The Harvard College Library and Its Users, 1762-1764: Reassessing the Relevance of Colonial American College Libraries.

Harvard College library records reveal brief, regular periods of intense activity when seniors gained access, although loans tended not to be returned on time, withholding popular works from general use. Borrowers tended to favor more recent works and editions, especially those in English. Seniors' reading was eclectic, with works of history, science, biography, literature, philosophy, mathematics, and medicine represented in addition to theology. After the 1764 fire, a new 'common use' collection mandated for undergraduates better served readers' changing interests.