A Michigan Daily article describing the papers of William Petty, 1st Marquis of Lansdown, 2nd Earl of Shelburne commented “Although the Clements Library will be available for study to graduate students only whose interest is mainly centered on historical research, the undergraduates are by no means excluded from its precincts. On the contrary, they are urged to inspect it.” However, in a later editorial piece in the same publication, Adams pushed back against criticisms of the library’s strict policies that only seasoned scholars had access to the rare books. He wrote: “The statement that the ‘student can’t quite get at the books’ is quite right—but it shows that there is a fundamental misconception of the purposes of the Library. Whoever makes that statement assumes that the books are intended for the ’students.’ Moreover, whoever makes that statement fails to understand that in the modern, overgrown university there are some of us who make a sharp distinction between ‘students’ and ‘scholars.’ This library is intended for the use of the scholars of the University of Michigan, be they faculty or undergraduates or graduate, but no one is likely to say that all the ‘students’ are ‘scholars.’ In fact, I am inclined to think, and this is only a personal opinion, that the great majority of the students are not scholars. The conclusion of their relationship to the library is inevitable.” Adams goes on to recall explaining to Clements when he was appointed director that he envisioned the role as one of “mediating between being careful and hospitable.” The editorial has since become notorious in debates about accessibility and archives.
