Libraries Do Brisk Business At Midterm

On any given weekday night at the reserve desk of Lamont Library assembles an impatient crowd of hungry Gov 30 students. They wait and quietly fight growing despair as the last copy of James Q. Wilson's "Political Organizations" disappears from the shelf.

Although the official circulation statistics compiled for Lamont, Widener and Cabot Libraries indicate no clear trends, to the seasoned eye there are fewer available seats to be found in the Harvard libraries this year.

Wild

"It's wild," Francis Nyirjesy '77, a veteran librarian behind Lamont's reserve desk, said of the increasing number of students in the library each evening.

Midterm psychosis may account for the current upsurge, if indeed there is one. Figures comparing the demand for reserve books in Lamont for the month of October in 1974, 1975 and 1976 indicate a generally steady level hovering between 35,000 and 37,000 books for the month.

At Cabot Science Library, however, there has been a steady increase in the number of reserve books circulating, as well as a marked increase in actual library use.

Figures released by Cabot Library show that for October 1974, 8747 reserve books circulated, while for the same month in 1976, 10,909 books were called for, with approximately 300 additional video cassettes also circulating.

Science library usage is also on the rise from an average daily attendance in October, 1974 of only 1,113 people to 1,618 in October, 1976.

Hilles had no available circulation or attendance statistics.

Not all Harvard students and professors confine their work to Lamont, Hilles or Cabot, however.

"I'm always searching for new libraries," Lois Rosenberg '77 said, professing that scouting new libraries is one of her hobbies.

"I like unusual libraries," she added. "In Widener I think of all the ghosts. The books are so old there."

Opulent Quincy

Thomas Jean '78 and James Wheeler '78 describe themselves as "regulars" at the opulent Quincy House library, which boasts a spiral staircase and two complete racks of comic books.

Voicing a widely felt disdain for Lamont's sterile environs and "squeaky floors," both Wheeler and Jean prefer Quincy "because it's got comic books.