PUBLISH FIGURES ON USE OF LIBRARY

Figures released by C. A. Mahady, superintendent of the reading room at Widener Library show that 15,576 reserved books were used at the reading room last year. The desk circulation at that time, the period from July 6, 1931 to July 5, 1932, was 85,457 while the overnight circulation for this period was 20,826. With the closing of the library at 6 o'clock this year the latter figure will undoubtedly jump several thousand together with a corresponding drop in the desk distribution. The following statement in regard to the new library hours was issued by Superintendent Mahady:--

"This early closing has caused many to say that the House Libraries will be flooded all evening and that it will be inconvenient for one to find enough room in which to work. On the contrary, attendants report only slight increases in these rooms, which brings out the fact that the majority of the people affected by the saving are the graduate students who can find no other place in which to look up information about their work."

The Boylston Reading Room while having primarily books of an elemental nature has figures to show how much it is used in the evenings and on Sundays. From September to June, 32,406 used the room on evenings and 6185 went to it on Sundays. Although Mahady pointed out that 90 per cent of these readers were in the elementary courses in History, Government and Economics, nevertheless it proves that a night reading room is essential to the efficient conduct of the library.