Calendar: 1971-1972 Page 409

xxxiv Annual Report of the Delegacy THE LIBRARY The session was one of suspended animation for the College Library Delays in the construction of the first stage of the new building mean that the occupation of the first half of the new Library is not now likely to take place until the summer of 1971 satisfactory solution was in the meantime reached regarding the detailed deployment of the scientific and medical libraries in the new building and further con- sideration was given to the plans for concentrating the remaining sub- ject libraries in the present General Library area The Library Committee took advantage of reassessment by the College of its development policy to urge the importance of creating unitary Library The Committee is concerned about the problems of control which will arise if the Library remains as it is at present in- tended to remain in multi-purpose building on very restricted site in which it is impracticable to provide separate staircase and lifts for Library use alone and in which separate Library control points must consequently be provided on each floor In 1969 70 there was some excess of expenditure over income from the Library grant which adds point to the Library Committee's policy during quinquennium when it will receive an annual grant at constant level of retaining substantial reserve during the early years so as to enable constant level of acquisitions to be maintained right up to the last year of the quinquennium Even so with book periodical and binding prices rising at an ever increasing rate it became clear during this middle year of the quinquennium that some retrenchment would be necessary in 1971 72 unless additional funds of the order of the 20 per cent per student indicated as desirable by the University Grants Committee were forthcoming and the Committee therefore welcomed the promise of supplementary grant in 1970 71 of £5 000 which will correspond to an increase of 13 per cent in the book fund over the quinquennium total of 464 volumes and 602 pamphlets was purchased during the year this includes 101 volumes and 054 parts of periodicals Standing orders were placed for 64 new periodicals 34 in the humani- ties and 30 in the sciences three new series of texts or monographs two in the humanities and one in the sciences and seven new major works in progress four in the humanities and three in the sciences while standing orders for six periodicals and four series all in the humanities were discontinued The outstanding purchase of the session was that of 500 volumes from