College and Research Libraries S U G G E S T I O N S FOR T H E F U T U R E T h i s report would be amiss if there w e r e no suggestions f o r possible f u t u r e action in regard to the question of bookmen in the library. F i r s t of all, it should be stressed that the chief officer of a l i b r a r y w h o is only a bookman is only half an officer. T h i s point has been discussed before, and does not need repeating here. A s s u m i n g that the chief li- brarian is both a bookman and an adminis- t r a t o r , he should be interested in the perfect blending of these t w o essentials in his super- visory officers and other professional s t a f f , even though some of the l a t t e r may not have any real administrative responsibility. T h e most striking and most comforting con- clusion is that the library school personnel and the librarians have both been thinking of this problem of training in book knowledge. Deficiencies there are, and as libraries have g r o w n in size and complexity, the day of the encyclopedic librarian is disappearing. E v e n bookmen recognize this limitation—many book dealers and collectors have become specialists. L i b r a r y schools can do an efficient j o b if they w i l l develop the sensitivity of students to books and other graphic materials which are essential f o r the scholarly w o r k of researchers in the university l i b r a r y . T h e school li- brarian, the children's librarian, the public librarian w i l l have to be j u s t as a w a r e of their materials and their uses. T h e beginner must be given a chance to g r o w . T h e r e are several roads to becoming bookmen, according to the bookmen them- selves. B u t " r e a d i n g " is essential to all of them. W h i l e l i b r a r i a n s have not a l w a y s been generous with their s t a f f s as to permitting reading on l i b r a r y time, this should not dis- suade those w h o are really interested. A s I w a s completing my r e m a r k s on this topic, I chanced to examine a new volume which came across my desk, Books and the Mass Market, the F o u r t h A n n u a l W i n d s o r L e c t u r e s at the U n i v e r s i t y of Illinois L i b r a r y School. I w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y intrigued with the paper by H a r o l d K . G u i n z b u r g , president of V i k i n g P r e s s and a friend of librarians. M r . G u i n z b u r g ' s paper is concerned with " F r e e Press, F r e e E n t e r p r i s e , and D i v e r s i t y , " a topic which he covers admirably. B u t it is one of his closing p a r a g r a p h s which is relevant to our discussion today. H e w r i t e s as f o l l o w s : T h i s [ l a c k of i n t e r e s t in r e a d i n g a n d b u y - i n g b o o k s ] s e e m s to i n d i c a t e t h a t o u r e d u c a - t i o n a l system is at l e a s t in p a r t c u l p a b l e . T h e r e m e d y m a y lie in i m p r o v e d m e t h o d s of i n c u l c a t i n g in s t u d e n t s a l o v e of books a s a n e c e s s a r y a d j u n c t to a s a t i s f y i n g l i f e . M a n y t e a c h e r s , w e l l a w a r e of the s i t u a t i o n , a r e a s k i n g , " A r e those w h o m w e g r a d u a t e g o i n g on w i t h t h e i r e d u c a t i o n t h r o u g h r e a d i n g ? A r e w e p r o d u c i n g c u l t i v a t e d a d u l t s w h o w i l l find g o o d books a sine qua non of the g o o d l i f e ? " T h e s y s t e m of r e q u i r e d r e a d i n g in schools a n d c o l l e g e s m i g h t be c h a n g e d so t h a t y o u n g p e o p l e a r e not f o r c e d to s t r u g g l e t h r o u g h d i f f i c u l t ' c l a s s i c s ' w h i c h b o r e a n d d i s c o u r a g e them, but r a t h e r a r e g i v e n e x c i t - i n g c o n t e m p o r a r y w r i t e r s w h i c h s t i m u l a t e t h e i r i n t e r e s t in the book a s a s o u r c e of p l e a s - u r e a n d l e a d them on t o w a r d m o r e d i f f i c u l t r e a d i n g — e q u a l l y s t i m u l a t i n g a f t e r p r o p e r p r e p a r a t i o n . S e e k i n g s a t i s f a c t i o n in g o o d books m u s t s o m e h o w be m a d e a u t o m a t i c f o r a n e d u c a t e d A m e r i c a n . O n l y t h u s c a n the schools r e f u t e the s t a t e m e n t r e c e n t l y m a d e b y G e o r g e G a l l u p a f t e r a s t u d y , t h a t " o u r e d u - c a t i o n a l s y s t e m is a d m i r a b l y d e s i g n e d to k e e p o u r n a t i o n i m m a t u r e . " By L A W R E N C E C L A R K P O W E L L The Excitement of Administration Dr. Powell is librarian of the University of California, Los Angeles, and visiting pro- fessor of library service, Columbia University, 1954- Up U N T I L N O W I have kept my mouth shut about administration, believing it is something one does rather than talks about doing. A b o u t books, h o w e v e r , I have done more then my share of talking, so that I have come to be branded as a bookman. I resent this, f o r I am proud of the administrative scars I bear, each one earned, I can assure y o u ; honorable, yes, not honorary. T h e r e has been a good reason f o r all the talking I have done about books. N o m a t t e r 326 COI.LEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES w h a t one says about them, books can't t a l k back. A d m i n i s t r a t i o n is different, it's d a n g e r - ous. A d m i n i s t r a t i o n is people—living, b r e a t h - ing, talking people, one's v e r y o w n p e o p l e — and one cannot talk administration except in terms of people, w h o can and do talk back. I say " o n e " cannot. W h a t I mean is, I cannot. T h e f a c t is there has been a g r e a t deal of non-human, even inhuman talk about administration, about the skeleton of admin- istration which is the o r g a n i z a t i o n chart, the span of control, the flow of w o r k and all the rest of the j a r g o n of so-called scientific man- agement and human engineering. I must confess that I am uneducated in administration. T h e y e a r I w a s in l i b r a r y school Sydney M i t c h e l l w a s on sabbatical and no course in administration w a s o f f e r e d . Besides, M i t c h e l l ' s course, I w a s told, w a s not one in " T h e o r y of L i b r a r y A d m i n i s t r a - tion," but r a t h e r a river-like monologue, flow- ing through a r e a s of w h a t he himself had done as an a d m i n i s t r a t o r and of w h a t he had seen others do, a l w a y s p r a g m a t i c , never theoretical. F o r t u n a t e l y f o r me, I did have his course l a t e r , unofficially, and w i t h o u t credit, taken at b r e a k f a s t , lunch and dinner, roundabout the W e s t , in the course of a friendship that flourished until his death t w o y e a r s ago. F o r seven y e a r s a f t e r leaving l i b r a r y school I w a s a simple bookman, uncorrupted by ad- ministrative responsibility; and then suddenly, the good old days came to an end, and I f o u n d myself an a d m i n i s t r a t o r , in c h a r g e of a medium sized university l i b r a r y poised on the crest of the post w a r boom, equipped w i t h nothing but instinct, blind confidence, and n a t u r a l bossiness. If P r e s i d e n t S p r o u l had any misgivings about my overnight t r a n s f o r m a - tion, he w a s kind enough not to r e v e a l them to me. M y s e c r e t a r y then is my s e c r e t a r y now, and f o r t w o r e a s o n s : first, she had sense enough not to tell me w h a t to do, and second, I had sense enough to l e a r n a f e w things f r o m h e r by keeping eyes and e a r s open, and mouth shut. I n the ten y e a r s since then I have seen my l i b r a r y g r o w to m a j o r size, in books, staff and o r g a n i z a t i o n a l complexity. W e n o w have an a d m i n i s t r a t i v e chart, a span of control and a flow of w o r k — a l l of this ex post facto—and w e find ourselves w i l l y - n i l l y an a d m i n i s t r a t i v e training school. A s f o r that little exchange of viewpoints P r o f e s s o r T a u b e r and I had a f e w y e a r s ago, w e w e r e both r i g h t : the best chief l i b r a r i a n will be both bookman and a d m i n i s t r a t o r . If a man can have only one of the t w o qualities, I am prepared to admit that a l i b r a r y w i l l perhaps s u f f e r the least f r o m an unbookish a d m i n i s t r a t o r than f r o m an administratively ignorant bookman. T h e best administration comes f r o m t e a m w o r k . I do not k n o w of any chief l i b r a r i a n a n y w h e r e w h o incorporates all the administrative bookish v i r t u e s , but I do k n o w of s e v e r a l , including m y s e l f , w h o have r e i n f o r c e d their o w n w e a k n e s s e s w i t h assistants w h o have the missing elements needed to f o r m a w h o l e . I t is not easy to keep f r o m the schizophrenia which threatens the chief l i b r a r i a n . T h e bookstack is an a l l u r i n g s a n c t u a r y f r o m ad- ministrative trouble. A n d the temptation of turning into a practicing psychoanalyst, w i t h o v e r w r o u g h t f a c u l t y and o v e r w o r k e d staff f o r patients, is easier to embrace than the com- p a r a t i v e l y austere l i f e of a bibliographer. N o w I find myself on the w a y to C o l u m b i a to teach l i b r a r y administration. T h i s pro- g r a m w a s planned b e f o r e I received the call f r o m D e a n W h i t e , and w h a t w a s originally planned to fill a f i f t e e n minute gap in these proceedings, turned into the necessity of ac- cumulating a long semester's r e s e r v o i r of w o r d s . E v e r y class must h a v e a text. I looked a r o u n d f o r one. W h e n I asked one of my s t a f f , w h o m I knew had taken a l i b r a r y school course in administration, f o r a likely text, he told me that they had been taught that the f i r s t modern treatise on the science of ad- ministration w a s by a F r e n c h m a n — H e n r i F a y o l ' s General and Industrial Management. I s t r a i g h t w a y read it, and f o u n d it typically F r e n c h in its inhuman lucidity, f o u n d it logical and true, as f a r as it w e n t . R e a d i n g only this, h o w e v e r , w o u l d give one a w r o n g idea of the F r e n c h , as I k n e w them f r o m having lived as a student in a F r e n c h pension and observed there the head of all F r e n c h o r g a n i - z a t i o n — t h e w o m a n , the true head of the f a m i l y . M o n s i e u r F a y o l w r i t e s like a bache- l o r w h o lost his mother w h e n he w a s a baby. N o , this sort of dry-as-dust t e x t w o u l d never do. I thought of an e a r l i e r time, of my f a v o r i t e century a f t e r the twentieth, the seventeenth. I knew I w a s running the risk of another scolding f r o m P r o f e s s o r T a u b e r at JULY, 1954 32 7 my playing the escapist again, but I found myself ineluctably d r a w n to a seventeenth century treatise on human engineering, a manual of conduct f o r public people w r i t t e n by a Spanish J e s u i t . In understanding m y s e l f , my own religion of Q u a k e r i s m has proved most helpful, but in understanding others, I have found that I could learn much f r o m the J e s u i t s , the greatest of all administrative orders. T h i s J e s u i t treatise has been trans- lated into a dozen languages since it first appeared in 1 6 5 3 , the latest of which appeared only last y e a r in E n g l a n d . I first came across it twenty years ago in a bookish doctor's w a i t i n g room, and while being a bookman in B r i t a i n three y e a r s ago, I found f o u r earlier translations into our tongue. I t is c a l l e d A Truthtelling Manual and the Art of Wordly Wisdom, a n d t h e a u t h o r is B a l t h a s a r G r a c i a n . I t is composed of m a x i m s — s o m e w o u l d call them platitudes—which are w o r l d l y , practical, and timeless. Some of them are also rather cynical. T h e quintessence of the advice which G r a c i a n o f f e r s his readers might be summed up as f o l l o w s : K n o w y o u r s e l f , y o u r weakness as w e l l as your s t r e n g t h ; know also how to conceal shortcomings and make a discreet dis- play of y o u r merits. Others, however, are at the same game, so they must be known as w e l l . Penetrate behind their m a s k s ; be some- thing of a clairvoyant, see through them and divine their thoughts. D o not e x a g g e r a t e , and remember, also, that truth itself can some- times be used in order to deceive. Combine the subtlety of the serpent with the candor of the dove. T h i n k with the f e w and speak with the many. N e i t h e r hate nor love on a permanent basis and remember that a f r i e n d turned enemy is the most dangerous of all foes. I recommend this v e r y human treatise to those w h o are practicing l i b r a r y administra- tion. I t is not recommended f o r beginners. H ere are the headings of some of G r a c i a n ' s administrative maxims, with my own com- ments thereon: K N O W H O W TO DISCOVER E A C H M A N ' S T H U M B S C R E W N o comment. BE A M A N W H O C A N W A I T M a n y things come to him w h o w a i t s , but not a l w a y s the ones he has been w a i t i n g f o r . K N O W H O W TO C H A N G E Y O U R F R O N T I m p o r t a n t when the potential donor to y o u r library turns out actually to be a seller and not a giver. K N O W H O W TO M A K E A GOOD E X I T F r o m the President's office when he says no, not a cent more this year. G e t out even f a s t e r when he says yes. K N O W H O W TO S A Y N O T o the Business M a n a g e r when he sug- gests you give over half of the catalog department's space to house an irrelevant activity. K N O W T H E M E A N I N G OF E V A S I O N N o comment. A L L O W Y O U R S E L F SOME DEFECTS M i n o r ones, of course. K N O W H O W TO F U R T H E R A N O T H E R ' S P L A N TO A C C O M P L I S H Y O U R O W N Regional cooperation. W I T H O U T L Y I N G , DO N O T S P E A K T H E W H O L E T R U T H M i g h t have something to do with annual reports and budget requests. DISCOVER S O M E O N E TO H E L P Y O U S H O U L D E R Y O U R M I S F O R T U N E S Associate L i b r a r i a n . K N O W H O W TO LET B L A M E SLIP U P O N A N - O T H E R Assistant L i b r a r i a n . W h a t happened to this oracle named B a l t h a s a r G r a c i a n ? W i t h his treatise in his hand, he must surely have ended as G o v e r n o r of G r a n a d a or Captain of C a s t i l e ! N o t quite. T h e f a c t that he w a s a bookman got him into trouble. H e published w o r k s critical of his superiors, and when they ordered him to cease and desist, he stubbornly kept on doing it, in f a t a l contrariness to his own advice to others. H o w v e r y h u m a n ! H e w a s stripped of his offices and sent into exile, and even there his desk d r a w e r w a s searched f o r evi- dence of disobedience. I do not w a n t to end on a note of cynicism or f u t i l i t y . I like administration. Running a l i b r a r y (and that means knowing also when to run f r o m it) is my idea of heaven-on- earth. W h a t are the qualities I am going to tell my students are needed f o r success as a 328 COI.LEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES l i b r a r y a d m i n i s t r a t o r ? H e r e is a brief list, each w i t h its c o n v e r s e : K N O W H O W TO S P E A K — a n d how to listen. KNOW HOW TO W R I T E — a n d h o w t o r e a d . K N O W H O W TO W O R K F A S T a n d h o w t o d o nothing. KNOW HOW TO DELEGATE a n d h o w t o retain. KNOW HOW TO CREDIT OTHERS a n d h o w to take blame. K N O W H O W TO C H A N G E Y O U R L E N S FROM WIDE TO N A R R O W — a n d h o w t o b e b l i n d . K N O W H O W TO W I N L O Y A L T Y — a n d h o w t o be loyal. If anyone k n o w s of such a p a r a g o n , have him w r i t e to U C L A . W e have an opening at the bottom, at $ 3 5 0 0 per y e a r , w i t h n o w h e r e to go but up. B y K A T H L E E N C A M P B E L L The Librarian as Administrator Miss Campbell is librarian, Montana State University. BOTH D r . L a w r e n c e C l a r k P o w e l l 1 and D r . M a u r i c e F . T a u b e r 2 discussed this m a t t e r of " T h e L i b r a r i a n as B o o k m a n or A d m i n i s t r a t o r " a number of y e a r s ago. D r . P o w e l l took the side of the l i b r a r i a n as book- man, and while he pointed out that a "passion f o r books is the g r e a t e s t single asset a li- b r a r i a n can h a v e , " he nevertheless agreed w i t h D r . T a u b e r that to be a bookman w a s not enough—the l i b r a r i a n must be an ad- m i n i s t r a t o r as w e l l . T h e s e articles by P o w e l l and T a u b e r cover the subject v e r y w e l l in a general w a y , but I should like to point out the situation in the small university l i b r a r y . V a r i o u s dictionaries define " b o o k m a n " as " a s c h o l a r , " and it is w i t h this definition in mind that I w i s h to discuss the m a t t e r . I n the beginning, I w a n t to say that I can think of no more ideal combination f o r a l i b r a r i a n than that of b o o k m a n - a d m i n i s t r a t o r , but in the s m a l l university l i b r a r y , the talents of a bookman could be lost, and I am quite sure that he might find himself s o m e w h a t unhappy in his job. I n the small university, f o r the most p a r t , f u n d s are limited, and the l i b r a r y budget u s u a l l y is inadequate to meet the c u r r e n t needs of the teaching f a c u l t y to say nothing of building up r a r e book and scholarly collec- tions. O f course, in e v e r y l i b r a r y the li- b r a r i a n must be responsible f o r the selection 1 Powell, Lawrence Clark, "The Chief Librarian: Bookman or Administrator?" Stechert-Hafner Book News, 3:13-14, October 15, 1948. 2 Tauber, Maurice F., "Bookman and Administrator," Stechert-Hafner Book News, 3:73-74, March 1 5 , 1949. of books of a general n a t u r e in all fields, and he w i l l , if he is alert, take the initiative in maintaining the strong collections in his li- b r a r y . T h e s m a l l university is an under- g r a d u a t e school p r i m a r i l y , o f f e r i n g no advanced degrees beyond the M a s t e r ' s , and even then, in m a n y cases, only in restricted fields. T h e n , too, there is the question as to w h e t h e r money should be spent f o r scholarly or r a r e book collections at the sacrifice of g e n e r a l l y needed l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s . T h e teaching load in the small university is apt to be heavier than in the l a r g e schools, again because of inadequate f u n d s , thus limiting time f o r research and consequently publication by f a c u l t y . A l i b r a r i a n even though he be a scholar cannot possibly k n o w the highly specialized m a t e r i a l s in all fields represented in his li- b r a r y . T h e r e f o r e , he should m a k e use of the k n o w l e d g e of his f a c u l t y w h o are, or certainly should be, specialists in their fields. F u r t h e r - more, and j u s t l y so, many f a c u l t y members consider their p a r t in the building of l i b r a r y collections not simply a privilege but an in- herent right based on the assumption that the function of the f a c u l t y is to guide students in their reading and the responsibility of the l i b r a r y is to o f f e r bibliographic aid and to m a k e m a t e r i a l s a v a i l a b l e f o r use. In f a c t , as g i f t collections come to o u r l i b r a r y , members of the f a c u l t y are invited to look over the m a - terial of a highly specialized n a t u r e and to assist the l i b r a r i a n in determining w h e t h e r such m a t e r i a l should be added to o u r l i b r a r y or o f f e r e d to l i b r a r i e s in the P a c i f i c N o r t h - w e s t R e g i o n having strong collections in the subject field concerned'. Such cooperation, in JULY, 1954 329