College students borrowing books then and now

DIY book lending station at Calvin University's Hekman Library

Until sometime in the 1970s library books had to be recorded on the card located inside the cover of the book before the borrower could take it outside the library. Often they took out several books at a time, so the process of stamping the due date and recording the borrower's identifying information took time and effort. Those marked cards then had to be filed so that upon return the book could be reunited with its own card. This was manual labor in the most literal meaning and required many trained student workers. 

     The next stage was to use computer punch cards so the checkout desk could insert the book's punch card into the dedicated machine that recorded the time and date of borrowing, while pairing this with the borrower's campus details. The due date was still stamped in the back of the book for quick reference by the reader to come back for renewal or to return it for circulation to other borrowers.

     After that bar codes were added to the punch cards for optical reading and registration of the book to the borrower. When the book came back to the library then its barcode could be scanned optically with something very much like the one in the photograph, above. In this way the book(s) could be tied to the borrower's ID barcode with just a blink of the light in the scanner beam. And reminders of approaching due date could be emailed to the borrower. As well, the borrower could renew the book electronically (no need to present it at the checkout desk) - if no other borrower was waiting for it.  

     Fast-forward to the February 2025 photo, above. The old ideas continue: build library collections of physical books, lend them to people with library cards, track the book's return (and its condition), and track down any books not returned in a timely way. What is different in this photo is the self-checkout station. Gone are the student hourly employees to receive the book returns and reinsert the correct lending card in the jacket. Gone are the student workers to check out the book. Of course, the books still need to be sorted for efficient reshelving by human hands. But much of the accountability and tracking now is digital and relies on borrower honesty; although, probably there are video surveillance recordings in case anybody seeks evidence of a particular book exiting the building without being scanned first.

     This photo not only shows the absence of library workers and the sign for "self-checkout computer." But also the picture shows the card catalog underneath the countertop. Each title in the collections has a typed card that corresponds to the book or pamphlet. Since a person used to be able to search by author, by title, and by call number, each title must have been filed in several different ways. Since there are unpublished documents like sermons for the campus seminary program, perhaps the old catalog is still in use for certain collections. But probably anything written since 2000 or 1990 is searchable by electronic records, instead.

All in all the photo seems to sum up the present moment in the relationship between college students and the library collections intended for their use. Some content is online instead or in addition to the printed volumes. As a result there are some students who prefer to engage with ideas on their phone, tablet, or personal computer. Others search online for notes and summaries that others have already done, thus offering a predigested impression of the title. And since 2023 the average person has access to a certain amount of Artificial Intelligence bandwidth (search time use) to produce summaries on demand. The upshot is that fewer college students are used to wandering the open stacks in the catalog classification that fits their subject area. So the chance of serendipity to find an unknown and unbidden title is lost. And with less time spent in tactile experience of pages and indexes, college students are less comfortable with flipping around the chapters, skimming and scanning with their eye for keywords or passages that may suit their research interests. 

     The upshot is that fewer books go home with students. Fewer ever leave the shelves for reading while standing or briefly at one of the study tables. Perhaps the old and new books have each other for company, but without the touch of warm human hands, they must still be feeling a bit neglected.