College and Research Libraries To the Editor: I will not debate the statements about faculty members' attitude towards librari- ans and their not very satisfactory per- formance in book selection in J. G. Schad and R. L. Adams, "Book Selection in Aca- demic Libraries: A New Approach," CRL 30:437-42 (Sept. 1969). But I am going to explain the book selection system in the St. Paul Campus Libraries, University of Minnesota, with the hope it will supple- ment .the article. The purpose and goal of the library ma- terial selection system is to secure a good book collection. That raises an immediate question-which is a good book collection? We can accept that in a University library it is a collection which possesses the titles needed for studies according to the cam- pus curriculum (textbooks usually are ex- cluded) and for scholarly research proj- ects, conducted in this particular campus of the University. In other words it should be a workable, streamlined and up-to-date collection. The book collection system in the St. Paul Campus Libraries is based on a close cooperation between faculty members and the Library's professional staff. Each col- lege or department head was asked to ap- point a library committee consisting of fac- ulty members. All the faculty members have been urged to examine the current bibliographical literature, each in his sub- ject field, and then submit their sugges- tions for purchase to their library commit- tee. Emphasis is on a streamlined and up- to-date collection. The Library collection should be without gaps but also without alarming protruders. The departmental li- brary committees send the book requests to the Acquisitions Division in the Central Li- brary. Each professional librarian in the Li- brary is assigned responsibility to check the current bibliographical literature in a par- ticular subject area from the curriculum Letters and research programs of the St. Paul Campus. They also must check reference titles and titles of more general interest. After a comparatively short time, the li- brarians acquire a rather good "reading knowledge" in their assigned fields. The departmental library committees are nicely cooperating with their opposite members on the Library's staff in a mutual effort to build a workable, up-to-date li- brary collection. By this work of coopera- tion, the Library encourages a wide pa_r- ticipation of faculty members as experts m their subject fields and professional librari- ans to achieve the goal: a workable, streamlined, and up-to-date book collec- tion. After some years of experience, this book selection system seems to work well. The faculty accepted their participation in the book selection very enthusiastically. There was not even one case of refusal to do that. Acquisitions orders are much more evenly distributed among the colleges and depart- ments on the campus than formerly was the case. The collection is becoming more workable, streamlined, and up-to-date. It seems to me that this system has value for the suggestions in the above mentioned article. To the Editor: V erners ] . V itins Assistant Yrojesso1· and Head Librarian St. Paul Campus Libraries University of Minnesota St. Paul, Minnesota Messrs. Downs and Heussman briefly stated the difficulties in determining stan- dards for university libraries which makes us all the more indebted to them for un- dertaking the task. [Standards for Uni- versity Libraries," CRL 31:28-35 (Jan. 1970)] Nevertheless, I wish to take issue with their basic premise that criteria for excel- / 199 L-~---~--~---~--~----------------- 200 I College & Research Libraries • May 1970 lence should be based upon the fifty larg- est libraries. It is quite true that they did not say they were surveying the fifty larg- est libraries, but in the report to ARL their listing reveals they subtracted seven li- braries from the fifty largest U.S. academic libraries and added another seven libraries (including Toronto and McGill) to bring the total back up to fifty. Therefore, 86 percent of the libraries looked at are listed as being among the fifty largest U.S. aca- demic libraries. Those libraries that rank below the largest fifty libraries are well aware of that fact. I question if the giving of raw data- dollars spent, volumes added, staff, etc.- is meaningful to "smaller" institutions. It is the next fifty largest that are in even more need of standards. At first glance the use of relationships seems to be an approach that will bear useful results. Yet at the same time I have some misgivings that the relationships de- rived from the largest libraries may be way out of reach for a lesser institution and therefore the usefulness of such relation- ships as a standard is impaired. Perhaps three or four standards should be developed for libraries according to the size of collection or graduate/undergradu- ate ratio. This would enable growing li- braries to see more clearly the standards they are striving for as well as the stan- dards they wish to leave behind. I know that Downs and Heussman have not completed their work and so until then I can only await their rationale. Eventual- ly I hope they will get around to com- menting on: How the number of branch libraries or an undergraduate collection skews the fig- ures. How the graduate/undergraduate ratio affects the library's statistics for expendi- tures, seating, etc. If the number of librarians in adminis- tration or technical processing says any- thing about a library. What ratios contribute positively to a profile of a library? How HEW statistics on libraries can be better utilized when comparing libraries. Richard H einzkill University of 01'egon To the Editor: In the March, 1970, editorial, Dr. Dough- erty discusses, in addition to other topics, methods of improving library management as a way of alleviating professional discon- tent-especially among the younger pro- fessionals. His thesis states that the younger professionals are dissatisfied, expect more challenging positions, and want more op- portunities for promotion. The purpose of this letter is to expand and develop his theme and to comment on his proposal for a management intern program by taking into account a number of the important variables necessary for the formation of a successful internship. Although the opportunities available in the 1970s for personal fulfillment in work situations are unique, keeping professional librarians and attracting new people of high caliber to the field are becoming more dif- ficult due to increased competition from other professions. Today's competition is keen enough to warrant such new ap- proaches as Dougherty's which do more than pay lip service to one of the profession's biggest ailments. To fulfill our manpower needs, positive, forceful, innovative, and direct action is needed. Library school graduates complain that their library school training is not being utilized, while administrators argue that the recent library school graduate is not equipped to meet their needs. As Lester Asheim has pointed out in The Core of Edu- cation for Librarianship, the library school graduate is equipped with the background and theory of librarianship and is at that point on the threshold of his professional career: "The educational program should prepare the student to become a librarian; it does not turn out a completely expert librarian upon graduation." It is fine to talk about more challenging positions and greater staff participation, but, as Dougherty has said, "to achieve meaningful staff participation, we must be- gin to train young middle-management li- brarians for top administrative positions." The result of the program which aspiring administrators have often followed is that traditional methods are perpetuated and innovation is stifled. New methods of training are possible on both a formal and an informal basis. Dough- erty has suggested that a formal plan for administrative internships be initiated, with the ACRL and/or ALA playing leading roles. While this is only one aspect of the solution, it is an essential one, and positive attempts toward its fulfillment would repre- sent an important advance toward achiev- ing the goals of the profession. Such a program presupposes an attitude of receptiveness on the part of present top management-both in allowing staff to par- ticipate in such a program and in setting up the program itself. Top administrators will have to be willing to incorporate a risk ele- ment into the management of their libraries. Traditionally, administrators have tended to make important decisions themselves, leaving the implementation to the staff. Such procedures train good followers, not good leaders. Not only is a positive attitude towards internships necessary, but also visible sup- port must be forthcoming. Funding to as- sist in the organization of such programs could be obtained from such agencies as ALA, ACRL, and USOE. Some of the train- ing programs funded by the National Li- brary of Medicine for medical librarians could serve as a prototype for the manage- ment training programs. Dougherty's suggestion is directed at academic libraries; this appears, however, to be too narrow a base upon which to work. Because the management problem is one which exists in other types of libraries as well, it would seem that a variety of programs aimed at developing administrat- ors for all types of libraries would be de- sirable. The ensuing cross-fertilization should be important for the future develop- ment of information networks which will call for close cooperation among all types of libraries. To operate most effectively after com- pletion of the program, the intern should not return to the same position he formerly held. Rather, the completion of such a pro- gram should serve as a springboard to a more responsible position in another li- brary. If the internship is to be relevant and effective, the intern must be completely in~ tegrated into the decision-making process. The library which undertakes an intern pro- Letters I 201 gram will have to expect a certain amount of disruption of daily routines because of the infusion of the intern into the relatively predictable library organization. The result- ant program must foster growth not only in the interns but also in the parent institution. Because of this, it is imperative that the program set up for the incipient manager should not be "how we do it good in this library." Obviously, imitation of the tradi- tional will not bring about innovation and creativity. Internships certainly will not solve all the management problems of li- brarianship; however, they can be a start toward the implementation of needed changes. To the Editor: Fred W. Roper and Richard]. Vorwerk USOE Doctoral Fellows Graduate Library School, Indiana University The administrative intern program which you propose in the March issue [ CRL, March 1970] may have its merits, but I doubt that it would do much to alter the climate in libraries or alleviate the boredom and frustration you describe. The statement "to achieve meaningful staff participation, we must begin to train young middle-man- agement librarians for top administrative positions" seems rather questionable. I would suggest instead that the way to achieve staff participation is to have the staff participate, and to stop thinking of administration as the only fit outlet for tal- ent in a library. Is there really no more to reference work than either serving as a human signpost or directing the activities of a corps of signposts? Unless there is, our claims to academic status are shaky indeed. The two issues, status and internal li- brary management, are not separable as you suggest, but quite closely connected. At the heart of the status problem is the facultY member's perception of the differences be- tween the librarian's situation and his own. The professor regards himself as holder of the highest status academia has to offer. All the rewards of professional achievement are accessible to him in the job he has. His~ status does not derive from a slot in a hierarchical table of organization, and he need not become a department chairman or 202 I College & Research Libraries • May 1970 dean in order to advance his career or be considered successful. Under the circum- stances, he is most reluctant to accept as his peers people as obviously subordinate and inconsequential as are "ordinary" librarians vis a vis their ostensible colleagues, the oc- cupants of "top administrative positions." These thoughts have been expressed re- peatedly during the past few years, in the columns of College & Research Libraries and elsewhere. Perhaps the linking of the status and management issues at Atlantic City is a sign that the argument is gaining ground, albeit slowly. To the Editor: Mrs. Thelma Freides School of Library Service Atlanta University John Moriarty's "Academic In Deed" (January 1970) is plump with wisdom for the librarian and the administrator. I would not quarrel with any part of it, but the im- plication in the first paragraph that equal status for a typical librarian might include a twelve-month appointment is unfortunate. Academic status for librarians requires the academic year in order for them to meet the obligations of scholarship, research, and publication. Even to give librarians the option of working the longer period is to ensure that they will not meet their aca- demic obligations, which in turn will mean that the long hard struggle for academic status has been wasted. Librarians must have assignments of the same length as the rest of the faculty if they are to meet the same academic standards. Some librarians might be requested to continue for the fourth quarter at extra pay, but the decision for this should rest with the director of the library, who should be concerned about the professional de- velopment of his staff. Any librarian who needs to return to school, or to do some re- search, in order to obtain tenure or promo- tion should be advised that he will not be hired during the fourth quarter until he has met those requirements. Any director who gives twelve-month as- signments to librarians merely for his own convenience in operating the library, with- out due concern for their professional growth, will be sabotaging the profession and the individual librarians as well as his own library's future. R. Dean Galloway C allege Librarian Stanislaus State College •• CORRECTION An article, "Fringe Benefits for Academic Library Per- sonnel,"-by James Wright in the January 1970 issue listed Iowa State University as having an enrollment under 5,000 while its present enrollment is 19,172.