Books on loan, permanently

College junior Matt Carey recalls a history paper last year on which his entire class got an extension.

The reason his professor gave, Carey says, was because of unforeseen circumstances -- the books the professor had put on reserve were missing.

The professor e-mailed the class and was eventually able to locate and return the books to the Rosengarten Reserve section at the Van Pelt Library. Carey turned in the paper, but he and his classmates were not alone in their predicament.

With books sometimes on reserve for classes as large as 400 students, ensuring that the reserve materials are available can be a challenge, particularly before major assignments or exams.

Some professors even threaten to fail students who may be inclined to hoard coveted texts.

Art History professor Ann Kuttner, for example, takes stealing library materials so seriously that she says on her course syllabus that she reserves the right to fail students who do so.

But library officials are confident that the situation can be managed.

Rosengarten Reserve head Paul Farber said that Rosengarten's system -- where students have access to the books in the reserve system at any time -- is set up to accommodate as many students as conveniently as possible.

He said that, inevitably, there are times when the books are on such high demand that students are not able to access them when they need them.

When books are in particularly high demand, Farber added, teachers are able to place them behind the reserve desk so students can check them out only for three-hour time blocks.

However, even with the high demand for books, Farber said that out of more than 7,000 books on reserve, only an average of 20 to 30 are missing at the end of the year.

Marjorie Hassen, assistant director of research and instructional services at Van Pelt, said that sometimes, the missing books are "squirreled ... away somewhere" or mis-shelved.

However, not all professors have experienced problems with putting their books on reserve.

History professor Mike Zukerman said he frequently puts material on reserve and, in his 40 years of teaching at Penn, has never heard of any of his books not being available for students.

Though History professor Ann Moyer has not encountered any problems with the reserve system, she tries to avoid putting books on reserve in general -- particularly if the entire class needs to read it.

"If you put a book on reserve for a class of 30 people, you're not serious about having people actually read the book," she said.

However many disappear, though, Hassen said that eventually, most books return to their home in the Rosengarten reserve.

"Every once in a while, the circulation department gets a package with a book [and a note that says], 'Dear library, I've had this out since 1965, and I hope to clear my conscience,'" she said.

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