College and Research Libraries


322 I College & Research Libraries • July 1971 

ing some of the hard struggles the library 
went through. Since the library has appar-
ently succeeded so well in spite of the foi-
bles of many important figures, perhaps it 
is just as well to let them sleep a while yet. 

Though the print is poor and it is difficult 
to keep the continuity of people and peri-
ods, it is obviously a very useful work. The 
material is well documented and an excel-
lent index enables the reader to locate most 
any subject that comes to mind. The two-
part bibliography (one relating to the Unit-
ed Nations and one to the League of Na-
tions) is not only very useful in this work, 
but will continue to serve future investiga-
tors for some time. Even the notes will be 
very useful in this respect.-R. Max Wil-
locks, Syracuse University Libraty. 

The Black Librarian in America. E. J. Jo-
sey, ed. Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow 
Press, Inc., 1970. 336p. 
The Black Librarian in America is a col-

lection of biographical essays by a group 
of outstanding librarians who happen to be 
black. Josey has picked the cream of the 
crop of black librarians to reveal their ex-
periences during their professional careers 
as librarians. His criteria for selecting his 
contributors are not spelled out in the intro-
duction or other parts of the book, but I 
dare say anyone can dispute the fact that 
these are some of the most prominent peo-
ple in the field. These are the people who 
have made librarianship mean something 
to black people. 

The book could have been titled 
Black Librarians and Racism in America. 
Throughout the work there is some account 
of the difficulty these librarians encountered 
because they were black, as well as descrip-
tions of difficulties in their professional ed-
ucation, in providing library services, and 
in employment opportunities. A careful 
reading of the book should prompt some 
genuine soul-searching on the part of the 
profession. It could be used as a measuring 
stick in judging whether or not there has 
been any appreciable progress made in the 
field as it relates to blacks. 

Though many of the autobiographies are 
self-laudatory, one can readily see the de-
termination that these librarians had even 

with the odds against them at times. It was 
interesting to note that several librarians 
were encouraging young blacks to seek a 
future in librarianship in spite of the diffi-
culties. Virginia Jones' encouragement by 
Florence Curtis and Emily Copeland's by 
Hallie Beachem Brooks are prime exam-
ples of the dedication and love these peo-
ple had for the profession. 

Josey's book gives a cross-sectional view 
of the experiences of black librarians. The 
inclusion of two or more younger contribu-
tors would have given the book more of a 
balance of experience by black librarians. 
Perhaps the contributors could have devot-
ed more space to the reasons why they 
chose librarianship as their life's work and 
how they entered the field. In some cases 
a few of the librarians made a few casual 
remarks as to what motivated them to pur-
sue a career in librarianship. 

The Black Librarian in America could 
well be the beginning of a series of auto-
biographies of black professionals in Amer-
ica. It is a very timely collection of essays 
from a group of professionals who have 
paid and are still paying their dues to the 
profession and their people.-H arry Robin-
son, ft., Prairie View A. & M. College. 

Student Activism in American Higher 
Education. Frank L. Ellsworth and Mar-
tha A. Bums. Washington: American 
College Personnel Association, 1970. 
(Student Personnel Series, no. 10.) 64p. 
$2.50. 
This publication is one of the "Student 

Personnel Series" of monographs published, 
appropriately enough, by the American 
College Personnel Association. Although 
there is no descriptive subtitle to so indi-
cate, the monograph is a review of the basic 
literature published through 1969 on stu-
dent activism. It includes journalistic ac-
counts of a few 1968 and 1969 events, but 
most of the research works included are 
based upon occurrences in 1967 and earlier. 

Of the three chapters, the first reviews 
the literature pertaining to the history of 
student activism in American institutions 
of higher education. The chapter empha-
sizes the emergence of social awareness, 
black consciousness, and the rise of the Stu-