Ixiok was issued or may be due. The electric illumination in this room as well as throughout the library is by the semi- indirect overhead system. Also on the ground floor is the documents division in which have been assembled municipal, state, and United States government publications, the public documents of the Dominion of Canada, the British parliamentary papers, and similar documents from other countries. Floor stacks provide space for about 40,000 volumes, M-hile tables along the window side of the room give ample accom- modation for readers. Need for just such facilities had been acutely felt in the old building-, particularly by the departments of economics and history, and this new division is in response thereto. The space on the plans allotted to the duplicate collection might impress one with the belief that we have an unusual quantity of such material, which is not a fact. The library is the custodian of the stock of the University publica- tions, and they also will be shelved in the duplicate room for the present. It is not improbable that with the growth of the documents collection a time will come when the duplicates will be retired to the basement and the space will be annexed to the documents division. This nuiy also be the ultimate disposition of the room named "bindery" on the plans, as in the interim between the adoption of the library plans and the completion of the building the University established a TIMOTHY HOPKINS o on o ROOM @E@ODI§ALi] ROpf0 □ igciQY n D n n r^ MAIN FLOOR PLAN SCALE IN rEET MEZZANINE FLOOR PLAN 3 c A I. r, IN t K K r 10 It- Ma 15 n i D D I n : n □ TOP FLOOR PLAN SCALE, IN FEET I I I I I I I ST.WFORD L'XIVEKSITY LIBRARY 33 bindery elsewhere, and a plant in the library therefore wonld have been super- fluons. The card catalogne on the main floor is conveniently situated both in relation to the loan desk and to the order and catalogne divisions. Ample space has been allowed for future expansion. At present it is contained in six cabinets, each fifteen trays high, with 'a total of 1,020 trays. Enameled number symbols of distinctive shapes and colors make it easy to detect misplaced trays. The order and catalogue divisions are adjacent to one another as well as being near to the card catalogue. They are immediately alx)ve the receiving room on the floor below and are connected therewith by an electric elevator. Incoming shipments can thus be handled with a minimum of efllort. An outlook to, the east and the morning sun add to the attractiveness of the administration rooms. A description of the reading room can add little to what is apparent from the printed plans. It is on the northerly side of the building, and an abundance of light is admitted through the large fenestra-sashed windows. Opening from the westerly end of this room is the Timothy Hopkins room, so named from one of the library's most liberal donors. In this room will be shelved books which may be read solel_\" for enjoyment, not from an\- sense of compulsion. No material for required reading of any sort will be kept there. Round tables and leather- covered chairs and settees contribute to the desired atmosphere of a private library, where one can profitably spend a leisure hour with worth-while books which have earned for themselves a place in literature. The periodical room is at the front of the building on the westerly end of the main floor. Cabinets divide the outer third of the room into alcoves in which unbound numbers of periodicals are grouped under a broad subject classification, the current numbers flat on open shelves atove and the back numbers in pigeon holes below with drop fronts. Steel floor cases provide shelving for about 5,000 volumes of the more used periodicals of general scope. The vast windows looking to the west, the lofty paneled ceiling, the subdued and harmonious coloring of the walls and trim all combine to make this room one of peculiar dignity and charm. Opening from the south end of the periodical room is a smaller reading room designed for the exclusive use of members of the faculty. A distinctive feature in its equipment is the series of lockers along the east wall wherein books and other material may be safely kept in the interim between visits to the library. On the mezzanine above the main floor are four rooms for seminars, and also eleven small rooms to be assigned for special research work. Each of these studies is furnished with a table, typewriter stand, chairs and 1x)okcase. .Vt the rear of the building, over the administration rooms but on the same level as the mezzanine, though quite disconnected therefrom, are the lunch and rest rooms for the library staff. PERIODICAL ROOM STANFORD UNIVERSITY LJBRARY 35 On the topmost floor are five additional seminars, rooms in which classes will meet, and the seminar library. Instead of scattering the books used by seminar classes through their respective rooms it is planned to assemble them all in the seminar library or work room, which will be vmder the supervision of an attendant. The floor cases have been placed so as to form alcoves, each pro- vided with a seven-foot table, thus permitting a departmental grouping of the books. Such as are needed at any given meeting of a class will be taken to the seminar for the time being. The students, however, will work in the seminar library, the seminar rooms being used only as meeting places for classes. Elevator connection with the stack will facilitate the removal of the material set apart for seminary use. It may be noted that access to the stairway leading to the upper floors can be controlled from the loan desk. The stack will ultimately contain seven tiers, each 7 feet 6 inches in height. For the present the uppermost tier has been omitted, as have also the shelves from the bottom tier, while the easterly third of the stack room has been left vacant for future construction. The stack is of the bracket type, it having been selected in deference to the wishes of the men in the shelf department who had had experience with all varieties. Columbian marble, from Tuolumne County, California, has been used for the fourth floor of the stack, coinciding with the main floor of the building, arid a marble designated as Napoleon Gray, from Missouri, for the remaining floors. These two kinds were chosen after thorough physical and microscopical tests of the various samples submitted. The lights in the range aisles are provided with holophane reflectors and are controlled by three-way switches placed at the ends of alternate ranges. Label-holders in the shape of a V projecting into the main aisles from all range ends enable one to look ahead for the particular class sought for. Two electric elevators have been installed, and a shaft has been built for a third. Anticipating the possibility sometime in the future, when the entire stack is utilized, of keeping attendants on the respective floors, a conduit has been laid from the loan desk so that telautographic communication with each floor of the stack may be easily installed. Provision has also been made for electric book lifts in addition to the book-truck elevators already mentioned. The stack room has a southern exposure, but the use of ribbed wire glass in fenestra sash gives a well-diffused light and makes shades unnecessary. The wire glass is a precaution against fire approaching from the outside. Kalomine doors and a metal curtain controlled by a fusible link safeguard against the approach of fire from the interior of the building. The plans for the building were approved by the Trustees of the University at a meeting held October 27, 1916, and the business manager, Mr. Vanderlynn Stow, since deceased, was authorized to proceed with its construction. After some preliminary work in May, the work of excavation was actively begun July 16, 1917, and on August 14th the first delivery of structural steel was made. MAIN AISLE ON FOURTH FLOOR OF STACK 40 STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Notwithstanding the handicap of war conditions the work proceeded without serious interruption, and the building was ready for occupancy on July 7, 1919, when removal from the old building was commenced. Service in the new building was inaugurated on July 14th. The structure seems admirably to fulfill the demands upon it created by conditions of the present day. Those who follow in the future doubtless will find much they would like to have otherwise. But it is not expected that the building in its original dimensions will last indefinitely, and ample space has been left for expansion, and in that expansion provision can be made for future needs as they develop. This record would not be complete without mention of the energetic support given the project by President Wilbur and the generous cooperation of the Board of Trustees. The architects, Messrs. Bakewell & Brown, were most considerate of the librarian's many recommendations and suggestions, and wisely made it their object primarily to erect a building suitable for the purposes for which it was intended. To their chief draughtsman, Air. Ernest E. Weihe, much credit is due for careful attention to details. The builders, the P. J. Walker Co., and their efficient superintendent, Mr. George II. McLachlan, are worthy of praise for the accomplishment of a large undertaking under peculiarly difficult conditions. NA6671.S78A25'"™"">"-"'"'^ New bulkjing of the Stanford University 3 1924 015 396 447 ■ . ' ' ' ■''■'■ - -< ^v ., ■ '••:. ■^■^.' .-. •." .-^v--A:'. ^3 ' - V .-• v' '.-:•'■. vs-,-,: ,j-^;;'i^ .-^•fm, '■■■ • ''• ■■ ■■"- ■'.-• •■•-"-^ ,:<-\v ■' • h; v//'^ V , , 'V -■ '-< -^ >•: 'V-.' •> ■ . ' -'l i, ....... ^ ... K^.W^^ '»^ ■••■•.■■■ '*-\^^' -! .•••■■. -f. .rJ" ; ? ■■.:■■■■■ ../ '^•• /s" - •!