MAGNIFICENT LIBRARY

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 284, 4 January 1930, Page 3

MAGNIFICENT LIBRARY

YALE'S NEW. BUILDINGS. EIGHTY MILES OF SHELVES. SBACE FOll 3,560,000 BOOKS. At New Haven, in Coimecticut, a great, "almost Gothic" building i*. being erectcd to liouse the library oi j the Universitv ot Yale, whicli is at ! present in raiher cnuuped quarteis. ; 'Ihe cost of tlie building will be TI, 400,- [ 000. and will be called the Sterling 1 Memorial Library. The building oecu- 1 jiies an eutire hlock, and it will dominate the New Haven landscape. No adjcctive can so adequately doscribe tlie new building as tlie woid "imposing," says a correspondent _ of the Times. The main portion, lising like n huge square tower, is imposing by its lieight and area ; and not less imposing is the immcnse doorway and j entrance liall. It has been designcd to | he tlie greatest building in a futurc rrroup, and it is obvious that the architect has kept this idea iti mind. The tower is suhdivided into 16 tiers by means of tliin marble iloous lfiu. tliick, and rises to approximately 150 fcet. Two tlionsnnd tons of steel and irou will be incqrpovated in the coustruction of the book-stack, and 1000 tons of marble will be used for the floors and stair treads. Tlie columns, placed end on end, would form a steel span approximately 15 miles long. The shelves, placed end to end, would reach about 80 miles. Any ambitious library attendant, desiving to traverse all tbe aisles without retraeing his steps would walk six aud a-half miles. comfort of the rea'ders. The comfort of the Yale library readers will be specially looked after, more particularly in the matter of ventilation. This will be aecomplislied by railiatioii, witli l'ans and air ducts so arranged that fresh air can he brought in from outside and filtered, and in some cases humidilied. The apparatus also provides for re-circujating ihe air inside the building when wanted. Rapid clelivery of any hook is promised' the reader. What is known as the call-slip iile will be kept close to the counter, wliere readeis will hand in tlieir cards with tho number of the hook stated. Onlv a moment will be necessary to tcll tlie reader if the hook is not in the stack, so that lie would get a ncgative answer at once. lf the hook should be in, the slip would be sent by a pneumatic tube ciirectly to tlie floor of tbe stack wbere tho volume is storcd, and tlie attendant, upon getting the hook would merely place it upon Ihe convevor, whicli would can-y the book directly to the delivery dc.sk. The building is magnificent. What of the books whicli it will hold? So much emphasis is laid on America nowadays ou the magnificence of its buildings that one can admire the wit of Mr Andrew Keogh, Y'ale's indefaligable librarian, in suggesting the followiug inscription over tlie imposing entrance: "The Yale Library is Inside." VALUABLE COLLECTIONS. The Yale book-stack, built to take 3,500,000 volumes, will be far from filled. Obviouslv it is provision for the future. Art galleries and libraries in America work 011 the principle that once a building to house pictures or books has been built there will be funds forthcoming to fill them. Several valuable collections have been p-esentcd to Yale in the past, and tbe early dohors inelude Sir Isaac-New-ton, Sir Bichard Steele, and Goveruor Yale. i11 1033 tbe valuable library oi Bishop Berkeley was acquired. This possesses intrinsically valuable LatinAmerican and Chinese collections, an enviable assemblage of 18th century English periodicals, and first edition's of Milton and Defoe. There is also a fine collection of Fielding, the best collection — so it is claimed — of Goetlie outside Weimar, liundreds of Arabic manuscripts, also some Irving, Fennimore Cooper, and Jonatbaii Edwards manuscripts. to say nothing of tlie Melk Monastery copy of the Gutenberg Bible, purchaseil afc a fabulous price from Mr Rosenbach and prosented by Mrs Herkness. I he I'lliznbcthan Cliih has some valuable firsfc folios of Shakespeare, but, tliough under tbe jurisdietion of tlio Yale Library, it will continue to mahitahi its separate entity in its present building.