The Cavalier daily :: Friday, March 5, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

The needs of the University's library
and the problems associated with the
University's growth were dealt with
yesterday morning in a meeting between
the State Council of Higher Education
and various administrators of the
University.

The ten members of the Council and
members of its staff heard University
Librarian Ray Frantz say that the
University's libraries spent close to a
million dollars less on books, binding,
salaries, and wages than the other 75
members of the National Association of
Research Libraries averaged last year.

Among the top seven university
libraries of the Association of
Southeastern Research Libraries, the
University ranked last in expenditures for
books and binding and only the University of
Kentucky spent less than the University in total
expenditures for their library last year.

Taking only the materials for the study of
history as an example, Mr. Frantz noted that
there serious gaps in the microfilm collection of
newspapers and Presidential papers, "which
every research library should have." In the
Presidential papers the University is lacking
those of Presidents Polk, Andrew Johnson,
Cleveland, McKinley, and Coolidge.

"A student with a first-rate bibliography
may spend all day in the library and be lucky if
he finds a quarter of the materials he needs,"
Mr. Frantz said.

HEW Study

He noted that a study by the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare noted that five
times the materials necessary for
undergraduates are needed for graduate
research. He also noted that a library is a key
factor at any university in attracting and
holding faculty, and that among the graduate
students and faculty working at the University
now a great deal of "frustration" has arisen as a
result of the deficits.

President Edgar F. Shannon opened the
meeting with some remarks on growth. "There
is no alternative to growth," he said. "The
admission of women has only intensified the
need for that growth."

Mr. Shannon said he will probably ask for
more than $4 million in library development
funds from the Legislature for the next
biennium.

Specifies Of Growth

Frank Hereford, University Vice President
and Provost, spoke on the specifies of growth as
it will affect the quality of education. He noted
that the University's capital outlay program was
behind schedule and that by the middle of this
decade the University will need a larger library
system and more computers. "We need to
maintain state support to augment private and
Federal support," he said.

Vincent Shea, Vice President for Business
and Finance, spoke on problems of applying
the space use guides established by the Council.
Mr. Shea asked the Council to apply these
guides "flexibly" and noted that if they are
applied rigidly "we would get no more space
until 1980."

He also noted that traditional buildings,
such as those surrounding the Lawn Area are
hard to apply the space guides to.

Government Standards

Many of the newer buildings, such as the
New Chemistry Building, were built to
standards set by the Federal Government, since
much of the money for these buildings came
from that source. In these buildings, he said,
Federal space guides, which are more generous
than the state allotment, were followed. "I
hope we will not be penalized in the future for
obtaining federal grants for buildings."

Mr. Shea said that the state guides for space
use were computed according to needs of
undergraduate students, while over 40 per cent
of the students at the University are in graduate
programs. These graduate students need more
space, as Dean W. Dexter Whitehead of the
Graduate College of Arts and Sciences
attempted to show in a series of sides of
equipment used in physics, chemistry, and
biology.

Classroom Space

Mr. Sh noted that a differentiation
between undergraduate and graduate classroom
space had to be taken into account by the
Council in establishing its guidelines. The
Council's guidelines, based on undergraduate
needs alone, allow approximately 133 net
square feet per student while studies of the
university systems in New York and California
allow 150 or 160 net square feet per student.

He asked that private gifts for buildings
not be counted in space allocations because this
would discourage private giving.

The final administrator to speak at the
morning session was Lorin A. Thompson,
Chancellor of George Mason College of the
University, which is located in Fairfax. Mr.
Thompson noted that by 1980 there will be
some 60,000 high school graduates in the
Northern Virginia area who will want to attend
college.

George Mason, Mr. Thompson said, must
grow to 15,000 by that time to accommodate
that need. At present there are some 2,500
students at George Mason, which offers Masters
degrees in several subjects. Mr. Thompson
wants to add "cluster colleges" of 2,500
students each to the current college in
operation.

"There is far more for us to do at this time
than we can possibly do," he said. He added
that he wished there was some way to speed up
the time from when a building was planned to
when it was available for use.

Members of the Council expressed
agreement with the University administrators on
nearly every topic.

The Council advises the Governor and the
legislature on educational matters. They
continued their meeting yesterday afternoon in
Alderman Library at a meeting closed to the
press and University officials.