ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 326 ucation, New York, NY 10025 Louis A. Jacob, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 AGRICULTURE A ND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SUBSECTION Vice-chairman (Chairman-elect) Richard A. Farley, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66502 Sharon Wells, American Medical Association, Chicago, IL 60610 Secretary Epsy Y. Hendricks, Alcorn A & M College, Lorman, MS 39096 Ann Kerker, Purdue University, Lafayette, IN 47907 ART SUBSECTION Vice-chairman (Chairman-elect) William R. Johnson, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY 11238 Mrs. Barbara Sevy, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA 19101 UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES SECTION Vice-chairman (Chairman-elect) Richard W. Boss, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37916 W. P. Kellam, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30601 Ed. note: Four units did not submit slates in time for publication; these will be published in future issues. ■ ■ ACRL Membership October 31, 1971 11,886 October 31, 1970 11,976 October 31, 1969 ............. 13,769 BUSINESS • COMMERCE • ECONOMICS Specialists in Out-of-Print B ooks in the Social Sciences W ant Lists Searched C ollections F u lfilled — Catalogs Issued HIVE OF INDUSTRY, BOOKSELLERS B ox 6 0 2 Easton, P en n a. 1 8 0 4 2 A CAD EM IC STATUS Dear Sir: The ACRL was wise, in my opinion, to ap­ prove all elements of the standards for faculty status except for the educational requirement. Probably the best method of filling this gap would be to state that: “The determination of degrees to be regarded as terminal or appropri­ ate should be vested with the library faculty, subject to the approval of the president.” [Carl Hintz, “Criteria for Appointment to and Promo­ tion in Academic Rank,” CRL 29:346 (Sept. 1968).] Other associations do not try to set ed­ ucational requirements for members of their professions employed in colleges and universi­ ties, leaving that task to individual faculties. Acceptance of this principle would also dovetail with the emphasis the standards place upon the library faculty. Finally, it could be argued that educational requirements should vary from in­ stitution to institution. A “two master’s” princi­ ple would be much more appropriate for a uni­ versity where most members of the teaching faculties have a Ph.D. than for a junior college where they will generally have one master’s. This is a reasonable approach, although I am opposed to setting rigid educational standards for librarians at any level until the question has received much more serious and continued a t­ tention. One of the problems of the literature on fac­ ulty status for librarians is its insularity. Most citations are to other articles in library publica­ tions, not to studies of the workings of academ­ ic faculties or of the appointment and promo­ tion of college and university teachers in prac­ tice. Advocates of faculty status for librarians often adopt an idealized picture of professors. Their focus seems to be on the university where the Ph.D. is required in most departments and where publication is really expected. So far as I know, there have been no articles written which compare academic librarians with mem­ bers of departments, such as music and archi­ tecture, where the master’s degree is terminal. Much can be written about the kinds of stan­ dards library faculties may formulate. Using the “two master’s” standard is unfortunate. One of the long-standing problems in library personnel development has been the preponderance of people with subject backgrounds in the human­ ities and the shortage of persons with under­ graduate and graduate degrees in the social, natural, and physical sciences. The “two mas­ ter’s” standard is likely to perpetuate or even accentuate this. Much in the literature on fac­ ulty status for librarians seems to imply th at as we obtain it, we shall all become subject spe­ cialists. Since the need for administrators and those with some knowledge of computers is great, such articles may give many academic 327 librarians a nudge in the wrong direction, so far as obtaining additional education is concerned. For many librarians, a certificate program em­ phasizing library administration and/or the ap­ plication of automation to library operations will be more useful than a subject master’s de­ gree. Yet, an MLS and a certificate are not lit­ erally two master’s, and written standards tend to be interpreted rigidly. Another consideration in setting educational requirements is the possible effects they may have on recruitment patterns. One of the rich­ est sources of talent for libraries is the flow of middle-aged, married women returning to work. Generally, they earn an MLS in their forties. Requiring still another degree may dis­ courage some or even many of them from en­ tering academic library work. This would be undesirable, for it is unlikely that younger men and women will replace them adequately. In summation, I believe library faculties should make their own decisions on academic qualifications, that these faculties should keep their standards flexible, and that those writing such standards should try to determine the so­ cial consequences their decisions may have. Benjamin R. Beede Rutgers University ■ ■ News From the Field ACQUISITIONS • A small collection of rare scholarly books has been given to W heaton College by an anonymous donor, according to Paul Snezek, collection development librarian at the college. The sixteen volumes were purchased from the working library of James Lea Cate, emeritus professor of medieval history at the University of Chicago. They represent books to be found in a religiously oriented college library of the sixteenth to early eighteenth century. The collection includes a rare edition of the Bible and volumes on church history of an ear­ ly period, later church and secular history, bi­ ographies of Christian secular monarchs, canon law, church calendars, lives of the saints, a book of sermons, and a work on cosmogony. One manuscript in book form represents the Islamic religion, but is quite similar to Christian works. It contains long prayers by two well- known Islamic sufi, similar to a Catholic monk. The Turkish copyist of the Arabic text has made comments in the margin and at the end in his own tongue. Snezek calls the volume “A museum piece.” The rarest of the western books, according to Snezek, is the Biblia Sacra, published in Lyon, France, in 1541. It is im­ portant historically because it was printed dur­ ing the period Lyon was supplanting Paris as the chief city for publication of Bibles. The book is a later edition of the volume reported to be the First Latin Bible of Modern Times. • The Brandeis University library has re­ cently acquired a significant collection of scarce books, pamphlets, newspapers, and photo­ graphs pertaining to the famous Dreyfus trial. The collection formerly belonged to Leon Lip­ schütz of Paris, France. Included in the collec­ tion are many association copies as well as let­ ters by Emile Zola, Georges Clemenceau, Fer­ nand Labori, and other personages connected with the case. This acquisition was made pos­ sible through the beneficence of Mrs. Helen S. Slosberg in memory of her late uncle, Max Sagoff. AWARDS AND GIFTS • Geroid T. Robinson, founder of the Rus­ sian Institute at Columbia University who died March 31, 1971, has willed his $240,000 estate to the Columbia University libraries to main­ tain and expand the libraries’ Russian holdings. The bequest also includes Dr. Robinson’s per­ sonal library of Russian language volumes and books on Russian history, culture, and politics. A leading scholar on the Soviet Union, Pro­ fessor Robinson was a pioneer in advocating Russian studies in the United States. The Rus­ sian Institute at Columbia, which he founded in 1945, was the first undertaking of its kind in this country on a graduate level. In the last quarter century, the institute has trained scores of specialists in Russian affairs, many of whom have become prominent in diplomacy, educa­ tion, journalism, and international trade and fi­ nance. • With the aid of grants totaling $100,000 from the National Endowment for the Humani­ ties, Council on Library Resources, and College Entrance Examination Board, the Dallas P ub­ lic Library is beginning implementation this month of a two-year program designed to offer residents of the area the opportunity to gain up to two years of college credit without attending a formal classroom lecture. The Dallas Public Library’s “Independent Study Project” involves the College-Level Ex­ amination Program (CLEP) developed by the College Entrance Examination Board. The Board and the Council on Library Resources