Decorah-posten og ved arnen., 1921-10-28

been rather insistent that absorption
Of one nation or racial element by
another must proceed slowly n
normally, especially if the element to
be absorbed has anything of value
to contribute to the greater composite
of which it is destined to form a part.
We, who know what the Scandinavian
peninsula has contributed already to
the up-building of the north half OF
France, to practically all the British
Islands, to the new Baltic States, and
to large sections of Germany, Russia,
and Poland, as also to the northern
and western part Of the United States,
we feel and believe that this particular
element of the New America, which
has founded and so far stood back OF
this institution, has something of
value to give, and it is for us to see
that the transition or TRANSMISSION is
not unduly FASTENED, and the opera
ton as a result reduced to failure.
But to return to my theme:-
Miner was, after a time, merged into
the college library, thus adding an
appreciable number of books in Bellies
lettres/ This and the gradual acqui-
sition Through gift and purchase of
some of the best works of Scandi-
navian writer's, particularly in Gtera-
ture and history, has resulted in n
of the best collections of books on
the north of Europe to be found any
where in America. How much had
| hAH a,1aI a1raadv nr,nr 20 the
purchase of the Bishop Bang Library
in 1914, the latter due to the gener-
osity of the late Mr.. Hauman Haugan,
a staunch friend of the College, and
the alert interest of an honored
alumnus, Mr.. Lauritz Swenson of
Minneapolis, then U. S. Minister to
Norway, has been a source of wonder
to me as l have examined the
duplicates from the Bang Library,
rejected because other copies were
already on hand.
We have then, in this building to-
day, the nucleus Of what l believe is
| destined to become the largest and
best collection Of books in northern
Iowa, and as far as books on the
Scandinavian north is concerned, and
also on those elements of our popu-
lation which look to the Scandinavian
peninsula, particularly the western
half, as the source from which they
have sprung, one of the leading COL
~lections in this country, and one
which must be reckoned with by all
future scholars and historians who
wish to study somewhat extensively
the land of our forefathers, or the
part played by Americans of Scandi-
navian extraction in the upbuilding
of this great country, and particularly
the west and the northwest.
1t may serve to emphasize and
illustrate what | have said, if / be
permitted for a moment to speak of
libraries and books from a more
general point of view. 1t has often
come home to me that many persons
who, from childhood, have used and
handled books, are quite ignorant of
the history of writing and printing,
of books and Libraries. Time will not
permit any survey, even a brief one,
of the great factors in civilization
here referred to-. 1t must be sufficient
if l state that since the invention of
printing in 1450, there have issued
from the various presses of the world
between 80 and 35,000,000 different
books, not counting contributions to
periodicals, to learned societies, or
similar serial publications. l know of
no library which can claim much over
100000 volumes, and there is no
library in America WHICH has as yet
reached the three million mark, or,
if separate independent books are
counted, not duplicates, the two
million mark. You will realize, there
fore, the utter futility of any attempt
on the part of any large institution to
collect under one roof the major por-
ton of what has actually been printed
or published. No wonder, therefore,
that ever the greatest national libra
ries of the world, such as the British
Museum in London, the Bibliotheque
Rationale at Paris, the Library of
Congress at Washington, are forced
to limit themselves to certain lines of
development. The British Museum
~endeavors to secure as full a repre-
sentation as possible of books printed
or published in Great Britain, and the
colonies, also selecting, as far as
means will permit, the more important
books published in other countries.
The Library of Congress does the
same for America. at any rate for the
United States. The best, therefore.
that can be hoped for from even the
largest library is to furnish four books
of every SO or IS which may possibly
be asked for. If this is the situation
confronting the great national libra
rles, how much more urgent that a
library like that of Luther College
should lay down definite and we'll
defined lines for its future develop
ment. Fortunately for the institution,
its late president, the present libra
rian, and faculty have all recognized
the desirability and necessity for such
action. and a definite library policy
may be said to have already been
adopted. If / were to outline its main
features, l should give them as
follows:
To secure as far as means will
permit:
/. The great books of general
literature, the books of power which
always have been and always will be
drawn upon in the upbuilding of
/ Dh ~l