> the shelves were being cleared to make space—not for more books but for space itself. ... The new library has four floors. Two of them feature books

Despite the frenzy of building at most American universities, the library is forced to serve dual purpose as space for study and collaboration as well as repository of printed material. The collection is not managed on merely its own merits, but subordinated to the other, competing demands even on its 'home' turf.