ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 976 / C&RL News spirit, if not the letter, of the ACRL Standards for Faculty Status. Many of the rights and privileges of the faculty librarian would be difficult to build or replace outside of that context. A u th o r’s Note: The author w ould like to thank Ene Andrílli and Rebecca Reilly f o r their help w ith this project. A list o f the institutions involved in the survey, along w ith methodological notes and tabulated survey results, may be obtained by sending an SASE to: John Buschman, Rider College Library, 2083 Lawrenceville Rd., Lawrenceville, NJ 08648- 3099. ■ ■ Hearings to be held on standards for faculty status T he ACRL Academ ic Status C o m m ittee is charged with reviewing and updating the stan­ dards, guidelines, and related docum ents that p e r­ tain to faculty status and academic governance. The C om m ittee will hold the first of two open hearings on th e Standards f o r Faculty Status fo r College and University Librarians docum ent at the 1990 ALA M idwinter M eeting in Chicago. These hearings are a unique opportunity for the m em ber­ ship to com m ent upon this im portant statem ent before th e C om m ittee begins its deliberations. The Midwinter hearing will be held on Sunday, January 7, 9:00-11:00 a.m. The Standards f o r Faculty Status f o r College and University Librarians docum ent was adopted on June 26,1971. In th e almost two decades that have passed since then, it has not b ee n revised, although many changes have taken place in college and university libraries. F or example, th e move toward participatory governance, which has characterized this period, does not seem to have strengthened the bid o f academic librarians for faculty status. In fact, it appears th at th ere may be fewer institutions that grant librarians faculty status today than th ere were in 1971. The Standard as it is now w ritten follows: S tan d ard s fo r fa c u lty sta tu s fo r c o lle g e a n d u n iv e r sity lib r a ria n s In order to recognize formally th e college or university librarian’s academic status, the Associa­ tion of College and Research Libraries and the American Library Association endorse, and urge all institutions o f higher education and th eir govern­ ing bodies to adopt, the following standards for all academic librarians: 1. Professional responsibilities and se lf determ i­ nation. Each librarian should be assigned general responsibilities within his particular area o f com pe­ tence. H e should have maximum possible latitude in fulfilling these responsibilities. However, the degree to which he has fulfilled them should be regularly and rigorously reviewed. A necessary elem ent of this review must be appraisal by a com m ittee o f peers who have access to all available evidence. 2. Library governance. College and university libraries should adopt an academic form o f govern­ ance. T he librarians should form as a library faculty whose role and authority is similar to that of the faculties of a college or th e faculty o f a school or a departm ent. 3. College anduniversity governance. Librarians should b e eligible for m em bership in the academic senate or equivalent body at their college or univer­ sity on the same basis as other faculty. 4. Compensation. The salary scale for librarians should be the same as that for o th er academic categories with equivalent education and experi­ ence. Librarians should normally be appointed for th e academic year. If a librarian is expected to work through th e sum m er session, his salary scale should be adjusted similarly to th e sum m er session scale of o th er faculty at his college or university. 5. Tenure. Librarians should be covered by te n ­ u re provisions the same as those o f o th er faculty. In th e p retenure period, librarians should be covered by w ritten contracts or agreem ents th e same as those of o th er faculty. 6. Promotion. Librarians should be prom oted through th e ranks and steps on the basis o f their academic proficiency and professional effective­ ness. A p e e r review system similar to that used by other faculty is th e prim ary basis o f judgm ent in the prom otion process for academic librarians. The librarians’ prom otion ladder should have the same titles, ranks, and steps as that of other faculty. 7. Leaves. Sabbatical and other research leaves should be available to librarians on the same basis, and with the same requirem ents, as they are avail­ able to o th er faculty. 8. Research fu n d s. Librarians should have access to funding for research projects on th e same basis as o th er faculty. 9. Academic freedom . Librarians in colleges and December 1989 / 977 universities must have the protection o f academic freedom. Library resources and the professional judgm ent o f librarians must not be subject to cen­ sorship. To im plem ent these standards, the Association of College and Research Libraries and the Ameri­ can Library Association will: 1. Publicize these standards to all colleges and universities and their libraries, all library schools, all library organizations, and all agencies which accredit academic institutions. 2. Seek to have these standards formally adopted or endorsed by all colleges and universities and their libraries, all library schools, all library organi­ zations, and all agencies which accredit academic institutions. 3. Investigate all violations of these standards which are reported by m em bers o f the Association of College and Research Libraries. Such investiga­ tions will be coordinated and supervised by the com m ittee on Academic status o f the association of College and Research Libraries.® 4. Invoke th e following sanctions against institu­ tions of higher education which are found, after such investigation, to be in violation o f any or all of these standards: a. Publicize the violation and th e institution concerned in C&RL News and other appropriate publications. b. Refuse to accept advertisements in any ALA publication for positions at th at institution. c. D iscourage its m em bers from accepting employment at that institution, through notices in its publications and other means. A reasonable am ount of time— th ree to five years— should be provided college and university libraries which do not currently conform to any or all of these stan­ dards, to enable them to do so. However, no such grace period should be provided to libraries which currently do conform, either wholly or in part, and which seek to deny or withdraw any such rights and privileges. T h e h e a r in g s The basic issues addressed by the docum ent have probably not changed since its adoption, but some of the nuances have. Almost every word “The C om m ittee on Academic Status receives, from individuals, reports of potential violations of these standards and recom m ends appropriate ac­ tion to the ACRL Board of Directors. Requests for assistance from individuals who allege that viola­ tions of these standards have occurred are within the jurisdiction of the ALA Program of Action for Mediation, Arbitration, and Inquiry, and should be directed to th e executive director of the American Libraiy Association. could be debated, b u t it is hoped that discussion at the hearing will focus on the substantive issues. This statem ent, like all ACRL policies and guide­ lines, should reflect what the m em bership thinks is relevant and pertinent, and not simply m irror the opinions o f C om m ittee members. After the M idwinter hearing, the Academic Status C om m ittee will begin deliberations and revise the docum ent to reflect the position of the m em bership. A second open hearing will be held at the 1990 ALA Annual C onference in Chicago. The revised Standards will then be forwarded to the ACRL Standards and Accreditation C om m ittee for review and recom m endation. If th e docum ent is approved, it will then be referred to th e ACRL Board o f D irectors for possible adoption. I f you wish to influence the reformulation of this im portant policy statem ent, come to th e hearing and share your views with the C om m ittee m em ­ bers. If you will not be attending the Midwinter- M eeting in Chicago, you may send written com ­ ments to: Irene B. Hoadley, Evans Library, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-5000, or call h er at (409) 845-8111. ■ ■ State your fax The fifth edition o f the Directory o f Telefac­ simile Sites in North American Libraries is in the final stages o f preparation. More than 2,000 libraries will be included, along with a separate section listing fax num bers of organizations doing business with or providing services to the library community. Information required includes: complete ad­ dress, fax num ber, contact person, phone num ­ ber, type of fax equipm ent, bibliographic sys­ tem symbol, and notes concerning fax use limi­ tations. Libraries wishing to be included should con­ tact CBR Consulting Services, P.O. Box 248, Buchanan Dam, TX 78609; (512) 793-6118; fax: (512) 793-6521. The deadline for inclusion is January 15, 1990. Corrections Two unfortunate misspellings occurred in the O ctober 1989 issue of C &RL News. The author of “Academic Research Libraries in G erm any” (pp. 826-28) is Dr. Elm ar Mittler, director of the University o f Heidelburg Li­ brary, not Elma. Also, one of th e letter-w riters un d er the heading o f “B etter H um or through Chemistry,” is Jean E. Crampon, head librarian o f the H an­ cock Library o f Biology and Oceanography, not Compton.