The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 52, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 23, 1949 Page: 3 of 8
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X—
THE THRESHES
Three
Dream of a Great
" Library Is Almost
A Reality at Last
by Dewey Goitsoulin
and Finis Cowan
Edgar Odell Lovett, Presi-
dent Emeritus of Rice Institute,
has defined a library as, "a ha-
ven for the renewal of life and
the recovery of reality. At the
touch of memory and imagination
authors no longer living are reborn,
their silent books are made to speak,
their works restored. Such resur-
gence requires the survival of books
and of minds to understand them."
Since the founding of Rice Insti
tute in 1912, teachers and students
have dreamed of a great library for
this unfinished and still rising uni-
versity. Through the generosity of
the Fondrens and the foresight and
wisdom of the men responsible for
this great enterprise, the dream is
about to become a reality.
When the library goes into oper
ation next fall. Rice will possess
the third library of major import-
ance completed since the war. The
Fondren Library will compare fav-
orably with the new Firestone library
at Princeton and the Lamont library
at Harvard. Dr. Dix, Rice Librarian,
has said, "I have visited both the
Firestone library and the Lamont li-
braries and Rice has as fine a li-
brary as either one for its purpose."
Rice's Unique Problem
Rice, as a small school placing
primary emphasis upon science and
engineering while providing a broad
curriculum in arts and letters, has
some unique library problems. First,
the Library must make available
adequate and constantly expanding
collections of basic and advanced
material in science and technology.
Second, the Library must provide
students of the liberal arts with
abundant material in the humani-
ties.
At the present time the Institute's
200,000 books are overflowing the
shelves in four separate buildings
on the campus. The Fondren Library
will provide space for 600,000 vol-
umes, thus allowing a flexible ex-
pansion. It has been observed that
university libraries have a tendency
to double in size every 10 to 25
years. At present there is no indi-
cation as to how large the library
will grow, but there is a certainty
that there will be adequate room for
full development.
The open stack system whereby
students have unrestricted access to
all available material in the library
has always been a tradition at Rice.
This tradition will continue in the
new library. The open-shelf and
open-stack system is relatively rare
in modern universities, notable ex-
amples are the Cambridge Library
and the libraries at Iowa and
Princeton.
A primary responsibility of a
university library is to encourage
independent and exploratory read-
ing by the student. The open-
stack. system is one of the most
important means of performing
this responsibility.
A library must serve, not only as
a tool to be used in passing courses;
but, as a source of enjoyment and
general self-education. To accom-
plish its purpose a university li-
brary must present great literary
works in a favorable light similar
to the method used in a well con-
ducted museum.
If the student is already alive to
the possibilities of books, he will
find here what he wants; if he does
not yet realize the opportunities
offered by the library, his attention
will be caught and he will be en-
couraged to try books for himself.
Efficiency's Danger
A library must be efficient, but
there is always a danger that this
And This Is Your Library
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music koom
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staff
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technological
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LIBERAL ARTS
READING ROOM
circulation
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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JREFERENCE|
reading room
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cloister
P1QST FLOOR PLAN
VOUQ CONIDQEN LIBQAQY
Drawing Courtesy of Bill Perry
this efficiency will assume an im-
personal frigidity which will fright-
en the timid under-graduate.
The Fondren library will give a
student a chance to use the facili-
ties of a great library in an infor-
mal, friendly atmosphere with no
obstacles of red tape or confusing
jargon.
Closely connected with this
friendly informal atmosphere is the
library staff. Composed for the most
part of comparatively young men
women who recognize the problems
of students, the staff will, without
doubt, be instrumental in making
the Fondren Library a new stimulus
to the further development of a
broad, tolerant, and curious student
body.
Graduates and Researchers
The value of the library to the
graduate student can hardly be ex-
aggerated. A modern and expand-
ing library is probably the most
valuable tool which a graduate or a
teacher can possess.
The Fondren Library will provide
special opportunities for researchers
and graduates. The lecture rooms,
the projection room in which pro-
fessors may show movies, the semi-
nar rooms, the individual desks for
graduate students, the study rooms
for faculty members, the exhibit
space, all will make the advanced
student's work more profitable and
enjoyable.
The future development of the
Fondren Library depends upon sev-
eral factors. If the students realize
the great opportunity which this
great new library offers for study
and development, the opening of the
Fondren Library may well be the
beginning of the greatest period
which our university has ever ex-
perienced.
To quote Dr. Lovett again:
"In these latter days Rice has
entered boldly on the second gen-
eration of its history as an insti-
tution of higher learning. At al-
most the same stage in the history
of Christ Church, the celebrated
college of Oxford, there was paid
the tribute, still of disputed au-
thorship: "Though unfinished, yet
so famous, so excellent in art, and
still rising," may men and women
be saying the same of Rice, and
justly, throughout its second gen-
eration and beyond. To those of
the first generation the place will
always be new, and young, and
beautiful. While to students in all
generations it will always be a
house of memory recalling vividly
the formative years."
Same System Will
Be Used to Borrow
Books in Fondren
Though the Fondren Library has
many of the latest features incor-
porated in it, the system for bor-
rowing books will be much the same
as the one used in the present li-
brary. Students will be encouraged
to acquaint themselves with the li-
brary, but assistants will be avail-
able to help when necessary.
One special feature has been add-
ed to the system which will help the
borrowers who are taking advan-
tage of the assistant service. Over
the main desk there is a row of
lights numbered from one to twenty.
When a person requests a book at
the desk he will be assigned one of
these numbers and will then wait
leisurely while one of the assistants
gets it from the stacks. When the
book is brought to the desk the
borrower's number will be flashed
for bim to come pick it up.
The loan service of the library
will be extended to students, faculty
members, fellow employees of the
Rice Institute, and qualified out-
; iders who have been issued proper
identification cards. These people
include research workers from oth-
er schools and industries in this
area. Identification cards will be
issued by Mr. Webb, whose office
is now 206 Lovett Hall, and must
be presented to the circulation desk
before the loan service can be ex-
tended to the "owner. If necessary,
students will have to present their
Blanket Taxes to use the service.
Visitors to the library will be al-
lowed to use the books in the li-
brary <but will not be allowed to
take them out unless they have been
yiven proper identification.
Plans for the library call for
extensive expansion, but even so
the facilities may be found inade-
quate for certain research pro-
iects. If such cases arise, an inter-
library loan service will be avail-
able to get the material for the
research worker. Through this sys-
tem books can be loaned to the li-
brary for the students use from
other university libraries. The Li-
brary of Congress can be consulted,
if necessary, to obtain information
on the location of these specially
requested books. Mr. Welsh, who is
in charge of this inter-library loan
service, stressed the fact that the
loans would be made to the library
and not to the individual making the
reouest.
Bach to Boogie
Music and Lecture Lounges Feature
Latest Equipment, Wide Selections
by Jeff Campbell and Nelson Miller
The more one investigates the facts and figures that are involved in
the construction of the Fondren Library, the more aware one is of the
tremendous amount of personal endeavor and foresight that is ex-
hibited in every feature of this structure.
A sound example of this applied foresight is the record library located
on the third floor in the Fine Arts
ASCE Will Meet
There will be an A. S. C. E.
meeting Monday evening, April 25
at 7:30 in M.L. 210, Judging of
speeches for the San Angelo meet-
ing of the A.S.C.E., Texas Section
will be the principal business. Also,
a party to be held in the near fu-
ture will be discussed. All members
are urged to attend this important
meeting and all sophomore and
freshman C.E. majors are cordially
invited to attend and join the so-
ciety.
and Music room. The modernistic
record shelves are designed to hold
the large and varied collection .that
will be acquired during the next
few years. This selection will vary
from chamber music and popular
classics to opera and the heavier
works of the did and new masters.
In addition, Dr. Dix states that the
record library will include Shakes-
pearean drama and English and
American Ballads.
In order that this music may be
made available to the students upon
request, six record booths have been
constructed adjacent to the collec-
tion desk. Of these six booths, three
will be equipped with the standard
78 rpm turntables, two with the
new L.P. 33 1/3 rpm and one with
the RCA 45 rpm player. Mr. Wisch-
meyer, Assistant Professor of Elec-
trical Engineering and head of the
electronics and communications lab,
is in charge of designing the sound
reproducing equipment assured that
the turntables, pickup heads, ampli-
fiers, and speakers will be ruggedly
constructed to withstand the con-
stant usage; yet their quality of
sound reproduction will be on par
with the best commercial sets.
An additional feature of note is
the sound installation planned for
the lecture lounge at the south
side of the third floor. This beau-
tiful polycylindrical-walled room
will be equipped with a specially
built A.M.-F.M. radio receiver and
two multi-speed turntables which
will be coupled to the speaker unit
by a high fidelty amplifier. This
speaker unit will be housed in a
mahogany cabinet designed by a
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The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 36, No. 52, Ed. 1 Saturday, April 23, 1949, newspaper, April 23, 1949; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth230807/m1/3/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.