One Thousands 1960 Books for the Lower-Division College Library

T I S C O M P I L A T I O N of books published in 1960 is a continuation of similar lists for 1958 and 1959 of "750 Desirable Books" compiled by Robert T . Jordan.1 There are many problems in assembling a list of books of a single year in time for it to be fully useful and many problems in selecting books desirable for the majority of the undergraduate libraries. Outstanding among these difficulties is the fact that about the only item these libraries have in common is dissimilarity. Undergraduate libraries (these include two-year institutions, the junior colleges, and the community colleges) are different not only from state to state, but also from community to community. This is as it should be. Each institution and each library must serve its own needs, based upon the character of its enrollment, its curriculum, and the specific needs of its students, faculty, and community. The undergraduate years are the formative years, and the library must provide in breadth what it does not necessarily need in depth; however, the advanced student cannot be handicapped by a lack of advanced material. Increasing numbers of two-year college students now transfer to four-year colleges and universities, and they are more than holding their own academically with the native students of the institution. An undergraduate library low on quality and quantity of books is rendering a great disservice to the student and the community. This 1960 list was increased to a thousand titles to make the total of the 19581960 lists twenty-five hundred. It leaves