As reference librarians, we are schooled in the philosophy that information should be freely available to all. Equal access to information is an important component of a democratic society, and a value we are taught to embrace. How then do we confront the conflict presented in a centrally located, private university in an urban setting in which our own users, the University's faculty and students, are indistinguishable from a sea of non-affiliated users, all needing "information," but competing for our resources, both staff and materials? These conflicts may be more obvious at our particular Reference desks, but our situations are not that unique. Reference librarians everywhere are forced to make decisions daily about whom to serve and how much service to provide.In keeping with the general philosophy of free information most university libraries, whether public or private, retain open access for use of their collections on-site. At George Washington University(GW) and Georgetown University(GU) access to the buildings and main collections are unrestricted. George Washington, for security reasons, does check user identification at the door, but almost noone is denied admittance. Restrictions apply to such services as circulation, use of reserve and media resources, but these are relatively easily controlled since presentation of a University or otherwise authorized identification card is necessary to complete a transaction.Reference service is another maner, especially extensive reference service. Neither library feels that it has the human resources to Ms.

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