College and Research Libraries By ARTHUR T. HAMLIN Annual Report of the ACRL Executive Secretary, I95I'52 Introduction The principal business of the Association for the past year is made a matter of published record through the Briefs of the Meetings of the ACRL Board of Directors. In addition, t have reported on developments freely through the A CRL Quarterly Newsletter. For many topics this report is therefore limited to the barest summary. Those who wish the full printed record of the Association's personnel and activities will find its officers listed in almost any issue of College and Research Libraries, and its com- mittees and personnel, as well as other basic data, in the December 1951 ALA Bulletin. The Summary Retorts of the Midwinter and Annual ALA Conferences record the programs and essential business handled, as do the published Proceedings. In addition, some of the sections issued newsletters. My first annual report ( 1949/50) covered the Headquarters Office only and was printed in C&RL. The report for I950/5I included committee and section reports, and was long and tedious in places. It was therefore mimeographed and distributed only to officers and to members who made a special request for it. At the recent meeting of the Board of Directors your secretary was instructed to prepare a full report for publication in College and Research Libraries and was given wide latitude in handling reports from chairmen. In this I have sought only to do justice to their views. Many of these reports were largely or wholly written from file material in the Headquarters Office. The past year will always be recognized as one of some decisive accomplishment. We began membership distribution of College and R esearch Libraries without encounter- ing severe financial problems; in doubling the circulation of the journal its usefulness to li- brarianship was greatly increased and the As- soctatwn strengthened. The Publications Committee began the A CRL Monographs, a new series of great promise. The Research Planning Committee got down to constructive work which gives expectation of future accom- plishment. The annual statistics of colleg~ and university libraries were made available in the January issue of C&RL, and even earlier in proof form for those who needed to use the figures for budget work. The first ACRL chapters were established. The first ACRL Buildings Institute was held in Columbus, and went well. The Interlibrary Loan Code was successfully revised and the principle of a unit form for general use was established. Although Association expendi- tures rose sharply over the previous year, in- come was proportionately increased. The growth of income from nonmembership sources is healthy. The new Pure and Ap- plied Science Section made an excellent start with a useful program of investigation and publication. Several other sections may like- wise look back on considerable accomplish- ment. This list represents hardly a beginning on the problems which should be met. However, ACRL is on the right path. As it utilizes the services of more and more members, it will advance faster, and as members partici- pate more widely, their professional needs will be better known and receive more atten- tion. 372 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES Membership During the current fiscal year approxi- mately 4500 members joined ACRL. This small increase over last year (approximately 100) in spite of increased ALA dues is attributed directly to membership distribu- tion of College and Research Libraries. The activity of the Committee on Membership under Chairman John E. Burke necessarily waned after the Midwinter Meeting when the decision was made to give up the com- mittee in July. Its functions will be carried on by the new organization of state repre- sentatives with broader responsibilities. The ACRL Office and Mr. Burke collab- orated on a statement of the committee objec- tives and suggested procedures in membership drives. The chairman sent to the state chair- men a series of letters with useful informa- tion and suggestions. Procedures used in building membership must, of course, vary widely. A technique suitable for Nevada isn't necessarily good for New York. The drive and resourcefulness of state chairmen also varies. Some sent out letters to hundreds of prospects, and others, quite possibly, did nothing. As in previous years many colleges took institutional membership in ALA and did not request or get membership in any of the divi- sions. The new ALA membership card now indicates whether or not a divisional member- ship is included. The ACRL office checked through the ALA membership files for college libraries that belonged to no division and sent most of these a note suggesting "free" mem- bership in ACRL. During my several years at Headquarters there has been very little cooperation between ALA membership promotion (principally through its committee) and ACRL promotion or, so far as I know, promotion by other divi- sions. This work needs thorough review. A continued lack of cooperation .would be tragic. Finances Since a Treasurer's Report will not be available for several months when all the books will be closed, I have prepared this informal review from available figures. At the beginning of 1948-49 the Association had slightly more than $6ooo. This grew to $II,500.oo in three years, and remained practi- cally stationary last year. In the summer of OCTOBER~ 1952 195 I the Board budgeted for the year ahead expenditures of over $21,ooo.oo against income of $16,300.00. It did this in reasonable ex- pectation that two or three thousands of budgeted expenditure would revert, as in pre- vious years, and that income would un- doubtedly be higher than estimated. A deficit was expected, however, and the only specula- fan was how large this would be. After the adoption of the budget a new ALA classifica- tion and pay scale increased ACRL salary commitments considerably. ALA charges for services to College and Research Libraries were not reduced as was hoped would be the case, and the new ALA dues scale met heavy criticism which threatened to reduce member- ship receipts to divisions and possibly even to the parent organization. The picture was very gloomy last winter. All these fears were, happily, without foun- dation. Membership increased in number as well as in average paid per member, and dues will bring nearly $3000.00 more than esti- mated. Various other sources of income were developed; these will produce more than $2000.00. On the expenditure side rigid ·economy was cheerfully exercised by all con- cerned, and the net result is that the final Treasurer's Report is expected to show a sub- stantial balance for the year. The income realized hom minor services and publications is significant. Many oppor- tunities exist for a professional association to . perform worthy services which produce in- come. For example, there are library surveys. Likewise, there are publications. The A CRL Monographs Series is sold at extraordinarily low piices because nearly all the labor con- sists of the contributed services of talented and devoted ACRL members. This Series will grow in service to the library profession and may well be of substantial assistance to the Treasury. I believe that intelligent and aggressive leadership in ACRL will over the years develop a series of such projects which are eminently useful professionally speaking, which do not place heavy burdens on any individual or institutional member, and which together produce a modest stream of income to pay for additional membership services. I hope that in ten years income from such activities will nearly equal income from mem- bership dues. 373 Any organization needs a cushion or back- log for current operation·s and for emergen- cies. The sum can be relatively small for ACRL, which has a parent body. It is as much a sign of poor management to go on building annual surpluses without plan, as to indulge in regular deficit spending. The amount of cushion, or stable bank account, desirable for ACRL is open to debate, but I personally doubt that current operations justify a sum. much above $15,000. Divisional Support by ALA The complicated, cloudy, and unsatisfactory financial relationship of ALA to its divi- sions continues more complicated, cloudy, and unsatisfactory than ever, but habituation dulls the sense. ALA Headquarters interpretations of divisional allotments from institutional dues under the new scale rendered certainly illegal the previous uncertain legality of the divisional support plan. The principal officers of ALA and the divisions have been in igno- . ranee of aspects of the application of the formula by . the ALA Accounting Office. The recommendation of the ACRL Board of Directors for a simple across-the-board split of the membership dollar has been in- formally considered by ALA, but no reply has been received. Simplification is certainly long overdue as complexity breeds mistrust. Correction of gross error in the present for- mula should not be made to await a complete review several years hence. There is no justification for a situation in which the division does not know what its full share of the membership dollar will be at the end of the current year, and so cannot budget with any certainty for the year ahead. The subject of divisional support is not being faced, and the lack of clarity on this most important point is weakening the whole ALA organization. The formula was originally devised to re- late divisional support directly to the ALA dues paid by the divisional members. This is certainly an excellent principle; only the application of the principle i~ faulty. College and Research Libraries In July a decisive step was taken as we began the distribution of College and Re- search Libraries to all ACRL members who pay ALA dues of $6.oo or more. This had long been an ACRL goal. The wider distri- bution means wider reading and, in turn, an inevitable increase in professional competence among the membership. The step is also an additional tangible membership service, and will indirectlv tend to improve the present high quality of contributions to C&RL. This desirable step was not taken years ago because of the obvious financial problem in- volved. The story of this has lessons for other Association projects,· so a brief review and forecast seem desirable. Members may recall that the decision of the Board of Directors to distribute C&RL was made final only after investigation and report by a committee chairmaned by Stanley Gwynn of the University of Chicago Library. This group estimated that a net annual in- come of $3900 should be realized from ad- vertising, or $975 per issue. July 1952 re- ceipts were only a few dollars short of that figure, and indications for October are that the sum will be exceeded. The present goal is a minimum of $5000 annually from adver- tising in order to finance larger issues. Mr. Gwynn's committee estimated that 500 new members would be attracted by the serv- ice, . and produce $1500 for College and Re- search Libraries use. We will never know how much influence journal distribution has on membership, of course, but ACRL has had a small but significant gain in numbers during the first year of increased dues. Probably 200 memberships have come from this source, and the number should rise sharply in 1953. The report estimated an income of approx- imately $3000 . from nonmember subscriptions and extra copy sales. Approximately $3100 was received from this source during the past year. Other major committee estimates have to do with savings effected by distribution. The need for a newsletter is eliminated. . The reduction in billing and subscription record keeping at · once cuts $1200 from the annual bill from ALA for these services. While paper and printing costs have increased sharply in the past two years, these are offset by the increase in dues. In summary, College and Research Librar- ies will always require a subsidy of between three and five thousand dollars, but much of this can be charged off to . the elimination of · 374 GOLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES other necessities such as the newsletter and the increased membership receipts. I believe that with careful management and wide mem- bership cooperation in speaking for advertise- ments, this membership distribution will cost less than two thousand dollars (net) or less than fifty cents a member. At least, those figures are practical goals at this time. Incomplete figures for the journal this year show an expected credit of more than $7400 against a budgeted expenditure of $10,245· This is a good showing for opera- tions when subscriptions from members had practically ceased and only one issue could charge the higher advertising rates which go with wider distribution. It would be gross error to let financial details overshadow the editorial quality of C&RL. The service of Dr. Tauber and his editorial staff is an example to all librarians. The ve_ry considerable reputation of our journal has been made entirely by these people. College and Research Libraries grows progressively more useful and sets a stand- ard for journals of all professions. I am personally grateful to the editor for his un- failing kindness and cooperation, and every member should share this sense of gratitude. Were it not for the long hours regularly given by the editorial board, we would have no College and Research Libraries at all, on any distribution basis. Much credit is also due the Committee on Financing C&RL chairmaned by Mary D. Herrick. This group helped to prepare ad- vertising copy and two flyers to promote the journal. Six areas of possible advertising revenue were set up and divided among com- mittee members (supplies; equipment; rare books; new scholarly books; microprint mate- rials; related fields such as buildings and miscellaneous). A standard form reply card was drawn up for use in soliciting advertise~ ments by mail. Individual members worked with the Headquarters Office in soliciting advertisements. This cooperation is princi- pally responsible for the present bright picture. Chapters The first two ACRL chapters were estab- lished during the year. The Philadelphia chapter includes librarians in the metropolitan area, and the New Jersey state chapter in- cludes college and reference librarians OCTOBERJ 1952 throughout the state. The progress of these two units will b.e watched with interest, par- ticularly by other potential chapters, now in the embryo stage. T •rips During the year I visited at least forty dif- ferent libraries in fifteen states, attended four state and regional library association meet- ings, several national educational conferences, and a number of smaller meetings of librar- ians and library school classes. Several visits were made at the special request of institu- tions with particular problems. This type of service is very much appreciated. This represents somewhat less "getting around the country" than customary or desir- able, but correspondence and essential Associ- ation business must come first. Informational Servic es Relatively little was done to build up the office collection of forms, policies, reports, etc., of American college libraries. Annual reports and staff newsletters come regularly, but statements of policies and programs, except as contained in these, are conspicuously and re- grettably absent. Such materials all go into the general ALA Library, as they should. This collection and its able librarian, Miss Helen Geer, render invaluable help in an- swering the regular stream of inquiries which comes to HeadquarterS,. Surveys The Survey of the Library of the Univer- sity of Notre Dame was completed by Dr. Louis R. Wilson and Frank A. Lundy. Your secretary wrote one chapter of this and par- ticipated in much of the discussion and negoti- ation. The manuscript was prepared for pub- lication in the ACRL Office. Wyllis E. Wright and I jointly prepared a detailed survey of the Army War College Library (unpublished). * * * No accounting can be made now of my time spent in helping develop major projects for foundation financing. This activity will bear no regular fruit, but appears to be an important responsibility. The A CRL Quarterly N ewslette