ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries July/August 1989 / 561 T h e h is t o r y a n d d e v e lo p m e n t o f lib r a r ie s in A m e r ic a n h ig h e r e d u c a t i o n By Plum m er Alston Jones Jr. Head Librarian Elon College An executive briefing for administrators and potential donors. C ollege and university librarians in managerial positions are called upon daily to justify the exist­ ence of academic libraries in terms of their mis­ sions, goals, and objectives: to other academic ad­ ministrators and potential donors, for increases in budgets or funding for special projects; and to vari­ ous library user groups, for compliance with poli­ cies affecting services and resources. In both cases, it behooves academic library managers to be able to present accurately, succinctly, and without li­ brary jargon, the reasons why their libraries need to keep up w ith nationwide trends and, in rare cases, to promote further changes and innovations. The following executive briefing summarizes the history and development of libraries in American higher education and thus provides the historical context in which decisions affecting academic li­ braries today are made. The briefing was used ini­ tially to inform the Elon College Friends of the Li­ brary regarding the state of academic libraries, specifically the problems and the challenges facing them , and ultimately to demonstrate the need for external support groups such as the Friends. Later, excerpts from the briefing were used to justify a special request proposal for the retrospective con­ version of the Elon College Library’s holdings to a machine-readable format as a major component in the move tow ard the automation of the library. The intent behind the sharing of this briefing is to provide data which college and university li­ brary managers can tailor for use in their own unique situations and to serve as a stimulus to the publication of other such data for the benefit of the academic library community. No sound decision is made in a vacuum, but often librarians and other academic administrators do not share a body of knowledge upon which to base effective communi­ cation. A briefing such as this is an attem pt to pro­ vide a common ground on which decisions can be made. Executive briefing American college and university libraries have always reflected the fortunes of their respective in­ stitutions, sharing in their poverty and their pros­ perity, and reflecting in varying degrees the char­ a c te r a n d ten d e n c ie s of th e ir c u rric u la and instructional methods. Nine colonial colleges were established and had libraries by 1792. The libraries were never large; 562 / C&RL News even H arvard, the oldest and largest, had fewer than 13,000 volumes prior to 1800. Private dona­ tions from library-m inded individuals on both sides of the Atlantic furnished the greatest num ber and best quality of books; however, funds to pur­ chase books were also secured from special tax rev­ enues, fees assessed students and trustees, and even lotteries. Despite limited resources and restricted access to them , compounded by abbreviated hours of opening, colonial college libraries provided the curricular support for programs designed to train young men for the ministry. Theology was, there­ fore, the most generously represented discipline in colonial college library collections, with the clas­ sics, philosophy, and history next in prominence. Most of the data on college libraries of the 19th century is gleaned from the records of the colleges themselves and from a major survey of libraries un­ dertaken by Charles Coffin Jew ett for the Smithso­ nian Institution in 1850. At the tim e of this survey, there were only five collections in the United States that num bered over 50,000 volumes and only two of these were at colleges, H arvard and Yale, the “tw in seats of learning.” The smallness of the collections at most colleges m ade a special library building unnecessary. Li­ braries often shared facilities w ith other college de­ partm ents and, in many cases, the college library was distributed among the professors, each profes­ sor having charge of the books pertaining to his dis­ cipline. The first building constructed exclusively for library purposes was at South Carolina College (later the University of South Carolina) in 1840, built at a cost of $22,000. The slowness of growth of collections was due to the small num ber of books and magazines avail­ able, with only a little over 39,000 titles published during the entire period from 1639 to 1800, accord­ ing to Charles Evans’s authoritative American Bib­ liography: A Chronological Dictionary. Most p ub­ lications had to be imported from England and Europe. The fixed character of the curriculum of 19th- century colleges and slow, if any, changes in in­ structional m ethods retard ed the grow th of li­ b raries. M ost in stru c tio n d id n o t req u ire th e regular use of a large num ber of books. The infa­ mous, but nevertheless influential, Yale Report of 1828 implied th at a single text supplemented by recitations was superior to the unsupervised use of the library. The philosophy of learning embodied in this report effectively suppressed curricular and instructional reforms as well as library develop­ m ent for decades. Since the library made small provision for con­ tem porary literature and general reading materials of a popular nature, and the few hours of opening were chiefly for checking out and returning books only, students in literary and debating societies formed their ow n libraries. These society libraries often excelled in quality and exceeded in size the college library itself. The influence of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 combined to tu rn the attention of higher edu­ cation away from its classical traditions to the prac­ ticalities of present needs. In addition to this reori­ entation of the college curriculum, the founding of Johns Hopkins in 1876, using the G erm an univer­ sity as its model, emphasized for the first time the research function of higher education, an emphasis followed by H arv ard , Cornell, C olum bia, and other universities in the vanguard. Thus the library gained increasing recognition as essential to the new academic role of research and worthy of the epithet “the heart of the university.” Along with this recognition came rapidly increasing annual budgets for books and periodicals, for the erection of separate library buildings to provide good work­ ing conditions for students, scholars, and librari­ ans, and for the extension of hours of opening to at least five days per week and often on weekends. Concurrently, the beginnings of the profession­ alization of Am erican librarianship occurred in 1876 when the American Library Association was fo u n d ed . L ib ra ry e d u c a tio n follow ed shortly thereafter in 1887 w ith the opening of Melvil D e­ wey’s library school at Colum bia, followed by li­ brary schools at P ratt, Drexel, and others. Women slowly began to receive recognition as heads of li­ brary schools and directors of academic libraries. The employment of library staffs headed by profes­ sionally trained librarians became the norm across the nation. Several noticeable trends emerged in college and university libraries a t the turn of the 20th century. A shift in emphasis from conservation and protec­ tion of library m aterials to putting them to effec­ tive use in the hands of the faculty and students was more and more the dom inant attitude. An obliga­ tion to provide effective personal service and edu­ cation in the use of th e library was due, at least in p art, to the recognition of the library’s role as an educational force independent of its curricular sup­ port function. The necessity of classifying books ac­ cording to subject and not to fixed shelf location, cataloging books with greater bibliographic detail and with more access points in the card catalog, and the practice of putting books on reserve when intensive research use was anticipated, all led to b etter use of the collection. The appearance of subject-oriented departm ental libraries in addition to the central campus library was seen on many college and university campuses. A move tow ard cooperation betw een libraries, principally in the loan of m aterials, led to the adoption of the Interli­ brary Loan Code of 1919, whereby academic li­ braries throughout the nation cooperated in exter­ n a l b o rro w in g a g re e m e n ts . F in a lly , th e recognition of th e worth of popular reading m ate­ rials, previously considered unsuitable, prepared the way for the gradual absorption of the literary and debating society libraries by the central cam­ pus library. After 1900, there was an emerging emphasis on July/August 1989 / 563 the need of students to participate in self-education th ro u g h in d e p e n d e n t s tu d y , a tr e n d w h ic h prom pted more direct attention to the library as not only an agency for curricular support but also as an instrum ent of self-instruction. By 1928 the Carnegie C orporation was dangling grants before the eyes of eager college administrators to be used to encourage the further integration of the library into the instruction in liberal arts colleges. The further professionalization of librarianship was evidenced by the form ation of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in 1932 and the Asso­ ciation of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) in 1938. Supported by the unprecedented shortage of libraries brought about by W orld W ar II and by the realization th a t library w ork was then much m ore complex, the profession upgraded its profes­ sional education requirem ent from the bachelor’s to the master’s degree. One noted librarian has employed a Dickensian phrase to describe th e post-W orld W ar II era, call­ ing it the best of times, the worst of times for college and university libraries. On the plus side were: 1) the great expansion of enrollments on campuses and a trem endous building boom; 2) increased funding for libraries through institutional budgets as well as outside funding from the Federal govern­ m ent and private corporations; 3) technological advances, particularly m icroreproduction technol­ ogy and the com puter, both making library opera­ tions much m ore m anageable; and 4) the opportu­ nity to serve new needs for advanced study and research in ever increasing fields and area studies. On the negative side were, in addition to the gen­ eral complexity of library operations, especially in university settings: 1) the inform ation explosion ac­ companying these new curricular developments; 2) criticism now aim ed directly at th e library when research demands w ere not met; and 3) threats to the security of library collections which surfaced w ith a vengeance. The building boom for libraries began in the late 1940s and continued into the 1950s and 1960s. Fed­ eral money in the form of grants from the Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963, although discon­ tinued in 1969, provided for th e construction of 605 separate library buildings throughout the nation. Two federal program s, both a p a rt of the Higher Education Act of 1965, provided assistance to li­ braries: 1) Title II-A, aimed at college libraries, granted funds for acquisitions and, later, netw ork­ ing; and 2) Title II-C , aimed at m ajor research li­ braries, granted funds for collection development in subject areas of national importance. Until the 1970s there was an acute shortage of professional librarians; then, alm ost overnight, there was a surplus due in p a rt to the expansion of programs of existing library schools and the birth of new library schools. Preservation of collections from theft and m utilation and protection of library buildings from vandalism and library patrons from physical harm have been m ajor issues calling for the installation of sensor devices to detect book theft and the em ployment of security guards to p a ­ trol buildings and to protect patrons during ever- increasing hours of opening. The growth of networks and consortia in the 1980s was the natural outcome of th e proliferation Tim e line for the development of academ ic libraries 1792 Nine colonial college libraries established 1800 H arvard, oldest and largest college library, w ith 13,000 volumes 1828 Yale Report retards development of academic libraries and stifles curricular reform 1840 First separate building to house a college library built by South C arolina College (later USC) 1850 Only two college libraries, H arvard and Yale, w ith collections over 50,000 1862 and 1890 Morrill Acts prom ote curricular reform tow ard practical needs 1876 Founding of Johns Hopkins on the G erm an research university model 1876 American L ibrary Association founded 1887 Melvil Dewey’s library school opens at Colum bia University 1919 Interlibrary Library Code promotes lending of library m aterials between libraries 1928 Carnegie C orporation funds college libraries 1932 and 1938 Founding of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and Association of Coll and Research Libraries (ACRL) respectively 1940s-1960s Building boom for college libraries and collection development grants funded Federal government 1970s Preservation and conservation of library m aterials a concern in light of vandalism and budget cutbacks 1980s G row th of networks and consortia for library resource sharing ege by 564 / C&RL News of m aterials, services, and needs, coupled with de­ creased institutional budgets, inflationary costs of library materials, and cutbacks in Federal fund­ ing. Cooperation is the byword of the 1980s as evi­ denced by the participation of m any college and university libraries in cooperative projects for cata­ loging, acquisitions, literature searching, and in­ te rlib ra ry lo an , all these operations being en­ h a n c ed by th e m iraculous c a p ab ilitie s of th e computer. The future of college and university libraries will depend largely on the com m itm ent of librarians and educators to resource sharing and the provision of traditional as well as innovative services in a net­ work environment. References Brough, Kenneth. “The Colonial College L i­ b rary ,” in M ichaelH . Harris, ed., Reader in A m er­ ican Library History (W ashington, D .C .: NCR Microcard Editions, 1971), 31-32. C hattin Carlton, W . N. “College Libraries in the M id-Nineteenth C entury,” Library Journal 32 (November 1907): 479-86. Clayton, H ow ard. “The American College L i­ brary, 1800-1860,” in Harris, Reader in American Library History, 89-98. Govan, James F. “Collegiate Education: Past and P re se n t,” L ib ra ry Trends 18 (July 1969): 13-28. Ham lin, Arthur T. The University Library in the United States: Its Origins and Developm ent (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1981), 3-83. Holley, E d w ard G. “A cadem ic L ibraries in 1876,” in Richard D . Johnson, ed., Libraries for Teaching, Libraries fo r Research: Essays fo r a Century (Chicago: American Library Association, 1977), 1-33. Shiflett, Orvin Lee. Origins o f American Aca­ d e m ic L ib ra ria n sh ip (N orw ood, N .J.: Ablex, 1981), 1-55. Shores, Louis. Origins o f the American College Library, 1638-1800 (Nashville, Tenn.: George Peabody College, 1934), 56, 226-32. Veit, Fritz. “ L ibrary Service to College Stu­ dents,” Library Trends 25 (July 1976): 361-78. ■ ■ T h e A c a d e m y a n d t h e f u t u r e : C o n s t a n c y w it h in c h a n g e By Jonathan F. Fanton President New School fo r Social Research A paper presented at the November 18, 1988, meeting of the A C R L Greater New York Metropolitan Area Chapter. T he prospect of reflecting on w hat the Academy will look like in the 21st century, and w hat the im­ plications are for libraries and librarians, is d au n t­ ing. It brings to m ind Felix F rankfurter’s words: “ .. .to pierce the curtain of the future, to give shape and visage to mysteries still in the wom b of time, is th e gift of im a g in a tio n .” My im agination has enough trouble getting through th e next year let alone into the next century. The daily pressures of fund raising, budget planning, faculty appoint­ ments, and m yriad activities th at absorb a presi­ dent’s life, led me to think for a moment I should pass up your invitation. But I rem embered th a t in the early hours of January first, I resolved to accept