ROBERT B. DOWNS The Role of the Academic , 1876-1976 .

,- ..0., IT IS DIFFICULT for university they were members of the teaching fac­ in 1976, with their multi-million volume ulty. The ordinary practice was to list collections, staffs in the hundreds, bud­ librarians with registrars, museum cu­ gets in millions of dollars, and monu­ rators, and other miscellaneous officers. mental buildings, to conceive of the Combination appointments were com­ minuscule beginnings of academic li­ mon, e.g., the librarian of the Univer­ braries a centur-y ago. Only two univer­ sity of California was a professor of sity in the nation, Harvard and English; at Princeton the librarian was Yale, held collections in ·excess of professor of Greek, and the assistant li­ 100,000 volumes, and no state university brarian was tutor in Greek; at Iowa possessed as many as 30,000 volumes. State University the librarian doubled As Edward Holley discovered in the as professor of Latin; and at the Uni­ preparation of the first article in the versity of · Minnesota the librarian present centennial series, professional li­ served also as president. brarHms to maintain, service, and devel­ Further examination of university op these extremely limited holdings catalogs for the last quarter of the nine­ were in similarly short supply.1 General­ teenth century, where no teaching duties ly, the staff was a one-man opera­ were assigned to the librarian, indicates tion-often not even on a full-time ba­ that there was a feeling, at least in some sis. Faculty members assigned to super­ institutions, that head librarians ought vise the library were also expected to to be grouped with the faculty. What the specific relationship should be, how­ teach courses in their fields of compe­ ever, was undetermined. By the begin­ tence. ning of the present century, modest ad­ EARLY VIEWS vances in the status of librarians were OF THE AcADEMIC LIBRARIAN evident. On the other hand, among eigh­ .. teen major universities checked, in no The idea of the college .and univer- instance did the librarian hold an aca­ -+- sity librarian being accepted and recog­ demic title as librarian per se. nized as a bona-fide member of the aca­ The librarian as educator received demic community still lay in the future. some support in the famous 1876 Unit­ A representative sampling of university ed States Bureau of Education's special catalogs during the 1870s reveals that report Public Libraries in the United none of these institutions conferred States of America. F. B. Perkins and .academic titles on their librarians unless William Mathews proposed the creation I 491 492 I College & Research Libraries • November 1976 of "professorships of books and read­ ficers; and, finally, at Yale the librarian ing" to guide students through the and assistant librarian were under the mazes of what even then was regarded heading of "Faculty and Instructors," as a bibliographical explosion. The in­ without titles, while the remainder of struction recommended would be pri­ the library staff were with "Other Offi­ marily for the acquisition of knowl­ cers" at the end of the faculty list. edge, "the scientific use of books," i.e., Thus, there was little consistency sev­ sound methodology, and for . "literary enty-five years ago in the classification production." A chair of books and read­ of library staff members among the na­ ing, it was suggested, might be filled by tion's universities. The sampling tech­ "an accomplished librarian."2 The first nique, however, finds a definite trend in library school was still eleven years the direction of rating the chief librar­ away. ian as faculty, despite the fact that no By the year 1900, we find that Brown breakthrough had been made toward University was listing the librarian, as­ conferring formal academic titles or sistant librarian, and four library staff ranks on them. Other than the head li­ members with "Officers of Administra­ brarian and one or two top associates, tion and Instruction"; California at it is obvious that professional library Berkeley included the librarian in the staff members lacked any definite place ,.t. Academic Senate, but without academic in the educational hierarchy. rank, while the remainder of the library Voices crying in the wilderness were ~ staff appeared under "Assistants and trying to make themselves heard at an .. Other Officers"; the University of Chi­ early date. H. A. Sawtelle, writing on cago recognized the librarian by making college librarianship, in 1878, states: him a member of the University Senate Time was when if a college librarian and University Council; at Columbia, cataloged and placed his books and for the librarian was among "Officers of half an hour twice a week charged the Administration"; Cornell listed the li­ borrowed volumes and checked the re­ brarian and his staff under "Officers of turned ones, he had sufficiently dis­ Instruction and Administration"; Har­ charged his duty. But it has come to be vard did the same. understood that it becomes him to be At Illinois, the librarian was a mem­ daily ready to be consulted in rela- ber of the Senate and Council and a tion to any book or ~ubject, to converse professor, but by virtue of being direc­ freely with the students in regard to their reading, inspiring their literary in­ tor also of the library school, while oth­ terest, guiding their taste, bringing to er librarians were listed with "Labora­ their attention the right kind of appe­ tory and Other Assistants"; Indiana tizing works, and if needful gently lead­ used the heading of "Library Officers," ing on the reader from light and tasty following the listing of "Faculty"; at books to those of high quality and per­ the librarian was one of "Oth­ manent utility. To us nothing in the er Officers"; included life of the college student seems to be him among "Officers of Administra­ of greater importance than just this in­ tion"; Northwestern's heading of "Offi­ spiration and guidance. But all this is time consuming and requires no small cers of Instruction and Government" amount of understanding and skill.a included the librarian; Pennsylvania named its librarian and assistant librari­ The writer concluded that such col­ an under "Administrative Officers"; lege librarianship as he described Texas and Wisconsin grouped the li­ "ought not to be annexed to a profes­ brarians and their staff together follow­ sorship, but be itself a professorship." ing the listing of faculty and other of- As early as 1891, President Daniel Academic Librarian I 493

Coit Gilman of Johns Hopkins Univer­ at Columbia and· given permission to sity, himself a former librarian, assert­ open a new school. Every possible road­ ed that "the librarian's office should block, however, was placed in the way: rank with that of professor .... The no money, no faculty, no equipment, profession of librarian should be dis­ no space, and Dewey was directed not tinctly .recognized. Men and women to admit women, who at the time were should be encouraged to enter it, should banned from Columbia. "' be trained to discharge its duties, and The School of Library Economy should be rewarded, promoted, and hon­ opehed officially on January 5, 1887, ored in proportion to the services they with an enrollment of twenty students render."4 -three men and seventeen women, from which ~ight be marked the be­ TRAINING FOR LIBRARIANSIDP ginning of the feminization of the li­ The matter of training for librarian­ brary profession. Immediately, stormy ship, mentioned by Gilman, was in its weather was encountered. Dewey was de­ infancy at the time that he was writing. termined to accept women students, and The pioneer institution in the field was, the Columbia trustees were equally ada­ of course, 's School of Li­ mant against the institution's becoming brary Economy at , coeducational. which began instruction in 1887. The Thus acting in direct violation of the establishment of such a school had been explicit orders of the trustees of the in Dewey's mind for at least a decade, college, Dewey sef the course for a head­ but he had found little enthusiasm for on collision. Almost exactly two years it among his most influential profession­ after the opening of the library school, al colleagues. Their point of view is he was forced to resign as Columbia's represented in a critical statement from librarian. But Dewey was not unem­ William F. Poole, compiler .of Poole's ployed for long. He moved to Albany Index to Periodical Literature, who to become State Librarian, commented: "I have entertained the taking the school with him and estab­ idea that practical work in a library, lishing it as the New York State Library based on a good previous education in School, which was for more than thirty­ the schools, was the only proper way to five years thereafter the leading Amer­ train good librarians."5 ican school for librarians. Another dominant figure in the Amer­ The School · of Library Economy at ican library world, , Har­ Columbia and other early library vard University librarian, also adhered schools, following Melvil Dewey's lead­ to the view .that practical experience in ership, were heavily weighted on the a well-organized library was the best practical side, emphasizing perfection preparation for librarianship, and John in technical details and preparing stu­ Shaw Billings, later director of the New dents to step directly into the manage­ York , spoke emphatical­ ment of library routines. In many of ly against the proposal to create a school their aspects, the programs res em bled an to teach librarianship. apprentice system. This fact doubtless Nevertheless, despite discouragements, militated against academic recognition Dewey persisted. In 1883 he persuaded of college and university librarians. the American Library Association con­ They were regarded by their faculty ference, meeting in Buffalo, to endorse colleagues as technicians, rather than an experimental program, though there scholars. On the other hand, Louis R. were dissenting voices. In· the same year, Wilson, in discussing the first school at Dewey was appointed college librarian Columbia pointed out that "even 494 I College & Research Libraries • November 1976

though the curriculum was severely fessor of History, Bryn Mawr and Uni­ practical and limited, it was developed versity of Pennsylvania. systematically, and afforded the student John C. French, Johns Hopkins Uni­ · an opportunity of mastering in a mini­ versity. A.B., Johns Hopkins; Ph.D., mum of time the various subjects em­ Harvard; on English faculty, Johns braced in the curriculum and of seeing Hopkins. them through an over-all and unified ]ames T. Gerould, Princeton Univer­ perspective impossible through appren­ sity. A.B., Dartmouth; Assistant Librari­ ticeship in a single library. To this de­ an, General Theological Seminary; Li­ cision, more tha:J;I to any other one brarian, University of Missouri and thing, may be attributed America's ac­ University of Minnesota. knowledged leadership in the field of , . Stu­ modern library procedures."6 dent, Durham College of Science, New­ castle-Upon-Tyne, ; M.A., Yale; PREPARATION OF LEADING Reference Librarian, Newcastle-Upon­ UNIVERSITY LmRARIANS Tyne Public Library; Librarian, Linon­ ,4 What kinds of preparation did Amer­ ian and Brothers Library, Yale. ica's leading university librarians bring Otto Kinkeldey, Cornell University. to their positions in an earlier era? A.B., City College of New York; A.M., There is no common pattern, except New York University; student at Colum­ that a majority lacked professional bia, University of Berlin, and Institut training in librarianship. T.be records fiir Kirchenmusik, Berlin; Professor of were examined for twenty individuals Music in various institutions; Chief, who rose to prominent posts after 1900, Music Division, New· York Public Li­ with the following results: brary. , University Theodore W. Koch, Northwestern of , A.B. and A.M., University University. A.B., Pennsylvania; A.M., of Michigan; Fellow, American School . Harvard; student, University of Paris of Classical Studies, Rome; Professor and College de France; on Library of of Greek, Missouri Wesleyan College; Congress staff; Librarian, University of Instructor in New Testament, Garrett Michigan. Biblical Institute; Librarian and In­ Harold L. Leupp, University of Cali­ structor in Latin, Polytechnic Institute fornia (Berkeley). A.B., Cornell; stu­ of Brooklyn; on staffs, Princeton Uni­ dent, New York State Library School; J versity and . on staff of John Crerar Library and Harry Clemons, University of Virgin­ University of . ia. A.B., Wesleyan University; M.A., Earl N. Manchester, Ohio State Uni­ Princeton; student at Oxford Universi­ versity. A.B., Brown University; student, ty; Professor of English, Nanking Uni­ New York State Library School; on versity, China; Instructor in English, staffs of Brown and University of Chi­ Princeton; on staff of Library of Con­ cago Libraries; Librarian, Unive·rsity of gress. Kansas. Archibald C. Coolidge, Harvard Uni­ M. Llewellyn Raney, University of versity. A.B., Harvard; student at Uni­ Chicago. Educated at Centre College, 1 versity of Berlin; Ph.D., Ecole des Sci­ Kentucky; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins; Li­ ences Politiques, Paris; diplomatic ser­ brarian, Johns Hopkins. vice; Professor of History, Harvard. Ernest C. Richardson, Princeton Uni­ Charles W. David, University of versity. A.B., Amherst; A.M. and Ph.D., Pennsylvania. B.A., Oxford; M.A., Wis­ Washington and Jefferson; graduate, consin; Ph.D., Harvard (history); Pro- Hartford Theological Seminary; Assis- Academic Librarian I 495 tant Librarian, Amherst; Librarian, Washington, speaking at the ALA con­ Hartford Theological Seminary. ference in Pasadena in 1911, after de­ Charles W. Smith, University of fending the training and scholarly Washington. A.B. and B.L.S., University nature of the work of scholarly librari­ of Illinois; Assistant and Associate Li­ ans, declared: brarian, University of Washington. With such preparation and such rela­ Nat han Van Patten, Stanford U niver­ tionship to the educational process I sity. Educated at Union Classical In­ shall claim that the library staff must stitute; Reference Librarian, M.I.T.; rank with the faculty dr teaching staff Librarian, Queen's University, Canada. of any department. The librarian or Frank K. Walters, University of Min­ head of the staff should have the rank nesota. A.B. and M.A., Haverford; and pay of a professor; the assistant li­ B.L.S. and M.L.S., New York State Li­ brarian . . . should be accorded the rank and pay of an associate professor; brary School; ·Assistant in English and and the other members of the staff that German, Haverford; Librarian, Gen­ of assistant professor or instructor, this eral Motors Corporation. to be determined by the nature of the Charles C. Williamson, Columbia work, the preparation and particular University. A.B., Western Reserve; ability required; and those not fitted to Ph.D., Columbia; Librarian, Municipal nk should not be members of the Reference Library, New York; Chief but some other name should be of Economics Division, New York Pub­ p ed. 7 lic Library. Henry's goal had not been achieved Louis R. Wilson, University of North at the University of Washington at the Carolina. Student, Haverford; A.B., time of his address. The librarian and A.M., and Ph.D. (English), University five members of his staff were grouped of North Carolina. under "Library Staff," without academic Phineas L. Windsor, University of Il­ titles, near the end of the section on linois. Ph.B., Northwestern; student, "Faculty and Officers." According to re­ New York State Library School; on staff turns from questionnaires sent by Hen­ of Library of Congress; Librarian, Uni­ ry to sixteen college and university li­ versity of Texas. braries across the country, however, he Malcolm G. Wyer, University of Den­ reported, "it appears that the librarian ver. A.B., Minnesota; B.L.S., New York usually has the rank of a professor. Be­ State Library School; Librarian, Denver low the librarian all sorts of conditions Public Library; Dean, University of prevail."8 Denver Library School. An important step forward was taken Thus of the total group of twenty~ in the same year, 1911, by the Columbia only six had graduate study in library University trustees, who ruled: "The li­ science. The strong hold of the Albany brarian 'shall have the rank of profes­ school is indicated by the fact that all sor, the assistant librarian that of asso­ except one of the six held degrees from ciate professor and the supervisors shall or had been students at the New York rank as assistant professors and bibli­ State Library School. ographers as instructors." President Nicholas Murray Butler held that the EARLy STIRRINGS FOR RECOGNITION library was coordinate with the various Enlightened librarians realized that professional schools and main depart­ they ought to have clearly defined status, ments of the university, the librarian as is revealed by stirrings in the profes­ ranking as a dean, and various members sion early in the present century. W. E. of the professional staff standing in Henry, librarian of the University of parallel order with professors, assistant 496 I College & Research Libraries • November 1976 professors, and instructors of the other granting them opportunities for ad­ faculties. From it vancement." Jennings w.as inclined to was reported that "librarians and .assis­ blame this state of affairs on the head tant librarians" were eligible to partici­ librarians who were not sufficiently en­ pate in the faculty retirement system. ergetic in encouraging and assisting ju­ A few years later, E. C. Richardson, nior stafF members to improve their edu­ noted librarian of Princeton University, cational and professional preparation as reviewed the place of the library in a junior members of the teaching faculty university and concluded that its posi­ were expected to do. 11 tion would be determined by the effec­ The same conclusion was reached by tiveness with which its teaching func­ another reference librarian, Edith M. tion was discharged. Richardson pointed Coulter, of the University of Califor­ out that the growth of research work, nia, writing in 1922. Even the chief li­ the advent of the research professor, brarian, she points out, lacked certain and the establishment of library schools privileges customarily belonging to the had brought librarians "into the circle teaching faculty, such as extended va­ of the teaching faculties."9 cations, leaves of absence, and sabbat­ At approximately the same time a icals for advanced study and research. strong statement from W. N. C. Carl­ Proper recognition would come to li­ ton, librarian, Newberry Library, object­ brarians, Miss Coulter held, if they par­ ed to the fact t:P,at in some institutions ticipated more actively in teaching, e.g., "the librarian is not granted a seat and bibliographic instruction to university vote in the faculty. This," the writer students, if the programs of library went on, "is a viciously bad practice. Its schools were standardized, more doctoral evils are too patent to need illustration. degrees were held by librarians, require­ If a m.an is not qualified for the duty ments for appointments to university and responsibility of sharing in the de­ library staffs were raised, professional bates, consideration and decisions re­ and clerical duties were differentiated, lating to general university policy and and more study and research were done administration, he ought not to be ap-: by librarians. Miss Coulter displayed re­ pointed librarian, whatever his technical markable foresight in urging .a doctoral qualifications may be."lo program in several years A subordinate staff member was heard before the establishment of the Grad­ from nearly sixty years ago when J. T. uate Library School at the University of Jennings, then reference librarian of Chicago.12 Iowa State College, wrote on "Librarian­ The first full exploration of the ship as a Profession in College and Uni­ status of professional librarians w.as un­ versity Libraries." Jennings was con­ dertaken by George A. Works, in his vinced that the chief librarian's position College and University Library Prob­ in most college and university communi­ lems, based on data collected 'in 1925. ties had become well established "in dig­ Works reviewed types of library work, nity, in importance, in salary," ranking factors affecting 'the status of a library as the head of one of the most impor~ staff, current conditions, the relative tant departments. "But what about the preparation of library and teaching remainder of the staff?" he asked. staffs, comparative salaries, work sched­ "With the exception of a possible as­ ules, and retirement provisions. Among sistant librarian they are usually con­ the important conclusions were these: sidered 'mere clerks,' as is shown by 1. Insufficient distinction was made in their salaries, their hours of work, and libraries between cleri~al .and pro­ the attitude of their superiors toward fessional types of . service, but Academic Librarian I 497

there were a number of positions scholarly interests and tastes which are in every large library whose re­ expected of other members of the fac­ quirements in professional educa­ ulty. He should be given faculty status tion and experience were compa­ and should participate in all the com­ rable with the requirements for mittee and other discussions incidental positions in the various grades in to that status." In harmony with this the teaching staff. proposal, the writer added that the 2. Among the seventeen institutions library "should be treated not as an studied, wide differences were ancillary enterprise but as one of the found, varying from those in central sources of motive power for the which librarians held faculty rank operation of the institution."14 to others in which the library staff, except the librarian and perhaps ADVANCED EDUCATION one or two other individuals, were The establishment of the University classified as clerical. of Chicago's Graduate Library School 3. In some universities, e.g., Columbia in 1928 was a revolutionary develop­ and Stanford, librarians were ment-the first and for some years the granted equivalent status, but not only school to offer a doctor's degree in considered members of the instruc­ librarianship. The objective, as stated tional staff. by Frederick Keppel, president of the 4. Except for the head librarian, sal­ Carnegie Foundation, whose generous aries for the library staff were gen­ endowment made the new school pos­ erally lower than those of compa­ sible, was to create "a graduate library rable members of the faculty. school of a new type which could oc­ 5. The academic preparation of fac­ cupy for the library profession a posi­ ulty members of all professorial tion analogous to that of the Harvard ranks was more advanced than that Law School or the Johns Hopkins Med­ of library department heads. ical School."15 6. No account was taken of the fact The faculty of the Graduate Library that annual periods of service were School was drawn mainly from disci­ ordinarily longer for members of plines other than librarianship. All the library staff than for the teach­ members held doctoral degrees in special ing staff. subject fields, such as education, history, 7. Retirement provisions varied-sev­ psychology, and sociology. They had lit­ en institutions had no allowance tle or no background in library school for faculty or librarians; six had teaching, but were extensively trained the same retirement arrangements in scientific methods of graduate study [~ for both groups, .and three had and research. A program of advanced different arrangements for faculty study, investigation, and publication and librarians.13 was set up. The students were expected A decade later an outstanding uni­ to develop a critical, scientific attitude, versity president, Henry M. Wriston, and were taught to question generally whose ideas have had considerable im­ accepted notions, to work out experi­ pact on service, set mental techniques for solving problems, forth his concept of the proper rela­ and to base their findings on thorough tionships between the college librarian examination and testing. The graduate­ and the teaching staff. His conclusion professional curriculum developed for was that "the libraria!l despite his ad­ the school greatly influenced the pro­ ministrative duties is primarily an offi­ grams of other library schools, the ef­ cer of instruction. He should have the fect being, as expressed by Louis R. 498 1 College & Research Libraries • November 1976

Wilson, the school's dean from 1932 to CuRRENT PosiTIONS ON FACULTY STATUS 1942, "to jar the profession out of its Academic or faculty status has been prolonged devotion to the practical tech­ a long-time goal of librarians in institu­ niques set up by Dewey." The school's tions of higher education, as noted ear­ philosophy was spread at home and lier. During the past forty years, the lit­ abroad by its alumni who became prom­ erature relating to questions of status inently engaged in library administra­ has proliferated. Two collections of the tion, education, and related fields. numerous articles on the subject were Among the graduates of the Graduate assembled in The Status of American Library School who went on to direct College and University Librarians important university and other research ( 1958), edited by Robert B. Downs and libraries or became leading library edu­ The Case for Faculty Status for Aca­ cators were: Lewis Branscomb (Ohio demic Librarians ( 1970), edited by State), John Cory (New York Public Li­ Lewis C. Branscomb, both published by brary), Andrew Eaton (Washington the American Library Association. University), Ralph Ellsworth (Colo­ The trend throughout the U.S. and rado), Herman Fussier (Chicago), Her­ Canada, especially in public colleges and bert Gold:Qor (Illinois), Herman Hen­ universities, has for some time . been kle (John Crerar), Richard Logsdon running strongly in the direction of (Columbia), Arthur McAnally ( Okla­ full academic status for librarians. homa), Stephen McCarthy (Cornell), With few exceptions, professional li­ Stanley McElderry (Chicago), Lowell brarians in university members of the Marti:r~ (Columbia), LeRoy Merritt Association of Research Libraries have (Oregon), Robert Miller (Indiana),· academic or faculty standing. The ex­ Ralph Parker (Missouri), Benjamin ceptions are principally in the long-es­ Powell (Duke), Flint Purdy (Wayne), tablished private universities. Among Ralph Shaw (Rutgers), Donald Smith the states to which the nation has cus­ (Washington State), Edward Stanford tomarily looked for educational leader­ (Minnesota), Raynard Swank (Stan­ ship, California is most backward in ford), and ( Colum­ this respect. ~n neither the University bia). of California nor the California State For some years after the opening of University and Colleges are librarians the Graduate Library School, consider­ recognized as faculty members. In the able skepticism prevailed in the profes­ state of Illinois, by contrast, all of the sion about the value and need of the state senior colleges and universities doctorate in librarianship. That attitude have granted faculty status to their pro­ gradually changed, especially in academ­ fessional librarians. The publicly-sup­ ic institutions, where a doctor's degree ported institutions in frequently has been a requirement for and State have followed the same pat­ appointment to higher positions. Some tern. Prerogatives which have customar­ seventeen American library schools are ily followed such recognition include presently offering the Ph.D. or the tenure, rank, voting rights, retirement D.L.S. degree in library science. benefits, group insurance, and generally The emphasis on graduate study and sabbatical and study leaves. degrees in professional library schools Objections to faculty status for li­ has played a significant role in improv­ brarians on the part of college and uni­ ing the status of college and university versity administrators have been most librarians, helping to gain recognition often voiced on the ground that they for librarianship as an established pro­ are academically unqualified. Some fession. fields have, of course, tended to empha- Academic Librarian I 499

size the doctorate more than others. In tutions granting full academic standing the past, librarians have been in the to their librarians.I7 company of engineers, architects, law­ yers, artists, musicians, and certain oth­ RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION er groups who belong to the college or A generally accepted criterion for J. university community, but who have measuring any profession is its mem­ customarily followed different patterns bers' contributions to research and pub­ of training. The situation in the library lished literature in their field. Librarian­ field is gradually changing, as previously ship, being a book-oriented profession, indicated, as more and more schools of­ would naturally be expected to be pro­ fer the doctorate in library science. ductive of professional writings. There Combination masters degrees in library are, of course, wide individual varia­ science and a subject fiel~ may in some tions; librarians with outstanding repu­ instances be accepted as equivalents to tations seldom wrote anything, even an the doctorate, e.g., in the City Universi­ occasional article, while others have had ty of New York. a prolific output. In any case, academic librarians have Among early authors, beginning with come to see merit in the contention that 1876, Justin Winsor published extensive­ librarians should establish their place ly, though mainly in the field of history in the academic world by proper prep­ rather than library science. Melvil Dew­ aration. Like the teaching profession, ey's and 's major librarianship has become a career for contributions were on library classifica­ specialists with diverse requirements. tion. Two of their contemporaries, J o­ The criteria normally considered for sephus Nelson Larned and Reuben faculty promotions, it is agreed, should Gold Thwaites, both presidents of the be applied to librarians: . professional American Library Association, are re­ writing and publication, research in li­ membered as historians, instead of as brary science and related fields, partici­ librarians. pation in the activities of professional Not until the twentieth century were associations, bibliographical instruction there any very significant additions to to students at all levels, and aid to indi­ library literature.. Solid contributions ' vidual faculty research. Another essen­ then began to come from such writers tial is strict separation of professional as , Ernest Cushing and nonprofessional activities. It has Richardson, Arthur E. Bostwick, James been demonstrated that two-thirds or I. Wyer, William Warner Bishop, and more of the work in an academic li­ Harry Miller Lydenberg. Over the past brary can be done successfully and eco­ forty years, the publication rate has nomically by nonprofessional person­ vastly accelerated, as an examination of neJ.I6 the record, Library Literature, reveals. In 1971 the Association of College Certain names stand out: Louis Round and Research Libraries, the Association Wilson, Ralph R. Shaw, Guy R. Lyle, of American Colleges, and the Ameri­ Lawrence S. Thompson, Lawrence Clark can Association of University Profes­ Powell, Louis Shores, A. F. Kuhlman, sors adopted a "Joint Statement on Fac­ Keyes D. Metcalf, Ralph E. Ellsworth, ulty Status of College and University Carl M. White, J. Periam Danton, Jer­ Librarians," with the aim of establish­ rold Orne, Julian Boyd, , ing standards in ·this area. The docu­ Robert Vosper, and William Ready. ment was widely distributed and is ex­ pected to exert a favorable influence on pARTICIPATION IN AsSOCIATIONS efforts to expand the number of insti- Another criterion for determining the 500 I College & Research Libraries • November 1976 character of a profession is participa­ Since World W .ar II, the influence of tion in organizations for the advance­ American librarianship has spread over ment of the field. College and universi­ the world. American advisors and con- If ty librarians in the have sultants have gone abroad in increasing played active roles in the American Li­ numbers to aid in the establishment of brary Association since its establishment national libraries, to create and teach in ,.L a century ago. Among the university and library schools, to organize or reorga- college librarians who have served as nize university libraries, and to take part ALA presidents are Justin Winsor, Er­ in international library conferences. A 1- I nest Cushing Richardson, William War­ list of U.S. academic librarians who ner Bishop, Azariah S. Root, Andrew have participated in such activities Keogh, , Charles would represent virtually all the leading Harvey Brown, Keyes D. Metcalf, Er­ institutions of the nation. rett W. McDiarmid, Robert B. Downs, Flora Belle Ludington, Benjamin E. CHANGING RoLES IN AcADEMic LIBRARIES Powell, Frederick H. Wagman, Robert Much attention in recent years has "' Vosper, William S. Dix, and Edward G. been focused on the changing nature of Holley. Their efforts were of signal im­ the university librarian's position. An portance in creating the largest and article by Arthur M. McAnally and .-4. most prestigious of national library as­ Robert B. Downs in 1973 summarized sociations. various facets of that phenomenon.18 Other professional associations have The study revealed that the head li- • also felt the influence of university li­ brarian's post, which had been highly brarians, notably the Association nf Re­ stable in the past, was experiencing a search Libraries, the institutional mem­ rapid turnover. Important factors at the bership of which has from the begin­ root of this problem, it was pointed out, ning been composed principally of were growth in student enrollment, ~ university libraries. Eighty-three of the changes in the world of learning and re­ ninety-four members of the ARL, as of search, the information ~nd publication 1975, were university libraries. Execu­ explosion, tight budgets and inflation, ,. tive secretaries or directors since the new technologies, changing theories of ARL's founding in 1932 have included management, staff unions, and growing a number of leading university librari­ control by state boards. Internally, fric- ~ + ans: Donald B. Gilchrist (Rochester), tion with the president's office, faculty Keyes D. Metcalf (Harvard), Charles criticisms, staff and student pressures ~· W. David (Pennsylvania), Robert A. played a part in making the library di- . L· ~~ Miller (Indiana), William S. Dix rector's position untenable. In the back- (Princeton), Stephen A. McCarthy ground, the chief causes of these grow- (Cornell), James E. Skipper ( Califor­ ing problems were the library's declin- nia), and John McDonald ( Connecti­ ing ability to meet needs, lack of goals cut). Resources and materials for re­ and planning, an inability to accommo- search have been at the center of the date quickly to educational changes, a ARL's attention, and it has had a decline in the director's sfatus, and in- ':-t profound impact in such areas as bib­ adequate. financial support. The direc- ,, liographic control, international coop­ tor was blamed for failure to make • eration in acquisition and cataloging maximum use of modern computers \4- programs, microreproduction projects, and other forms of technology. Staff· de­ preservation of research materials, and mands for a greater voice in decision administrative problems of research making and administration have out- · 1-­ libraries. moded the traditional hierarchical .and Academic Librarian I 501

authoritative style of library manage­ that Lowell never spoke to Coolidge ment. again. In a report prepared for the • Further complications in the lives of AA U Commission on Financing Higher all academic administrators, including E-ducation, about twenty-five years ago, library directors, are found in the John D . .Millett, later president of Mi­ J guidelines laid down by the Department ami University, recited some of the of Health, Education, and Welfare, in complaints against university librarians. return for federal financial aid. Most University presidents around the coun­ troublesome is the Affirmative Action try accused their librarians of over­ Program for Equal Employment Oppor­ emphasizing the size of their collections, tunity, which has set up numerous reg­ the number of staff members, and total ulations to bring about racial and sex­ expenditures, of filling their shelves ual balance in college and university with obsolete material, and paying lit­ staff and faculty appointments. Some tle attention to economy of operation.2° of the consequences, as they relate to in­ It is readily apparent that academic stitutions of higher education, were librarianship in America, and doubtless graphically described recently in an ar­ elsewhere, is in a state of evolution. For ticle for the AAUP Bulletin, by Mal­ some individuals directly involved, there colm J. Sherman.19 may be traumatic experiences in store, Academic library directors tend to and the shape of the future can only think of their difficulties as a new phe- be dimly perceived. A successful aca­ ~ nom.enon, and remember nostalgically demic library director operating under the golden era from the end of World today's conditions requires flexibility War II to the end of the 1960s. Public and adaptability, willingness to accept i·elations problems appear, however, to change, a stable and equable tempera­ date back for a longer period. Accord­ ing to· one story, as President Lawrence ment, emotional balance, and endurance Lowell and Librarian Archibald Cary -a difficult but perhaps not impossible Coolidge were walking aw.ay from the combination. In any event, academic li­ braries and librarians are indispensable 1 dedication of the at Harvard, in 1915, Coolidge remarked to and will survive, whatever modifications Lowell that they should start then to may be forced upon them by a changing plan a new library building. It is said world.

REFERENCES

I. Edward G. Holley, "Academic Libraries in 5. William F. Poole, 8:288 1876," College & Research Libraries 37: (Sept.-Oct. 1883). 35 (Jan. 1976). 6. Louis R. Wilson, "Historical Development · 2. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education for Librarianship in the Unit­ of Education, Public Libraries in the Unit­ ed States," in Bernard Berelson, ed., Edu­ ed States: Their History, Condition, and cation for Librarianship ( Chicago: Amer­ Management. ·Special Report, Part I ican Library Assn., 1949), p.45. (Washington, D.C.: Govt. Print. Off., 7. W. E. Henry, "The Academic Standing of 1876)' p.230-51. College Library Assistants and Their Rela­ •· 3. H. A. Sawtelle, "The College Librarian­ tion to the Carnegie Foundation," Bulletin ship," Library ]ournal3: 162 (June 1878). of the American Library Association 5: ~- , 4. D. C. Gilman, "University Libraries, an 259-60 (May 1911). Address at the Opening of the Sage Li­ 8. Ibid., p.262. brary of Cornell University, October 7, 9. E. C. Richardson, "The Place of the Li­ 1891," in his University Problems in the brary in a University," Bulletin of the United States (New York: Century, 18~8) American Library Association 10:1-13 p.245---55. (Jan. 1916 ). 502 I College & Research Libraries • November 1976

10. W. N. C. Carlton, "Universities and Li­ 15. Wilson, "Historical Development," p.53. brarians," Public Libraries 20:455 (Dec. 16. Robert B. Downs and Robert F. Delzell, 1915). "Professional Duties in University Librar­ 11. J. T. Jennings, "Librarianship as a Profes­ lles," College & Research Libraries 26:30- sion in College and University Libraries," 39, 69 (Jan. 1965). Library ]ournal43:221-33 (April1918). 17. College & Research Libraries News 33: 12. Edith M. Coulter, "The University Librar­ 209-12 (Sept. 1972). L ian: His Preparation, Position and Relation 18. Arthur M. McAnally and Robert B. Downs, to the A ademic Department of the Uni­ "The Changing Role of Directors of Uni­ versity," BUlletin of the American Library versity Libraries," College & Research Li­ As.sociation 16:271-75 (July 1922). braries 34: 103-25 (March 1973). 13. George A. Works, "The Status of the Pro­ 19. Malcolm J. Sherman, "Affirmative Action fessional Staff," in his College and Univer­ and the AAUP," AAUP Bulletin 61:293- sity Library Problems ( Chicago: American 303 (Dec. 1975). Library Assn., 1927), p.8Q.-.98. 20. John D. Millett, Financing Higher Educa­ 14. Henry M. Wriston, "The College Librarian tion in the United States (New York: Co­ and the Teaching Staff," Bulletin of the lumbia Univ. Pr., 1952), p.122-26. American Library Association 29: 182 (April1935).

Robert B. Downs is dean of library administration, emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.