OVERNIGHT BOOKS

Students in history, government, and economics borrow books from the Boylston Reading Room at an approximate rate of 1,500 to 2,000 books a month--adequate testimony of the worth of the overnight privilege, particularly for the man who is busy during the day and cannot get his reading done in the regular hours. But the value of the privilege is considerably lessened by the inconvenient conditions under which books must be returned. The Reading Room regulations require books to be checked in by nine, and yet the Room opens at just a quarter to the hour, with the result that a man who has borrowed a book overnight is put to no little inconvenience in arriving at Boylston in the fifteen minutes before nine o'clock. Both Freshmen and House members are put to the necessity of scurrying for Boylston at a moment when the imminence of a nine seven class makes composure imperative.

This unfortunate situation could be remedied and the overnight privilege considerably improved, if provision were made for the reception of books between midnight and nine o'clock. A delivery box secure at once against thievery and Cambridge rains, and equipped inside with a canvas slide so that the books would not be injured by the drop, could be built at a very reasonable cost. Surely this would provide a cheap and efficient means for the Library Council to increase the convenience of the Reading Room.