ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 74 / C & R L N ew s w ere m ailed , brin g in g to a close th e F all cycle of section new sletter p u b lication. Headquarters activities A new co m p u ter an d p rin te r have been installed th a t w ill p rim a rily be used for C & R L N ew s p ro ­ duction. T h e new e q u ip m en t w ill allow m agazine p roduction to sw itch from a d edicated w o rd p ro c ­ essing system to m icrocom puters. A C R L s ta f f w o rk e d on p r e p a r i n g th e 1989 budget for ap p ro v al a t th e M id w in ter C onference. JoAn Segal an d M ary E llen D avis served on th e ALA W o rd Processing Task F orce a n d h elped to develop a policy for ALA on h a rd w a re a n d soft­ w a re configurations. ALA staff h e a rd a p resen tatio n on th e im p lica­ tions of th e new tax la w w ith reg ard to associations, inclu d in g rules for th e ded u ctio n of professional ex­ penses for trav el to m eetings. A C R L staff w orked on th e 1989 O p e ra tin g Plan. A d ra ft w as sent to th e P lan n in g C o m m ittee for dis­ cussion a t th e M id w in ter M eeting. P resident Jo an n e E u ster p la n n ed a L eadership m eeting for A CRL B oard m em bers an d guests for M id w in ter a n d has set up several o th er o p p o rtu n i­ ties for m em b er leaders to o b ta in help w ith th e ir duties an d responsibilities.—JoAn S. Segal, A C R L E xecu tive D irector. ■ ■ Six p e r c e n t a n d o th e r sta n d a r d s B y Steve M arquardt D irector o f Libraries University o f W isconsin-E au Claire Getting from the real to the ideal. W ritin g in th e N ovem ber 1987 issue of C &R L N ews, J. R ich ard M adaus appeals to “professional ethics” to argue for a bigger slice of th e academ ic b u d g e t. M a d a u s sta te s t h a t p ro fessio n al ethics should extend “to th e basic level of th e acceptance or rejection of th e conditions a n d circum stances under w h ich w e as professionals w ill allow o u r­ selves to w o rk .” H e suggests th a t a t th e p o in t of in ­ terview ing a n d being h ired , each lib ra ria n should raise th e A C R L academ ic lib ra ry b u d g et sta n d a rd of 6 % of cam pus ed u catio n al an d general (E&G) funding: “O u r n atio n al stan d ard s w ill be credible only w h en every lib ra ria n applying for every job brings th em up before th e y are hired. ”1 R ich ard M adaus, “A cadem ic L ib ra ry F u n d ­ ing an d Professional E th ic s,” C‹&RL N ew s 48 (No­ vem ber 1987): 606-609. M adaus is correct th a t th e “im m ed iate results w o u ld be a lo t of unfilled positions,” because m an y institutions restrict th e ir su p p o rt of th e lib ra ry to an a m o u n t closer to one h a lf of 6 %. An even m ore im m ed iate result w o u ld be exclam ations from a d ­ m inistrators th a t such a sta n d a rd is unrealistic an d u n affo rd ab le. (Indeed, are th e re libraries o u t th e re still enjoying 6 % of E& G?) A dm inistrators w ould label such a sta n d a rd as self-serving, an d w o u ld ask w h y 6% is necessary. F o r th e lib ra ria n , this 6 % is an ideal resource in ­ p u t, b u t for th e academ ic ad m in istrato r, it is an in ­ conveniently large expenditure o u tp u t. Such an a b r u p t d e m a n d , u n ju stified by a n y th in g o th e r th a n a self-set sta n d a rd , w ill seem less like ethics or even academ ic politics, b u t ra th e r m ore like greed. I t m ay even seem d o w n rig h t u n eth ical, in th e sense th a t “behavior becom es u n eth ical w h en it favors a February 1988 / 75 special interest out of proportion to, and w ithout consideration for, th e interests of society as a whole.”2 An answer in terms of “lots of neat stuff,” from bibliographic instruction to staying on the leading edge of new technology, is not likely to be success­ ful if standard services and resources are already provided at less th an 6 % of E&G. If those activities are now being provided at less th an 6 %, then why should a 6 % level of support be considered a realis­ tic standard or a necessary ideal? If such contem porary standard services and re­ sources have never been supported, then education of the adm inistrator must begin immediately. E d ­ ucation of adm inistrators, like all education, takes time. The means too th a t education is not the shock value of the 6 % standard, which leaps too far from fiscal reality to fiscal ideal. Instead th a t education must begin w ith the fundam entally necessary and professionally standard working conditions upon which we should insist. These conditions, which will help us build a budget approaching 6 %, and a program of services to m atch it, can be found among the other ACRL standards for college li­ braries. They include objectives developed by con­ sensus, collection m easurem ent, staff services and, most im p o rtan t in my view, adm inistrative in ­ volvement. “Standard 1: Objectives” calls for a statem ent of library objectives, developed in consultation w ith representatives of the teaching faculty, adm inistra­ tors and students. This will help to build a broadly based consensus about the level of services to be provided, an im p o rtan t requirem ent in a tim e w hen some provosts are encouraging chargebacks to control the grow th of services.3 The specific channel for this consensus-building consultation m ay be im portant. A college library committee re­ porting to an academic officer is redundant of the norm al reporting line to the chief librarian. It may be—and here is a subject for research—more fruit­ ful, although at times more aggravating, if the li­ brary com mittee were p a rt of the faculty senate, thus prom oting routine consideration of library m atters in the deliberative body of the entire fac­ ulty. “Standard 2: Collections” contains quantitative measures which can be applied to the resources and curriculum of the institution, encouraging the in­ vestment of funds to correct inadequacies. A quantitative analysis of “Standard 4: Staff” will beg questions of w h at is not being done in the Ethics in A m erica,” Leadership 3 (September 1980): 11-12, as quoted in Kenneth G. Peterson, “Ethics in Academic Librarianship: The Need for V alues,” Journal o f Academ ic Librarianship 9 (July 1983): 132. See the remarks of Maurice Glicksman, provost and dean of faculty at Brown University, in M ar­ th a Morss, “A Provost Looks at Library Costs and Charges,” Research Libraries in OCLC: A Quar­ terly 16 (Spring 1985) :3. way of “Standard 5: Services.” W hat gaps exist in the library’s service profile, in terms of reference service, in stru c tio n , in te rlib ra ry loans, hours, database searching, photocopy services, and provi­ sion of and help w ith newer technologies and for­ mats? The key to progress tow ard meeting these stan­ dards is contained in “Standard 7: A dm inistra­ tio n ,” specifically 7.2: “The library director shall be an officer of the college and shall report to the president or the chief academic officer of the insti­ tu tio n .”4 Just as im portant, in my view, is presence on the central academic governing council of the campus, such as the council of deans or the presi­ dent’s cabinet. This presence alone will not be suf­ ficient to obtain all needed resources, b u t it is nec­ essary for the education of adm inistrators who will benefit from regular discussion of the role of the li­ brary and the changing nature of academic library services. Presence of the librarian in the central adminis­ trative body is necessary for the timely receipt of in­ form ation, the form ulation and sharing of educa­ tional ideas and initiatives on the cam pus, the trading of favors, rolling of logs, and the crafting of criteria and priorities for budgets and programs w ith due consideration of library services and those who use them . As campus leaders give periodic in­ form ed consideration to lib ra ry services, th en working conditions become increasingly “ethical,” in the sense th a t “ethical behavior recognizes, and resides w ithin, a shared interest.”5 The unfortunate reality is th a t the isolation of the library from the rest of the academic organiza­ tion has been a too prevalent feature of large uni­ versities as well as small colleges. W hile at Colum­ bia University, Patricia Battin observed th a t “the most striking feature of traditional academic orga­ nizations, and the one which I believe is most mis­ understood and ignored by our academ ic col­ leagues, is the virtual isolation of the library in the organization. Despite rhetoric about it being ‘the heart of the university,’ the library and librarians have been for years isolated from the policy coun­ cils of most institutions.”6 The “Standards for College Libraries” are silent about library membership on the central academic governing council. Perhaps smaller colleges lack enough academic deans to constitute a “council.” O r is the direct reporting line to the chief academic officer m eant to assume participation in the gov­ ernance body? This assumption is often unw ar­ ranted. The next edition of the standards should in­ corporate the stronger recom mendation contained in the “Standards for University Libraries” : “Be­ cause it is closely related to instruction and re- 4“Standards for College Libraries, 1986,” C&RL News 47 (March 1986): 189-200. 5“Ethics in A m erica,” 132. 6Patricia Battin, “The Library: Center of the Re­ structured University,” G&RL 45 (May 1984): 170. 76 / C&RL News search, the university library should be formally recognized as one of the m ajor academic units w ithin the university, and its chief administrative officer should participate regularly and directly in university-wide academic planning and decision­ making.” 7 Some university presidents would expand the presence of lib ra ria n s into still m ore cam pus groups. As President of the University of Wisconsin System, R obert M. O'Neil recom m ended th a t “committees which advise on fiscal and budget de­ cisions should routinely have lib rary m em ber­ ship— The review of both present and proposed degree programs must include an assessment of li­ brary resources and the implications. In these and perhaps other ways, meaningful participation of the library in university governance can be en­ hanced.”8 The presence of the librarian on these influential groups is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for success in the struggle to provide library users 7' “Standards for University Libraries,” C&RL News 40 (April 1979): 105. 8Robert M. O’Neil, “Academic Libraries and the F uture: A P resident’s V iew ,” C& RL 45 (May 1984): 187. with needed services and materials. In these coun­ cils, the librarian must reiterate the “shared inter­ est” which is the basis of ethical behavior. In these committees, councils and cabinets, power and eth­ ics meet in the shared interests of those present. The question of how uninvolved librarians nego­ tiate or otherwise secure membership on these groups is not addressed by our professional litera­ ture. W hat are the realities of actual experience in the negotiating process at and after the point of be­ ing interviewed and hired? Beyond th at “day one,” w hat is the role of power in the struggle for re­ sources, between librarians and administrators? W hat is the correlation between the number of minutes spent annually with presidents, provosts and deans, and the percent of E&G allocated to the Library? Answers to these questions could serve as rungs on the ladder to the level of support required for services which truly would be up to standard. The economic criteria of 6% of E&G can neither be won nor retained without the political strength to make it happen. The administrative involvement recommended in the existing standards must be honored first. Only then will the economic re­ sources follow. ■ ■ ACRL staff profile Mary Ellen K. Davis, program officer in charge of a wide range of ACRL activities, has been on the staff since November 1985. She was previously em­ ployed at ALA as assis­ tant director for “Let’s Talk About I t,” a read­ ing and discussion pro­ gram sponsored by the Association of Special­ ized an d C o o p e ra tiv e L ib ra ry Agencies and funded by the National Endowment for the H u­ manities. Davis’ responsibilities in ACRL include p ro ­ viding advisory services Mary Ellen Davisand managing the non­ serial publications pro­ gram of the division. She serves as liaison to several committees including Publications, and Standards and Accreditation, and coordinates the ACRL awards program. Davis also works with members on the annual RBMS preconference, the BIS pre­ conference, and the President’s Program. Among ongoing responsibilities, Davis oversees the international exchange program and a library- statistics data collection effort, and is now working with the Performance Measures Committee (ad hoc). Prior to coming to ALA Davis was a reference li­ brarian at Central Michigan University and at the Downers Grove, Illinois, Public L ibrary. She earned bachelor’s and MLS degrees from the Uni­ versity of Illinois at U rbana-C ham paign and a master’s degree in education from Central Michi­ gan University, and taught elementary school be­ fore entering the library profession. ■ ■ Letter 19th-century academic libraries To the Editor: I read with great interest David Kaser’s article on “19th-century Academic Library Buildings” in the September 1987 issue of C&RL News. In it he asked for reader assistance and comments about his research. I am currently preparing a monograph on rural New England academic libraries. If any readers could help in locating information, anec­ dotes, drawings, or photos, please write me at San Jose State University Library, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0028.—Ruth Hafter, Library Director. ■ ■ A C Q U IS IT IO N PERSPECTIVES 1. ANY BOOK IN PRINT . . . . means delivery to your library of all available books from any publisher or distributor in the U.S. or Canada. There is no list of publishers you must check . . . WE DELIVER THEM ALL … including trade, scientific/techni- cal, text, university presses, paper­ backs, associations, small presses, Canadian, and software. Send us yo u r direct orders and ex­ perience the "added value" received when using Book House. CALL TOLL-FREE t h e TODAY 1-800-248-1146 B O O K In Canada & Michigan HOUSE CALL COLLECT (517) 849-2117 JOBBERS SERVING LIBRARIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT SINCE 1962 208 WEST CHICAGO STREET OCLC Vendor No. 17397 SAN 169-3859 JONESVILLE, MICHIGAN 49250