Word: houghtons
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...function of a university," Harvard President James B. Conant observed at the opening of the Houghton, "is to act as a guardian of the cultural riches of the past. Our libraries and museums serve only in part our own students and our staff. To a large measure they are of benefit to the much greater world of scholars.... We are the servants of a community that extends far beyond these academic walls--our responsibilities transcend both the immediate aims of this institution of learning and the days in which we live...
...Houghton Library is a world of its own, and the people within it, like Hofer, have found a life style of their own. It is a life style which rejects the values of middle class conservatism and prudishness as forcefully as do today's revolutionaries. It is a life style which looks with some awe and some reverence at the history of men and in its own way, affirms the existence of beauty and love...
...world of books and scholarship, however, runs the risk of becoming a dead one if it does not in some way relate to the incredible sweep of change that is going on around it. Hofer is deeply sensitive to this problem, probably the overriding problem that the Houghton now faces...
...What we need to do is to intrigue young people, and I don't think we've done enough of that," Hofer says. "The Houghton's single failure, and the task that now confronts it, may be as simple as that...
Hofer officially retired last year, but he maintain an office in the basement of the Houghton. In it is a cot, covered with a rug--"late 17th or early 18th century Imperial rug"--where he can rest. He has often slept nights there, where it is cool, when the weather outside has been hot. His office is cluttered with pieces of art, papers, photographs, small figures, and chests which he says are "all full of things...