Library to house 10 million books by summer 

The Bancroft Library, which already houses some impressive collections like the Mark Twain Papers, is nearing another landmark achievement. The Contra Costa Times has an article on the search for what possibly could be the 10 millionth book in Berkeley's collection.

UC Berkeley will become the fourth U.S. university -- and the second public university -- to boast a 10 million-volume library collection. Harvard, which has more than 15 million books, and Yale lead the pack, while the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has 10.2 million.

A Berkeley committee has started discussing which item will take the honors, even though the event is essentially ceremonial because librarians won't know exactly which volume will be their 10 millionth. The collection encompasses 24 campus libraries.

"It's a kind of rite of passage for a university library," said Michael Gorman, president-elect of the American Library Association and dean of library services at Fresno State. "You don't want it to be a Danielle Steel or something."

I certainly hope it's not Danielle Steel...

*Correction*: As some of you have pointed out, the Bancroft Library does not house 10 million books. The article refers to the books in the UC Berkeley collection.Email This Post!