College and Research Libraries The University Librarian as Bookman and Administrator: A Symposium T h e f o l l o w i n g f o u r p a p e r s w e r e p r e s e n t e d at a m e e t i n g of t h e U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r i e s S e c t i o n , A C R L , C h i c a g o , 111., F e b r u a r y 2 , 1 9 5 4 . T h e t i t l e of t h e p a n e l d i s c u s s i o n w a s " R o a s t i n g an O l d C h e s t n u t — T h e U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r i a n , B o o k m a n a n d / o r A d m i n i s t r a t o r ? " D r . W i l l i a m S. D i x , l i b r a r i a n , P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y , p r e s i d e d . B y P A T R I C I A P A Y L O R E T h e Chief Librarian and Book Knowledge Miss Paylore is assistant librarian, Uni- versity of Arizona. TH E SMALL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY h a s a p a r t i c u l a r l y u r g e n t i n t e r e s t in s e c u r i n g as its l i b r a r i a n one w h o c a n a n d d o e s r e a d , one w h o r e c o g n i z e s a b o o k f r o m a f o r m , one w h o l i k e s the f e e l a n d t h e s i g h t and the s m e l l of a b o o k b e y o n d a l l o t h e r s e n s o r y e x p e r i - ences, o n e w h o c a n s u m m o n up f r o m t h a t e x p e r i e n c e w h i c h a l o n e c a n s e r v e h i m w e l l in this c a p a c i t y — r e a d i n g — t h e k n o w - h o w a n d the k n o w i n g n e s s i m p l i c i t in e a r n i n g a l i v i n g w i t h b o o k s . W h y is it p a r t i c u l a r l y u r g e n t f o r a s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y t o h a v e such a l i b r a r i a n ? B e c a u s e his r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r his l i b r a r y is m o r e w i d e s p r e a d t h r o u g h o u t a l l its o p e r a t i o n s t h a n is t h e l i b r a r i a n ' s of a l a r g e i n s t i t u t i o n w h e r e such r e s p o n s i b i l i t y is c u t up a n d a p - p o r t i o n e d o u t t o m o r e o r l e s s a u t o n o m o u s d e - p a r t m e n t s . I n a s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y the chief l i b r a r i a n h a s the o p p o r t u n i t y a n d t h e o b l i g a t i o n n o t o n l y t o k n o w his c o l l e c t i o n f i r s t h a n d , b u t t o e x a m i n e and a p p r a i s e g i f t s , a n d t o c o o p e r a t e p e r s o n a l l y w i t h his f a c u l t y in t h e e n r i c h m e n t a n d g r o w t h of his l i b r a r y r e s o u r c e s . T h e s e a r e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s in t h e s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y w h i c h c a n n o t a n d s h o u l d n o t be d e l e g a t e d w h o l l y to t h e c h i e f l i b r a r i a n ' s s u b o r d i n a t e s . N o o t h e r of his d u t i e s s h o u l d c l a i m his a t t e n t i o n as s h o u l d t h e s e p a r t i c u l a r o n e s w h i c h h a v e t o do w i t h the v e r y r e a s o n f o r his b e i n g a l i b r a r i a n a t a l l — b o o k s , t h e i r a c q u i s i t i o n , u s e , and c a r e . S u c h a c h i e f l i b r a r i a n w i l l find t h a t o t h e r p r o b l e m s of a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , s u c h as s t a f f p e r - s o n n e l , r e l a t i o n s w i t h u n i v e r s i t y a u t h o r i t i e s , p h y s i c a l p l a n t m a i n t e n a n c e , and b u d g e t a r y a g o n i e s , i n e v i t a b l y w i l l i m p i n g e u p o n his p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h b o o k s , a n d t h e y s h o u l d , f o r l e t m e be the first t o a d m i t t h a t a s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n w h o n e g l e c t e d t h e s e a s - p e c t s of his p o s i t i o n w o u l d be a p o o r o n e , in- d e e d , a n d t h a t a l l the b o o k i s h n e s s in t h e u n i v e r s e w o u l d n o t m a k e up f o r a l a c k of a t - t e n t i o n t o s u c h p r o b l e m s . M y c o n t e n t i o n h e r e is o n l y t h a t his s k i l l in h a n d l i n g his s t a f f a n d his p r e s i d e n t and his f a c u l t y , his a b i l i t y t o m a i n t a i n his b u i l d i n g a d e q u a t e l y , his a c u m e n in d e a l i n g w i t h s t u d e n t s , p u b l i c , p r e s s , a n d his e l o q u e n c e in p l e a d i n g f o r m o r e m o n e y — n o n e of t h e s e t h i n g s w i l l m a k e h i m a g o o d l i b r a r i a n if he does n o t a l s o possess t h o s e q u a l i t i e s I m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r , in s h o r t a b o o k m a n ' s r e c o g - n i t i o n a n d a p p r e c i a t i o n of b o o k s . T h e k i n d of u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n I a m c o n c e r n e d w i t h is in a p o s i t i o n w h e r e he w i l l h a v e t o d o m o s t of the e x a m i n i n g a n d a p p r a i s - i n g of g i f t c o l l e c t i o n s . H e m u s t be a b l e to g o t o the p r i v a t e l i b r a r y w i t h t h e e x e c u t o r , t h e h e i r s , o r p o s s i b l y t h e o w n e r h i m s e l f , s c a n it, e v a l u a t e it in t e r m s of his o w n c o l l e c t i o n a n d his l i b r a r y ' s a c q u i s i t i o n p o l i c i e s , e s t i m a t e t h e p e r c e n t a g e of d u p l i c a t e s , and r e c o g n i z e t h e u s e f u l n e s s of m a t e r i a l s he m a y n o t w a n t f o r h i m s e l f t h r o u g h s a l e , p r i c e d o r p i e c e - f o r - p i e c e e x c h a n g e t o o t h e r s . T h e s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n h a s a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y n o t o n l y t o h a n d l e i n t e l l i g e n t l y the- g i f t s o f f e r e d h i m b u t t o s e e k o u t d e s i r a b l e g i f t s in a d v a n c e . B u t to do t h e s e p r o m o t i o n a l j o b s , t h e l i b r a r - i a n of t h e s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y m u s t be m o r e t h a n a h e a r t y f e l l o w w h o k n o w s h o w t o a d d r e s s a l u n c h e o n c l u b o r p r o j e c t his c i r c u l a t i o n ^fig- u r e s on a piece of g r a p h p a p e r . H e h a s t o be a JULY1954 313 bookman. I say it a g a i n : he has to know books, their peculiar value to him, how to f e r r e t them out, how to convey to the donor his pleasure at the t r a n s f e r of their possession to him. I remember the astonishment w i t h which E l l i o t t A r n o l d , author of Blood Brother a n d The Time of the Gringo, g r e e t e d my personal request f o r the original manu- scripts f o r the U n i v e r s i t y of A r i z o n a L i b r a r y . T h e y w e r e not only A r i z o n a and Southwest novels, but they had both been w r i t t e n in our library f r o m our source materials. H i s reac- tion, coming f r o m the big reserved man w h o is chary of compliments, w a s , in e f f e c t : " W h y P a t , I didn't know you c a r e d . " I had a simi- l a r experience with D r . J o s e p h W o o d K r u t c h : a kind of shy pleasure that I had found his Desert Year manuscript v a l u a b l e f o r posterity. I should like to say j u s t a w o r d about the importance of a chief librarian's book knowl- edge in building a book-minded staff. E v e n in a small university l i b r a r y it is the staff which deals most directly with the f a c u l t y and students. T h e y w i l l be better and more u s e f u l l i b r a r i a n s in this daily intercourse if they have derived f r o m their chief the feeling that books are important and that in this relationship w h e r e b y the librarian is the in- strument in f u l f i l l i n g the old cliche about bringing the man and the book together to w o r k its w o n d r o u s alchemy, they are playing a knowing and intelligent part. B u t it has to filter down. I never have known of a case w h e r e it rose to the top like cream. I n the same w a y , a staff responsible f o r the physical care of a collection w i l l cherish its books only i n s o f a r as the librarian has im- parted his book wisdom and love to them. E v e r y library has some books of surpassing in- terest and v a l u e to it which it treasures. If books are considered only statistically by the librarian, .as so many volumes in anthropology, f o r instance, instead of being recognized as Shirokogorov's practically-impossible-to-se- c u r e Social Organization of the Northern Tungus o r N o r d e n s k i o l d ' s The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde or the magnificent folio p l a t e s of C u r t i s ' North American Indians f o r the distinction these titles give to a collection of anthropological books, these volumes are going to be treated by the a v e r a g e l i b r a r y staff exactly as they treat the latest edition of K r o e b e r ' s textbook bought in multiple copies f o r the reserve book room. I n a, small university l i b r a r y , the librarian and he alone can convey to his order librarians, his cata- logers, and his public service librarians the respect due the physical book. If he does not care, or does not know, or is not interested, he w i l l destroy his s t a f f ' s book morale as surely as if he w e r e no more than an in- dustrial plant m a n a g e r brought in to manage the l i b r a r y . I have seen catalogers treat fine books with diffidence and scorn, and I have seen stack superintendents whose philos- ophy, f o r lack of a better one, w a s the ex- pedient one "books are expendable." M a n y books are, the good L o r d knows, but w h e r e the chief librarian has stated his belief un- mistakably that some books are not, there is little chance f o r the staff to be w h a t the late Randolph A d a m s grievingly called "enemies of books." W e have talked among ourselves in the last f e w y e a r s a good deal about recruiting f o r librarianship, and w e have a g r e a t many com- mittees functioning all over the country on v a r i o u s levels to promote this cause. T h e bookmen-librarians do their recruiting f o r t y - eight hours a day without benefit of commit- tees, pep talks, aptitude tests, or vocational counseling. B u t it is effective dynamic re- cruiting. F o r librarianship is books, and to sell it as a c a r e e r to the non-professional people w h o usually f a r outnumber the pro- fessionals on a small university l i b r a r y s t a f f , the l i b r a r i a n can succeed only in proportion to his own belief in the importance of books and all the ramifications of their use in libraries as basic. Is there any other f a c t o r w e can recognize in recruiting f o r librarianship? C e r t a i n l y not salaries, academic rank, f a v o r - able w o r k i n g conditions, or even the delights of handling microfilm! I have been lucky. I w a s brought up in the profession by t w o g r e a t bookmen-librarians. W h e n I w a s an accessions clerk in 1 9 3 2 , re- cording in medieval fashion in a g r e a t 20- pound ledger, author, title, publisher, place, date, price and source, Rudolph H . G j e l s n e s s came to A r i z o n a to be the librarian. F r o m the moment this tall young sandy-haired N o r - w e g i a n shook my hand as the staff w e n t into his office one by one that hot summer morning, until he l e f t five y e a r s later with all of us in tears, I w a s to live in a w o r l d I never dreamed o f . Books, books, books—not j u s t 314 COI.LEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES recording them mechanically, stamping them, lettering them, shelving them, handing them out over the desk—but reading them, learning to love the sight of them, learning w h a t they meant, how to j u d g e them, how to use them, how to convey to others their wealth and richness, learning f o r the first time w h y I w a s a l i b r a r i a n — t h i s is only a feeble attempt to analyze w h a t this bookman did f o r one librarian. A n d I am gratified that if M r . G j e l s n e s s had to leave A r i z o n a it w a s to teach hundreds of other librarians the lore and love and meaning of books in librarianship. I remember, and he w i l l probably never f o r g e t , that w e had no money in those mid- depression days. I w o r k e d f o r $90 a month and got paid in w a r r a n t s that nobody would cash. Some university departments got as little as $ 1 5 a y e a r f o r their book allocation. B u t M r . G j e l s n e s s ' s five-year term at A r i z o n a saw the beginning of our climb f r o m an undis- tingushed, undernourished, undeveloped state to something approaching respectability twenty y e a r s later. H e w a s a good administrator. H e built up a professional staff and elicited f r o m them a kind of fierce l o y a l t y ; he w a s a scholar by reputation and he won f r o m the f a c u l t y a recognition that the library w a s more than an appendage of the U n i v e r s i t y ; he f o u g h t with determination f o r adequate support with all the w a y s known to l i b r a r i - ans. B u t he w i l l be remembered the longest and with the most respect and admiration f o r w h a t he did with books at A r i z o n a . H e ran- sacked the duplicate collections of the L i b r a r y of Congress and the N e w Y o r k Public L i b r a r y f o r u s ; he built up the best pipeline to the public of the whole state of A r i z o n a through his newspaper stories that w e have ever known, and the g i f t s which came to us as a result are the foundation of more than one of our present areas of book strength; and he persuaded the university authorities to en- large their publication program in order that the l i b r a r y might benefit f r o m ensuing ex- change arrangements. T h e s e things he did without money. B u t if he had not known books, w h a t they w e r e w o r t h , w h e r e to find them, w h a t to do with them, in short if he had not had the bookman's passion f o r books, not all the administrative talent conveyed by all the l i b r a r y schools in all the 48 states w o u l d have accomplished w h a t he did con amore. W e liked particularly his instantaneous and combustible interest in A r i z o n a materials. In 1 9 3 2 the U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y had exactly t w o of the imprints f r o m A r i z o n a ' s first private press. T h e y w e r e K i r k L a Shelle's Poker Rubaiyat and W i l l Robinson's Her Navajo Lover, printed in Phoenix in 1903 by Chicago's F r a n k H o l m e on the B a n d a r L o g Press. A f t e r M r . G j e l s n e s s l e f t in 1 9 3 7 , w e had six of the seven scarce items issued in A r i z o n a in v e r y limited editions by this press. H e r e w a s an outlander, urbane, scholarly, bookman, w h o had to come to A r i z o n a all the w a y f r o m N e w Y o r k C i t y to show us w h a t w a s important in our own domain. W o u l d a mere administrator ever have electrified us with the excitement of the search f o r the missing titles of G e o r g e A d e ' s " S t r e n u o u s L a d ' s L i b r a r y " which appeared under this imprint? W o u l d such a librarian ever have dared spend a l i b r a r y ' s meager depression- y e a r funds f o r a copy of Clarence Allen, the Hypnotic Boy Journalist? W o u l d our effi- cient expert administrator, with his depend- ency on group results of questionnaires ask- ing " h o w do you do i t ? " , ever have had the imagination to uncover in an obscure C o l u m - bus, Ohio, bookshop w h a t w a s probably the only remaining market copy of Rollo Johnson, the Boy Inventor, or The Deamon Bicycle and Its Daring Rider? I doubt it. I t took a bookman librarian, f o r which w e can be ever- lastingly t h a n k f u l . T h e librarian w h o f o l l o w e d M r . G j e l s n e s s at A r i z o n a w a s W i l l i a m H . C a r l s o n . H e too w a s a bookman, a reader, a knower of books, a librarian w h o knew the book tools of his t r a d e ; whose knowledge of our collection and its lacks, combined with a skill not yet equalled f o r putting the l i b r a r y ' s dollars to the absolute maximum use, taught us a new aspect of our profession. I t w a s a strange and heady experience to have a little money to spend. T h e f a c u l t y , too, gaunt and lean f r o m its starvation ra- tions, w a s paralyzed. B u t M r . C a r l s o n w a s not. " T o live is act," sayeth the poet; and this, now in retrospect, seems to me to have characterized his five years at A r i z o n a . H e surveyed our resources, field by field, went to the f a c u l t y with a bookman's plea to use the departmental allocations in pursuit of a scholarly and m e a n i n g f u l g r o w t h rather than the lazy popular haphazard f r i t t e r i n g a w a y of JULY, 1954 315 f u n d s w i t h o u t perceptible plan o r r e g a r d f o r use and need. H e sought and secured f r o m his s t a f f , f r o m the f a c u l t y , and f r o m the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , a n e w a w a r e n e s s of the po- tentialities of a l i b r a r y to a u n i v e r s i t y . I n his c a r e f u l m e t i c u l o u s w a y he bought books f o r A r i z o n a , beginning w i t h o u r b i b l i o g r a p h i - c a l and r e f e r e n c e collection, going on to strengthen o u r S o u t h w e s t collection to w h i c h M r . G j e l s n e s s had contributed so g r e a t l y , and c o l l a b o r a t i n g w i t h the f a c u l t y in planning the l i b r a r y ' s book expansion so t h a t it bore some r e l a t i o n to the c u r r i c u l u m . H e r e a d the a n t i q u a r i a n c a t a l o g s daily as they c a m e a c r o s s his desk and his o r d e r li- b r a r i a n f e l t the d y n a m i c impact of his selec- tion policies instantly. H e did not w a s t e his time choosing a m o n g best sellers and the en- g u l f i n g flood of s e c o n d - r a t e c u r r e n t s t u f f , but husbanded o u r f i n a n c i a l r e s o u r c e s and his o w n book perspicacity f o r the i m p o r t a n t acquisitions that w i l l distinguish c e r t a i n p a r t s of o u r collection f o r e v e r . A n d another thing I r e m e m b e r about M r . C a r l s o n , a simple thing y o u m a y say, but f e w chief l i b r a r i a n s do it n o w a d a y s : he used to go into the stacks. O f t e n he w e n t to look up something f o r his o w n i n f o r m a t i o n , or sometimes he took one of us along to discuss something, or occasion- a l l y he r o a m e d up and d o w n the aisles j u s t looking, a b s o r b i n g the p e c u l i a r a t m o s p h e r e of thousands of books. W e n e v e r k n e w w h e n w e w o u l d r u n into him there, but it a l w a y s m a d e us f e e l good w h e n w e did. N o w by this I do not propose t h a t the s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n run his l i b r a r y f r o m the stacks, but I do m a i n t a i n that neither can he run it e x - c l u s i v e l y f r o m the s a n c t u a r y of his office. M r . C a r l s o n g r a y e d considerably in o u r service, but I think he l o v e d us nonetheless, f o r w e had responded to his philosophy of bookmanship. ( S h o w me a staff w h o loves the b r i g h t y o u n g mechanical m a n w h o s e bible is his time and motion studies and w h o s e badge is his o r g a n i z a t i o n c h a r t , and I ' l l w a l k back to T u c s o n reciting chapter headings f r o m all the books e v e r w r i t t e n on u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n as penance.) W h a t does all this add up t o ? T h e o b s e r - v a t i o n s of one assistant l i b r a r i a n about d i f f e r - ent kinds of chief l i b r a r i a n s do not m a k e a handbook f o r guidance. Y e t these experiences a r e p r o b a b l y typical of a s m a l l u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y . I w o u l d say at least, if someone should ask me w h i c h l i b r a r i a n I w o u l d like most to be m a r o o n e d w i t h in a l i b r a r y , that he should, if possible, happily be both a d m i n - i s t r a t o r and bookman. B u t w i t h f e m a l e stubbornness, I r e s e r v e the f i n a l right to insist that if he can be only a d m i n i s t r a t o r , and not b o o k m a n as w e l l , he f o r s a k e l i b r a r i a n s h i p and l e a v e me alone w i t h the books. B y M A U R I C E F . T A U B E R Librarians as Bookmen Dr. Tauber is professor of library serv- ice, Columbia University. ROASTING A N OLD C H E S T N U T is a n a p p r o -p r i a t e title f o r this meeting. I f one goes back into l i b r a r y l i t e r a t u r e , in f a c t , to the f i r s t n u m b e r of the American Library Journal, issued S e p t e m b e r 30, 1 8 7 6 , he w i l l find in M e l v i l D e w e y ' s discussion of " T h e P r o f e s s i o n " r e f e r e n c e to the p r o b l e m u n d e r discussion. H e w r o t e as f o l l o w s : I t is not e n o u g h t h a t the books a r e c a r e d f o r p r o p e r l y , a r e w e l l a r r a n g e d , a r e n e v e r lost. It is not e n o u g h if the l i b r a r i a n c a n r e a d i l y p r o d u c e a n y book a s k e d f o r . It is not e n o u g h t h a t he c a n , w h e n a s k e d , g i v e a d v i c e a s to the best books in his collection on a n y s u b j e c t . A l l these t h i n g s a r e i n - d i s p e n s a b l e , but t h e y a r e not e n o u g h f o r o u r i d e a l . H e must see t h a t his l i b r a r y c o n t a i n s , a s f a r a s p o s s i b l e , the best books on the best s u b j e c t s , r e g a r d i n g c a r e f u l l y the w a n t s of h i s s p e c i a l c o m m u n i t y . D e w e y continues w i t h his thesis that a li- b r a r i a n should k n o w books, and that he should use them as a t e a c h e r . T h e time uoas w h e n the l i b r a r y w a s like a m u s e u m , and a l i b r a r i a n w a s a m o u s e r in m u s t y books, a n d v i s i t o r s looked w i t h c u r i o u s e y e s at ancient tomes a n d m a n u s c r i p t s . T h e t i m e is w h e n the l i b r a r y is a school, a n d the l i b r a r i a n is in the h i g h e s t sense a t e a c h e r , 316 COI.LEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES