College and Research Libraries


By SIDNEY H. DITZION 

College Librarians and the 
Higher Learning 

P
ROFESS~R JACQUES BARZUN recently 
put librarians in their place. 1 As a 

basis for developing his theine, he set up 
certain criteria of "attention" and '.'gen-
eral knowledge" to measure the librarian's 
effectiveness. But what Professor Barzun 
politely said seemed to. add up to this: Li-
brarians are n'ot sufficiently informed to be 
at ease in the presence of scholars and other 
well-informed customers; they do not make 
critical distinctions as nicely as scholars do; 
and they do not as a group p'ossess that 
body of traditional learning-promoted so 
effectively in The Teacher in America-
which is necessary for admittance into 
Barzun's inner circle . . In a word, the pro-
fessor is unwilling .to deal with us as intel-
lectual equals. 

Now, if it were not for the core of truth 
the speaker had presented, any librarian 
present might have resented his approach. 
But our professional brethren merely asked 
Professor Barzun how librarians could more 
effectively serve college teachers in their 
work. It were as if college librarians did 
not normally exhaust themselves in setting 
things up right for the teaching program 
as well as in helping students complete the 
teaching process only started in most class-
rooms. Librarians, of course, could do 
more and better; but that would not get 
them into Barzun's heaven. They would 
only be re;,.ealing ~ore "scaffolding;" they 
would not be building the true ·edifice whose 

1 Barzun, Jacques. "The Scholar Looks at the Li-
brary.'' College and Research Libraries 7:113-17, 
April 1946. 

architects reap their rewards in terms of 
professional recognition and salary. 

Nor did we have to wait for a profes-
sional get-together to become aware of our 
difficulties. We have discussed them fre-
quently in private conversation and in con-
ference jam sessions. From time to time 
our group frustration has articulated itself 
in professional literature. Some of the 
bibliography of these outcries is discussed 
by William Dosite Postell. 2 His list of 
titles reveals an obviously felt need of self-
improvement, if not self-justification, of li-
brarians as scholars, authors, and teachers. 
And doesn't A. F. Kuhlman's "Can the As-
sociation of College and Reference Libraries 
Achieve Professional Status ?" 3 try to re-
solve our evident but unwarranted inferior-
ity complex? Add also to the ~ecent 
literature Robert Bingham Downs's "Aca-
demic Status for University Librarians-a 
New Approach. " 4 

Much of this literature of complaint 
speaks of the good old days when scholars 
became librarians so that, naturally enough, 
librarians were scholars. If one were to 
try to place his finger on the transitional 
process which changed all this, he ·would 
probably summarize· his findings in some-
what this fashion: The college and uni-
versity have widened their scope, increased 
their student bodies, and changed their 
methods of teaching in such a way as to 

2 "The Art of Librarianship." School and Society 
61 :419-21, June 30, 1945. 

s College and Research Libraries 7:145-51, April 1946. 
• College and Research Libraries 7:6-9, 26, January · ' 

1946. 

50 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



draw in libraries on a grand scale. Th~ 
magnitude of the librarian's task in this 
newly expanded service institution has 
acted to bring down the level of his intel-
lectual productivity. 

A chief goal in all of this thinking ~bout · 
librarians and scholars is, if we state it 
candidly, to achiev.e the salary levels, op-

. portunities for advancement, and other 
privileges of our colleagues on the teaching 
staff. We do .not seem to be getting any-
where-excep for a limited number of 
top ranking librarians-by our scaffolding 
activities however brilliantly and profes-
sionally these are performed. Are we then 
the hopeless victims of a system or situation? 
We need not be. . 

Something of a solution must develop if 
we proceed on a practiql, systematic basis 
toward the attainment of our goal. There 
are two basic aspects of such a program-
its ideological content and the specific o~­
ganizational forms of activity to be 
undertaken. Operations in this second 
area will involve such decisions as: Are 
trade union forms more or less effective 
than professional organizations? In dealing 
with these specific aims, should we join 
teachers' organizations in preference to li-
brarians' organizatio~s, or vice versa? 
These and all sorts of questions of tactics 
and <tpproach are best answered by experi-
ence and should be left in tentative form 
for the p~esent. 

Successful Patterns 

We do, however, have a few specific no-
tions as to successful patterns among the 

- ideas we have to handle. We know, for 
· instance, that top administrative positions 

are most likely .to be rewarded justly. This 
may be accepted at face value as being well 
and good for those who are fortunate 
enough to climb into the limited number of 
available posts; that is, provided this par-

JANUARYJ 1947 

ticular opportunity for advancement is 
offered with strict adherence to the com-
petitive, principle. Full publicity of open-
ings will help in this direction. Hierarchic 
controls of key posts should cease to exist. 

From the point of view of professional 
welfare, one qualification beyond all others 
is required of the administrator who is 
chosen for one of these posts. This first 
essential is the wi~lingness and capacity to 
arrange librarianship so as to move toward 
the full development and self-realization 
of that large mass of professional assistants 
who, for reasons which need not be enumer-
ated here, will never reach the very top. 
This admi~istrator must, and he often has 
it within his power to, see to it that library 
jobs are not crowded with technical and 
clerical detail. He must relieve his assist-
ants of every possible task which could be 
performed by nonlibrarian staff. 

With his basic organizational structure 
thus rationalized, this administrator must 
now proceed to encourage his staff in 
directions which will be recognized as archi-
tecture rather than scaffolding. As a begin-
ning he and his administrative lieutenants 

~must renounce the too-prevalent practice of 
discouraging all reading during working 
hours. Nor should he assign to each assist-
ant just a little more work than he can 
<!-Ccomplish in the time allotted. No pro-
fession can possibly remain alert under such 
restrictive conditions as prevail in most li-
braries. To this may be added a liberalized 

. interpretation of work schedules, summer 
vacations and leaves with pay, and part of 
the college teacher's advantageous modus 
operandi et vivendi begins to com~ in to 
VIew. Professor Barzun sensed the un-
fortunate plight of librarians in the matter 
of free time rather precisely when he said, 
"It seems to me that it behooves the 
profession as a whole to make this represen-
tation to the authorities and provide oppor-

51 



tunities' for 11brar'ians to read, to become 
well-informed, and to serve their public 
in that intangible, yet important, way of 
being the same kind of person." 

Now, having to an extent thus liberated 
his staff members, ·the administrator should 
be capable of channeling their energies so 
as to provide optimum conditions for cre-
ative librarianship. Qne of the chief ob-
jectives of a college library organization 
should be to arrange for professional li-
brarians to work under conditions con-
ducive to the manufacture of a product 
comparable to that of their colleagues, the 
college teachery There is no doubt that, 
by and large, college librarians would, if 
given the chance, compete successfully with 
college teachers for availa~le rewards. And 
who will deny that the cause of education, 
from the standpoint of student, teacher, and 
librarian, will be favored by this emphasis. 

Ways to Reach Goal 

To date we see three broad types of 
endeavor which may lead college librarians 
toward the status they desire. Subsumed 
within the first is such a group of profes-
sional activities as A. F. Kuhlman lists in. 
the article mentioned 'l,bove. The items 
which at the moment seem best suited to 
accomplish immediate aims are: "Improve 
the professional education and training for 
college and reference librari~n~. Develop 
strong professional leadership in A.~.R.L. 
membership. Integrate A.C.R.L. librarian- · 
ship with instructional and research efforts 
of faculties and learned societies. En-
courage experimentation, research, and 
publication on problems of librarianship in 
college and reference libraries." Just how 
these activities will enhance professional 
status in the desired manner is seen only 
vaguely now. But as the' elements of Kuhl-
man's program are worked out, their 
promise will be realized at least in part. 

Whatever else we may do in developing 
this part of our program, we must point 
out in no uncertain terms that our instruc-
tional and research activities in the field of 
librarianship bear marks of academic 
achie,vement comparable to that of the 
teaching staff. We certainly should be able 
to demonstrate that tqe operational level 
reached by technical proces~ librarians in 
the organization of knowledge and the ma-
terials of learning requires a kind of prepa-
ration and ability generall expected of 
college teachers. Similarly, the educational 
attainments and · direct teaching functions 
of reference and research librarians should 
promote the process of professional ag~ 
grandizement. If we find it difficult to sell 
these ideas on the basis of present library 
organization, we . must reorganize our li-
braries. 

The second kind of tactical endeavor 
and its already fruitful results are strongly 
implied in R. B. Downs's article. Profes-
sional librarians must spend so_me or all of 
their time in the college classroo~ The 
librarian and his staff must promote a full 
program of instruction in the use of library 

materia~ 
The third ·suggestion to be offered here is 

the creation of a large number of high-
ranking positions for subject specialists. 
The old debate about librarian -versus 
specialist is not of consequence in the at-
tempt to advance status. Whatev.er library 
assistants start as, they should be encouraged 
and , assisted along lines of specialization. 
This may occasion further reorganization 
of professional schools of librarianship, and 
there are hopeful signs in this direction. 
Certainly librarians who have this type of 
emphasis in their professional preparation 
are less likely to stand in awe of their 
colleagues on the teaching staff. Moreover, 
'the program of subject specialization must 
not suddenly be brought to a close upon 

52 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 

.. 



promotion to an administrative post. Every 
possible effort and device must be used to 
permit librarians of all ranks and in all 
positions to develop as rapidly and as fully 
as their professorial colleagues. 

Scholarship in Profession 

There is a significant iesson to be learned 
from our observati-on of whence arises the 
bulk of solid scholarship and professional 
research in the field of librarianship. It 
comes from librarians who have left their 
positions for a year or two to engage in 
graduate study and research; it comes from 
instructors in library schools; it comes from 
professional leaders who have managed to 
liberate themselves from the administrative 
details of their work and perhaps have been 
able to command the assistance of a staff 
member or two in their productive resean;h; 
it comes from that small group of inex-
haustibles whom no vocational load could 
prevent from doing sustained intellectual 
work. 

If all else is agreed upon, then let us 
deliberately devote our efforts to the solu-

tion of the problem of staffing and division 
of labor. Perhaps we are planning services 
beyond what our colleges think they need 
and are 'willing to pay for. A little service 
contraction may bring the point more force-· 
fully to college administrators. By main-
taining myriads of departmental libraries, 
fraternity and dormitory libraries, browsing 
rooms, and instructors' working collections, 
we earn the same kind of condescending 
gratitude that faithful servants receive from 
their employers. When we run reserve 
reading rooms with the smoothness oj a 
well-oiled machine, our clerical · efficiency 
rating rises. These are butexamples of our 
activities which, desirable as they are, earn 
for us the. dubious distinction of being "such 
accommodating people." 

Self-preservation may demand depriving / 
our college teachers· of some of the comforts 
to which we have been accustoming them. 
They have been taking all of these 1 uxuries 
for ·gran ted and have . recognized them as 
mere scaffolding. Perhaps they need the 
experience of trying to paint a high ceiling 
without a scaffold. 

The Futu~e of the Catalog 
(Contt'nued from page 22) 

ing cost. If savings are to be effected, they 
cannot be effected at the expense of subject 
approach. The situation m~y change if 
and when more, and more adequate, subject 
indexes, bibliographies, and abstracts are 
regularly published. · 

All that has been said tends to stress the 
increasing i,-nportance of the cataloger in 
the research library of the future. ll is 
evident that much more analytical skill and 
subject background will be required of him 
than is now the case. Furthermore, he will 
have to be not only thoroughly acquainted 
with the fields of specialization of his own 
library but it will also be part of his work 

JANUARYJ 1947 

to watch out for any possible trends and 
changes of point of vie.w in related field~. 
As a first intermediary between the in com-

. ing material and the scholar, the cataloger 
is no less concerned with the service aspects 
of the library than the reference librarian. 
He should be at all times informed of the 
research needs and new fields of interest of 
the library's clientele, and his outlook and 
habits of thought should approximate · as 
closely as possible those of the resea~ch 
sch~lar. And when the cataloger is able 
to do all these things, a.nd successfully, the 
difference between his profession and that of 
the research scholar will be one in name only. 

53