LIBRARY SERVICE TO THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, 1898 - 1979 (NEW YORK)

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the development of library service to the Columbia University School of Social Work, located at Columbia University in the City of New York. The study covers the period from 1898 to 1979. The beginning date marks the founding of the New York School of Philanthropy and the beginning of formal training for professional practice. The School was later known as the New York School of Social Work and ultimately became the Columbia University School of Social Work. The year 1979 represents the end of an era as the School's library acquired new, long awaited, permanent quarters.;Chapters IV to IX describe the School's mission and the library services supporting it in broad periods beginning with 1898-1912, a time when the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York began the first formal training program for social work and the Society's library served the School's information needs. The study continues with the merger of this library with others to form the Russell Sage Foundation Library, which also served as the School's library until 1949 when it was dismantled, and the School selected portions of it to establish the New York School of Social Work Library--the first library specifically designed to meet the needs of that institution's evolving programs. Chapter IX ends with the period 1976-1979, a point at which both School and library had become an integral part of Columbia University, and the library acquired new physical quarters. Chapter X, the final chapter, is a general summary.;The study includes statistical and other illustrative data on the development of library service to the School.;The first two chapters serve as background for the study. Chapter II is a historical overview covering the history and philosophy of social welfare in the United States, the evolution of social work as a profession, and education for social work. Chapter III is a brief review of the nature of social welfare libraries and role of the library in social work education.