1. Economy of administration.
No staff of agriculturists or any other specialists trained for scientific or literary research can be expected to order, catalog and care for books as quickly and efficiently as can the well organized library staff of forty, with its order department, gifts, exchange and periodical assistants, and cataloging, binding, loan, and reference departments, whose whole time and attention is devoted to these special lines of library work. The library, too, which handles some thirty thousand new books a year can afford to have more elaborate equipment in the way of trade bibliographies of various countries, catalogs of other libraries, mechanical means for duplicating catalog cards, shelving books, etc., than can such an institution as an experiment station whose money should be spent mostly on salaries of specialists and laboratory and field equipment.
2. Security in preservation of valuable books.
While the majority of agricultural departments at Illinois favor departmental libraries, they all make it conditional—"If we had a proper and secure place for them." All with whom I have talked have also emphasized the advisability, almost the necessity, of keeping all books on the campus, whether in departmental libraries, laboratories or main library, under the central administration and the supervision of the librarian of the university.
3. Opportunity to use books and periodicals purchased by other colleges of the university.
It can readily be seen that books and periodicals purchased especially by the College of Science may also be of use to the Agricultural experiment station. The agricultural faculty also benefit by the periodicals, university publications, etc., received in exchange for publications of other colleges in the university.
4. Greater educational opportunities.
The agricultural experiment station, while receiving the benefits thus enumerated from its close connection with the university library, is able also to extend its circle of influence through the library, which naturally reaches more people than the station could by itself. Not only do the students and faculty of the other colleges of the university have an opportunity to use the agricultural books, but people throughout the state can and do borrow them from the library.
Discussion on the same type of library administration was continued in a paper prepared by Mrs. IDA A. KIDDER, librarian of the Oregon Agricultural College library.
She said in part: