The Educational Functiorl of the University Library

THIS PAPER reviews recent trends in university li-braries toward the more effective realization of their educational or teaching function. Trends in college libraries have been recently cov-ered in Lyle's Administration of the College Library,l and in Wilson's Library in College In~truction. ~ The developments identified in col-lege libraries are also identifiable in university libraries, although dif-ferences have arisen because of the larger size of university libraries and because of their emphasis on research. By and large, the e i~~p l~as i s on research in university libraries has tended in the past to neglect of the instructional needs of undergraduate students. During the last twenty years there has been a reformation in many university libraries-a reformation which does take into account the teaching as well as the research needs of the university. Intelligent and apparently successful efforts are now making possible the fuller use of the library as a tool for instruction. The idea of the library as a teach-ing instrument, as advanced by L. R. Wilson, B. H. Branscomb, and others, and as implemented by the creative experimentation of R. E. Ellsworth, promises to become a regenerating force of great conse-quence. Several trends which are important individually in both college and university libraries, but which now tend to become merged with more general and basic trends in university libraries, will be noted first. The more general and basic trends with educational implications in university libraries will then be described more fully. Reading is often stimulated by means of browsing rooms,3 dormitory libraries, and other reading centers. For the most part, these centers are extracurricular; they are intended to stimulate voluntary readin