College and Research Libraries Privileges and Obligations of Academic Status DuRING the past twenty-five years, most colleges and the majority of universities have recognized the essentially academic nature of the work of professional li- brarians by granting them academic or faculty ·status. This movement towards closer identification of librarians with traditional faculty has required a pro- gressive reorientation of library thought and practices as librarians have tended more and more to apply to themselves the truly academic criteria which the classroom faculty apply to themselves. The application of faculty standards to librarians has required adaptations and interpretations to fit the special cir- cumstances of librarians. Therefore it has seemed desirable to the Committee on Academic Status1 to state these prin- ciples and interpretations, particularly for the benefit of those academic libraries whose professional staffs only recently have achieved this recognition. The priv- ileges and obligations of academic status fall logically into three categories: gen- eral considerations of interest to librar- ians, library administrators, and univer- sity administrators; obligations of li- brary administrators; and the newer du- ties of librarians. All factors intermin- gled are described below. 1. The academic viewpoint. Professional librarians must accept in principle the standards, customs, and regulations gov- erning the faculty of their institution. These factors, while uniform in principle nationally, may vary in detail at different 1 These interpretations of academic status for li- brarians were drafted for the Committee on Aca- demic Statps . of the University Libraries Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries and have been approved as statements of policy by the committee. Members of the committee are Lewis C. Branscomb, R. B. Downs, William H. Jesse, Archie L. McNeal, and Arthur M. McAnally, chairman. Bv ARTHUR M. McANALLY Dr. McAnally has been Director of Li- braries at the University of OklahomaJ Nor- man, since 1951, and was Director of the Library School there until 1960. institutions; the local practices should prevail. 2. Composition of the staff. Library staffs should consist of two distinct and differ- ent groups: first, professional librarians possessing academic status who perform duties of an educational and re.search character, which require professional training for competent performance; and second, a staff of supporting clerical and other nonprofessional personnel who perform under supervision the more ele- mentary and routine tasks. It is recog- nized that the proportion in each group will vary with the character, the organi- zation, and, especially, the size of li- braries. 3. Qualifications of professional librari- ans. All new appointees should possess appropriate academic qualifications (in- cluding advanced professional degrees, plus other degrees for certain positions), intellectual curiosity, and sound person- ality. It is recognized that in large li- braries some specialists such as archivists may need specialized degrees. 4. Professional librarians should be eligi- ble for appointment to the traditional ranks and titles of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, and pro- fessor. 5. Recruitment. In recruiting new li- brarians, usual academic practices should be followed. If it is customary at the in- dividual institution to hold formal in- terviews with candidates for appoint- ment to higher ranks, then the library 102 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES administration should hold similar in- terviews. To these should be invited both librarians and other academic peo- ple who might be interested, such as members of the faculty library commit- tee. 6. Staff participation in government. If the classroom faculty at an institution utilize the committee system in conduct- ing certain departmental and college af- fairs, then the library should do like- wise. 7. Faculty library committee. The li- brary as a general educational agency should make use of an advisory faculty committee. 8. Criteria for considering for salary ad- justment~ promotions in rank~ and grant- ing of tenure. These criteria vary be- tween college and university, from insti- tution to institution, and in the emphasis given to each. Practices of the individual institution should be followed. The com- · monly used criteria and library inter- pretations of each are: a) Success in teaching. It should be recognized that the librarian's own job is a full-time counseling and teaching responsibility of a special kind. Teach- ing shall be interpreted to mean the kind of teaching, either group or in- dividual, direct or indirect, that a pro- fessional librarian does. Success in teaching shall be interpreted to mean successful performance of assigned li- brary duties. It should be recognized that much library service to students and faculty is on an informal and individual basis, and also that some library activities, while very important to the develop- ment and use of library resources and requiring high levels of academic com- petence, may not involve direct con- tacts with students at all. b) Research or creative work. These should be encouraged and rewarded. However, it must be recognized that MARCH 1963 since librarians usually must work thir- ty-nine or forty hours a week or more to perform their tasks successfully, li- brarians have less time and energy for research than classroom faculty. Time off for research projects should be allowed if possible. High-level ad- ministrative studies should be recog- nized. c) Professional competence and ac- tivity. These are as important to the ongoing quality of library work as for teaching. Time off for attendance at professional meetings and travel al- lowances should be available. d) University and public service. Li- brarians need to be active in these areas. It should be recognized that as relatively new members of the aca- demic team, librarians may not have many opportunities for service on uni- versity committees for some years. e) Administrative services. Nearly all librarians have some administra- tive duties, if no more than supervi- sion of nonprofessional and student assistants. Where the librarian has ma- jor administrative duties, this factor becomes important in review for pro- motion or salary adjustment, and the success of this unit should be the gen- eral measure of effectiveness. 9. Academic rank independent of admin- istrative rank. Just as for the classroom faculty, promotions in rank or salary should not be conditioned upon ad- vances in, or performance of, administra- tive duties. Thus a teacher of Greek might advance through the ranks from instructor to full professor without re- gard to whether or not he ever serves as chairman or head of his department. Similarly, librarians should be advanced when appropriate without regard to the proportion of administrative work per- formed. 10. Tenure. Librarians should be eligi- ble for tenure. The conditions and pro- cedures for granting tenure should be 103 patterned after other faculty practices, with modifications as necessary. When academic status is first granted to the librarians of an institution, the existence of de facto tenure for older members of the library staff should be recognized without a waiting period. However, tenure in such cases should not be automatic. 11. Academic freedom. Librarians should have the same privileges of academic freedom as the classroom faculty, and also must accept the corresponding re- sponsibilities. This freedom has special application to library resources. Librari- ans shall have freedom to choose, and shall protect faculty rights to choose, any materials deemed desirable for their work and shall provide access to all li- brary materials without undue restric- tions. In protecting the freedom to read, librarians should have the safeguards af- £~rded to the classroom faculty. 12. Sabbatical leaves. Librarians should be entitled to the privileges of sabbatical leave, if an institutional practice, and should be encouraged to make wider use of the opportunity for growth and re- newal that this privilege offers. Chief li- brarians have special obligations to fa- cilitate this professional activity. 13. Sanctity of contract. A contract of employment once offered and accepted must be honored, by both the institution and the individual, for ethical and legal reasons. Librarians should not ask to be relieved of contract obligations except at the close of the regular academic year and always should give adequate advance notice. 14. Twelve-month salaries. When librar- ians are offered twelve-month appoint- ments, instead of the nine-month ap- pointment usual for the classroom fac- ulty, an equitable adjustment should be made in their salaries. 15: Classroom teaching. Librarians should be allowed to teach formal class- es in library science, bibliography of a 1 subject, or other areas closely related to their regular duties when this can be done without reducing the effective- ness of their regular library work. Time off must be provided for such teaching proportional to the amount of full-time teaching that the class represents. A li- brarian should not be allowed to teach more than one course a semester. 16. Distribution among ranks. An equi- table distribution of librarians among the different academic ranks should be sought. It is noted that the distribution tends to be poor where academic status has been in effect a relatively short time. 17. Rank of chief librarian. Since the chief librarian or director heads a rna jor academic unit, he should have the rank of a dean in a university. APPENDIX I. CRITERIA FOR EvALUATION OF LIBRARIANS The library faculty shall be evaluated on the basis of truly academic criteria such as are used for the classroom facul- ty. However, some of these criteria need to be carefully defined in terms of profes- sional librarianship, and the emphasis given to the various factors will vary among different types of work. These criteria, not necessarily in order of rela- tive importance, are as follows: TEACHING OR RESEARCH SUCCESS Teaching shall be interpreted to mean the kind of teaching, either group or in- dividual, direct or indirect, a profession- al librarian does. Examples of teaching activity by librarians: teaching formal classes, lectures to classes, instructing li- brary school students, orientation lec- tures or tours, guidance (vocational and otherwise), advisory work, aiding stu- dents to find and use information, cer- tain reference service, promoting cul- tural and recreational reading, aiding the faculty in using library resources ef- fectively to supplement, enrich, and im- 104 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES ' prove teaching, instructing in research methods, etc. The librarian's own job is a full-time teaching responsibility of a special kind; if he teaches formal classes he should re- ceive additional compensation. It is al- most impossible for him to take time off from his library duties to compensate for the extra work that classroom teaching entails. It should be noted also that many librarians have a dual responsi- bility: for keeping up in a subject field, as well as in professional librarianship. This too differs from classroom faculty interests. In the technical (bibliographical) serv- ices, research and organizational abili- ties become dominant factors. Certain forms of teaching are, however, a recur- ring and often uncredited part of the total activity in the area. Informational or advisory in nature, and carried on with library and faculty colleagues as well as with students, such teaching is most often referred to as assistance in: ( 1) exploitation of bibliographies, sourc- es of trade information, identification of elusive or erroneous titles, binding cri- teria, etc.; (2) effective use of the card catalog, serials record, etc.; (3) interpre- tation of classification system in use. Success in the above should be rated on: (1) professional knowledge, e.g.~ bib- liographies, structure of card catalog, etc.; and (2) ability to communicate such knowlepge to library users in a manner which will increase the user's comprehen- sion of the scope and limitations of the various sources of information and of appropriate techniques for their effective use. Research success in technical services is based upon four broad areas of com- petency: (1) ability to identify or de- scribe adequately the bibliographical units constituting the principal profes- sional activity; (2) subje~t knowledge of breadth and depth adequate for quick comprehension of content and transla- MARCH 1963 tion into the notation of the classifica~ tion schedules; (3) extensive knowledge of appropriate sources for further infor- mation, either bibliographical or of sub- ject; and (4) sufficient familiarity with current trends in the various subject fields properly to relate new develop- ments to older materials already classi- fied and to adjust, or supplement, sub- ject headings as desirable or necessary. (This familiarity is dependent on exten" sive reading in the subject and is some- times supplemented by contact with re~ search faculty in the subject.) Success in the above is not immediate- ly apparent. Professional-bibliographical ability is perhaps the obvious; clues as to subject competency may be gained from library and faculty colleague satisfaction in locating needed, or desired, material. Dissatisfaction is voiced more frequently than satisfaction and must be evaluated as either failure in communication or as unsatisfactory performance. Continuing in technical services, re- search ability in the sense of scientific attitude and consequent action is of the utmost importance in this area. Opera- tional, or action, research can be carried on by the individual as well as by the de- partment or technical services area as a whole. Rating could be based on (1) knowledge of professional techniques, (2) level of intelligence (skill) in appli- cation, (3) efficiency of work organiza- tion, and (4) recognition of need for,_ and testing of, new patterns of work or- ganization, either individual or depart- mental. ADMINISTRATIVE SuccEss For certain librarians with consider- able administrative responsibility, ad- ministrative qualities must weigh more heavily than teaching qualities. Some of the factors in evaluating administrative success are over-all success of the unit, co- operativeness with library and subject field administrators and faculty, efficien- cy of the library, morale of the staff, fair- ]05 ness, decisiveness, imaginativeness, judg- ment, self-control, etc. These factors are similar to those which determine the suc- cess of the head of a classroom teaching department. SCHOLARSHIP AND SCHOLARLY INTERESTS As members of the faculty librarians must be aware of the importance of this traditional measure as an indication of professional competence, freshness, and vigor, and of the contribution that con- tinuing scholarship makes to the individ- ual's work. Such activity might be either in library science or the subject field . However, librarians work thirty-nine hours a week, eleven months a year, and during most of the holiday vacations, and therefore have less time for such activity than their classroom colleagues. The following might be considered as measures of scholarly and professional vigor: research of national interest un- dertaken and published; reports of sig- nificant developments, additions, exhib- its, experiments, or news written and published; editorship of professional publications; preparation of scholarly exhibits; administrative research (con- trolled experiment or search of litera- ture) , directed toward improving the li- brary's services; bibliographical research for local or other purposes, including preparation of subject reading lists and lists of new publications; visits to other libraries to become familiar with their. resources and methods of doing their work-especially when directed toward finding answers to one's own problem areas; taking classes in library school or subject department; attending profes- sional meetings or conferences; etc. This criterion is closely related to professional activity. Note that not all scholarly work is published. Comparisons between classroom teach- ing staff and professional library staff un- der present conditions, as to research and publication, is unrealistic because of dif- ferences in free time available. Despite the broad definition of research appli- cable to the library's special activities, more time for research should be provid- ed if possible. Library administrators should explore methods of providing more time for re- search and publication. Various sugges- tions are: (1) create some research-librar- ian posts, interchangeable among regular librarians who may wish to follow up problems arising in their work, or per- form some pure research studies; (2) pro- vide a reserve or emergency staff who might substitute for a librarian engaged in a research project; (3) provide larger staffs, with each librarian given some free time for such activities; (4) greater use of sabbatical leaves; (5) establish institu- tional journals, perhaps with primary emphasis on acquisitions; etc. Whereas colleges often are not inter- ested in research capacity and activity, universities always tend to stress research in appointments and promotions. Re- search is the only tangible evidence of originality and continuing scholarly in- terests and has come to be stressed be- cause better measures are lacking. PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY INTEREST Librarians also must be evaluated ac- cording to activities in and contributions to the library profession, the university academic community, and the university library. Professional activity also is one measure of professional interest and standing. Factors include: membership in professional and subject field associa- tions; activity in local, state, and nation- al library organizations; participation in university activities; promotion of librar- ianship in the state or nation; active membership on committees; preparing and delivering papers; and participation in extracurricular activities that further the welfare of the university, library, or community. Taking classes in library school also is a desirable professional act. Membership in social clubs should not be discouraged but usually does not con- 106 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES tribute to the advancement of the uni- versity or library. It is noted that lack of adequate travel allowances militates against attendance at and participation in professional meet- ings in many libraries. This condition should be acknowledged, taken into ac- count, and corrected as rapidly as possi- ble. EDUCATIONAL ATIAINMENT The library field might well be com- pared with such fields as art, music, and engineering, where the doctorate, al- though offered, is a rarity. Years of pro- fessional and subject-field training should be the base, rather than the degree, plus some weight for experience in varied sit- uations. However, it is recognized that the actual degree itself also must be con- sidered, even as in art, music, and engi- neering. Since librarians must possess compe- tence both in library science and usually in one or more subject fields as well, con- tinuing education through the taking of formal courses is quite desirable. They should be given special consideration for such purposes, and encouraged by appro- priate recognition and reward. READING Since all librarians deal fundamentally with books, or more properly with re- corded information, it is essential that they maintain competence in librarian- ship and in the subject field or fields ap- propriate to their activity through wide and consistent reading of books, jour- nals, and reviews. This activity is essen- tial to sound performance in both read- ers' services and technical services activ- ities. LENGTH OF SERVICE AT PRESENT RANK Years of service at present rank should have bearing on promotion, but no more than is true of the teaching faculty. How- ever, there seems to be no reason why li- brarians cannot become full professors if MARCH 1963 they meet standards of successful per- formance, administrative success, contri- butions to scholarship, educational at- tainment, and activity in professional, university, and community affairs. This should be true irrespective of whether the library unit in which they work is large or small, or whether the major share of their duties consists of teaching, research, or administration. It is noted that where faculty status has been in effect a relatively short time, the distribution of librarians among dif- ferent ranks in many universities tends to be poor. A better distribution among the intermediate and upper ranks should be effected as rapidly as possible. Per- sons qualified for higher rank already on the staff should be promoted in order of merit and tenure as rapidly as budget- ary considerations allow. PERSONALITY Good personality is essential to success- ful performance of library tasks, affect- ing not only successful relations and work with the library's clientele and suc- cess in administration but also relations with co-workers and staffs in other de- partments. Some aspects of personality are covered in preceding paragraphs, but this factor is important enough to justify separate mention. Good personality can- not be defined readily, but is recognized easily. OuTsTANDING AcHIEVEMENT Outstanding achievement in any area should be recognized and considered, the same as for the classroom faculty. APPFNDIX II. PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION OF LIBRARIES These criteria for promotion in rank or salary should be used as appropriate to the individual person's duties. Judg- ment should be by persons in the posi- tion to know. For a library assistant, these should include his librarian, the 107 assistant director, the assistant librarian for personnel (if any), and the director. For a departmental librarian, the head of the college or department principally served, or the chairman of the depart- mental library committee also should be consulted. Other persons may be called upon for advice, but in general the suc- cess of the librarian shall be evaluated by his superior officers rather than by his colleagues. ities of himself and his staff; this would have to precede the date of the annual report. As to newly appointed staff mem- bers, any suggestions for improvement received in the evaluation process should be passed along to the new appointee by his superior officers. It should be noted that all evaluation may be conducted informally and that no specific weights can be attached to any of the various criteria. The criteria appli- cable to that individual should be used in evaluating his work. However, some university administrations require brief formal statements in justification of any change in rank or salary for any individ- ual. , • • These evaluations should be made annually on a systematic basis, including all qualified professional librarians, at the time of considering the budget for the succeeding year. Each librarian should submit on call a record of activ- Reserve Fund at Columbia 108 CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY's trustees have established a reserve fund of $500,000 for purchasing and processing books for the university libraries. The fund, which supplements the library operating budget, is to be used over a period of several years. Perhaps as much as 60 per cent of the funds will be used to extend selectively the depth and breadth of the collections in the traditional subject fields, with special emphasis on publications missed in the recent past because of budgetary limitations. About 10 per cent of the funds will be used to strengthen Columbia's basic resources which are used in support of the teaching and research activities of the various area institutes. Another portion, probably less than 10 per cent, will be used to obtain · additional copies of items which are required in support of the instructional program at all levels and in all divisions in the university. Finally, and perhaps most important, as much as 20 per cent of the reserve funds will be used to inaugurate what must become a continuing program of preservation of important items in the collections. Publica- tions of sufficient importance will be given special treatment designed to retard deterioration or will be replaced by microfilm copies, or copies created by other means. Effective action is needed now if the investment incurred in developing a major research collection is to be safeguarded for the use of scholars who will be working in the not-too-distant future . •• COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES