Word: lamont
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...Much of Lamont's workability lies in the limited number of books kept in the building. At its opening the library offered students 80,000 volumes chosen from course reading lists and other lists of the books most often demanded by college students. Since then the collection has grown to a permanent figure of about 100,000 books, which includes some 39,000 different titles...
...empty shelves in Lamont will never be filled if future librarians continue to follow the plans of present Librarian Philip J. McNiff. As the demand for certain titles drops off, extra copies of the books are shunted off to the Widener stacks through underground tunnels, and replaced by other titles for which there is an increasing need. This keeps the library--which, as McNiff points out, was designed for reading rather than research--down to what he considers "a workable size...
...Although Lamont fans like to consider it a model in every respect, McNiff does not proselyte for its list of titles, which fills a 572-page catalogue. In his introduction to the book, McNiff explodes any theories that it might be intended as an "ideal theoretical listing." The books in Lamont are chosen to serve the needs of undergraduates as far as required or recommended reading in their courses is concerned, nothing more...
Because of these limitations on the size and scope of the collection, specialists will find little to interest them beyond the glass doors and the pink marble foyer. Lamont's collections of books on such subjects as law, business, education, agriculture, and the fine arts are purposely small. Although the percentage of books on science has risen somewhat since the opening of the library, by far the greater part of the collection falls under headings dean to the hearts of the humanities and social sciences instructors. The esoteric book has no place on Lamon's shelves. For better or worse...
Functionality was the keyword when Lamont was on the drafting board, and from the librarian's point of view it has lived up to this ideal perfectly. Despite increases in the number of books and in the number of people to use the building, the library staff is now smaller, than when it opened. A flexible coordination of work between Widener and Lamont makes this possible, with members of the staff scuttling through the tunnels from the old building to the new to meet rush hour demands. The worst press comes at night and on noon Saturdays, when reserve books...