To the Editor:
As an alumus and a member of the Friends of the Library executive board, I urge all alumni to make their views known on the elimination of Sanborn . Alumni who contribute to the "Friends of the Library" have a special interest in preserving the uniqueness of Dartmouth's library system, often contributing large sums of money for this purpose. Please speak up to save Sanborn.
With the possible elimination of Sanborn and Sherman we must ask what is an Ivy league education about? I can go anywhere and order a book over interlibrary loan from almost any location in the country. The speed, efficiency and popularity of interlibrary loan and digital collections potentially makes the size and depth of the modern, brick and mortar library irrelevant.
What makes Dartmouth special is not the number of sports teams or the social space. What makes Dartmouth special is intellectual space, those places that create a unique environment for learning. I would place Sanborn at the center of this intellectual space. Dartmouth is not a social club, nor is it yet another point on a nameless web of "information sources." Dartmouth is a place where one is supposed to read, interact and live within an intellectual environment.
It was this sort of environment that made me want to learn, that made study an enjoyable experience, it is the intellectual space of Dartmouth that partially explains why I am currently doing a research Fulbright grant in Morocco instead of sitting in a cubicle.
Alumni who have similar memories and don't want them to disappear for future generations, speak up, and speak up with your pocketbooks.
