College and Research Libraries By R I C H A R D H A R W E L L National Library Week and College Libraries CO L L E G E A N D U N I V E R S I T Y librarians are an individualistic breed. Accus- tomed to working with materials which must be h a n d l e d as units, they them- selves act as units, and their effectiveness is often diminished when forced into pat- terns designed for mass operations. By participation in National Library Week, March 16-22, however, they can f u n c t i o n as individuals and do good service for the aims of the whole pro- fession at the same time. N a t i o n a l Library Week will be a na- tion-wide promotion. All types and all sizes of libraries are being asked to cooperate in its observance. It is sponsored by the Na- tional Book Commit- tee, Inc., in coopera- tion with the Ameri- can Library Associa- tion. Lucile Morsch, president of ALA, is chairman of a national ALA Commit- tee on National Library Week. "ALA committees in each state," says a flyer f r o m the National Book Committee, "will be responsible for helping to plan National Library Week, for encouraging libraries and librarian participation in the Week, for securing publicity about the program among libraries." T h e prin- cipal impetus for the Week, however, will be provided by committees made Mr. Harwell is Executive Secretary of the Association of College and Research Libraries. u p of leading citizens in every area. "Library Week," declares the National Book Committee, "is the first u n i t e d drive of the communications industry to increase the n u m b e r of readers in Ameri- ca and to increase reading among con- firmed readers." It gives as reasons be- h i n d the Week the following: (1) T h e habit of reading is not keeping pace with increased education, leisure time, or high d i s p o s a b l e income; (2) 60 per cent of American adults did not r e a d a b o o k , other t h a n the Bible, d u r i n g 1954; (3) half of the adults in this country live within a mile of a public li- brary—but only o n e fifth of them visit it; (4) new standards of public library service have just been issued by the American Li- brary Association; they need community attention and acceptance; (5) recruit- ing trained personnel is a m a j o r problem for all libraries; more efforts are needed to attract young people to the profession; the shortage is handicapping library ex- pansion; soaring enrollments mean that school and college library facilities must be expanded. T h e r e is precious little in these causes that rises directly from college and uni- versity libraries. T h e r e is even less in the Committee's statement of "what can a National Library Week do?" Where, then, lies the place of college libraries in this activity? National Library Week, to be observed March 16-22,1958, is both a tribute and a challenge. It is a tribute to the fine collections and services the libraries of the country make available to their communi- ties; and it is a challenge to all of us in the library world to increase our efforts to insure the rewards of reading—the joy, the knowledge, and the inspiration that books and other materials found in the mod- ern library can bring—to every citi- zen of the Nation.—L. Quincy Mumford, Librarian of Congress. National Library Week. Its not news when librarians urge us to use libraries to the fullest extent, and it's not news when publishers urge us to read; it is news—and good news—when citizens all over the country join forces in a concerted, nationwide effort to remind us of the pleas- ures and benefits of reading, of the great privileges available to us through libraries, and of the value of organized library services. College and university libraries can benefit from this joint effort. With the sup- port of all kinds of libraries, National Library Week can become a strong and helpful force.-—Eileen Thornton, ACRL President. A n effective N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y W e e k may very well p r o d u c e little of immedi- ate value to college libraries. P e r h a p s the direct effect will be a flood of offers of copies of The Ulster County Gazette, the New York Herald of A p r i l 15, 1865, a n d the Vicksburg Citizen of J u l y 2-4, 1863— all in worthless souvenir r e p r i n t s . B u t p e r h a p s — a n d more t h a n perhaps—col- lege a n d university l i b r a r i a n s will recog- nize N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y W e e k as an activ- ity good for the profession. A n d w h a t is good for the profession is good f o r every library, f o r every l i b r a r i a n . N a t i o n a l Li- brary W e e k 1958 is only the beginning. It is envisioned as a n a n n u a l activity t h a t will repeatedly call the a t t e n t i o n of the p u b l i c generally to the values of library service. College a n d university l i b r a r i a n s are suspicious of w h a t they r e g a r d as the crassly commercial. T h e y fear t h a t Na- tional L i b r a r y W e e k m i g h t too easily be just a n o t h e r p r o m o t i o n , a n o t h e r cheese week, g r a p e f r u i t week, or I-love-people week. It need n o t be; if they w a n t to make it m u c h more, they can. College a n d university l i b r a r i a n s lack the pat- t e r n of g r o u p activity t h a t has m a d e such p r o m o t i o n s as the Jaycee's O p e r a t i o n Li- brary or ALA's L i b r a r y C o m m u n i t y Project e m i n e n t l y successful. T h e r e is m u c h they can learn f r o m t h e Jaycees, f r o m the a d u l t e d u c a t i o n people, a n d f r o m their own colleagues in m o r e p u b - lic-minded areas of the profession. Friends of the L i b r a r y are w o n d e r f u l friends. B u t their n u m b e r a n d effective- ness can be m a n y times m u l t i p l i e d t h r o u g h wise p r o m o t i o n . Suspicious or not, college librarians are in a position to gain f r o m the nation- wide p r o m o t i o n . It is old h a t to librar- ians t h a t their problems will be multi- plied as college e n r o l l m e n t s increase (they are expected to d o u b l e ) in the n e x t ten or fifteen years, b u t N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y W e e k will m a k e that vital fact k n o w n to the widest possible audience. College a n d university l i b r a r i a n s will have o p p o r t u n i t y to show how the larger r a t i o of students to faculty members will p u t increased emphasis o n a student's own r e a d i n g a n d a n increased b u r d e n on libraries. T h e l a u n c h i n g of m a n - m a d e satellites has d r a m a t i z e d the necessity f o r m o r e a n d better e d u c a t i o n in the sci- ences. Present library needs are already well k n o w n to librarians. Last fall's ap- plications to A C R L ' s C o m m i t t e e o n F o u n d a t i o n G r a n t s supply a w e a l t h of evidence t h a t libraries sorely need h e l p in this area. N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y W e e k can d e m o n s t r a t e to the p u b l i c the library's role in scientific e d u c a t i o n a n d can pro- vide a p l a t f o r m f o r the exposition of needs in this field. N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y W e e k will f u n c t i o n t h r o u g h state a n d c o m m u n i t y commit- tees. N o p a t t e r n of action will be super- imposed o n those committees, t h o u g h m a t e r i a l to aid t h e m in their efforts will be s u p p l i e d by the New York office of the C o m m i t t e e (24 West 40th Street, New York 18, N e w York). T h e various committees will be urged to call o n all 10 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES the libraries in their areas for coopera- tion a n d p a r t i c i p a t i o n . B u t passive co- o p e r a t i o n on the p a r t of college a n d uni- versity l i b r a r i a n s will n o t be e n o u g h . T o g a r n e r the benefits possible f r o m such a p r o m o t i o n as N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y Week, they will have to p a r t i c i p a t e positively, fully, a n d aggressively. A possible p a t t e r n of p a r t i c i p a t i o n is suggested by the plans being made at the University of Illinois L i b r a r y . A n ex- h i b i t in the general library will e m p h a - size the f u n c t i o n s of the library a n d in- t e r p r e t it to its patrons. Small recruiting- f o r - l i b r a r i a n s h i p exhibits in each of twenty-four d e p a r t m e n t a l libraries will direct a t t e n t i o n to career o p p o r t u n i t i e s in l i b r a r i a n s h i p f o r subject specialists. T h e sixth series of the W i n d s o r Lectures in L i b r a r i a n s h i p , a series w h i c h has a l r e a d y p r o d u c e d five distin- guished volumes as its record, will be pre- sented d u r i n g N at i on- al L i b r a r y Week. Ma- terials a b o u t the li- brary will be m a d e available to s t u d e n t a n d a l u m n i publications. N a t i o n a l Li- brary W e e k will find a place in the alert r a d i o a n d television series conducted at U r b a n a . Different procedures will be effective at different places. H e l p f u l to all will be a p a m p h l e t on the needs of college li- braries now being p r e p a r e d by Flora Belle L u d i n g t o n a n d which will soon be available f r o m ALA. It will be a b o o n if the d e d i c a t i o n of new library buildings can be scheduled w i t h i n N a t i o n a l Li- brary Week. R e l a t i o n s w i t h r a d i o a n d television stations a n d w i t h newspapers vary f r o m place to place, b u t , in nearly every case, librarians, acting either inde- p e n d e n t l y or t h r o u g h their campus p u b - lic relations personnel, can m a k e effec- tive use of them. C a m p u s a u t h o r s can be used to p r o m o t e books a n d reading. JANUARY 1958 I n m a n y cases, college a n d university libraries can e x t e n d their influence by l e n d i n g for commercial or p u b l i c library displays already p l a n n e d the kinds of materials which m a r k college a n d uni- versity libraries w i t h special distinction. Every l i b r a r i a n has t h o u g h t of ways in which his library could be m o r e effec- tively b r o u g h t to the a t t e n t i o n of stu- dents a n d faculty, if he could only take the time. N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y W e e k pro- vides a ready-made chance to carry t h r o u g h those ideas a n d make it w o r t h while to take the time. Special libraries are presented just as m u c h o p p o r t u n i t y . H e r e is the chance f o r special l i b r a r i a n s to e x h i b i t to the general public, as well as to their special public, the value of their libraries. T h e r e are corollaries of the possible actions of the college a n d university libraries in every type of library: the great i n d e p e n d e n t research libraries, the libraries of law, medical, a n d theology schools, the fine reference a n d spe- cial libraries in art, music, history, science, a n d o t h e r fields, the vigorous, active li- braries which are parts of business in- stitutions. T h e r e is o p p o r t u n i t y for all in N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y Week. F r o m the area of i n s p i r a t i o n a l books, librarians have a d a p t e d a f a m i l i a r title into the slogan " W a k e U p a n d R e a d . " W i t h college a n d university librarians' obvious conviction of the value of read- ing as a c o n t i n u i n g h a b i t , they m i g h t well d i p f u r t h e r a n d alter o t h e r titles to their own use: " H o w to R e a d 365 Days a Year" a n d " H o w to R e a d All Your L i f e . " B u t the p r i m a r y aim of Na- tional L i b r a r y W e e k is " F o r a better read, better i n f o r m e d America." College a n d university l i b r a r i a n s have a privilege in the o p p o r t u n i t y to p a r t i c i p a t e in t h a t aim. 11 National Library Week will pro- vide an opportunity for millions of people devoted to books and read- ing—to the inexhaustible informa- tional and recreational resources of libraries—to reaffirm their faith in and support for the world's greatest educational force.—Robert B. Downs, Director, University of Illi- nois Library, Urbana.