Off the Shelf

Lamont bookseekers are perpetually optimistic, but they usually find several obstacles in their way. One of these has already been largely removed-the practice of taking a book out overnight and keeping it for a few days. In an effort to keep books on the shelves, librarian McNiff is sending out messengers to collect volumes that are not in by 9 a.m. The 75 cent charge, McNiff insists, is a messenger fee, and not a fine. This represents a good idea in a good cause and has been a success, certainly financially. But there are other reasons for the books not being available when they are wanted.

On the level of student irresponsibility is the popular practice of taking several books early in the morning when the student intends reading only a few at a time. Then the books are hidden in obscure places at closing time so that they become reserved for one person. The library is aware of this problem but is naturally unable to cope with it.

The basic cause of all such maneuvers is that there are simply not enough books to go around. This is not unexpected, but in many instances there is a whole shelf full of copies of one book while there are only two or three copies of another that contains an equal amount of assigned reading. In some cases this is due to departments that won't purchase enough volumes, in others to professors who assign out-of-print editions. Lamont officials say they try, to adjust the number of copies of a book to student demand as much as possible.

But, whatever the cause, as long as there are so few copies of books that so many people want to read, the library will always have a tough time keeping these books available.