Seeking help to continue efforts to preserve millions of rotting books in the University library system, Harvard has asked the federal Department of Education for a $389,000 grant to microfilm books and periodicals.

Half the books in the University library will be endangered by the end of the century because of the acidity of the paper, according to library officials, and microfilming is the most cost-effective way to preserve deteriorated books.

Because of government cutbacks, Harvard expects to receive only a fraction of the $389,000 requested, according to Edwin Williams, a University consultant. Harvard received $200,000 for the microfilming project in 1978, but since then federal grants have steadily dropped to $75,000 last year, said project coordinator Kathleen A. Facos.

Tighten That Belt

Although Harvard has received the most money of any inststution from the grant so far--over $2 million in the past eight years--"The Department [of Education] is under pressure to spread the money around," Williams said.

The Department of Education will be notifying libraries in March of how much they will receive for the grant year, which begins in October 1986.

Williams said the microfilms which are made can be purchased by other libraries for a fraction of the cost of the filming. "We are really making these things available across the country," Williams said.

In addition to a general request for preservation of unique materials in the University library system, the proposal also includes requests from specific Harvard libraries. Among the more unusual requests: Langdell Library at the Law School wants $25,000 to microfilm the official law gazettes of Latin-American countries which date back to the 1800s, and the Harvard Archives in Pusey Library needs $100 to microfilm Harvard mathematical theses of the 18th century.