50th Anniversary Feature-

ACRL's Fiftieth Anniversary: For Reflection, for Celebration, and for Anticipation Edward G. Holley

We want to link the past with the future, and the strong and mature professional organiza­ lOOth anniversary of the College Library Section tion."1 gives us an excellent opportunity for reflection, for Those were ambitious gaols, to say the celebration, and for anticipation of the next 100 least. But in retrospect it is amazing not years.-Martha A. Bowman, cochair, ACRL only that Kuhlman's aims and goals have Fifth National Conference, Research Libraries in OCLC: A Quarterly, Autumn 1987. been achieved in the last fifty years, but also how similar those aims and goals are to the current ACRL Strategic Plan. 2 In­ REFLECTION: deed, A. F. Kuhlman would probably be THE BIRTH OF COLLEGE & amazed, surely gratified, at how far aca­ RESEARCH LIBRARIES demic have come since the days When A. Frederick Kuhlman edited the when he did battle with ALA Executive first issue of College & Research Libraries Secretary Carl Milam (1920-48) and the (December 1939}, he pronounced its aims ALA establishment. For Kuhlman and his in the authoritative manner that was his colleagues were anything but reticent hallmark. C&RL was to serve as the com­ about ALA's neglect of matters that con­ munications medium for the new ACRL, cerned academic librarians. but the journal was to do much more than At the heart of the disagreement was the that. The quarterly was also to publish ar­ ALA headquarters staff's lack of under­ ticles from convention speeches, to serve standing of the nature of higher education as a clearing-house for educational re­ and the 's relationship to search, to bridge the gap between college scholarship and learning. Academic li­ administrators/faculties and librarians, to brarians believed the way to success in the serve as a bridge with other agencies and academic library was to be more like the learned societies, to review and abstract faculty, interested in scholarship, con­ books of interest to ACRL members, to cerned about teaching, and devoted to re­ stimulate research on improving library search and publication. In that effort service and publish the research results, C&RL was to play a crucial role. As David and to "help develop the A.C.R.L. into a Kaser, one of Kuhlman's successors as ed-

Edward G. Holley is Professor at the School of Information and , University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3360.

11 12 College & Research Libraries January 1989 itor (1963-69) later commented, '' C&RL voiced after 's was a periodical intended at once to be presidency (1918-19) and the failed ALA [ACRL' s] news bulletin, scholarly journal, effort in 1919-20 to secure funds for mas­ and its forum. ''3 At various stages it sive improvement in library ser-Vice. This served all three functions well. Today, af­ ''Enlarged Library Program'' has been de­ ter the spin-off of the news to College & Re­ scribed by historian Dennis Thomison as search Libraries News in 1966, C&RL is pri­ ALA's short-lived experiment as a welfare marily a scholarly journal, indeed often organization. 6 the most cited and highly rated among all For the next two decades academic li­ the scholarly periodicals in the field of li­ brarians' dissatisfaction grew until it fi­ brarianship.4 But ACRL and C&RL have nally culminated in the birth of ACRL in been a long time reaching that eminent 1938. position. THE COLLEGE AND ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS AND ALA: REFERENCE LIBRARY SECTION THEACRLBACKGROUND From its beginning in '1889, the ALA Despite the fact that college and univer­ College Library Section was mainly a sity librarians had formed the first ALA small discussion group of academic library section in 1889, there is little doubt that administrators. To accommodate refer­ public librarians dominated the associa­ ence librarians, the section changed its tion's leadership well into the second half name to the College and Reference Library of the twentieth century. True, the first Section in 1897. However, though the sec­ three ALA presidents could be regarded tion began electing officers early in the as academ'ic types: twentieth century, it remained small until (1876-85), who had been public li­ 1923 when it adopted its first set of by­ brarian for nine years before transferring laws. Growth was rapid after that, from 90 his allegiance across the river to Harvard members in 1923 to 800 members in 1928, in 1877; though membership declined after 1928. (1885-87), whose strong commitment to Still, throughout the twenties, the College the did not preclude histori­ and Reference Library Section had obvi­ cal scholarship; and ously begun to attract attention. Growth (1887-89), at the Boston Athe­ of the section doubtless reflected both the naeum, whose ''delicate and accurate changes in American higher education scholarship" in his famous catalog was and the growth of colleges and universi­ well recognized in the scholarly commu­ ties in the first quarter of the.century. With nity. But it was chiefly to the rapidly ex­ larger enrollments came expanded li­ panding public libraries that the associa­ braries and more librarians. tion looked for leadership during its first 100 years; it was public library concerns that occupied most of the association's at­ 11Many academic librarians-both tention. behind the scenes and occasionally in Of course there were scholars who as­ public-began to argue for a stronger sumed the presidency of ALA during its professional organization that would first century, e.g., , William Warner Bishop, Louis Round emphasize bibliographic and schol­ Wilson, but their presence did not alter arly activity to meet their needs in ALA priorities. As Wayne Wiegand has serving an expanding higher educa­ noted, there were 45 public librarians tion community.'' among the first 100 ALA presidents (1876-1986), outnumbering academic li­ brarians 2.6 to 1. 5 The section's programs reflected peren­ After World War I academic librarians nial issues in academic librarianship: per­ expressed increasing disillusion with sonnel and faculty status, teaching stu­ ALA's neglect. Criticism began to be . dents the use of the library, standards, ACRL' s Fiftieth Anniversary 13 interlibrary loans, and on- and off-campus at all for academic librarians. Conse­ services. Though formal and informal dis­ quently a subcommittee was appointed, cussion of these issues continued until under the leadership of Charles Harvey 1938 (and indeed throughout ACRL's Brown (1875-1960}, to develop a supple­ fifty-year history}, many academic mentary plan for librarians in higher edu­ librarians-both behind the scenes and oc­ cation. Charlie Brown, who would later casionally in public-began to argue for a defend a higher status for academic librar­ stronger professional organization that ians in the "Library" section of the U.S. would emphasize bibliographic and schol­ Bureau of Education's massive study of arly activity to meet their needs in serving land grant colleges and universities an expanding higher education commu­ (1930}, went to work with typical zeal and nity. developed a separate report-Budgets, In 1921 Ernest J. Reece and his library Classification, and Compensation Plans for school students began a series of articles, University and College Libraries (1929)­ "College Library News," in the Library adopted as a supplement to the Telford journal. The articles offered current infor­ plan for public librarians. mation on personnel changes, publica­ By the late twenties the section began to tions, buildings, gifts, and appointments consider its future seriously. High among for the period covered. This series contin­ its priorities were bibliographic tools and a ued through the midforties. C&RL began publication that would address the spe­ publishing the series in 1943 but dropped cific needs of academic librarians. Thus it in 1945. began the short-lived College and Reference Other events in the twenties promoted a Library Yearbook (1929-31). The Yearbook sense of need for a stronger forum for aca­ was dropped after only three years, osten­ demic librarians. George Works' book, sibly because it didn't pay its way (proba­ College and University Library Problems bly a result of the Great Depression) but (1927}, the result of a survey financed by also because a suitable editor couldn't be the Carnegie Corporation, drew attention found. to the status of academic libraries and had The Carnegie Corporation, responsible a tremendous impact on librarians and for GLS' emergence, also expanded its in­ some university administrators. terest in academic libraries. 8 The Corpora­ The emergence of the Graduate Library tion sponsored surveys, standards, book School (GLS) at the University of Chicago, collections, and basic book lists by under­ another major Carnegie venture, offered writing the Charles Shaw and Foster both hope and skepticism in the library Mohrhardt predecessors to Books for Col­ community. GLS aimed to prepare lead­ lege Libraries. The corporation's efforts ers through a program of research at the gave added emphasis to the ALA's ne­ Ph.D. level, and thus do for librarianship glect of such matters. These activities have what Harvard had done for law and John been well covered in Neil Radford's book Hopkins for medicine, to use Carnegie The Carnegie Corporation and the Develop- fresident Keppel's phrase. . ment of American College Libraries, The first significant open disagreement 1928-1941, ACRL Publications in Librari­ with ALA came from Frederick Telford's anship, no.44. study of library staff classification and pay Partly in response to the unrest among plans in the midtwenties. ALA had em­ academic librarians, especially their re­ ployed Telford to do for librarians what quest for a college library specialist at was already being done by the federal headquarters (turned down for financial government for civil service workers: de­ reasons}, ALA established a College Li­ fine jobs and establish pay scales. 7 What brary Advisory Board (CLAB) in 1931. De­ happened was a not-so-subtle revolt of the spite the board's membership of librarians academic librarians in ALA. They believed from such notable institutions as Michi­ that Telford didn't understand academia gan (Bishop); Vassar (Borden); Iowa State (he didn't) and that a plan that might work (Charles Brown); and Penn State (Lewis}, well for public librarians would not work the board was not very effective, chiefly 14 College & Research Libraries January 1989 for financial reasons, according to Rad­ members.'' He followed that criticism ford, but also because of lack of interest on with another letter in 1927 that was highly the part of ALA headquarters staff, ac­ critical of ALA's efforts in library educa­ cording to Blanche McCrum (1887-1969), tion. The result had been the first Activi­ Washington & Lee University librarian, ties Committee, which reported in 1930, who found her services as chair of CLAB and another activities committee that re­ frustrated by headquarters. 9 ported in 1934. Neither the first nor the CLAB did not stop the growing discon­ second committees' recommendations tent in the thirties as the Carnegie Corpo­ had resulted in significant organizational ration, chiefly influenced by Bishop at change, however. The Third Activities and at Committee was different, though the GLS, invested not only in research and results would not be apparent for a dec­ bibliographic compilations but also in ade. The difference came from the political grants for college library book collections. skills of Charles Harvey Brown and, sub­ In 1932 university library directors dis­ sequently, ACRL's 1945-46 president, banded their recently formed Administra­ Blanche Prichard McCrum. tors Round Table in favor of a separate As­ While the Third Activities Committee's sociation of Research Libraries where they achievement was, in form, the "radical re­ could discuss problems of large libraries. organization" that Brown intended, it By the midthirties a number of leading never resulted in a federation-type organi­ academic librarians were pushing for a re­ zation that brought in separate library as­ organization of ALA to reflect the diverse sociations like SLA in an umbrella ar­ interests of the association through rangement, as Brown desired. The stronger subunits. In 1936 the section ap­ reorganization did give major ALA units proved a committee under Brown's lead­ semiautonomous status, however, and, ership to study reorganization. The ACRL after ACRL's threatened secession in Organization Manual (1956) called the 1946, an executive secretary of its own­ Brown committee's report of 1937 "the the long-desired college library specialist 11 key document of ACRL history.' ,to Accep­ at headquarters. Subsequently, despite tance of the report was to result not only in the partial success of the Cresap, McCor­ "a radical reorganization" of the section mick, and Paget management/organiza­ (Brown's phrase), renaming it the Associ­ tional study in the midfifties, and the fail­ ation of College and Reference Libraries in ure of ACRL President Ralph Ellsworth's 1938, but also in ACRL' s becoming the second attempt at secession in the early first ALA division in 1940. sixties, ALA did move toward stronger di­ The restructured ALA emerged from visions.12 Much later, after the turmoil of implementation of the report of its Third the late sixties and early seventies, realis­ Activities Committee, which Brown also tic self-determination came only after the headed immediately upon completion of chan9e in the ALA dues structure in his report on the College and Reference Li­ 1974. brary Section. Brown had served on the Second Activities Committee and subse­ LEADERSHIP: PRESIDENTS quently was to be ALA president in AND EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES 1940-41, so he could see that his four The obvious leader for the new Associa­ years' work on ALA restructuring was tion of College and Reference Libraries neither neglected. nor hindered by head­ (the name was changed to Association of quarters. College and Research Libraries in 1957, The ALA activities committees were an when the reference librarians departed to outgrowth of criticism leveled by that per­ form their own division) was Charles Har­ ennial gadfly and founder of the separate vey Brown. When Brown declined to be Special Libraries Association, John Cotton selected as ACRL' s first president, it was Dana. In 1919 Dana, in a stinging criti­ not because he was reluctant to assume cism, had said that the chief ALA problem that responsibility. His reasons were. was ''the lack of brains on the part of the clear: he wanted to see the recommenda- ACRL' s Fiftieth Anniversary 15 tions of the Third Activities Committee Ellsworth would soon have the opportu­ implemented, and he did not intend to nity to try to bend ALA to his will, because leave that to chance. What he did was to he would shortly be ACRL president convince Frank K. Walter to become the again. Ellsworth himself did not think that first ACRL president and thus assure con­ would occur, and it didn't.16 His dream of tinuation of the thrust that had already a separate ACRL and a federation of li­ been established. Correspondence in the brary associations was delayed another ALA archives and in Brown's other letters decade, until the ALA changed its dues indicates well his manipulation of the pro­ structure, transcended the old arguments, cess. He had conducted an exhaustive sur­ and became, in fact if not in theory, a fed­ vey of the ALA membership, spoken and eration. written extensively on ALA restructuring, That old attitudes die slowly was clear to and was confident that decentralization of this author when he joined several per­ ALA was desired by the membership as sons to testify before the ALA Executive well as desirable for academic librarians. Board in support of ACRL' s request to Fortunately for him (though fortune prob­ hold a second national conference. Talk of ably had little to do with it), Brown was secession if the board declined to grant elected ALA vice-president in 1939 and permission was again in the air on the served as president in 1940-41. Thus he night before the meeting-political was in the enviable position of assuring naivete. Few boards willingly confront a that his reorganization plan was carried phalanx of distinguished representatives out. In J. Victor Baldridge's terms, Charlie from their largest unit without giving Brown was truly a ''Machiavellian change them what they want. The ALA Executive agent'' for ALA and ACRL. 14 Board usually backs down under strong In the intervening fifty years, ACRL has protests from its smallest unit; there was had some remarkable leaders. After the no likelihood of turning down a request secession movement of 1946, led by Blan­ from its major division. che McCrum and Ralph Ellsworth, there What kind of persons have led ACRL in were frequent tensions between ACRL the last fifty years? Among the leaders one and ALA. Many members did not believe should certainly include presidents and that ACRL could trust the parent ALA to executive secretaries, but also those who do the right thing by its major division. have edited its journal, C&RL. An exami­ The strongest of that group was undoubt­ nation of the leaders' backgrounds and in­ edly Ralph Ellsworth, the only person to terests is revealing (see appendix A for a have served two terms as ACRL president list of ACRL presidents and executive se­ (1951-52; 1961-62). A leader in the 1946 cretaries/ directors). battle, Ellsworth was a frequent ALA From the beginning, university librari­ critic. In an oft-quoted article, "Critique of ans have been the most numerous among Library Associations in America,'' in Li­ ACRL presidents. Starting with Frank K. brary Quarterly (1961) on the eve of his sec­ Walter at the University of Minnesota and ond ACRL presidency, Ellsworth reiter­ continuing through Joseph W. Boisse at ated his criticisms of the organization.15 the University of California-Santa Bar­ While recognizing the importance of bara, in 1988-89, they constitute a remark­ ALA's battles for , ably strong group of leaders-this despite federal legislation, international relations, the competition from ARL, which, it has and the welfare of all librarians, he also often been said, drained ACRL of the real thought the organization was too bureau­ · academic library leadership. Of course not cratic, too big, and too indifferent to spe­ all of these presidents came from ARL li­ cialized interests of academic, public, and braries, but many have-including anum­ special librarians. He argued once more ber of the most recent presidents. for ALA as a workable federation of library Not surprising, in view of the fact that associations. approximately fifty percent of the mem­ In response to this critique, ALA Execu­ bership comes from university libraries, tive Director David Clift noted that those institutions account for 35 of the 50 16 College & Research Libraries January 1989 persons who have served as ACRL presi­ rate status had included the need of hav­ dents. 17 Eight came from college libraries, ing a college library specialist at ALA one from a community college library, two headquarters. Many persons familiar with each from public libraries and other types ALA's bureaucracy believe that ACRL has of libraries, and two from library schools. been especially fortunate, not only in the Of the college librarians, three were from quality of persons serving as executive se­ women's colleges. Most of the ACRL cretaries/directors but also in capable presidents have been library directors. headquarters staff who did not stay too Five ACRL presidents have subse­ long, as did two ALA executive secre­ quently been elected ALA presidents, as taries, Carl Milam and David Clift. has one ACRL executive director. The first executive secretary, N. Orwin Rush, stayed only two years (1947-49). He WOMEN AND MINORITIES was succeeded by "young Arthur IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS Hamlin, fresh from the University of In a gender-conscious age, one should Pennsylvania,'' under those tenure new note that only sixteen of the presidents publications emerged, including the first have been women, though six of those ACRL monograph in hard cover, Charlie served in succession from 1982-1988. Brown's Scientific Serials (1956). Hamlin Beverly Lynch, who became executive served for seven years (1949-56). Both secretary in 1972, was the first woman to Richard D. Harwell, 1957-61, and J. hold that office. Since that time all execu­ Donald Thomas, 1968-72 (the period of tive secretaries/directors (the title was the revolting librarians), served four year changed to executive director in 1980-81) terms. Mark Gormley, 1961-62, and Jo­ have been women. seph Reason, 1962-63, were really interim For reasons not clear to this author, no executives. George Bailey, 1963-68, woman has ever served as editor of College served five years as did Beverly Lynch, & Research Libraries nor has one ever 1972-77. served as editor of ACRL Publications in Li­ The three women executives, Beverly brarianship. However, one should note Lynch; Julio Virgo, 1977-84; and JoAn Se­ that a number of gender studies indicate gal, 1984- , have served during a time that women librarians have not been as ac­ of transition for ALA divisions and a pe­ tive in publishing as men. Cline's study riod of extraordinary growth for ACRL. indicated that males accounted for an During their tenure the publications pro­ overwhelming 80 percent of the contribut­ grams, standards and guidelines, policy ing authors and 73 percent of the cited au­ and planning documents, continuing ed­ thors in C&RL during its first forty years. 18 ucation programs, and the national con­ Two well-known reference librarians, ferences have either been initiated or ex­ Mabel L. Conat, Public Library, panded. The executives have also been and Winifred Ver Nooy, University of effective in seeking and maintaining divi­ Chicago (and the 1944-45 president who sional relationships with other profes­ initiated the protest of 1945-46), have sional and scholarly associations in higher served as president. Female presidents education, a matter often talked about but from college libraries are Blanche McCrum frequently overlooked in the face of more (Wellesley); Eileen Thornton (Oberlin); pressing concerns. Helen Brown (Wellesley); and Anne Ed­ While terms of seven years or less may monds (Mount Holyoke). be a cause for congratulation, short terms Two black persons have served as presi­ are scarcely the chief reason for their suc­ dent: Joseph H. Reason of Howard Uni­ cess. Each person has brought a strong versity and the late Louise Giles from Ma­ background in academia and has under­ comb County Community College, stood the aims and goals of academic li­ Michigan. brarians. Each has also been supported by strong presidents and vice presidents. EXECUTIVE Housed as they were at ALA headquar­ SECRETARIES/DIRECTORS ters, each executive also had to balance the One of the strong arguments for sepa- unique ACRL interests against the inter- ACRL' s Fiftieth Anniversary 17 ests of ALA as a whole-often not an easy plines, especially in numbers of references task. Nor was strengthening the ties be­ per article and in up-to-date citations. Pos­ tween chapters and ACRL headquarters itive changes have occurred in the quality easy, since visits and speeches by staff and of manuscripts accepted and cited, and ACRL presidents are both necessary and also in adhering to other high standards of time-consuming. By any objective stan­ scholarly publishing. dard leadership at headquarters has been But Cline found a weak core of produc­ excellent. One can only be amazed that so tive authors: only 17 out of 4,000 cited au­ much good work is done by so f~w per­ thors appeared often enough to be consid­ sons. ered an "author core." Of those, three of the most cited were also leading contribu­ tors to C&RL. Six who contributed ten or .~~Kuhlman aimed for C&RL to be more articles during the forty-year period both a communications medium and include the familiar names of Robert a vehicle for scholarship.'' Downs, , Robert Muller, Ralph Ellsworth, Ralph Shaw, and Maurice Tauber. Also, though there was increasing collaborative authorship (a no­ PUBLICATIONS AND THEIR EDITORS table factor in science publishing) in the College & Research Libraries seventies, the vast majority of articles dur­ Kuhlman aimed for C&RL to be both a ing the period had no coauthors. communications medium and a vehicle · Other ACRL Series for scholarship. Initially, the journal did both, first under Kuhlman himself Two other series came into being in the (1939-41), then under Carl M. White fifties. (1941-48), followed by the long-term edi­ The first was ACRL Monographs, de­ tor Maurice F. Tauber (1948-62). signed, as Maurice Taubor had suggested, Begun as a quarterly, C&RL became a bi­ for papers either too long for C&RL or too monthly in 1956. Tauber's successors in­ limited in interest for the journal. The first clude a series of well-known librarians monograph (1952), a photo offset item who worked steadily to improve the qual­ that sold at $.35 was Joe W. Kraus "Wil­ ity and scholarship of the articles: Richard liam Beer and the New Orleans Libraries, B. Harwell, David Kaser, Richard M. 1891-1927." Over the years the mono­ Dougherty, Richard D. Johnson, C. James graph editorial board, while highly selec­ Schmidt, and Charles Martell. During the tive in the titles chosen (only forty-five expansion of higher education in the six­ have appeared in thirty-six years), did in­ ties, ACRL approved a separate publica­ clude a number of collections of essays. tion for the news section. ACRL News, Therefore, in the early seventies, the edi­ later renamed College & Research Libraries torial board decided to change the title to News was first published in March 1966. In ACRL Publications in Librarianship. its 22 years of existence C&RL News has While the series is ecletic, most of the titles grown to an incredible 748 pages per year have been well received by reviewers. and now publishes opinion pieces and The second series, initiated under Law­ short research articles, as well as news, rence S. Thompson's editorship, was the ads, and official ACRL information eleven ACRL Microcard Series. Chiefly a collec­ times a year. Meanwhile, C&RL, con­ tion of master's theses and papers from li­ tinues as a bimonthly of approximately brary schools, the microcard series lasted 650 pages a year. from 1953 to 1969, and served, according Gloria S. Cline, in evaluating C&RL's to Charles Hale, ''as an outlet for aspiring first forty years, noted that the journal has young college librarians.'' been a leading library science periodical In 1980 the College Libraries Section be­ since it first appeared.19 She also reported gan a new series called Clip Notes (Col­ that C&RL' s scholarliness improved over lege Library Information Packets), con­ the period 1939-79 so that it compares taining ''data and sample documents very favorably with journals in other disci- from academic libraries to assist librarians 18 College & Research Libraries January 1989 in establishing or refining services and op­ itors of Choice as essential in any new col­ erations." Ten have now appeared. Like lege library. other ACRL series titles, CLIP Notes has Soon after Choice began publication, been highly successful. ALA published a major bibliographical Another major contribution ACRL has tool, Books for College Libraries (BCL). The made to academic library advancement is current reviews of academic books pub­ the publication of library statistics. Non­ lished in Choice was foreseen as a comple­ Association of Research Libraries univer­ mentary, supplemental service to a basic sity statistics have been published every . There had long been a desire for other year since 1978. ACRL has also pub­ a successor to the Shaw and Mohrhardt lished HEGIS data collected by the federal lists. The establishment of new campuses government in 1984 and 1986. The Associ­ in the University of California system had ation also collected and published statis­ led to compilation of a basic list of titles un­ tics of some colleges and universities in an der the editorship of Melvin J. Voigt and out-of-series mode in 1984 and 1986. The Joseph H. Treyz. This list of 53,000 titles latter series will reportedly not be contin­ became the basis for the first edition of ued. In the decline of federal government BCL, published in 1967. ACRL and ALA publication of library statistics, ACRL' s Publishing collaborated on the next two provision of accurate comparative statisti­ editions, 1975 and 1988. The latest edition, cal data has been welcome. with understandable hyperbole, is adver­ tised as ''the most authoritative academic Choice and Books for library collection development and evalu­ College Libraries ation tool available today." In a six­ Perhaps no publications have served a volume format, as well as online and on more useful function than Choice and magnetic tape, BCL3 will likely be as pop­ Books for College Libraries. By the mid­ ular and useful as its predecessors. sixties, when the Great Society programs In this way ACRL has fulfilled one of its were just beginning, ACRL had already major purposes. been at work for five years on a review journal to help college librarians and fac­ STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES ulty in their selection of the best books for Important for academic librarians over college libraries. Access to a high quality the years has been the development of faculty who could assist in the reviewing standards for college library collections led to Choice's location in Middletown, and standards and guidelines for library Connecticut, near the Wesleyan Univer­ personnel. Not surprisingly, standards sity campus. and guidelines remain a major priority for Thanks to a grant from the Council on ACRL's membership. Library Resources, the first issue of Choice: ACRL standards and guidelines have Books for College Libraries, appeared in had a strong impact on higher education, March 1964. Under the editorship of Rich­ despite the fact that regional accrediting ard Gardner, Choice quickly earned a place agencies have not been willing to adopt of importance among the book reviewing the ACRL standards as their own. None­ media. Drawing upon the expertise of fac­ theless, accreditation visiting teams often ulty for subject reviews and librarians for take note of how a college has used such reference reviews, the magazine focused documents. Moreover, a number of attention on authoritative evaluation of higher education boards used the earlier new titles for the expanding enrollments "Standards for College Libraries," (1959) in colleges and universities. A recent arti­ as a measuring device for improving their cle indicated that Choice reviewed more state-supported college libraries, just as books per year (about 6,600) than any they have used the 1975 standards, and no other publication. Especially popular was doubt will use the 1986 revision, for the the spinoff Choice Opening Day Collection, a same purpose. Board staffs routinely refer list of about 1,800 titles regarded by the ed- to the ACRL standards as the "ALA Stan- ACRL' s Fiftieth Anniversary 19 dards," which may deny ACRL the credit In 1975 ACRL published Faculty Status but is technically correct since ALA dele­ for Academic Libraries, a collection of policy gates to its divisions responsibility for statements and articles in defense of fac­ standards in their individual areas of ex­ ulty status. A new edition, Academic Sta­ pertise. The 1975 Standards for College Li­ tus: Statements and Resources, has just ap­ braries broadened evaluation to include peared in 1988. In the current climate of staff and space as well as collections, and higher education one can predict that the have had a salutary effect in encouraging battle for academic librarians to maintain states with weaker college libraries to up­ their status and position on campus will grade their library resources and services. continue. Unfortunately, their colleagues, The College Library Standards apply to especially administrative colleagues those four-year colleges and universities (sometimes even library directors), are of­ with only modest work at the graduate ten their worst enemies. As the above par­ level. There are also standards and guide­ agraphs indicate, the battle to secure a vi­ lines for two-year colleges and for univer­ tal role for the library in the teaching and sities. research process is never ending. Although measuring the impact may be difficult, this author believes that both the CONFERENCES AND AWARDS standards and the various guidelines have Over the fifty-year period, the ACRL resulted in significant progress for small presentations at ALA conferences have at­ colleges and medium-sized universities, tracted increasing numbers of registrants. · but probably have had less success in large In recent years the ACRL President's Pro­ universities. gram has suffered from the same problem of all similar organizations: how does one plan a program on a substantive topic that embraces everyone, from the neophyte ''The battle to secure a vital role for from library school to the sophisticated the library in the teaching and re­ and experienced professional? The an­ search process is never ending.'' swer is "with difficulty." The result has been to focus more attention on the pro­ gram of ACRL' s fourteen sections, but The standards and guidelines most diffi­ even there the large numbers can present cult to develop and maintain have been a problem. Section programs generally those involving personnel. The long battle result in good attendance because of their of academic librarians for faculty/ aca­ more specific topics. To communicate ef­ demic status has, at best, been only mod­ fectively with members, all except two erately successful. The debate over faculty sections have now begun newsletters and status in the fifties between Robert B. the other two are giving consideration to Downs, a firm believer, and some other some form of publication. university librarians (at best, skeptical), Since the Rare Books and Manuscripts resulted in a collection of essays published Section's preconference programs began as ACRL monograph no. 22, The Status of in 1958, the unit has attracted such interest American College and University Librarians, that it has had to limit attendance. RBMS in 1958. ACRL adopted the Downs ap­ conference papers and symposia have of­ proach of full faculty status as the ideal. ten been published, adding significantly However, convincing academic adminis­ to the literature in this important area. trators to adopt even the halfway house of Recognizing the growing importance of its academic status was hard fought, while Rare Books and Manuscripts Section in full faculty status with rank and titles has 1987, ACRL began publishing a new semi­ not been achieved in most research uni­ annual serial, Rare Books and Manuscripts versities. Moreover, there has clearly been Librarianship. some retrogression in the late seventies Preconference continuing education and early eighties. courses are now a regular part of ACRL's 20 College & Research Libraries January 1989 programs at ALA, as they are for a number Academic Librarianship,'' was published of other ALA divisions. They have grown in the May and July 1985 issues of C&RL, in popularity, as more and more members 'with comments by four librarians. 20 His recognize their need for updating skills in observations on the types of knowledge, the bibliographic instruction, manage­ skills, abilities, and attitudes which aca­ ment, and technology areas. demic librarians will need during the dec­ ACRL was the first division to conduct a ade have led to considerable discussion, national conference apart from the ALA especially among library educators, and conferences. The Boston conference, in have contributed to ACRL' s planning pro­ 1978, was designed for presentation and cess. discussion of research and professional Strategic planning the current papers of high quality and no business ses­ buzzword in academia and the corporate sions. With an attendance of over 2,600, world, has had its impact on ACRL. Plan­ the 1978 conference exceeded expecta­ ning for the decade began in 1981 when tions. Subsequent conferences have been ACRL appointed an Ad Hoc Committee held in Minneapolis (1981), Seattle (1984), on an Activity Model for 1990. 21 Soon and Baltimore (1986). By all accounts the thereafter ACRL mission, goals, and ob­ conferences have succeeded in presenting jectives were adopted; afterwards an current issues and research results well, ACRL Strategic Planning Task Force was though research papers have been fewer appointed to develop a strategic plan. 'than professional papers. At the 1986 ALA Conference, the task At the fortieth anniversary conference force presented the results of its work to in 1978, ACRL, with support from the the ACRL Board of Directors, which Baker & Taylor Company, presented its adopted it. The plan's basis came from top first annual ACRL Academic or Research priorities identified by the ACRL member­ Librarian of the Year Award to two giants ship: publications, continuing education, in the profession: Robert B. Downs and standards and guidelines, alliance with Keyes D. Metcalf. Two other pioneers, other professional and scholarly associa­ Henriette D. A vram and Frederick G. Kil­ tions, and chapters. 22 gour, shared this honor in 1979, ·but the The introductory mission statement following years have seen the award made reads well in the light of ACRL' s history: to only one person. ''The mission of the Association of Col­ In 1921 friends of Eunice Rockwood lege and Research Libraries (ACRL) is to Oberly established a memorial award to foster the profession of academic and re­ honor the compiler of the best bibliogra­ search libraries to serve effectively the li­ phy in the field of agriculture. ACRL now brary and information needs of current administers this biennial award, which and potential users." technically might be called ACRL' s oldest. Major goals for carrying out the plan are However, the Academic or Research Li­ 1. To contribute to the total professional de­ brarian of the Year was ACRL' s first major velopment of academic and research librarians, award. 2. To enhance the capability of academic and RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: research libraries to serve the needs of users, 3. To promote and speak for the interests of PLANNING academic and research librarianship, and In 1982 ACRL established an Academic 4. To promote study, research and publica­ and Research Libraries Personnel Study tion relevant to academic and research librari­ Group to assess the division's current per­ anship. sonnel programs and priorities. This (C&RL News, January 1987). group commissioned Allen B. Veaner to One reads this summary report with a prepare a paper focusing on "working li­ keen sense of appreciation for how well brarians, not chief administrators," in the task force accomplished its work. Not light of changes taking place in the aca­ only has the task force outlined subgoals demic libraries' environment. Veaner's and strategies in clearly understood paper, "1985 to 1995: The Next Decade in prose, but they have also analyzed the As- ACRL' s Fiftieth Anniversary 21

sociation~ s strengths and external envi­ Organizationally, the ACRL of today re­ ronment in a commendable way. It is easy minds one of the ALA itself. ACRL is a to concur with their own assessment, complex organization with a strong pro­ ''We now have a clear sense of our mis­ grammatic thrust. There are now 14 sec­ sion, a strong set of goals for the next five tions, all with vigorous and active pro­ years, specific objectives, and strategies grams; 39 chapters; 17 discussion groups; for meeting them.' ' 23 The ACRL Board has 49 ACRL level committees plus numerous also initiated procedures to review the section and discussion group committees; plan annually. an active publishing program that would Another heartening aspect of ACRL' s do justice to any major professional asso­ recent activities is its leadership in ALA di­ ciation; and a continuing education pro­ visional planning. ACRL, with support gram both at ALA conferences, among from the ALA Goals Award, managed the chapters, and in grant-funded confer­ first divisional leadership enhancement ences for improving the quality of human­ program in 1984. The association has con­ ities programs in libraries. tinued to work closely with other divi­ ACRL has a sound budget plan and a sions in hammering out a new operating firm financial base. In 1988-89 there will agreement with ALA. The strategic plan be a headquarters staff of about ten FTE, points out the significance of ACRL' s po­ and a general budget of $1.1 million. At sition within ALA "not only in the sym­ Middletown, Connecticut, Choice will bolic recognition of the importance of one have a staff of twenty and a budget of $1.4 association for all types of libraries and li­ million. Reserve funds for major projects brary activities, but also in dollars .... " like new editions of the BCL are approxi­ The willingness to improve relationships mately half a million dollars. and to recognize those common goals of With a membership of 9,044 personal all librarians as well as carry out goals spe­ and 1,126 organizational members (as of cific to types of libraries and library activi­ August 31, 1988), ACRL is in a strong posi­ ties augurs well for ACRL' s future. tion to celebrate the accomplishments of its first fifty years. ACRL: ANTICIPATION 11 ACRL has led the way in divisional From the above recital, one can certainly national conferences, in continuing conclude that ACRL members have a firm education and in noteworthy publi­ foundation for ''Building on the First Cen­ cations.'' tury.'' The fifth national conference in Cincinnati is an appropriate place to launch ACRL' s next 100 years, as cochair Martha Bowman has noted. Looking at ACRL TODAY: CELEBRATION the current and proposed ACRL programs The facts are clear. ACRL on its fiftieth one would be hard put to argue that the di­ anniversary is far and away the largest, vision is precluded from doing anything it the most effective, and most prosperous wants to do. The battle for autonomy in its of the ALA divisions. Representing al­ own programs, with its own staff, budg­ most one-fourth of the total ALA member­ ets, and conferences, is over. In the un­ ship, ACRL has led the way in divisional likely event of a major challenge, any fu­ national conferences, in continuing edu­ ture ALA Executive Board would clearly cation, and in noteworthy publications. be the loser and so would the library pro­ Among the separate library/information as­ fession. sociations in the country, only the Special One can argue persuasively, as Charlie Libraries Association has a larger mem­ Brown, Blanche McCrum, Ralph bership, by a thousand or so members. A Ellsworth, and other academic librarians 1983 ALA Yearbook article noted that did, that librarianship needs an umbrella ACRL' s membership placed it as the fifth organization for common concerns such largest library association in the world! as access to information, nationallegisla- 22 College & Research Libraries January 1989 tion/funding, intellectual freedom, public BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE awareness, and personnel resources (the The sources used for this paper came ALA Priorities). One can also argue, as from a variety of places which have not they did, that library/information science been cited unless there was some special needs separate units to serve specialized reason to do so. There are numerous letters interests. on the early ALA-ACRL controversies in ACRL contributes substantially to all of the ALA Archives at the University of illi­ the ALA priorities in its specialized con­ nois, especially in the folders for the Col­ text, the academic library/information lege Library Advisory Board and for College center. One need only mention the ACRL and Research Libraries. The author has not Standards for College Libraries recog­ examined these files for the period beyond nized unofficially, if not officially, by ac­ 1948. The documentary record for the pe­ crediting bodies and various higher edu­ riod after 1949 is extensive. That period also cation boards. ACRL publications are covers the time of the author's involvement regarded as a contribution to the schol­ with ALA-ACRL, and this essay necessar­ arly community, whether one is talking ily reflects his own interpretation of the about the prestigious book selection jour­ events from that perspective. Particularly nal, Choic( , or the ACRL Publications in helpful are issues of the two journals, Col­ Librarianship Series, or the various pub­ lege & Research Libraries and C&RL News, as lications of the Rare Books and Manu­ well as issues of the ALA Yearbook, scripts Section. College & Research Li­ 1976- . One should also not overlook braries has long been among the top the collection of C&RL articles edited by research journals in the library/informa­ Richard D. Johnson for the ALA Centen­ tion science field. nial, Libraries for Teaching, Libraries for Re­ ACRL could now become a separate as­ search: Essays fora Century. Chicago: Ameri­ sociation if it wished, but there is little in­ can Library Assn., 1977. ACRL Publica­ centive for it to do so. The future looks tions in Librarianship, no. 39. bright for the association's next hundred The definitive history of ACRL is yet to years. Charlie Brown, who used his politi­ be written, but Charles Edward Hale's In­ cal skills to secure a semiautonomous diana University dissertation, listed in the ACRL division under an umbrella ALA, references, is a good starting place for ba­ and that small giant Blanche McCrum, sic data. Perhaps as ACRL looks ahead to whose "marching orders" sent her troops its next hundred years, the board might into the battle from which stems ACRL' s consider encouraging research on a defini­ current success, would both be proud. tive history of the association.

REFERENCES AND NOTES

1. A. F. Kuhlman, "Introducing 'College & Research Libraries,' " College & Research Libraries 1:7-10 (Dec. 1939). 2. "ACRL's Strategic Plan: The Mission, Goals, and Objectives of the Association of College and Research Libraries," College & Research Libraries News 48:21-25 Oan. 1987). 3. David Kaser, "A Century of Academic Librarianship as Reflected in Its Literature," College & Re­ search Libraries," 37:123 (Mar. 1986). 4. Gloria S. Cline, "College & Research Libraries: Its First Forty Years," College & Research Libraries 43:208-32 (May 1982). An excellent study based on her doctoral dissertation. 5. Wayne A. Wiegand and Dorothy Steffens, "Members of the Club: A Look at One Hundred ALA Presidents," University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science Occasional Papers, no. 182 (Apr. 1988), 30p. The reason that there were only 100 presidents in the 110-year period is that four persons served more than one term. 6. Dennis Thomison, A History of the American Library Association, 1876-1972 (Chicago: American Li­ brary Assn., 1978), p.72-83. 7. Richard Rubin, ''A Critical Examination of the 1927 Proposed Classifications and Compensation Plan for Library Positions by the American Library Association," Library Quarterly 57:400-25 (Oct. 1987). ACRL' s Fiftieth Anniversary 23

8. Neil A. Radford, The Carnegie Corporation and the Development of American College Libraries, 1928-1941, ACRL Publications in Librarianship, no. 44 (Chicago: American Library Assn., 1984). 257p. 9. For example, see Blanche McCrum to Charles Harvey Brown, 9/14/35 and 1/21/36; Brown to Mc­ Crum, 9/16/35 and 1/16/36, ALA Archives, University of Illinois, College Library Advisory Board, 22/2/5, Box 1. 10. Association of College and Reference Libraries, ACRL Organization Manual. (Chicago, American Library Assn., 1956), p.8. 11. These events are discussed at some length in Edward G. Holley, "Charles Harvey Brown," in Wayne A. Wiegand, ed., Leaders in American Academic Librarianship: 1925-1975, p.28-36, Beta Phi Mu Chapbook 16, distributed by American Library Association for Beta Phi Mu, 1983; and his "Mr. ACRL: Charles Harvey Brown (1875-1960)," Journal of Academic Librarianship 7:271-78 (Nov. 1981). See also Betty Ruth Kondayan, "Blanche Prichard McCrum: A Small Giant," Journal of Aca­ demic Librarianship 8:73 (May 1982), and her "Blanche Prichard McCrum," in Wiegand, p.201-3; Edward R. Johnson, "Ralph E. Ellsworth," in Wiegand, p.112-15; and Charles Edward Hale, "The Origin and Development of the Association of College and Research Libraries, 1889-1960" (Ph.D. diss., Indiana Univ., July 1976), p.155-66. Hale's dissertation is a valuable compilation of data on the association, its programs, and its organization for the period covered. 12. Thomison, p.195-203. See also Ralph Ellsworth, Ellsworth on Ellsworth . .. (Metuchen, N.J.: Scare­ crow, 1980), p.123-29. 13. Edward G. Holley, "Federation: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?," 99:335-38 (Feb. 1, 1974). Holley and Frank B. Sessa, "The New Personal Dues Proposal," 5:257-58 (May 1974). For recent report, see ACRL Executive Committee, "ALA and Its Divisions: Relationships Past, Present, and Future," College & Research Libraries News 48:318-320 (June 1987). 14. J. Victor Baldridge, "Rules for a Machiavellian Change Agent: Transforming the Entrenched Pro­ fessional Organization,'' in J. Victor Baldridge and Terrence E. Deal, Managing Change in Educa­ tional Organizations: Sociological Perspectives, Strategies, and Case Studies (Berkely: McCutchan, 1975), p.378-88. 15. Ralph E. Ellsworth, "Critique of Library Associations in America," Library Quarterly, 31:382-95 (Oct. 1961); with a reply by David Clift, 395-400. 16. Ellsworth on Ellsworth . .. , p.128. 17. Ralph Ellsworth served twice as ACRL president, and hence the number of presidents is fifty in- stead of fifty-one. 18. Cline, p.227. 19. Ibid., p.208-32. 20. Allen B. Veaner, "1985 to 1995: The Next Decade in Academic Librarianship, Part 1," College & Research Libraries 46:209-29 (May 1985); "1985-1995, Part II," 46:295-308 (July 1985) with "Reac- tions ...," 46:309-19. · 21. JoAn S. Segal, "The Association of College and Research Libraries: What It Can Do For Academic Libraries in the 80s," Show-Me Libraries 36:11-12 (Oct./Nov. 1984). The ACRL articles in the ALA Yearbook also provide information on the planning process. 22. "ACRL's Strategic Plan ...," p.23. 23. Ibid., p.25.

APPENDIX A. ACRL PRESIDENTS (BEGINNING 1938)*

1938-1939 Frank K. Walter 1948-1949 Benjamin E. Powell 1939-1940 Phineas L. Windsor 1949-1950 Wyllis E. Wright 1940-1941 Robert B. Downs 1950-1951 Charles M. Adams 1941-1942 Donald Coney 1951-1952 Ralph E. Ellsworth 19(2-1943 Mabel L. Conat 1952-1953 Robert W. Severance 1943-1944 Charles B. Shaw 1953-1954 Harriet D. MacPherson 1944-1945 Winifred Ver Nooy 1954-1955 Guy R. Lyle 1945-1946 Blanche Prichard McCrum 1955-1956 Robert Vosper 1946-1947 Errett Weir McDiarmid 1956-1957 Robert W. Orr 1947-1948 William H. Carlson 1957-1958 Eileen Thorton *Formerly College Reference Section. Name changed by vote of section, June 1938. Approved by ALA Council, Dec. 1938. 24 College & Research Libraries January 1989

1958-1959 Lewis C. Branscomb 1974-i975 H. William Axford 1959-1960 Wyman W. Parker 1975-1976 Louise Giles 1960-1961 Edmon Low 1976-1977 Connie R. Dunlap 1961-1962 Ralph E. Ellsworth 1977-1978 Eldred R. Smith 1962-1963 Katherine M. Stokes 1978-1979 Evan L Farber 1963-1964 Neal R. Harlow 1979-1980 LeMoyne W. Anderson 1964-1965 Archie L. McNeal 1980-1981 Millicent D. Abell 1965-1966 Helen Margaret Brown 1981-1982 David C. Weber 1966-1967 Ralph E. McCoy 1982-1983 Carla J. Stoffle 1967-1968 James Humphrey III 1983-1984 Joyce Ball 1968-1969 David Kaser 1984-1985 Sharon J. Rogers 1969-1970 Philip J. McNiff 1985-1986 Sharon Anne Hogan 1970-1971 Anne C. Edmonds 1986-1987 Hannelore Rader 1971-1972 Joseph Reason 1987-1988 Joanne Euster 1972-1973 1988-1989 Joseph A. Boisse 1973-1974 Norman E. Tanis

APPENDIX B. ACRL EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

1947-1949 N. Orwin Rush 1963-1968 George M. Bailey 1949-1956 Arthur T. Hamlin 1968-1972 J. Donald Thomas 1957-1961 Richard B. Harwell 1972-1977 Beverly P. Lynch 1961-1962 Mark M. Gormley 1977-1984 Julie A.C. Virgo 1962-1963 Joseph H. Reason 1984- JoAn S. Segal

APPENDIX C. ACRL'S FOURTEEN SECTIONS

Anthropology and Sociology Section (ANSS) Law and Political Science Section (LPSS) Art Section (ARTS) Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Asian and African Section (AAS) Science and Technology Section (STS) Bilbiographic Instruction Section (BIS) Slavic and East European Section (SEES) College Libraries Section (CLS) University Libraries Section (ULS) Community and Junior College Libraries Western European Specialists Section (WESS) Section (CJCLS) Women's Studies Section (WSS) Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS)