New Library Buildings The Augustus Long Health Sciences Library of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University BY C. LEE JONES, Health Sciences Librarian Columbia University New York, New York ABSTRACT A brief historical sketch, tracing the development of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and its library from the Royal charter date of 1754, is presented. Little is recorded of library development prior to 1928, when the departmental libraries were united with the Reference Library to form the core of the present library. The planning processes for the new library are discussed, noting the involvement of the entire library staff. Four floors in a twenty-story tower are devoted to library services, and each floor is described. Several of the major compromises made during the planning process are documented. Photographs and floor plans of two of the floors help illustrate the text.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND A ROYAL grant of George II, King of England, established King's College in New York in 1754. The Revolutionary War interrupted the academic program, but in 1784 it was reestablished as Columbia College, becoming Columbia University in the City of New York in 1912. In King's College a medical faculty was formed in 1767, which granted the first North American medical degrees in May 1769. The medical curriculum was also interrupted by the Revolutionary War, but resumed operations in 1792. Another medical school, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, received an independent charter in 1807. In 1814 the College of Physicians and Surgeons (P & S) absorbed the medical faculty of Columbia College. It was not until 1860 that P & S became the Medical Department of Columbia College, but even this relationship was a tenuous one. Not until 1891 did P & S become an integral part of the
university. In 1916 Columbia established a School of Dentistry, which, after combining in 1923 with the independent College of Dental and Oral Surgery, became the present-day School of Dental and Oral Surgery. The School of Nursing was esBull.
M
ed. Libr. Assoc. 65(2)April 1977
tablished in 1892 and in 1935 became an integral part of the Faculty of Medicine of P & S. The School of Public Health is also an integral part of the P & S Faculty of Medicine. One must rely upon inference for information on the very earliest library facilities that must surely have served the various parent stocks which created the two present faculties, P & S and the School of Dental and Oral Surgery. The merest hints of libraries appear in P & S announcements, the first in 1818, in which the formation of a library is announced. By 1819 the matriculation fee included the use of the library. Faculty members must also have kept office collections, and one would suppose that students might have combined to draw together certain elements of the available medical literature. But factual information relating to the character of library services in the first century of the existence of P & S is sketchy indeed. The oldest formal library about which there is any data is the one established by Dr. Francis Delafield in 1878 to support the needs of new laboratories in clinical research. Other professors accumulated fine collections in their specialties and often donated them to their academic departments. 1928 marks the genesis of the present Health Sciences Library as it is presently constituted. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of the University at that time, decreed that all departmental collections at the new Medical Center were to be joined with the modest P & S library. Every department had a library, each having grown from the personal collections of one or more faculty members. Some of the noteworthy collections which were united to form the core of the present-day collection were the Janeway collection in the practice of medicine, the Huntington collection in anatomy and the history of medicine, the Curtis collection in physiology, and a very strong biological chemistry collection. This combined collection opened in new quarters in 277
C. LEE JONES 1928 at 168th Street and Broadway, with 50,000 with construction (February 1973), every member of the Health Sciences Library staff became involumes on the shelf. Within a dozen years, it was clear that the new volved in one way or another with the planning quarters would have to be enlarged in order to ac- process. The key failure in planning was a result of commodate growing collections, student bodies, the "fast track" system. Rather traditional work and staff. Except for off-site storage, which began spaces involving closed-in offices and walled-off in the late 1930s, no provision for expanded library areas were conceived initially. But as the planning facilities was made until 1976. Planning for new progressed it became obvious that "office landmedical library quarters spanned at least three scaping" (a system of moveable partitions and atdecades, with ideas ranging from simple expansion tendant office furniture) would serve the needs of of existing space to new construction of a building the organization better in certain areas. Unfortudedicated to library purposes. Several fund-rais- nately, this conclusion was reached too late to ing drives actually began but slowly died. As make the changes in the other affected systems, potential building sites were gradually used for such as slab ducting, air conditioning, and utility other activities for which construction funds were conduits. So fixed partitions are the order of the already in hand, the physical circumstances of the day, and they work well, but probably not as well library went from poor to terrible. Finally, in as would a more open arrangement of space. The involvement of the entire staff in the planMarch of 1973, ground was broken for a twenty-story tower of which the lobby floor, ning process produced a team-effort atmosphere. second floor, and two subgrade levels were It was rewarding and sometimes frightening to the designated as the future home of the Columbia staff to make decisions that would become hard Health Sciences Library the Augustus Long reality and with which they would have to live and work. Health Sciences Library and Teaching Center. A donor to the building fund made a major THE BUILDING contribution in honor of Augustus C. Long, who is chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees and On April 26, 1976, the doors to the Augustus Officers, Presbyterian Hospital (the teaching hos- Long Health Sciences Library swung open to its pital of the Medical Center), and chairman of the public for the first time. Ninety-five percent of the Executive Committee, Texaco, Inc. library space and furnishings were in place and the staff, after six weeks of moving, was ready for the PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION softer routines that were bound to be ahead. Because of the steadily increasing costs of Construction on the rest of the building continued construction, a building process that requires all for another six months. The building itself is situated on the corner of planning to be completed before construction can begin may cost as much as ten percent more over 168th Street and Fort Washington Avenue. The the life of the project, simply because of the addi- west side of the structure provides a superb view tional time delay in an inflationary economy. In of the Hudson River and the New Jersey Paliorder to avoid these cost overruns, the university sades the rock cliffs on the west side of the decided to use a construction manager ex- river-and the stately George Washington Bridge. perienced in the "fast track" system of construc- The exterior is clad in brick on the east and west tion. In this system, planning of details goes on faces and in Corten (rusted) steel and glass on the while basic construction activity begins and north and south faces. The west side is punctuated progresses. Thus, all planning is scheduled. with some glass to take advantage of the views. Certain decisions must be made by certain given All windows are operable, providing the possibility times in order to have them expressed in the build- of fresh air during certain seasons and the oping. The initial decision is whether or not the build- portunity to clean windows throughout the year ing can function well as designed by the architects. from the inside. The area surrounding the building is accented Once that issue is resolved, basic construction begins and all decision-making processes are with shrubs, vines, and trees all in protected necessarily set in motion. Planning failures result planters. The main entrance to the building (Fig. 1) faces in additional costs that are not budgeted. Thus, all decisions have definite deadlines. There is no cost- the William Black Medical Research Building, which is diagonally across the 168th Street-Fort free escape from an established deadline. As soon as the decision was made to go ahead Washington intersection. This is near the
278
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2)April 1977
AUGUSTUS LONG HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY
FIG. 1.-South side of building is well landscaped. Circular windows admit light to both the lobby level and lower level one.
northwest corner of the Medical Center campus, though it is directly between the campus and the dormitories. All other buildings of the Medical Center are either physically attached one to the other or connected by tunnels to provide allweather access for patients, staff, and students. There was no possibility of providing a tunnel to the new building, because of the depth to which utilities and storm drains have been set in the streets. A bridge was designed to cross the intersection and connect with the Black Building. Though provision was made in the new building to accommodate the bridge, the one-million-dollar price tag obviated its immediate construction. It will likely be a monument to the generosity of some future donor. The building serves three distinct functions. First, it accommodates the health sciences library on two subgrade levels, the lobby, and the second floor. Though the third floor of the tower is constructed as library expansion space, floors three through seven constitute the Health Sciences Teaching Center. These floors include large and small auditoriums, multidisciplinary laboratories, and an audiovisual production service. The eighth floor is crammed with the airBull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2) April 1977
handling and utility distribution equipment for the lower building. Floors nine through eighteen are the laboratories and offices of the Cancer Research Center. The topmost level of the building is another utility and air-handling equipment floor, serving the needs of the upper building. THE LOBBY LEVEL
The entrance to the library is just off the main lobby of the building. (See Figs. 2-3.) This floor (19,000 square feet) is larger than the rest of the tower floors (13,400 square feet) and is designed to meet the most immediate needs of library users and to act as a distribution center, directing users to other areas appropriate to their needs. As one enters the library the following functions can be identified visually: the new book display area and lounge; the currently received unbound journals; the circulation/reserve desk; the information/reference desk; the card catalog; the reference collection; the elevator/circular stair complex for vertical transport to other areas; a twenty-four-hour study room; the security control desk; and a directory of people and services in the library. 279
C. LEE JONES
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND A ROYAL grant of George II, King of England, established King's College in New York in 1754. The Revolutionary War interrupted the academic program, but in 1784 it was reestablished as Columbia College, becoming Columbia University in the City of New York in 1912. In King's College a medical faculty was formed in 1767, which granted the first North American medical degrees in May 1769. The medical curriculum was also interrupted by the Revolutionary War, but resumed operations in 1792. Another medical school, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, received an independent charter in 1807. In 1814 the College of Physicians and Surgeons (P & S) absorbed the medical faculty of Columbia College. It was not until 1860 that P & S became the Medical Department of Columbia College, but even this relationship was a tenuous one. Not until 1891 did P & S become an integral part of the
university. In 1916 Columbia established a School of Dentistry, which, after combining in 1923 with the independent College of Dental and Oral Surgery, became the present-day School of Dental and Oral Surgery. The School of Nursing was esBull.
M
ed. Libr. Assoc. 65(2)April 1977
tablished in 1892 and in 1935 became an integral part of the Faculty of Medicine of P & S. The School of Public Health is also an integral part of the P & S Faculty of Medicine. One must rely upon inference for information on the very earliest library facilities that must surely have served the various parent stocks which created the two present faculties, P & S and the School of Dental and Oral Surgery. The merest hints of libraries appear in P & S announcements, the first in 1818, in which the formation of a library is announced. By 1819 the matriculation fee included the use of the library. Faculty members must also have kept office collections, and one would suppose that students might have combined to draw together certain elements of the available medical literature. But factual information relating to the character of library services in the first century of the existence of P & S is sketchy indeed. The oldest formal library about which there is any data is the one established by Dr. Francis Delafield in 1878 to support the needs of new laboratories in clinical research. Other professors accumulated fine collections in their specialties and often donated them to their academic departments. 1928 marks the genesis of the present Health Sciences Library as it is presently constituted. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of the University at that time, decreed that all departmental collections at the new Medical Center were to be joined with the modest P & S library. Every department had a library, each having grown from the personal collections of one or more faculty members. Some of the noteworthy collections which were united to form the core of the present-day collection were the Janeway collection in the practice of medicine, the Huntington collection in anatomy and the history of medicine, the Curtis collection in physiology, and a very strong biological chemistry collection. This combined collection opened in new quarters in 277
C. LEE JONES 1928 at 168th Street and Broadway, with 50,000 with construction (February 1973), every member of the Health Sciences Library staff became involumes on the shelf. Within a dozen years, it was clear that the new volved in one way or another with the planning quarters would have to be enlarged in order to ac- process. The key failure in planning was a result of commodate growing collections, student bodies, the "fast track" system. Rather traditional work and staff. Except for off-site storage, which began spaces involving closed-in offices and walled-off in the late 1930s, no provision for expanded library areas were conceived initially. But as the planning facilities was made until 1976. Planning for new progressed it became obvious that "office landmedical library quarters spanned at least three scaping" (a system of moveable partitions and atdecades, with ideas ranging from simple expansion tendant office furniture) would serve the needs of of existing space to new construction of a building the organization better in certain areas. Unfortudedicated to library purposes. Several fund-rais- nately, this conclusion was reached too late to ing drives actually began but slowly died. As make the changes in the other affected systems, potential building sites were gradually used for such as slab ducting, air conditioning, and utility other activities for which construction funds were conduits. So fixed partitions are the order of the already in hand, the physical circumstances of the day, and they work well, but probably not as well library went from poor to terrible. Finally, in as would a more open arrangement of space. The involvement of the entire staff in the planMarch of 1973, ground was broken for a twenty-story tower of which the lobby floor, ning process produced a team-effort atmosphere. second floor, and two subgrade levels were It was rewarding and sometimes frightening to the designated as the future home of the Columbia staff to make decisions that would become hard Health Sciences Library the Augustus Long reality and with which they would have to live and work. Health Sciences Library and Teaching Center. A donor to the building fund made a major THE BUILDING contribution in honor of Augustus C. Long, who is chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees and On April 26, 1976, the doors to the Augustus Officers, Presbyterian Hospital (the teaching hos- Long Health Sciences Library swung open to its pital of the Medical Center), and chairman of the public for the first time. Ninety-five percent of the Executive Committee, Texaco, Inc. library space and furnishings were in place and the staff, after six weeks of moving, was ready for the PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION softer routines that were bound to be ahead. Because of the steadily increasing costs of Construction on the rest of the building continued construction, a building process that requires all for another six months. The building itself is situated on the corner of planning to be completed before construction can begin may cost as much as ten percent more over 168th Street and Fort Washington Avenue. The the life of the project, simply because of the addi- west side of the structure provides a superb view tional time delay in an inflationary economy. In of the Hudson River and the New Jersey Paliorder to avoid these cost overruns, the university sades the rock cliffs on the west side of the decided to use a construction manager ex- river-and the stately George Washington Bridge. perienced in the "fast track" system of construc- The exterior is clad in brick on the east and west tion. In this system, planning of details goes on faces and in Corten (rusted) steel and glass on the while basic construction activity begins and north and south faces. The west side is punctuated progresses. Thus, all planning is scheduled. with some glass to take advantage of the views. Certain decisions must be made by certain given All windows are operable, providing the possibility times in order to have them expressed in the build- of fresh air during certain seasons and the oping. The initial decision is whether or not the build- portunity to clean windows throughout the year ing can function well as designed by the architects. from the inside. The area surrounding the building is accented Once that issue is resolved, basic construction begins and all decision-making processes are with shrubs, vines, and trees all in protected necessarily set in motion. Planning failures result planters. The main entrance to the building (Fig. 1) faces in additional costs that are not budgeted. Thus, all decisions have definite deadlines. There is no cost- the William Black Medical Research Building, which is diagonally across the 168th Street-Fort free escape from an established deadline. As soon as the decision was made to go ahead Washington intersection. This is near the
278
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2)April 1977
AUGUSTUS LONG HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY
FIG. 1.-South side of building is well landscaped. Circular windows admit light to both the lobby level and lower level one.
northwest corner of the Medical Center campus, though it is directly between the campus and the dormitories. All other buildings of the Medical Center are either physically attached one to the other or connected by tunnels to provide allweather access for patients, staff, and students. There was no possibility of providing a tunnel to the new building, because of the depth to which utilities and storm drains have been set in the streets. A bridge was designed to cross the intersection and connect with the Black Building. Though provision was made in the new building to accommodate the bridge, the one-million-dollar price tag obviated its immediate construction. It will likely be a monument to the generosity of some future donor. The building serves three distinct functions. First, it accommodates the health sciences library on two subgrade levels, the lobby, and the second floor. Though the third floor of the tower is constructed as library expansion space, floors three through seven constitute the Health Sciences Teaching Center. These floors include large and small auditoriums, multidisciplinary laboratories, and an audiovisual production service. The eighth floor is crammed with the airBull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2) April 1977
handling and utility distribution equipment for the lower building. Floors nine through eighteen are the laboratories and offices of the Cancer Research Center. The topmost level of the building is another utility and air-handling equipment floor, serving the needs of the upper building. THE LOBBY LEVEL
The entrance to the library is just off the main lobby of the building. (See Figs. 2-3.) This floor (19,000 square feet) is larger than the rest of the tower floors (13,400 square feet) and is designed to meet the most immediate needs of library users and to act as a distribution center, directing users to other areas appropriate to their needs. As one enters the library the following functions can be identified visually: the new book display area and lounge; the currently received unbound journals; the circulation/reserve desk; the information/reference desk; the card catalog; the reference collection; the elevator/circular stair complex for vertical transport to other areas; a twenty-four-hour study room; the security control desk; and a directory of people and services in the library. 279
C. LEE JONES
,.1.
aK..* i.4u.
R$' .fi
£
::. 'i. ..
_
