College and Research Libraries


B y J O H N F . H A R V E Y 

College Librarians and Recruiting 
Mr. Harvey is librarian, Kansas State 

Teachers College, Pittsburg. 

RECRUITING IS A p o p u l a r s u b j e c t . E v e r since the g r e a t s h o r t a g e of l i b r a r i a n s 
developed d u r i n g the last w a r , w e h a v e 

been t a l k i n g about it. C o l l e g e and u n i v e r s i t y 

librarians should j o i n the m o v e m e n t to re-

c r u i t m o r e and better l i b r a r i a n s f o r the li-

b r a r y schools. T h i s is necessary because of 

the present s h o r t a g e , and because c o l l e g e 

l i b r a r i a n s are in a good position to r e c r u i t . 

T o h a v e vacancies seems to be c h r o n i c . 

I t is u n u s u a l f o r a c o l l e g e or u n i v e r s i t y li-

b r a r y d i r e c t o r to fill his v a c a n c i e s easily. 

T h e l i b r a r y school deans w o u l d like to help, 

b u t they o f t e n h a v e no names in t h e i r files. 

T h e s e v a c a n c i e s are especially n u m e r o u s 

f o r positions w i t h specialized qualifications. 

T r y to find a good c h e m i s t r y l i b r a r i a n , ag-

r i c u l t u r e l i b r a r i a n , physics l i b r a r i a n , a r t 

l i b r a r i a n , or c a t a l o g l i b r a r i a n ! T h e l i b r a r y 

schools do not g r a d u a t e e n o u g h people to 

fill a l l these v a c a n c i e s ; most l i b r a r y schools 

are s m a l l and s t r u g g l i n g and are o p e r a t i n g 

w e l l b e l o w c a p a c i t y , as they h a v e f o r sev-

eral years. 

E v e r y o n e t a l k s a b o u t the personnel short-

age, b u t f e w l i b r a r i a n s do a n y t h i n g a b o u t 

it. T h e l i b r a r y school deans e x p e c t their 

a l u m n i to r e c r u i t , b u t the a l u m n i leave it to 

the deans. T h e profession expects the J o i n t 

C o m m i t t e e on L i b r a r y W o r k as a C a r e e r to 

d i r e c t n a t i o n a l r e c r u i t i n g , but the J o i n t 

C o m m i t t e e w a i t s f o r the profession to re-

c r u i t . I t is time w e stopped buck-passing, 

and began r e c r u i t i n g seriously. 

C o l l e g e l i b r a r i a n s are in a good position 

to r e c r u i t . S c h o o l l i b r a r i a n s , because of 

t h e i r association w i t h h i g h school s t u d e n t 

assistants about to m a k e v o c a t i o n a l decisions, 

should also r e c r u i t ; but college l i b r a r i a n s 

have several a d v a n t a g e s o v e r t h e m . 

I n the first place, c o l l e g e and u n i v e r s i t y 

l i b r a r i a n s also w o r k w i t h s t u d e n t assistants 

— o u r most p r o m i s i n g recruits. M a n y staff 

m e m b e r s w o r k closely w i t h t h e m and have 

g o o d opportunities f o r r e c r u i t i n g . O f t e n 

s t u d e n t assistants are g i v e n some responsi-

bility and do w o r k of near-professional 

q u a l i t y . I n e v i t a b l y , they m u s t l e a r n m u c h 

a b o u t l i b r a r y w o r k , and should be easily 

sold on it. C o l l e g e l i b r a r i a n s can also 

i d e n t i f y those students interested in r e a d i n g 

and in books, and they should also be good 

prospects. 

I h a v e u r g e d school l i b r a r i a n s to r e c r u i t 

because m a n y v o c a t i o n a l decisions are made 

in h i g h s c h o o l ; m a n y s t u d e n t s a r r i v e at col-

lege w i t h a m a j o r and a c a r e e r a l r e a d y 

chosen. B u t it is also t r u e t h a t m a n y others 

have not yet decided. I n the l i b e r a l arts 

colleges, especially, w e find m a n y s t u d e n t s 

w h o h a v e not y e t m a d e v o c a t i o n a l decisions, 

and they m a y w e l l listen to our discussion 

of librarianship. 

T h e r e are also c o l l e g e students w h o h a v e 

chosen a m a j o r b u t have no p o s t - g r a d u a t i o n 

plans. I n m a n y fields, to pursue the m a j o r 

field a f t e r g r a d u a t i o n , the s t u d e n t must 

teach, and m a n y s t u d e n t s do not care to 

teach. B y a l l means, these s t u d e n t s should 

receive our close a t t e n t i o n . L i b r a r i a n s h i p 

needs people w i t h v a r i e d b a c k g r o u n d s ; w e 

need people f r o m e v e r y m a j o r field to serve 

in o u r m a n y d e p a r t m e n t a l libraries. W h e r e 

are w e to find the c h e m i s t r y , a g r i c u l t u r e , 

physics, a r t , and c a t a l o g l i b r a r i a n s unless 

w e persuade m a j o r s in these d e p a r t m e n t s 

to become l i b r a r i a n s ? 

368 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



C o l l e g e and u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n s have 

y e t a n o t h e r a d v a n t a g e o v e r school l i b r a r -

ians. M o s t school libraries are small w i t h 

o n l y a f e w thousand v o l u m e s , w h i l e c o l l e g e 

libraries are m u c h l a r g e r . S o m e are l a r g e 

institutions in t h e i r o w n r i g h t w i t h hun-

dreds of staff members. C o l l e g e l i b r a r y stu-

dent assistants see m u c h l a r g e r and m o r e 

i n t e r e s t i n g and impressive libraries t h a n do 

high school l i b r a r y s t u d e n t assistants. A n d 

they see f u l l - t i m e professional l i b r a r i a n s 

g i v i n g good service, w h i l e high school stu-

dents sometimes see a p a r t - t i m e l i b r a r i a n 

w i t h l i t t l e l i b r a r y e d u c a t i o n g i v i n g inade-

quate service. C o l l e g e students can see li-

brarians in m a n y d i f f e r e n t types of positions, 

w h i l e high school students see o n l y one 

l i b r a r i a n , so they c a n n o t appreciate the 

v a r i e t y of j o b s possible in the profession. 

A l l of this should m a k e r e c r u i t i n g easier 

f o r the c o l l e g e l i b r a r i a n . 

C o l l e g e l i b r a r i a n s also w o r k w i t h stu-

dents w h o are n e a r i n g m a t u r i t y . T h e y can 

guess m o r e a c c u r a t e l y h o w these students 

w i l l t u r n o u t — h o w p r o m i s i n g they a r e — 

t h a n can high school librarians. T h e y can 

predict w i t h m o r e a c c u r a c y h o w good these 

students w o u l d be as librarians. 

C o l l e g e students are soon to be w a g e -

earners, so v o c a t i o n a l choices are m o r e im-

p o r t a n t to them. H i g h school students can 

postpone their decisions several years, b u t 

time is m o r e pressing f o r c o l l e g e students. 

T h i s should m a k e them m o r e serious, of 

course. D e l i v e r i n g the goods to l i b r a r y 

school should be easier w h e n the s t u d e n t s 

are only one instead of five years a w a y . 

C o l l e g e librarians, t h e r e f o r e , should be 

a m o n g our most successful r e c r u i t e r s ; they 

have m a n y a d v a n t a g e s over o t h e r librarians. 

T h e y m u s t recruit in every l i b r a r y or our 

personnel shortage w i l l c o n t i n u e . 

A Unique Friends of the Library Group 
(Continued from page 367) 

a n n u a l d u e s — w h i c h is interpreted as " b u y -

i n g a book f o r B r a n d e i s " — i s n e w . Possibly 

w e f o u n d ourselves in a position to take 

a d v a n t a g e of a p a t t e r n of c o m m u n i t y or-

g a n i z a t i o n established and ingrained into 

the J e w i s h c o m m u n i t i e s of the c o u n t r y by 

other J e w i s h p h i l a n t h r o p i e s such as H a d a s -

sah, and such a p a t t e r n w o u l d not be gen-

e r a l l y a v a i l a b l e to other institutions. V e r y 

p r o b a b l y the unique q u a l i t y of B r a n d e i s as 

a non-sectarian u n i v e r s i t y sponsored by the 

J e w i s h people t r i g g e r e d a w a v e of s u p p o r t 

and enthusiasm w h i c h w o u l d be d i f f i c u l t 

to g e n e r a t e f o r a u n i v e r s i t y w i t h g e n e r a t i o n s 

behind it. If such is the case, the real test 

of our F r i e n d s m o v e m e n t w i l l come w h e n 

w e have at least decades, if not generations, 

behind us. N e v e r t h e l e s s , f o r those l i b r a r -

ians w h o have f e l t that their a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s 

are s o m e w h a t l u k e w a r m in their support 

of their e f f o r t s to d e v e l o p a F r i e n d s move-

m e n t , it w o u l d seem as if this report c o u l d 

be of assistance as an indication of w h a t may 

result Irom a concerted and sustained e f f o r t 

w h i c h i n v o l v e s a l l elements of the uni-

v e r s i t y . 

Eastern College Conference 
T h e forty-first conference of the Eastern College Librarians w i l l be held on Saturday, N o -

vember 26, 1955, in M c M i l l i n T h e a t e r of Columbia University. T h e morning meeting w i l l be 
devoted to "Recruiting L i b r a r y Personnel" and the afternoon meeting to " A u t o m a t i o n in the 
L i b r a r y . " A copy of the program w i l l be mailed upon request to the chairman, L o r e n a A . 
G a r l o c h , university librarian, University of Pittsburgh. 

O C T O B E R , 1955 
40 7