College and Research Libraries Brief of Minutes, Meetings Board of Directors, A.C.R.L., Atlantic City Meeting of June I4, I948, 9 a.m. President William H. Carlson called the meeting to order. Mrs. Ada J. English presented the report of the committee investigating all aspects of the financing of College and Research Li- braries. From a detailed study of the sug- gestions made by the board at the midwinter meeting and of other points, the committee decided to recommend that the board appro- priate sufficient funds to poll the membership on the question of whether or not they would be willing to pay increased dues so as to receive College and Research Libraries auto- matically as a part of A.C.R.L. membership and that, dependent upon a favorable answer to this question, the board institute the neces- sary proceedings for making changes in the A.L.A. Constitution to allow for such action. It was suggested that the board send a reso- lution to the Fourth Activities Committee stating that A.C.R.L. would like to see an arrangement for dues by which it would be possible for all A.C.R.L. members to receive the journal automatically. The board en- dorsed this idea. The report of the committee to increase subscriptions to College and Research Li- braries was presented. Nine hundred letters had been sent out to larger public libraries, and letters were about to go out to delin- quent subscribers. The board unanimously passed a motion to unite the committee in- vestigating all aspects of the financing of College and Research Libraries and the com- mittee to increase subscriptions. Mrs. Eng- lish agreed to act as chairman of the new committee. A motion was passed authorizing the executive secretary to provide addressograph plates for the A.C.R.L. membership list if by the end of this fiscal year it is apparent that A.L.A.'s membership records will not be revised so as to provide adequately for di- visional needs, within a year from. that date. The sum of $soo was allowed for this purpose. Madeleine Gibson presented the request of JANUARY, 1949 • the Engineering School Libraries Section for an allotment of funds sufficient to cover the cost of murtilithing their proposed directory. It was pointed out that this directory would be a useful reference tool and would have considerable advantages as publicity for the section and as a promotional organ to be considered in connection with the member- ship campaign. Miss Roewekamp said that the Junior College Libraries Section also needs a directory and has already done some work on the project. She requested that funds be included in the budget for their project. It was recommended that the Publi- .cations Committee be given an opportunity to look at these directories before publica- tion. Final authorization of the funds for the two directories was delayed until discus- sion of the budget at the Friday board meeting. It was agreed that the special committees authorized in 1947 in San Francisco be con- tinued-membership, educational qualifica- tions, recruiting, and fin~ncial needs of the association. The next point discussed was whether or not to turn over to the A.L.A. Headquarters Library the material being received by the executive secretary's office in response to the request of the Publications Committee. The board recommended that the material be turned over to the Headquarters Library re- serving confidential material at the discretion of the executive secretary. B. Lamar Johnson was appointed as an A.C.R.L. representative on the A.L.A. Coun- cil for one year to fill A.C.R.L.'s quota which had increased because of growth in member- ship. The questionnaire on the subject of faculty status for university librarians proposed by Mr. Sieving of the University of Chicago was discussed. The board felt that such a study, consisting of a program to get the facts in detail, would be a suitable project for A.C.R.L. A motion was unanimously passed requesting that Mr. Sieving in consultation with the · A.C.R.L. executive secretary deter- 69 mine what such a study would cost providing it included universities, colleges, and junior colleges, and recommend to the board at midwinter a specific study on the subject indicating cost and program. Lawrence Thompson s suggestion that College and Research Libraries be sent either by A.C.R.L. or by securing foundation sup- port to a list of foreign libraries until they can secure exchange or pay for it in some way themselves was presented. Final de- cision on this point was postponed until Friday morning. The board recommended that biographi- cal sketches of candidates for A.C.R.L. offices be printed in College and Research Li- braries and that a reference to these sketches be included on the ballots, that a note be included on the ballots to explain that the president is elected the preceding year, that A.C.R.L. try alternating the ballots for one year, and that a study be made of the results from the two differently arranged ballots. Mr. Rush asked for an expression of opinion on the A.C.R.L. news letter. The consensus of opinion was that the news letter is desirable, that A.C.R.L. should have at least one a year, and that details might be left to Mr. Rush's judgment. · The meeting adjourned. Meeting of June I8, I948, 8 a.m. President William H. Carlson called the meeting to order. The recommendations of the combined committee on College and Research Libraries subscriptions were read, which are that, pending the outcome of the suggestion of the Fourth Activities Committee with regard to discontinuing the A .L.A. Bulletin and issuing divisional quarterlies, the committee refrain from polling A.C.R.L. membership as sug- gested in their report to the board on June 14; that all libraries subscribing to more than one copy receive the additional sub- scriptions at a reduction of fifty cents for each subscription after the first; and that the committee receive an allotment of $6o for the purpose of furthering its work. Th«!se recommendations were approved. David H. Clift, chairman, A.C.R.L. Com- mittee on Budgets, Compensation, and Schemes of Service, reported on the progress of the library score card. The committee expects that it will be completed early in the fall. Ralph Parker, chairman, Committee on Library Standards of Professional Schools, reported that this committee recommends that its work be an attempt to work out the cardinal points from which the evaluation of a library might be determined, a way to meas- ure the effectiveness of total library service- such a committee report might be used as an instructional guide to the accrediting associa- tions for their use in accrediting libraries. The board next discussed the question of whether A.C.R.L. should go along with the A.L.A. regional meeting plan for 1949 or have an annual conference of its own in 1949· Mr. Carlson gave a summary of Mr. Par- gellis's remarks given at the June 14 meeting favoring a national conference to discuss fundamental philosophy of A.C.R.L. with a view to long range development. In the dis- cussion the consensus of opinion was that there has already been considerable discus- sion of A.C.R.L. 1 philosophy, and that with the A.L.A. already in an unsettled state awaiting the outcome of the recommendations of the Fourth Activities Committee, A.C.R.L. should cooperate in the plan for regional conferences in order to give the Fourth Activities Committee a chance and in order not to emasculate the plan for regional con- ferences. The board unanimously passed a motion that it will be the policy of A.C.R.L. to cooperate with A.L.A. in its plan for regional meetings in 1949 and that the mid- winter meeting will be designated as the A.C.R.L. annual meeting for the transaction of business. The board then authorized the president and the executive secretary to work out plans for the actual participation of A.C.R.L. in the regional conferences. The board authorized the president and the executive secretary to provide for foreign distribution of not more than 100 copies of College and Research Libraries as gifts of A.C.R.L. to foreign libraries. Mr. Rush stated that the Publications Committee wanted an expression of opinion as to their proper function-whether merely to approve and review or to encourage and develop needed publications as well. It was definitely agreed that it is the function of the committee to do both. It was remarked that (Continued on page 74) 70 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 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