What Membership in the Friends

of the Columbia Libraries

Has Meant to Me

C. WALLER BARRETT

A S MY TERM as Chaitman draws to its close, I have a
/-y< distinct feeling of gratitude that the opportunity has
-A- )\ come my way to play a role in the development of
the Friends' organization. I should say at once that I did not be¬
come a member until the birth pangs and growing pains were a
thing of the past and the Friends had become a firmly established
and thriving concern. The gratitude I feel stems from a casting
up of accounts as to what I have been able to accomplish as a
member and officer of the Friends and what I have received in
return. Striking a balance in this rather hard-boiled manner, I find
the scales heavily tipped in the direction of benefits received. This
is indeed so obvious that I have sought this opportunity of saying
something about what has happened to me in the hope that others
will be influenced to shate my own experiences.

Speaking generally, it would be difficult to find any association
which has a more laudable purpose than a group devoted to the
growth and enrichment of a great universit\' library. Since it is
generally conceded, nowadays, that the library is the heart of the
university, the members of a library group may well feel that their
efforts are closely related to the very fundamentals of higher edu¬
cation. To be more specific, the Columbia library is not only one
of the outstanding university libraries but also a great research
institution in its own right. To be associated with others engaged
in the development and enhancement of this particularly impres¬
sive example of the ideal in libraries has given me a welcome sense
of identification and accomplisliment.