College and Research Libraries A.C.R.L. in Action T HIS is not a report. It is a story in frag-ments, and you are the chief characters in it. Its location for the moment is in Chicago, but it doesn't stay there, it moves from Maine to Florida to California and to points in between. A.C.R.L. membership is increasing rapidly-A.C.R.L. members are working industriously. The complete story of the activities of A.C.R.L. could not be related in this limited space, but here are some of the parts. The four special committees set up at San Francisco in July I947 have now been in action a little more than a year. SPECIAL MEMBEltSHIP-Mr. Wayne S. Y enawine was chairman of this committee until September I, I948, at which time Mr. Robert Severance took over. There is at least one member from each state, Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii. One of the first activi- ties of the committee was to send out 2220 letters to college, university, and reference librarians who were members of A.L.A., but who had not designated A.C.R.L. as their choice of division, inviting them to affiliate with the division. An A.C.R.L. membership page was prepared for the November I947 issue of the A .L.A. Bulletin. A list of new I948 members has appeared in College and Research Libraries. The membership of the division at the end of the year was around 3700 which is an increase of nearly 1000 members in I948. The present personnel of the committee is: Stanley Hoole, John S. Mehler, Patricia Paylore, Marvin A. Miller, Allan R. Laursen, Everett T. Moore, Elea- nor B. Mercer, Henry ]. Waltmeade, Doro- thy Bridgewater, Ruth Alford, Frank J. Bertalan, Louise Richardson, Margaret M. Jemison, Carl Stroven, Eldon C. Hart, Wil- liam L. Hyde, Howard Winger, John H. Moriarty, Norman L. Kilpatrick, Downing P. O'Harra, Edna J. Grauman, Robert H. Trent, Edward C. Heintz, Howard Rovel- stad, Ruth K. Porritt, Jackson E. Towne, David R. Watkins, Mahala Saville, Felix E. Snider, Merwin M. Moores, Richard A. Farley, James J. Hill, Thelma Brackett, Genevieve Porterfield, Ira A. Tumbleson, JANUARY~ 1949 By N. 0RWIN Rusrt G. F. Shepherd, Joseph Brewer, W. P. Kel- lam, Della Mathys, Howard F. McGaw, Edmon Low, Margaret Markley, Ralph Mc- Comb, Marion Kesselring, J. Mitchell Reames, Lois Bailey, J. H. Lancaster, Edith Rich, Louise E. Robinson, Louise Savage, Helen Johns, Helen Northup, Esther Clau- sen, and Robert W. Severance, chairman. SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON RECRUITING. The committee has made an excellent begin- ning, this year toward a long range plan for attracting high caliber recruits. It has worked closely with the Joint Committee on Library Work as a Career contributing sub- stantially to the preparation of the joint committee's recruiting folder ro,ooo Careers with a Challenge. A.C.R.L.'s committee has issued its own Recruiting Bulletin-to date these bulletins have been four in number, and they were issued to all A.C.R.L. institutional members. The committee has constantly urged the discussion of recruiting problems at local, state, and regional meetings, and two of its members presented papers on the sub- ject at one of the general A.C.R.L. meetings at Atlantic City. The committee personnel is: Dale M. Bentz, Beverley Caverhill, Rev. James J. Kortendick, Mrs. Frances Lander Spain, Katharine M. Stokes, Eugene P. Wat- son, Gonzalo Velazquez, Harry C. Bauer, and Lawrence S. Thompson, chairman. SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE EDUCATIONAL PREPARATION AND QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED BY CoLLEGE, UNIVERSITY, AND REFERENCE LIBRARIANS. The committee has held a number of meetings and considerable cor- respondence mainly to determine its course, and has come up with a proposal to hold a series of small conferences. For the present it will be concerned only with minimum re- quirements. The recommendations emerging from these conferences are to be submitted to a larger representative group of con- sultants for criticism and revision. The per- sonnel of the committee is: Mary Clay, Robert Muller, Jack Dalton, Edward Chap- man, Katherine Anderson, Robert W. Christ, Florence B. Murray, W. S. Hoole, William Kozumplik, and Jerrold Orne, chairman. 71 SPECIAL CoMMITTEE To CoNSIDER THE FI- NANCIAL NEEDS OF A.C.R.L. AND TO SuG- GEST A PROGRAM FOR THEIR REALIZATION. Mr. Lundy has gone over the financial situa- tion very carefully at Headquarters and at present is hoping to work closely with the Fourth Activities Committee. The personnel of the committee is: Clyde H. Cantrell, G. Flint Purdy, Stephen McCarthy, Lola Rivers Thompson, Herman Henkle, Arthur M. Mc- Anally, and Frank A. Lundy, chairman. Standing Committees COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS. During the past year Dr. Richard H. Logsdon has been chairman of this committee to integrate the publishing interests of the various sec- tions. The committee has established at Headquarters the beginning of what may become a very important collection of docu- ments reflecting current procedures in the administration of college, university, and reference libraries. The committee prepared a statement, describing the project and re- questing the material, which went to all of the college and university libraries in this country and Canada. The committee this year is bringing particular attention to bear upon its responsibility of making a survey of publication needs and of taking a more active role in encouraging needed publications and not limiting its work to the reviewing of manuscripts brought to its attention. Under the leadership of Mr. Lewis Branscomb, as chairman this year, we can expect the com- mittee to continue to make definite headway in this undertaking. There is great hope and encouragement that a larger and better line of needed publications, research, and investi- gation will emerge. This is a task of large proportions, and the committee needs the full support of all in carrying out its work in this field. The personnel of the committee is: Mary N. Barton, Richard H. Logsdon, B. Lamar Johnson, Maurice F. Tauber, Mar- garet M. Field, Guy R. Lyle, Katharine M. Stokes, Lawrence S. Thompson, and Lewis Branscomb, chairman. COMMITTEE ON COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BuiLDINGS. Dr. Robert A. Miller, Director of Libraries, Indiana University, is chairman of this committee to assist those who seek advice relative to new buildings, alterations, library furniture, and equipment. It is the policy of the committee at present to urge librarians faced with a building pro- gram to call in a library consultant who will be capable of making a careful and thorough survey of the needs and problems of the col- lege or university. The committee con- siders the survey as one of the critical points in proper library planning with the principal job of the consultant being to help in the formation of a well-thought-out and clearly stated program. The committee is prepared to recommend consultants and is concentrat- ing its energies on the "education" of con- sultants. At the encouragement of the com- mittee Headquarters is collecting pictures and plans. Through the help of the A.C.R.L. Executive Secretary's office the committee has available a list of libraries planning new buildings as well as a list of those who have recently completed buildibgs, and just recent- ly it undertook a survey to find out how well librarians were satisfied with their new buildings. The replies received brought a number of "musts" as well as unsatisfactory features of most of the buildings. Thus was gained a knowledge of building features that had stood the test of use. The committee sponsored a clinic on college library buildings at the Atlantic City Conference at which time a number of librarians presented their plans for discussion and criticism. The per- sonnel of the committee is: Harlan C. Brown, Margaret Briggs, Mrs. Eulin K. Hobbie, Donald A. Woods, and Robert A. Miller, chairman. CoMMITTEE ON BuDGET, CoMPENSATION, AND ScHEMES OF SERVICE. This is also a sub-committee of the A.L.A. Board on Per- sonnel Administration. The long-awaited score card, a supplement to the Classification and Pay Plans for Libraries in Institutions of Higher Education, by which a library may measure its own effectiveness has been pre- pared by the committee under the chairman- ship of David Clift and will probably be pub- lished by A.L.A. in February. Early in 1948 a second edition of the Classification and Pay Plans ... was issued. The committee 'is now at work on a similar volume for professional schools. The personnel of the committee is: Ruth T. Power, Eleanor Witmer, Raymond P. Morris, Robert Vosper, E. G. Freehafer, Eileen Thornton, Evelyn Fritz, W. R. Roalfe, and Ralph Parker, chairman. 72 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES COMMITTEE o FINANCES OF College and Research Libraries. Printing costs have soared beyond reason during the past few years making the publishing of our official journal College and Research Libraries in- creasingly difficult to finance. One of the ten cardinal policies proposed by A.C.R.L.'s Committee on Policy was to support College and Research Libraries. The journal has recently been increased to 96 pages, and it is the desire of the Publications Committee and the Board of Directors to continue to expand the journal if adequate support is forthcom- ing. The first steps to help meet the rising costs were to increase the subscription price by $1.00 and to make space available for advertising purposes. Advertising for the first year was handled by A.L.A. However, this agreement was not financially successful for A.L.A., and a new arrangement has been effected whereby the advertising will now be handled by this committee. The next step was to put on an extensive campaign to increase the number of subscrip- tions. The committee is working diligently on this phase of its work with good results. The personnel of the committee is: David K. Berninghausen, Mary Herrick, Francis W. Allen, Mary V. Gaver, and Mrs. Ada J. English, chairman. COMMITTEE TO STUDY LIBRARY STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL ScHOOLS. The committee is attempting to work out the cardinal points from which the evaluation of a library might be determined. The committee hopes to point out valid criteria to measure the effectiveness of library service, criteria that would be independent of organization. Such a com- mittee report might be used as an instruc- tional guide to the accrediting associations for their use in accrediting libraries. The personnel of the committee is: Eugene H. Wilson, Ruth T. Power, and Ralph Parker, chairman. Other Activities It has been suggested that A.C.R.L. might attempt to encourage closer relations with foreign educational institutions. One step toward this is the recent decision of the Board to give one hundred subscriptions of College and Research Libraries to foreign libraries for the year 1949. It was felt that this would be of. particular value to those JANUARY, 1949 libraries who are unable to subscribe because of currency restrictions. The one hundred libraries have been selected and are now re- ceiving the journal. Plans are being made for a special number of College and Research Libraries in honor of the tenth year of its appearance. An up-to-date outline manual for the use of section officers has been prepared. Among other things this manual tells about the mimeograph service and addressograph mail- ing which Headquarters and the A.C.R.L. Executive Secretary's office are now prepared to make available for sections and com- mittees. Progress is being made on a special study regarding faculty status to be made in col- laboration with the University of Chicago. From the result of a questionnaire sent out from the office of the A.C.R.L. Executive Secretary last spring and other data on this subject, a considerable amount of useful information is already available. Sections The work of the seven different sections always brings in a series of interesting actions. For the most part they are strong and significant working groups holding ex- cellent and worthwhile meetings at the an- nual and midwinter conferences. A number of them issue a newsletter from time to time. The Junior College Libraries Section is par- ticularly concerned over the lack of adequate up-to-date book selection tools for junior colleges. Definite progress is being made with the H. W. Wilson Co. for working out plans for a Standard Catalog for I unior Colleges. In the meantime Miss Mary Clay, Librarian of Northeast Junior College at Monroe, La., has prepared a list of aids which she has found useful in book selection -mimeographed copies of this list are avail- able at the Executive Secretary's office. To facilitate the work of the section regional representatives have been set up who have their respective responsibilities for the work of the section. One of the most significant moves, and one in keeping with a very im- portant suggested activity of A.C.R.L. (that of establishing and maintaining cordial rela- tions with, and presenting the library point of view to, national and regional educational associations) was the establishment of a com- 73 mittee of the American Association of Junior Colleges to identify and study junior college library problems. This committee has come up with a list of problems in need of investigation. Two of the sections, the Junior College and the Engineering School Sections, are now working on a directory of their members. The directory being prepared by the engi- neers will include the listing of the staff of engineering libraries starring tho~e who are members of A.C.R.L. Another project underway by the Engi- neering School Libraries Section is a survey of salaries, schedules, collections, staffs, budgets, etc., prevailing in engineering school libraries. The Agricultural Libraries Section, in keeping with A.C.R.L.'s special emphasis upon strengthening our association, has re- cently undertaken a special membership drive. It has also been particularly concerned about bringing proper library standards to the attention of the various general and profes- sional accrediting agencies in an effort to better the position of libraries in the land- grant colleges. The members of the Reference Librarians Section have considered seriously the purpose and activities of their section. The very important Committee on New Reference Tools has been re-activated. The University Libraries Section during the past year placed their emphasis upon the functions of rare books, centering their an- nual meeting around this subject. They are planning to publish in College and Research Libraries the three papers which were given at their annual meeting-"The Need for Rare Books in the University Library," by John Cook Wyllie, of the University of Vir- gtma Library; "The Administration and Policy Relating to Rare Books in the Univer- sity Library," by Lawrence Clark Powell, of the University of California Library at Los Angeles; and "The Organization and Service of Rare Books in the University Library," by John Alden, of the University of Pennsyl- vania Library. The College Libraries Section has been particularly concerned with audio-visual ma- terials and faculty status for professional librarians. The members of the Libraries of Teacher Training Institutions Section have placed special emphasis upon the integration of li- brary materials with teaching. The pro- posals of their committee on Four Year Goals should bring a new vigor into the work of the section. You who read this story are the ones who have made it and are the ones to make it continue. I trust that enough has been told to show that A.C.R.L. can assist college, university, and reference librarians in the solution of their problems. As the Brown report stresses, the majority of A.C.R.L. members believed very definitely that much of the work of the Association should be done through committees with a central office to stimulate and coordinate their activities. It is, then, through the activities of sections and committees such as briefly described here that the Executive Secretary hopes to make a contribution to the growth of A.C.R.L. If we can make A.C.R.L. an organization in which we all participate and upon which we can all call for help, then the Association will have moved to a new high level. We all have a direct and important part in the problems and affairs of the Association, and the interest of each is the interest of A.C.R.L. Brief of Minutes {Continued from page 70) this was the original thinking when the com- mittee was formed. The question of a circulation section which had been proposed was brought up. The board felt that because of the present state of flux of the A.L.A. the project should be discouraged at this time. They also felt that A.C.R.L. should be steered away from further fragmentation. The meeting adjourned. N. Orwin Rush, Executive Secretar}' 74 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES