Library May Move Microfilm Division

Plans are under consideration to move the Government Documents and Microforms Division from its current sub-basement location to the first level of Lamont Library, library officials said last week.

The faculty library committee has not yet approved the plans, but the issue will be raised at the committee's first meeting this fall, said Larsen Librarian of Harvard College Richard De Gennaro.

An architect has already designed the new division, which would fill the reading space on Lamont's first floor. If it is approved, the project will probably cost between $400,000 and $500,000, De Gennaro said.

Building reserves would likely provide the funding for the project. "We're not sure where we're going to get it all yet,' De Gennaro said, adding that he is "scrounging it from various places."

Under the plan, the most-used microfilms and microfiche would be placed in the new division. Other materials would be stored in the old site, but would be accessible to the public.

The books and alcoves currently on the first floor would remain there, but would be separated from the new division.

Beyond moving furniture and changing the lighting and the paint, De Gennaro said, workers would make few structural changes to the Lamont space. All of the work, he said, could be completed in a month--and he hopes that month will be June of next year, in the interim between the 1993Commencement festivities and the summer schoolsession.

Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba'53, director of the University library, said thatwhile it is impossible to predict faculty members'reactions, he anticipates no major roadblocks inthe way of the Government Documents plans.

"It's not in any way a change in the basicfunction of Lamont," he said. "I think it will beseen to be a reasonable thing."

De Gennaro said that when he worked asAssociate Director of the library in 1967, he putthe microforms department in the underground"Widener level" of Lamont.

"It was going to be one of those interimsolutions," he said. But when he returned toHarvard 25 years later, the department had notbeen moved.

"It's a grim environment," De Gennaro said."The whole division has been neglected for thelast 20 years."

De Gennaro said he also hopes to consolidatethe Lamont Government Documents collection withthe collection in Littauer library, and to movesome of the Littaure staff to Lamont.

And Diane L. Garner, head of documents andnon-book formats, said she would also like tobegin to circulate some goverrnment documents.Currently, special permission is required toborrow documents.

Eventually, Harvard's documents collection willbe listed on HOLLIS, said Heather E. Cole,librarian of Hilles and Lamont.

Because the Harvard Government Documentsdivision is a public depository, it is required bylaw to provide access to the public, Cole said.

Cole said the library currently has a sign-infor library users who are not affiliated withHarvard. The library would "tighten up" entranceprocedures if the division became more accessible,she said.

De Gennaro said he wants to present a fullyconsidered plan to the library committee, so thatlibrarians, students and faculty members candebate it effectively.

"It's not a secret plot or anything," DeGennaro said. "It's something we want to do openlyand aboveboard.

Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba'53, director of the University library, said thatwhile it is impossible to predict faculty members'reactions, he anticipates no major roadblocks inthe way of the Government Documents plans.

"It's not in any way a change in the basicfunction of Lamont," he said. "I think it will beseen to be a reasonable thing."

De Gennaro said that when he worked asAssociate Director of the library in 1967, he putthe microforms department in the underground"Widener level" of Lamont.

"It was going to be one of those interimsolutions," he said. But when he returned toHarvard 25 years later, the department had notbeen moved.

"It's a grim environment," De Gennaro said."The whole division has been neglected for thelast 20 years."

De Gennaro said he also hopes to consolidatethe Lamont Government Documents collection withthe collection in Littauer library, and to movesome of the Littaure staff to Lamont.

And Diane L. Garner, head of documents andnon-book formats, said she would also like tobegin to circulate some goverrnment documents.Currently, special permission is required toborrow documents.

Eventually, Harvard's documents collection willbe listed on HOLLIS, said Heather E. Cole,librarian of Hilles and Lamont.

Because the Harvard Government Documentsdivision is a public depository, it is required bylaw to provide access to the public, Cole said.

Cole said the library currently has a sign-infor library users who are not affiliated withHarvard. The library would "tighten up" entranceprocedures if the division became more accessible,she said.

De Gennaro said he wants to present a fullyconsidered plan to the library committee, so thatlibrarians, students and faculty members candebate it effectively.

"It's not a secret plot or anything," DeGennaro said. "It's something we want to do openlyand aboveboard.