I believe librarians share the concerns Joshua Katz pointed out in his column last Monday. Many of us fear that large academic research libraries throughout the country are losing sight of their main mission, i.e., to serve the students, faculty and staff of their respective institution. Their mission is not to function primarily as a "storage space" (though we must fill that function as well, for the preservation of scholarship for future generations) or as a public library (though we fill that function too, especially in responding to questions from the public via email and telephone) or as a bookstore that offers bestsellers, coffee and armchairs (although we do carry bestsellers and have armchairs).
In contrast to a Barnes & Noble, we are (or used to be) committed to acquiring and "keeping in stock" the esoteric, specialized and out-of-print books as well. We provide individual study spaces at a time when libraries are told that individual study is a thing of the past, which may surprise some of our students working on their individual papers, theses and dissertations. The existing spaces for group study in Firestone tend to be occupied by one or two students sitting far from each other. Most seem to prefer the individual spaces behind books for extra privacy, peace and quiet study. It is questionable that the plans for Firestone will benefit the users whom it is claimed we target. I am, of course, especially concerned about the classics collection and the study rooms, knowing as I do that classicists depend on the library more than most other users of the library. Books (comparing editions of texts based on different manuscripts), corpora of inscriptions, papyrus fragments and coins are what classics is about (the proximity of this material and its non-circulating status in the study rooms are essential). Only a miniscule portion of this material is online. Some of these corpora, are in addition, very large and weighty; for example, the "Inscriptiones Graecae" and the "Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum," which are important for the study of the "people's history" of Ancient Greece and Rome.
Will these tomes have to be schlepped to the third floor's study spaces for close examination, and what about the need to follow up on cross-references? I am further puzzled about how the books on the third floor will fit on the A to C floors, since the library is already cramped for space. Librarians are continually burdened with the unpleasant and often difficult task of selecting items to send off-site. The general principle of selecting items of a certain age that have not circulated within the last few years is not always the best measurement of use or importance to classicists and others in the humanities. I guess the hope is that this material, in addition to all printed works, will be digitized sometime soon. This, however, has not happened yet, and I daresay will not for many years to come. While we are planning for the far future, the current reality needs to be accommodated as well. The library should take its cue from academia and not the other way around. When the humanities disciplines begin to assign group dissertation and thesis projects, I agree that study space for these groups will be essential. In the meantime, though, to separate users' places of study from the items they need for study seems contradictory.
Princeton is a cultural and intellectual oasis in the state of New Jersey; however, the University and its library are also a microcosm of what is happening in a state which seems bent on destroying every inch of natural beauty to make way for roads, strip malls and McMansions. What precious little wildlife there is left is being destroyed by bullets, arrows, cars, pesticides and herbicides applied to every naturally growing plant. The quality of life for humans and non-humans alike is affected by the seemingly never-ending de/constructions on campus and elsewhere when, instead, we ought to cherish and preserve the natural beauty, history and cultural heritage of both our state and academic institutions. Firestone is an incredible library because of its superb book collections which have been acquired during the course of more than two hundred years. To transform the library into another Frist or Chancellor Green would be a mistake. As a famous Roman once said: "A room (or library) without books, is (like) a body without a soul)." ? Rebecka Lindau is the librarian for Classics, German, Hellenic Studies and Linguistics at Firestone. She can be reached at rlindau@princeton.edu.
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