Lee and Lamont Library

To the Editors of The Crimson:

As a staff member of Lamont Library, I would like to comment on Ken Lee's disparaging remarks about Lamont. While "I hate Lamont" unfortunately seems to be a widespread and hastily uttered sentiment, it makes me sick at heart every time I hear it. Even worse are scenes I have witnessed at the circulation desk of Lamont. A patron becomes abusive when the desk worker refuses to tell him or her which of the four other people in the patron's tutorial currently has the only copy of the reserve reading. A professor, or more likely his stressed-out head T.A., decides it's taking too long for a book to be placed on reserve, brings over the Widener copy of the book, and, disgusted with having to do the library staff's job for it, practically throws the book at the reserves assistant. While these are isolated and extreme cases, they are the harshest manifestations of the negative viewpoint toward Lamont. Inscribing one's name upon every desk at which one sits is merely the most childish display of that attitude.

During my undergraduate years here at Harvard, I worked in most of the departments of the library, serving, at various times, as a shelver, fines assistant, desk attendant, weekend supervisor and technical services assistant. Lamont has its share of problems, and there are, at times, delays in getting books on reserve. However, the staff has striven for years to streamline the process and has made remarkable progress with their efforts. In addition, the reserves staff has in recent years rededicated itself to strict adherence to the copyright protection act which, admittedly, causes more paperwork and headaches, but is, after all, a legal and moral necessity.

I don't think that students could ask for a better reference staff. Their eagerness to help patrons find quick facts or structure in-depth research is vital in the college setting. We of the technical services staff acquire, catalog and repair the books required for reserve as well as those deemed necessary to our library's general collection. Because we now use HOLLIS and no longer have to rely on paper systems for much of this, we can process materials more quickly.

In its 40 years of development, Lamont has grown from a sketchy "reading" collection to a medium-sized core collection capable of supplying the readings for hundreds of courses each semester. It deserves better than defamation by the chair of the Undergraduate Council. Ann-Marie Breaux   Lamont Acquisitions