Fees for Libraries Raised For Non-Harvard Scholars

Non-Harvard people are having to pay a lot more these days for the privileges you have-and probably don't use-of getting lost in Widener or letting library books gather dust in your room.

As of September 1, Harvard has been requiring scholars and students from outside Harvard to pay much higher fees for use of the College Library. The fees used to be $75 for three months, $125 for six months and $200 for one year. Now they are $125, $175, and $300 respectively.

The increase applies to Widener and Houghton Libraries, Lamont is closed to all outsiders throughout the school year, while the various departmental libraries have their own rules.

Merle Fainsod, director of the University Library, said yesterday that the increase in fees was caused primarily by the need to meet rising costs-a problem which, he said, the Library shares with the rest of the University.

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According to Fainsod the per capita cost of maintaining the Library is approximately $600.

Another objective of the new rates, Fainsod said, is to limit "within reason" the number of non-Harvard people using the Library. Fainsod cited a conflict between serving those scholars who come "from all over the world" to use the Harvard Library, and serving members of the Harvard community.

These members, Fainsod commented, justifiably expect to be able to find books on the shelves whenever they need them.

It is too early to tell, Fainsod stated, whether the now rates will have the effect of discouraging outsiders from using the Library. However, Fainsod assured that "exceptions could always be made" in special cases where scholars are discouraged since they lack the means to pay the fees.

Yale is also charging more to use its libraries. The annual fee there is now $500, up from $250 before August 1. Scholars from other colleges have ap-parently reacted very negatively to Yale's longer-standing increase.

The following groups will not be affected, or offended, by Harvard's new rates: alumni, people wishing only to use books in the library for short spans of time, or all non-Harvard non-scholars who could never borrow books at any price.