HOUSE LIBRARIES

The Dunster and Lowell House libraries have already more than justified their existence. Figures for the former show that on normal days over fifty members of the House make use of the library facilities, while on days immediately preceding examinations in any of the larger undergraduate courses, nearly double that number are checked off. The experience of Lowell House has been very nearly the same.

These figures mean that an average of well over one fourth of the House membership in both Lowell and Dunster are using the library every day. As the supply of books is built up and diversified, a process which is going on continuously, more and more men will be able to use the House libraries instead of Widener. By the end of the second or third year of a House's existence it would not be at all surprising to hear that as many as half of the House members were making daily use of the library facilities. These are certainly indications of a sort that the House Plan is progressing smoothly, and that, left alone to develop along natural lines, the experiment will eventually prove to be a success.

Meanwhile, it cannot be too firmly impressed upon those who are planning the remaining five units of the House Plan that, in matters of general House policy as well as in the particular difficulties offered by the running and organization of a good House library, much can be gained from the experiments and mistakes of the first two units.