Open Collections

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THE    LIBRARY
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN
TO
THE SENATE
DECEMBER,   1926
U.B. C.-THE   LIBRARY.
REPORT   NO.  1-1926.  Wc[t Pmfrerstig cf Jlirittglj (Eolimte
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
Vancouver, December 30th, 1926.
L. S. Klinck, Esq., M.S.A., D.Sc, LL.D.,
Chairman of the Senate,
President of The University of British Columbia.
Sir:—
In conformity with the Report (presented March 12th, 1926) of
the Committee of Senate appointed to Define the Functions of the
Library Committee, etc., I respectfully beg to submit the following
Report of the Library and its work:
The year more immediately under review has been marked by
several important developments in the University's library activities.
These developments focus on the fact that university work has been
transferred from the temporary premises occupied in the City of
Vancouver since the Institution was organized to its permanent site
at Point Grey. In August, 1925, the Library entered into possession
of its new building, and was thereby enabled to give its users greatly
enlarged and more efficient service.
The removal took place at the close of the summer session.
Thanks to careful planning and excellent team work between the Librarian's Report
Staff and the Contractor, the main collection of 55,000 volumes, the
catalogue, cabinets and office furniture were placed in position for
immediate use in the space of two weeks.
The library now consists of a little over 60,000 volumes. Of
these (at December, 31st, 1926) 57,222 are listed volume by volume
in the accessions, and the estimated number of duplicates is slightly
in excess of 3,000.   In addition, there are about 9,000 pamphlets.
Due to the fact that the book collection has been accumulated
within the last ten or twelve years, its working efficiency, in proportion to volume-total, is very high. It is doubtful if any library of
similar size and scope contains a higher percentage of the Proceedings and Transactions of learned Societies, or of those serial publications that are the fundamental works of reference in the several departments of knowledge. This is the type of book material that gives
character, distinction and value to any reference library, and that of
this University is fortunate in possessing so large a number. There
would be a still larger proportion of these were the Library not hampered by lack of funds for their purchase. In the past two years
several opportunities to secure highly-desired sets of such works
could not be availed of, because the necessary money could not be
granted.
Among the more important accessions in this type of book
material, acquired since the last Report, the following may be noted:
North American Review v. 1-222, 1915-1926 $321.85
Botanishes Centralblatt, v. 1-72, 1880-1914 $300.00
Annals of Botany, v. 1-30, 1887-1916 $337.50
Society Chimique de Paris.   Repertoire 1861-1863
Bulletin       1858-1912 $645.00
American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Ass'n. Herd
Books, v. 1-34 $105.00
London Geological Society.   Transactions, v. 1-11,
1811-1821.   v. 1-12 (2nd series) 1845-56 $106.00
Paleontographica, v. 1-23 and Index 1-20 £35. 0. 0 d. The University of British Columbia
Biometrika, v. 1-17 £64. 3. 0 d.
Annals and Mag. of Natural History.    1st series,
v. 1, 1826 to 8th series v. 10, 1926 £225. 0. Od.
CIRCULATION
The greatly improved facilities for storage and study of books
has been reflected in corresponding increases in circulation. This has
multiplied six-fold in seven years, the average in 1919 being about
700 volumes per month, while in November, 1926, the total exceeded
4,000.
This latter figure is exclusive of "Required Reading" loans. No
record of these was possible in the Fairview premises, because no
facilities for special custody and issue of these were possible. They
were placed on "open access" shelves in the general Reading Room,
and students helped themselves to them as they were available. There
were no means to prevent an unscrupulous student from keeping such
a book for days, to the inconvenience and injury of others who had
equal need for, and right to, the volume. As examinations
approached, complaints of this kind, both by students and teaching
staff, were of frequent occurrence.
The system in effect since occupation of the new building renders
such unfair monopoly of "Required Books" impossible. They occupy
special shelves in Tier 5 of the stack, to which students have no access.
They are loaned only for use in the building, and for a period of two
hours. Dispute as to the period of loan is prevented by each call slip
being stamped by a time clock at the time of issue, and again at the
time of return. The service, both of loans and discharge, is speedy,
the time average of loans being twelve a minute, while a special
method of filing call slips, representing the loans, makes discharge
equally prompt.
The installation of this system has enabled the Department to
keep records of "Required Reading." In November it exceeded
6,000 volumes, thus bringing the total monthly loans to over 10,500,
an average of 400 volumes every working day.
The increases in book loans, since the records were first systematically kept, can be seen at a glance in the following table: Librarian's Report
ORDINARY LOANS
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
January
759
1179
1540
1736
1940
2254
3366
February
760
1189
1501
1710
1767
2139
3419
March
655
1194
1524
1604
1702
2142
3597
April
379
684
853
1147
1104
1271
1915
May
289
531
666
743
702
847
850
June
285
487
641
732
656
680
616
July
370
477
602
831
931
1012
1199
August
436
533
597
888
703
603
895
September
550
975
1147
938
1224
405
1110
October
740
1327
1762
1938
2174
2325
3085
3942
November
917
1542
1568
1874
1970
2159
3415
4197
December
467
2124
1033
8382
1056
1080
1208
1174
1559
2560
11635
13963
15683
16387
19412 27666
Average monthly
Circulation
708
690
969
1163
1307
1365
1618
2306
"RESERVED LOANS"
1925       1926
October  1322       4784
November   3754       6483
December   1657       4041
January   2262
February   3419
March   4877
April   2121
19,412     15,308
(3 mo.)
Average per month  1618    5102
LIBRARY REGISTRATION
The increased use of the Library since moving into the new
building is reflected in the number of students, proportionate to enrollment, who take advantage of  its  facilities.    Before books are
loaned, each student makes formal application on a printed form. The University of British Columbia
These are numbered serially and divided into the three Colleges constituting the University, and into short Course, Summer Session, or
Extra Mural Readers.
There has been a regular annual increase in the proportion of
students using the Library. This is evident from the following table,
giving figures for the last ten years:
Year
Student
Enrollment
Library
Percentage
(Degree '
Courses
only)
Registration
of Enrollment
1918-19
538
338
63
1919-20
890
485
54
1920-21
962
622
65
1921-22
1014
681
67
1922-23
1194
819
69
1923-24
1308
934
80
1924-25
1451
1169
80
1925-26
1463
1282
88
1926-(to Dec.
31st
.) 1543
1371
88
EXTRA MURAL READERS
The use of the Library is not confined to the students and teaching staff of the University. Its primary obligation of service is undoubtedly to these, but throughout the Province are many others, engaged in research or technical practice, to whom its facilities would
be of great assistance. Since the establishment of the University, it
has been part of its library policy to give (subject to the superior
claims of its own people) such help as is possible to any person, outside the Institution, engaged in serious study. Service to these now
constitutes a considerable proportion of the work of the Department.
Four hundred and ninety persons to-day look to the Library for
supply of widely-varied book needs. All these have enrolled themselves as "extra-mural" readers within the past three years, when, to
prevent the accumulation of a lengthy list of persons, some of whom
had ceased to use the Library, the roll was "purged," and a new registration made.
The readers included in the "extra mural" class have very varied
interests and requirements. A good proportion are graduate students
of this University, following up, either as a vocation or an avocation,
subjects in which they specialized while in residence. Others are
teachers, taking advantage of the rapidly growing collection in educa- Librarian's Report
tional history, theory and practice. A score or more of our own
Summer School Students are regular patrons, while a dozen ministers,
many in remote parts of British Columbia, use and appreciate the
books. Several students proceeding to their degrees at Queen's, or
other universities, are on the list. Then there is a totally different
class, who enroll themselves as "extra-murals" for very practical
reasons, altogether unconnected with scholarship. Wholesale merchants use the Library to study theories of distribution, to make research into some obscure fermentation, or for kindred purposes:
structural or electrical engineers to consult files of technical journals;
the Board of Trade, the B. C. Electric, the Astrophysical Observatory
at Victoria, and the Marine Biological Station at Nanaimo, to supplement the resources of their own libraries.
As the Library has no funds to meet the expense of mailing its
books to those who cannot make their loans in person, its practice is
to request a deposit of $2.00 for postal charges. When this is exhausted, a further deposit is made. In the event of a volume on loan
to an "extra-mural" being required by a professor or student, notification is made, and, whether or not the borrower has finished with
the book, it is at once returnable. By this regulation the superior requirements of those in the University are met, while, at the same
time, appreciated book service is given to other British Columbian0
to whom it is of the utmost value.
INTER-LIBRARY LOANS
The 60,000 volumes in the Library, while reasonably sufficient
for the requirements of ordinary under-graduate work in the courses
at present offered, are quite inadequate for the needs of specialized
and advanced study. Authorities in higher education give it as a
dictum that, for under-graduate work alone, a university library
should have 100 volumes per under-graduate student. On this basis
this library should have more than twice its present volume total—
and this takes no account of the requirements of post-graduate work.
Since the very beginning this University has every year had
students who, side by side with their regular work, have prosecuted
some chosen and special line of study. Much of the reputation
achieved among sister institutions is due to the work of these brilliant
young specialists. Many of the junior members of the teaching staff
are spending their free time in work for superior degrees, while a The University of British Columbia 9
number of the professors are, from time to time, publishing articles
or books on subjects within their own spheres of interest and knowledge.
In the case of some of these latter, the facilities for research that
the Library could offer was a matter of serious enquiry before accepting British Columbia positions.
All of these require book material far beyond the resources of
the Library's present collection. Its deficiencies have been compensated, and its usefulness supplemented, by special loans from other
libraries in Canada and the United States. The demands made have
been very numerous—sometimes as many as ten or twelve a week—
and in every case possible the response has been prompt and generous.
The Library, and all it serves, are under deep and lasting obligation
to the librarians of other institutions for the kindness that, with no
possibility of present return, has simplified and stimulated literary,
historical and scientific research by our own staff and students.
Among the libraries to whom such acknowledgments are due
may be mentioned, in Canada:—The Library of Parliament, Ottawa,
the Legislative Libraries at Victoria and Toronto, ,and McGill,
Toronto, Queen's, Western, Manitoba and Dalhousie University
libraries.
The great proportion of such inter-library loans, however, came
from United States institutions, and the kindness of their librarians
should be appreciated the more because of the vexatious American
customs regulations that put unnecessary obstacles, in the way of red
tape declarations, etc., to the easy and speedy return of its own property to the lending library. The list of those to which this Library
is under special obligation include: The Library of Congress; the
California State Library; Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Princeton, Minnesota, Washington, California, Michigan, St. Louis and Oregon Universities ; the public libraries of Seattle, Portland, New York, Boston
and Chicago.
STACK ROOM AND CARREL PRIVILEGES
The equipment of the new building includes 39 "carrels," or
•semi-private studies in three of the seven tiers of the book stack.
Those on Tier 1 are not in use, because study tables have not yet been
installed. 10 Librarian's Report
This accommodation for work involving more or less extensive
book consultation is, in quality, as fine as can be obtained, and in
quantity greatly exceeds that usually found in libraries of corresponding size. Their use by the teaching staff, and responsible students,
greatly reduced the work of the circulation department, for, if those
given carrel privileges had to call by title for each volume their work
made it advisable to consult, more than the full time of an additional
member of the staff would be required. The financial savings represented by this fact are supplemented by another advantage to the
student—he can get his needed material by personal selection from
the total book resources of the Library. Carrel rights, too, involve
the privilege, appreciated by every scholar, of "browsing" among
books.
The privilege involves administrative risks, and these must, as
far as possible, be guarded against by the Library Staff. Every book
in the collection is findable by position, and a book misplaced is a book
lost,—at least, until the annual check. A certain proportion of the
students—and even of faculty—fail or forget to realize the importance of this, and as a result volumes sometimes cannot be found when
required. The circulation department has no record of the book
being on loan, and criticism of the service sometimes follows, though
the fault was the carelessness of some person, with privilege of entry
to the stack, who had put the book in some convenient vacant place
in the shelves, away from its proper position.
To protect itself against such conditions, the majority of university libraries refuse all under-graduate students permission to enter
the stacks. Because of this University's emphasis on special studies
in the senior year, however, this Library has from the beginning
thought it inadvisable to make so stringent a regulation. Both the
categories of students to whom the privilege was given, and the rules
governing the same, were changed from time to time to meet varying
conditions at Fairview, but with the removal of the University to
Point Grey, and the excellent and special facilities provided in the
new building, a complete revision of all such rules became necessary.
The present (December, 1926) basis of allotment of carrels for
students is as follows :
Graduate students, proceeding to superior degrees—3 periods per
week. The University of British Columbia 11
Graduate students, Teachers'  Training  Course—1  period per
week.
4th Year Students, Honors—2 periods per week.
4th Year Students, Pass—1 period per week.
3rd Year Students, Honors—1 period per week.
One hundred and fifteen Permits have been issued during the
present session, and, in addition, eight hundred and eighty-five Temporary Permits, entitling the holder to carrel privileges for a limited
or special time.
BINDING
Annual appropriations have made possible the continuance of the
work of putting periodicals and paper-bound books in permanent
bindings. Six years of effort have resulted in this section of the
Library's work being within measurable distance of current needs.
The following statement shows the amount of binding done and
paid for from the appropriation made by the Board of Governors
for this purpose:
1921-22 622 volumes
1922-23 2603
1923-24 1745
1924-25 1841
1925-26 1117
1926-(to Dec. 31)661
8589~
In those cases where long runs have to be bound, and length of
absence from the Library is not of urgent importance, advantage is
taken of cheaper binding costs in England to have these bookes bound
there. The Comptes Rendus of the Academie des Sciences, the complete runs of the Living Age and the North American Review—the
former consisting of 319 and the latter of 223 volumes—were bound
by Chivers, of Bath. In France, publishers usually issue their books
in paper covers, the buyer having them bound to suit his own purse
and taste. To take advantage of the lower cost—about 40 per cent,
of the competitive local price—all such books are ordered bound
before shipment. 12 Librarian's Report
These conditions cannot be taken advantage of, however, in the
great majority of cases. The nearly 500 periodical publications cannot be spared for the four months it takes a freight shipment to go
and return from Vancouver to England. There is also the fact that
the University is a British Columbia Institution, maintained by the
money of its citizens, and that consideration is due their interests in
the necessary business it has to offer.
The standard binding adopted by the Library—buckram, with
leather labels—is durable and substantial, as well as attractive in
appearance.
HOURS AND EVENING ATTENDANCE
The Library is open during the session for thirteen hours a day,
from 8.45 a.m. to 9.45 p.m., except on Saturdays, when it closes at
5 p.m.
The length of this working day necessitates the "staggering" of
the hours of duty of the Circulation Staff. On days they are assigned
for evening duty do not report for work until 1 p.m.
This session the Reading Room was opened in the evening in
the second week of the session (on October 4th), and the attendance
indicates great gains. The average for the month was 32, and for
November 53, while for December, to the opening of examinations,
it rose to 126, there being 190 students in the building the evening of
December 7th, which constituted a record.
STUDENT ASSISTANTS
The work at the Loan Desk, extending as it does through a thir-
teen-hour day, cannot possibly be covered by the one member of the
permanent, and two of the sessional, staff. It is, therefore, supplemented by students, in hours they can spare from lecture and laboratory work. For this they are paid 30 cents an hour—an appreciated
item in the personal budgets of those who are working their way
through the University. One such student is on constant duty for
the loans of "Reserved" books, while another helps out the regular
staff during the "rush hours" for ordinary loans. The work is distributed among 15 students from the senior years, preference in appointment being given those with previous experience, and those (of whom
there are several) looking towards library work as a professional
career. The University of British Columbia 13
BOOK EXPENDITURES
The minimum ordinary annual requirements for book purchase,
in a library doing the work of serving a constituency such as this, is
$10,000.00. Of this amount $2,500.00 will be absorbed by subscriptions to periodicals; $5,000.00 should be distributed among the
Departments; and $2,500.00 should be reserved for such special items
as Transactions and Serials as they from time to time come on the
market, and which the ordinary departmental funds could not procure. Such an annual income for book purchase would, of course,
not enable the Library to acquire anything extraordinary—manuscripts, incunabula, etc.—or give it eminence and distinction in any
special field of scholarship. For this it would have to depend on
special gifts, bequests, or endowments. It would, however, enable it,
in course of time, to carry out with reasonable efficiency the important
part that a Library should play in university education.
Heavy expenditures were made on book purchases in the early
years of the Library's organization. The financial resources of the
University, however, have failed to keep step with its rapid growth.
The competitive claims of many expanding Departments have necessitated what is hoped to be but a temporary reduction in the Book
Appropriation. For both the University Years 1925-26 and 1926-27
this was $4,000.00. In practically every year, however, the main
appropriation has been increased by a supplementary grant, that for
last year being $4,800, bringing the total to $8,800.
It is recognized that this matter of necessary revenue, to properly
carry out its share of the University's work, is outside the jurisdiction of the Senate, and properly belongs to that of the Board of Governors. The condition and the need, however, find proper place in
this Report, which seeks to summarize library developments and activities. It should be added that the President and the Board of Governors have given repeated proof of their desire to develop the Library to its maximum of usefulness—the supplementary appropriations made to the Book Fund are sufficient testimony as to this.
At the request of the President, these requirements will be the
subject of a special memorandum to the Board of Governors.
The total number of book orders forwarded to the Library's
agents, since regular records were kept amounts to 23,553; 1,477
were placed from the beginning of the present University year to the 14 Librarian's Report
end of December.   The total orders for the University year 1925-26
were 2,420.
VALUE OF LIBRARY
The annual valuation for insurance purposes was made as usual
in March. It showed the collection to have cost $156,973.26. The
additions in the year then closing amounted to $12,602.85. The
estimated additions in recent years is shown in the following table -.
1918-19 $7,052.75
1919-201
12 592 15
1920-21J i^o^.i3
1921-22 14,056.87
1922-23  6,282.98
1923-24 11,280.35
1924-25 13,034.31
1925-26 12,602.85
While the foregoing figures represent actual costs, the book
collection could not be replaced for considerably more than this
amount. Even if all the books could be duplicated (and in the case
of some of the sets this would take years), a similar library could
not be bought for $200,000.00.
GIFTS
Friends of the University have continued their contributions to
the collection. Governments, some learned Societies, and other organizations have forwarded their publications as issued. The full list
would unduly extend this Report, and it is therefore omitted. Acknowledgments to the donors have been forwarded in each case on
arrival. An exception should be made, however, in the cases of two
members of Faculty, who presented to the Library very valuable sets.
Dr. R. H. Clark gave nearly a hundred volumes of the Journal of
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Chemical Abstracts, and the
Journal of the American Chemical Society. This was the second
largest gift received by the Library from any private donor. Many
of the volumes are out of print, and owners willing to sell can charge
for them practically any figure they please.
Dr. Buchanan also made a valuable donation in his gifts of "Cir-
colo Matematico di Palermo: Rondiconti: Tomo. 35-47, 1913-1923,
and the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, vols.
1-17; 1907-1923. The University of British Columbia
15
Chancellor R. E. McKechnie, R. L. Reid, K. C, and James
Porter, of the City Engineers Department, and Mrs. H. E. Young,
Victoria, were among other British Columbian donors making appreciated gifts of books within the past year.
The estimated total value of the book gifts received by the
Library since organization exceeds $24,000, as is shown by the
following statements.
From organization to March, 1917 $12,760.80
University Year   1917-18     1,850.00
"      1918-19     1,641.00
"     1919-20       940.00
"     1920-21       560.00
"     1921-22       950.00
"     1922-23     1,623.25
"     1923-24     1,115.00
"     1924-25       925.00
"     1925-26     1,025.00
"      1926-1927  (to Dec. 1926)       650.00
$24,040.05
LIBRARY COMMITTEE
The Library Committee consists of the following:
Dr. D. Buchanan, Chairman, Messrs. R. H. Christie, H. M.
King and M. Y. Williams (from the Faculties), Miss A. B.
Jamieson and the Rev. A. H. Sovereign from the Senate at large,
President Klinck, ex-officio, and John Ridington, Secretary. The
Committee was appointed in December, 1924. Twelve meetings
have been held in the intervening period, at which regular reports
of the work of the Department have been presented, and matters
of Library policy discussed and decided.
Over and above these formal meetings, there have been frequent consultations between the Librarian and all available members of the Committee, to the better adjustment and general advantage of both organization and service. For this valued cooperation, the Librarian places on record his appreciation and
thanks.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
JOHN RIDINGTON,
Librarian.