College and Research Libraries R O B E R T B. DOWNS Status of Academic Librarians in Retrospect A century ago few if any American academic librarians held faculty rank by virtue of their library work. Slowly some came to be recog- nized as responsible academic officers, usually at first without rank, and then in more recent years increasing numbers of them have been accorded full faculty status and rank. Although the struggle for im- proved status for academic librarians continues today, it does so "with increasing prospects for general acceptance T H E IDEA of the college and university librarian as a bona-fide m e m b e r of the academic community has matured slowly, and rearguard actions against it continue to our own day. How far the profession has progressed over t h e past one hundred years m a y b e judged by a brief historical review. Examination of a cross section of the annual catalogs or registers of United States universities, private and public, for 1870-71 reveals something of the status of librarians in leading institu- tions nearly a century ago: Columbia College ( l a t e r Columbia University) lists the librarian, assistant librarian, and school of mines librarian under "Officers of Instruction and Gov- ernment," without a c a d e m i c titles. Cali- fornia at Berkeley included William Swinton as librarian and Professor of English, under " F a c u l t y and Officers." Cornell University p l a c e d Professor Wil- lard Fiske as " L i b r a r i a n " under a special Dr. Downs is Dean of Library Admin- istration, University of Illinois. This paper is another in a series of preliminary state- ments prepared by the Committee on Aca- demic Status of ACRL's University Libraries Section. Its members welcome reader com- ments on these papers. heading after " F a c u l t y of the Univer- sity." D a r t m o u t h College, however, re- corded the librarian's name with " F a c - ulty," though without rank. Harvard's solution was to list the librarian and as- sistant librarian under "Officers of In- struction and Government." T h e Univer- sity of Illinois used a curious title: " L i - brarian and Assistant T e a c h e r . " Indiana University lumped t h e librarian under "College Officers." At I o w a State Univer- sity, t h e librarian doubled as Professor of L a t i n . T h e University of M i c h i g a n in- cluded t h e librarian and assistant librar- ian under t h e heading of " M e m b e r s of F a c u l t i e s and Other Officers." T h e r e was a remarkable situation at the University of Minnesota, where William W . F o l w e l l held the combined position of president and librarian. Neither Northwestern University, nor t h e University of Penn- sylvania, nor the University of Wisconsin was sufficiently aware of the librarian's existence to mention him in its catalog. At Princeton, the librarian was Professor of Greek, and the assistant librarian was T u t o r in Greek. Yale listed t h e librarian, assistant librarian, and registrar at the end of the section entitled " F a c u l t y , In- structors, and Officers." As of 1870-71, according to this rep- resentative sample, none of the univer- / 253 254 / College b- Research Libraries • March 1968 sities gave their chief librarians academ- ic titles, unless they were members of the teaching faculty. Apparently there was a feeling in some institutions that the head librarians ought to b e grouped with the faculty, but what the relation- ship should b e was undetermined. Con- sequently, the usual practice was to list them after the regular teaching staff, with their professional titles, together with registrars, museum curators, and other miscellaneous officers. In extenuation of the institutions for their uncertainty about the place of li- brarians in the academic scene, it should b e noted that a century ago American college libraries were in their infancy. W h e n the American Library Association was organized in 1876, only two college libraries in the country contained more than fifty thousand volumes each, Har- vard alone possessing more than one hundred thousand volumes. Library staffs were minuscule in size, in part be- cause of the minuteness of the libraries and in part because demands on them were limited. F e w faculty members held doctorates or carried on research, and students had little occasion to use the library collections. In the famous 1876 United States Bureau of Education special report Pub- lic Libraries in the United States of America, F . B . Perkins and William Mathews1 proposed the creation of "pro- fessorships of books and reading," to guide students through the mazes of what even then was regarded as a bib- liographical explosion. T h e instruction recommended would be primarily for the acquisition of knowledge, "the scien- tific use of books," i.e., sound method- ology, and for "literary production." A chair of books and reading, it was sug- gested, might b e filled by "an accom- plished librarian." T h e first library 1 U.S. Bureau of Education, Public Libraries in the United States of America; Their History, Condition, and Management, Special Report (Washington: Gov- ernment Printing Office, 1 8 7 6 ) , p. 2 3 0 - 5 1 . school was still eleven years away. B y the beginning of the present cen- tury, modest advances in the status of librarians were evident. In no instance, however, among eighteen major univer- sities checked did the librarian hold an academic title as librarian per se. T h e situation was as follows: Brown University listed the librarian, assistant librarian, and four library staff members with "Officers of Administra- tion and Instruction." California at Berkeley included the librarian in the Academic Senate, but without academic rank; the remainder of the library staff was lumped under "Assistants and Other Officers." T h e University of Chicago recognized the librarian by making him a member of the University Senate and University Council. At Columbia, the librarian was among "Officers of Admin- istration"; other staff members were listed at the head of a brief sketch of the library. Cornell listed the librarian and his staff as a group under "Officers of Instruction and Administration." Har- vard did the same. At Illinois, the librar- ian was a member of the Senate and Council and a professor, but by virtue of being director also of t h e library school; other librarians were listed with "Laboratory and Other Assistants." In- diana used the heading of "Library Of- ficers" following the listing of "Faculty." Iowa placed the librarian with "Ad- ministrative Officers" and also listed the librarian and his staff as a group under "Members of the Faculties," between lecturers and instructors. Under "Mem- bers of the Faculties and Other Officers," Michigan placed the librarian with full professors, though without rank. At Missouri, the librarian was one of "Other Officers." North Carolina included him among "Officers of Administration" and listed two other staff members under a sketch on the "University Library." Northwestern's heading of "Officers of Instruction and Government" included Status of Academic Librarians in Retrospect / 255 the librarian, and Pennsylvania named its librarian and assistant librarian under "Administrative Officers." Like Michi- gan, Princeton listed the librarian with full professors, but without an academic title; the associate librarian and refer- ence librarian were in the list of assist- ant professors, again minus formal rank. A similar plan was followed by Stanford, where the librarian and associate librar- ian were grouped with associate profes- sors, the assistant librarian with instruc- tors, and other staff members with as- sistants. Both Texas and Wisconsin grouped the librarians and their staffs together following the listing of faculty and other officers. Finally, at Yale, the librarian and assistant librarian were un- der the heading of " F a c u l t y and Instruc- tors," again without titles; the rest of the library staff were with "Other Officers" at the end of the faculty list. A definite trend is observable in the 1900-1901 sample in the direction of rating the head librarians as faculty, despite the fact that no breakthrough had been made toward conferring for- mal academic titles on them. Other than the chief librarians and one or two top associates, however, it is obvious that professional library staff members lacked any definite place in the educational hierarchy. Voices crying in t h e wilderness were trying to make themselves heard at an early date. H. A. Sawtelle, writing on college librarianship, is quoted in the Library Journal, June 1878, as follows: Time was when if a college librarian cataloged and placed his books and for half an hour twice a week charged the borrowed volumes and checked the return ones, he had sufficiently discharged his duty. But it has come to be understood that it becomes him to be daily ready to be consulted in relation to any book or subject, to converse freely with the students in re- gard to their reading, inspiring their literary interest, guiding their taste, bringing to their attention the right kind of appetizing works, and if needful gently leading on the reader from light and tasty books to those of high quality and permanent utility. To us nothing in the life of the college student seems to be of greater importance than just this inspiration and guidance. But all this is time consuming and requires no small amount of understanding and skill. T h e writer concluded that such college librarianship as he described "ought not to b e annexed to a professorship, but b e itself a professorship."2 As early as 1891, President Gilman of Johns Hopkins University made the statement that: " T h e librarian's office should rank with that of professor. . . . T h e profession of librarian should b e distinctly recognized. Men and women should b e encouraged to enter it, should b e trained to discharge its duties, and should b e rewarded, promoted, and hon- ored in proportion to the services they render."3 Enlightened librarians realized that they ought to have more clearly defined status, as is revealed by stirrings in the profession early in the current century. F o r example, W . E . Henry, librarian of the University of Washington, speaking at the ALA conference in Pasadena in 1911, after defending the training and scholarly nature of the work of college librarians, asserted: With such preparation and such relation- ship to the educational processes I shall claim that the library staff must rank with the faculty or teaching staff of any depart- ment. The librarian or head of the staff should have the rank and pay of a pro- fessor; the assistant librarian . . . should be accorded the rank and pay of an associate professor; and the other members of the staff that of assistant professor or instructor, this to be determined by the nature of the work, the preparation and particular ability 2 H. A. Sawtelle, "The College Librarianship," Li- brary Journal, III (June 1 8 7 8 ) , 162. 3 D. C. Gilman, "University Libraries, an Address at the Opening of the Sage Library of Cornell Univer- sity, October 7, 1 8 9 1 , " University Problems in the United States, 1 8 9 8 , p. 2 4 5 - 5 5 . 256 / College b- Research Libraries • March 1968 required; and those not fitted to so rank should not b e members of the staff but some other name should b e adopted. 4 Mr. Henry's goal had not been achieved at the University of Washing- ton at the time of his address. T h e li- brarian and five members of his staff were grouped under "Library Staff," without academic titles, near the end of the section on "Faculty and Officers." According to returns from questionnaires sent by Henry to sixteen college and university libraries across the country, however, he reported, "it appears that the librarian usually has the rank of a professor fsans title?] Below the librar- ian all sorts of conditions prevail."5 An important step forward was taken in the same year, 1911, by the Columbia University trustees, who ruled: " T h e li- brarian shall have the rank of professor, the assistant librarian that of associate professor and the supervisors shall rank as assistant professors and bibliographers as instructors." From Harvard University it was reported that "librarians and as- sistant librarians" were eligible to par- ticipate in the faculty retirement system. A few years later, E . C. Richardson, noted librarian of Princeton University, reviewed the place of the library in a university and concluded that its posi- tion would be determined by the ef- fectiveness with which its teaching func- tion was discharged. Richardson pointed out that the growth of research work, the advent of the research professor, and the establishment of library schools had brought librarians "into the circle of the teaching faculties."6 Authoritative sup- port for this contention came from Presi- dent Nicholas Murray Butler of Colum- bia, who held that the library was co- ordinate with the various professional 4 W. E. Henry, "The Academic Standing of College Library Assistants and Their Relation to the Carnegie Foundation," Bulletin of the American Library Asso- ciation, V ( M a y 1 9 1 1 ) , 2 5 9 - 6 0 . 5 Ibid., 2 6 2 . 6 E. C. Richardson, "The Place of the Library in a University," Ibid., X (January 1 9 1 6 ) , 1 - 1 3 . schools and main departments of the university, the librarian ranking as a dean, and various members of the pro- fessional staff standing in parallel order with professors, assistant professors, and instructors of the other faculties.7 About the same time a strong state- ment from W . N. C. Carlton, librarian, Newberry Library, objected to the fact that in some institutions "the librarian is not granted a seat and vote in the faculty. This," the writer went on, "is a viciously bad practice. Its evils are too patent to need illustration. I f a man is not qualified for the duty and respon- sibility of sharing in the debates, con- sideration, and decisions relating to gen- eral university policy and administra- tion, he ought not to b e appointed li- brarian, whatever his technical qualifica- tions may b e . " 8 A subordinate staff member was heard from nearly fifty years ago when J. T . Jennings, then reference librarian of Iowa State College, wrote about "Li- brarianship as a Profession in College and University Libraries." Jennings was convinced that the chief librarian's po- sition in most college and university communities had become well estab- lished "in dignity, in importance, in salary," ranking as the head of one of the most important departments. " B u t what about the remainder of the library staff?" he asked. " W i t h the exception of a possible assistant librarian they are usually considered mere clerks,' as is shown by their salaries, their hours of work, and t h e attitude of their superiors toward granting them opportunities for advancement." Jennings was inclined to blame this state of affairs on the head librarians who were not sufficiently en- ergetic in encouraging and assisting junior staff members to improve their educational and professional prepara- •'Ibid., V ( 1 9 1 1 ) , 13. 8 W. N. C. Carlton, "Universities and Librarians," Public Libraries, XX ( D e c e m b e r 1 9 1 5 ) , 4 5 5 . Status of Academic Librarians in Retrospect / 257 tion, as junior members of the teaching faculty were expected to do.9 T h e same conclusion was reached by another reference librarian, Edith M. Coulter, of the University of California, writing in 1917. Even the chief librar- ians, she pointed out, lacked certain privileges customarily belonging to the teaching faculty, such as extended va- cations, leaves of absence, and sabbati- cals for advanced study and research. Proper recognition would come to li- brarians, Miss Coulter held, if they par- ticipated more actively in teaching e.g., bibliographic instruction to university students; if the programs of library schools were standardized, more doctor- al degrees were held by librarians, re- quirements for appointments to univer- sity library staffs were raised, profession- al and clerical duties were differentiated, and more study and research were done by librarians. Miss Coulter displayed re- markable foresight in urging a doctoral program in library science more than a decade before the establishment of the graduate library school in Chicago.1 0 T h e first full exploration of the status of professional librarians was undertaken by George A. Works, in his College and University Library Problems, based on data collected in 1925. In a chapter de- voted to the subject, Dr. Works re- viewed types of library work, factors af- fecting the status of a library staff, cur- rent conditions, the relative preparation of library and teaching staffs, compara- tive salaries, work schedules, and re- tirement provisions. Among the impor- tant conclusions were these: ( 1 ) insuf- ficient distinction is made in libraries between clerical and professional types of service, but there are a number of positions in every large library whose requirements in professional education 9 J. T. Jennings, "Librarianship as a Profession in College and University Libraries," Library Journal, XLIII (April 1 9 1 8 ) , 2 2 7 - 3 3 . 1 0 Edith M. Coulter, "The University Librarian: His Preparation, Position and Relation to the Academic Department of the University," Bulletin of the Ameri- can Library Association, XVI (July 1 9 2 2 ) , 2 7 1 - 7 5 . and experience are comparable with the requirements for positions in the various grades in the teaching staff; ( 2 ) among the seventeen institutions studied, wide differences were found, varying from those in which librarians held faculty rank to others in which the library staff, except the librarian and perhaps one or two others, were classified as clerical; ( 3 ) in some universities, e.g., Columbia and Stanford, librarians were given equivalent status, but not considered members of the instructional staff; ( 4 ) except for the head librarian, salaries of the library staff were generally lower than those of comparable members of the faculty; ( 5 ) the academic prepara- tion of faculty members of all profes- sional ranks was more advanced than that of library department heads; (6) no account was taken of the fact that annual periods of service were ordinarily longer for members of the library staff than for the teaching staff; ( 7 ) retire- ment provisions varied: seven institu- tions had no allowance for faculty or librarians; six had the same retirement arrangements for both groups, and three had different arrangements for faculty and librarians.11 A decade later an outstanding uni- versity president, Henry M. Wriston, whose ideas have had considerable im- pact on academic library service, set forth his concept of the proper relation- ships between the college librarian and the teaching staff. " T h e librarian," con- cluded Dr. Wriston, "despite his ad- ministrative duties is primarily an of- ficer of instruction. H e should have the scholarly interests and tastes which are expected of other members of the fac- ulty. H e should be given faculty status and should participate in all the com- mittee and other discussions incidental to that status." In harmony with this proposal, the writer added that the li- 1 1 George A. Works, "The Status of the Professional Staff." In his College and University Library Problems (Chicago: ALA, 1 9 2 7 ) , p. 8 0 - 9 8 . 258 / College b- Research Libraries • March 1968 brary "should be treated not as an ancil- lary enterprise but as one of the central sources of motive power for the opera- tion of the institution."12 During the past thirty years, the liter- ature relating to the status of college and university librarians has prolifer- ated, including the findings of a number of comprehensive surveys. T h e first, af- ter Works, was Miriam C. Maloy's study, published in 1939. Among the 129 in- stitutions investigated, Mrs. Maloy found that ninety-eight chief librarians had faculty status, and thirty-one did not; among assistant and associate librarians, thirty had faculty status and forty did not; department heads had faculty status in twenty-seven libraries and no aca- demic rank in four; and professional as- sistants were granted faculty status in twenty libraries, but not in thirty others. In each of the four categories, the status frequently was nominal.13 Following shortly after the Maloy study were a number of other general or limited investigations: James A. Mc- Millen examined the status of library staff members of large universities (1940);1 4 Robert W . McEwen, the status of college librarians ( 1 9 4 1 ) ;1 5 Rice Estes; faculty status in the City College Libraries ( 1 9 4 1 ) ;1 6 general surveys were reported by Leonard H. Kirkpatrick (1947),1 7 Morris A. Gelfand ( 1 9 4 8 ) , 1 8 Humphrey G. Bousfield ( 1 9 4 8 ) , 1 9 and by Frank A. Lundy ( 1 9 5 1 ) 2 0 and Law- 1 2 Henry M. Wriston, "The College Librarian and the Teaching Staff," Bulletin of the American Library Association, XXIX (April 1 9 3 5 ) , 182. 1 3 Miriam C. Maloy, "Faculty Status of College Librarians," ALA Bulletin, XXXIII (April 1 9 3 9 ) , 2 3 2 - 3 3 , 3 0 2 . 1 4 James A. McMillen, "Academic Status of Library Staff Members of Large Universities," CRL, I (March 1 9 4 0 ) , 1 3 8 - 4 0 . 1 5 Robert W. McEwen, "The Status of College Li- brarians," Ibid., I l l (June 1 9 4 2 ) , 2 5 6 - 6 1 . 1 8 Rice Estes, "Faculty Status in the City College Libraries," Ibid., I l l ( D e c e m b e r 1 9 4 1 ) , 4 3 - 4 5 . 1 7 Leonard H. Kirkpatrick, "Another Approach to Staff Status," Ibid., VIII (July 1 9 4 7 ) , 2 1 8 - 2 0 . 1 8 Morris A. Gelfand, "The College Librarian in the Academic Community," Ibid., X (April 1 9 4 9 ) , 1 2 9 - 3 4 , 139. 1 9 Humphrey G. Bousfield, "College Libraries with D u a l Roles," Ibid., IX (January 1 9 4 8 ) , 2 5 - 3 2 . 2 0 Frank A. Lundy, "Faculty Rank for Professional Librarians," Ibid., XII (January 1 9 5 1 ) , 1 1 - 1 9 , 1 0 9 - 2 2 . rence S. Thompson (1952)21 as well as by Robert B. Downs (1954 and 1957 ) ; 2 2 and Robert H. Muller reviewed the question of faculty rank for library staff members in medium-sized universities and colleges ( 1 9 5 3 ) .2 3 Evidence of live- ly continued interest is shown by more recent articles published by Carlson,24 Knapp,2 5 Branscomb,2 6 McAnally,27 Veit, 2 8 and others. Progress achieved by university li- brarians since the first feeble beginnings a century ago may be estimated further from a summary of conditions prevail- ing in 1964.29 Academic status for librar- ians, it was then reported, had become firmly established in a considerable number of American universities. New converts, principally among state institu- tions, had swelled the ranks of those universities where librarians are ac- corded the responsibilities and perqui- sites of academic or faculty status. Con- siderable diversity was discovered, how- ever, among the forms of recognition re- ceived. In certain instances, agreement upon the principle of academic standing for librarians was limited or qualified. T h e struggle by academic librarians for improved standing obviously continues, but with increasing prospects for gener- al acceptance. • • 2 1 Lawrence S. Thompson, "Preparation and Status of Personnel," Library Trends, I (July 1 9 5 2 ) , 9 5 - 1 0 4 . 2 2 Robert B. Downs, "Are College and University Librarians Academic?" CRL, XV (January 1 9 5 4 ) , 9 - 1 4 ; and "The Current Status of University Library Staffs," Ibid., XVIII (September 1 9 5 7 ) , 3 7 5 - 8 5 . 2 3 Robert H. Muller, "Faculty Rank for Library Staff Members in Medium-Sized Universities and Colleges," Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, XXXIX (Autumn 1 9 5 3 ) , 4 2 1 - 3 1 . 2 4 William H. Carlson, "The Trend Toward Academic Recognition of College Librarians," CRL, XVI (Jan- uary 1 9 5 5 ) , 2 4 - 2 9 . 2 5 Patricia B. Knapp, "The College Librarian; So- ciology of a Professional Specialization," Ibid., XVI (January 1 9 5 5 ) , 6 6 - 7 2 . 2 6 Lewis C. Branscomb, "The Quest for Faculty Rank." In: R. B. Downs, ed. The Status of American College and University Librarians (Chicago: ALA, 1 9 5 8 ) , p. 4 2 - 4 6 . 2 7 Arthur M. McAnally, "The Dynamics of Securing Academic Status," CRL, XVIII (September 1 9 5 7 ) , 3 8 6 - 9 5 ; and "Privileges and Obligations of Academic Status," Ibid., XXIV (March 1 9 6 3 ) , 1 0 2 - 0 8 . 2 8 Fritz Veit, "The Status of the Librarian According to Accrediting Standards of Regional and Professional Associations," Ibid., XXI (March 1 9 6 0 ) , 1 2 7 - 3 5 . 2 9 Robert B. Downs, "Status of University Librarians — 1 9 6 4 , " Ibid., XXV (July 1 9 6 4 ) , 2 5 3 - 5 8 .