College and Research Libraries Status of University Librarians -1964 THE NATIONAL TREND toward academic recognition of librarians in universities, reported seven years ago, 1 has continued to make solid, if perhaps unspectacular, progress. New converts, principally among state institutions, have swelled the ranks of those universities where librar- ians are accorded the responsibilities and perquisites of academic or faculty status. Considerable diversity, however, exists among the forms of recognition received; in certain instances, acceptance of the principle of academic standing for librar- ians has been limited or qualified. On the basis of recent correspondence, · the present review will attempt to de- scribe the current situation, chiefly in state universities, as relatively few changes have occurred among private in- stitutions since the 1957 survey. NEW BREAK-THROUGHS The most important development of the past few years has been the extension of academic status to librarians in a num- ber of leading institutions. A major vic- tory was won in California in 1962 when President Clark Kerr issued the follow- ing announcement for all campuses of the University of California: Under the new classification and salary compensation plan, professional librarians will be classified as academic employees. At the statewide level they will come under the jurisdiction of the Academic Personnel Unit in my office. The new policy removes responsibility t CRL, XVII (September 1957), 375-85. JULY 1964 BY ROBERT B. DOWNS Dr. Downs is Dean of Library Adminis- tration in the University of Illinois. for librarians from the nonacademic per- sonnel offices at the state-wide and cam- pus levels and delegates to the chief cam- pus officers (chancellors) authority to ap- point, promote, etc., under general con- trols established by the president. The ex- cellent work conditions and fringe bene- fits enjoyed for many years by University of California librarians are not affected by the changes. In the implementation of California's new pay plan and classification structure, a great deal of autonomy from campus to campus is reported. Flexibility is doubt- less desirable in a system of campuses which varies as considerably in age, size, and purposes as those of the University of California. Several of the smaller cam- puses have review committees for ap- pointments and promotions composed of both faculty members and librarians. A careful distinction is made between cri- teria to be applied to library classes and to the teaching faculty. At Berkeley and University of California at Los Angeles, recommendations for promotion and ap- pointment are in the hands of the univer- sity librarians and their assistants. A long-drawn-out campaign for aca- demic recognition for the Ohio State Uni- versity's librarians was won even more recently. Effective July 1, 1963, librar- ians on the staff of the university libraries were accorded faculty titles, with ranks ranging from instructor to professor. An 253 exception-applicable to only a few indi- viduals-is new library school graduates lacking a doctorate, or three years of graduate study, or professional experi- ence in librarianship, who must gain two years of acceptable experience before · promotion to the rank of instructor. The qualifications and criteria estab- lished by the university for the faculty as a whole at Ohio State are in general ap- plied to the library staff. Teaching and other types of participation in the uni- versity community are encouraged, but teaching per se is not a requirement for faculty rank for librarians. Otherwise, the professional library staff has the same types of responsibilities and privileges as the teaching faculty. Efforts extending over a considerable period were also rewarded at the Univer- sity of Washington, about four years ago, when the library staff received academic status. Among the immediate benefits de- rived therefrom were salary adjustments, eligibility to participate in the TIAA re- tirement system, professional leaves, more travel funds, and improved staff morale. A promotion committee, com- posed of four senior librarians and two faculty members, makes recommenda- tions annually to the director of libraries; if the director concurs, the recommenda- tions are forwarded to the president of the university. The committee follows the same over-all criteria that are normally applied to faculty promotions. It is of interest to note that the Uni- versity of Washington's sister institution, Washington State University, granted its librarians full faculty status in 194 7- recognition which they have continued to enjoy to the present time-including reg- ular sabbatical leaves·. A similar situation exists in Kansas. Librarians at Kansas State University have had academic rank and status for more than twenty years, with perquisites identical in nearly every respect to those of the teaching staff. At the University of Kansas, progress has been more gradual. In a series of steps starting in 1952, the librarians have moved toward closer iden- tification with and integration into the university's teaching faculty. Among the manifestations are tenure for higher-rank- ing librarians, sabbatical leaves, eligibil- ity for research grants, and membership in the University Senate. Instead of aca- demic titles, however, the Kansas librar- ians receive equivalent rank: the titles of Librarian I, II, and III were agreed upon as generally corresponding to instructor, assistant professor, and associate profes- sor. Almost exactly the same solution was decided upon at the State University of Iowa, where librarians achieved faculty status-but not faculty rank-in 1959. At Iowa there are four library ranks, Li- brarian I, II, III, and IV, corresponding to the traditional academic ranks of in- structor, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. The qualifica- tions for appointment and promotion con- form as closely as possible to those set for the teaching faculty. · But again, as in Washington and Kan- sas, varying practices have grown up in the same state. The librarians at Iowa State University have held full faculty standing for a number of years. All be- ginning professional staff members at Ames with library school degrees' receive the acad~mic rank of instructor plus suit- able library titles. Department heads and others filling key positions are ranked as assistant professors or higher. Another system of equivalencies is in effect at New York University. Members of the library staff are given one of four titles: curator (professor), associate cu- rator (associate professor), assistant cu- rator (assistant professor) , library asso- ciate (instructor) . In each case, the rank carries equivalent salary, benefits, and ten- ure rights. Indiana's two state universities present a solid front on the matter of status. Of Purdue's present library staff, six rank as professors, eight as associate professors, 254 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES I fourteen as assistant professors, and the remainder as instructors. At Indiana Uni- versity, all librarians are defined as aca- demic, appointments are made through the dean of faculties, and sick leave and retirement policies are the same as for the teaching faculty. In addition, certain positions carry faculty titles: director of libraries, professor; associate director, professor; assistant director, professor; rare book librarian, professor of bibliog- raphy; fine arts librarian, professor of fine arts; business librarian, assistant pro- fessor of business; education librarian, in- structor in education; law librarian, as- sistant professor of law; music librarian, assistant professor of music. The state of Michigan presents a mixed picture. Despite efforts extending over a period of years, the professional library staff at the University of Michigan re- mains in a separate classified group, un- correlated with the academic, though it receives a number of faculty benefits. At Michigan State University, since 1959, all librarians have been direct appointees of the Board of Trustees, and are defined as academic, though not given faculty titles. They are entitled to such faculty perqui- sites as TIAA retirement, group life in- surance, and sabbatical leaves. Wayne State University introduced still another variation, in 1963, when the University Council classified and defined the aca- demic staff as follows: 1. Academic status, educational: with all attendant rights and privileges shall be granted to those members of the uni- versity staff with advanced academic training and the rank of instructor, uni- versity assistant, or above, whose posi- tions are primarily concerned with the amassing, retrieval, or dissemination of knowledge. 2. Academic status, professional: with appropriately determined rights and privi- leges shall be granted to those members of the university staff with academic or technical training applicable to their functions, and the rank of instructor, uni- JULY 1964 versity assistant, or above, whose posi- tions are not primarily concerned with the amassing, retrieval, or dissemination of knowledge. Librarians were placed in the first cate- gory, thus assuring them of receiving per- quisites identical with those of the teach- ing faculty. Highly significant progress was report- ed by the University of Minnesota, where for many years only the director of li- braries had full academic status, and ef- forts to obtain recognition for the library staff as a whole were unavailing. The li- brarians were under the jurisdiction of the university's office of Civil Service Personnel. In 1963, however, a proposal was made and accepted by the university administration to transfer to the faculty group the three following categories of library personnel: 1. Assistant department heads in ma- jor departments in · the library system, such as assistant head of the reference department, assistant librarian of the bio- medical library, and assistant law librar- ian. 2. Heads of divisions within the vari- ous major departments, such as: head of the serials, gifts, and exchange division in the acquisitions department, head of the social science division in the catalog de- partment, head of the interlibrary loan di- vision in the reference department, head of the periodical room in the circulation department, head of university archives in the department of special collections, and head of the reference department in the agriculture library. 3. Librarians in charge of units for which specialized subject or language competence is needed in addition to the basic bachelor's and master's degree, such as: librarian of the education library, li- brarian of the chemistry library, librar- ian of the music library, librarian of the map library, librarian of the engineering library, and librarian of the South Asia library. Department heads had previously been 255 transferred to the academic classification at the assistant professor rank. Thus Min- nesota presently has about sixty library positions with full faculty status and rank. There remain some forty positions under civil service, comprising what were for- merly the first two professional grades. Among the advantages already observed by the library administration from the re- organization and reclassification of pro- fessional personnel are the opportunity to recognize individual merit in making salary increases and promotions; the re- moval of rigid grade maximums at which a number of superior staff members were "frozen" under civil service; and obtain- ing for the staff such benefits as faculty insurance and retirement, faculty club privileges, and voting rights in the Uni- versity Senate. The University of Wisconsin library also has a divided staff, but the academic group is more limited. Faculty rank is granted only to the director and his asso- ciates, department heads and their first assistants, and to bibliographers. All other librarians are under state civil service. SEPARATE AND PARTLY EQUAL Among a number of institutions cited in the foregoing comments, academic rec- ognition of librarians is less than one hun- dred per cent. Ambiguities in the place- ment of library staffs on university or- ganization charts are not uncommon. For example, in the City University of New York (Brooklyn College, City College, Hunter College, and Queens College), li- brarians are in the same category as the teaching faculty in tenure, representation on the Faculty Council, representation on the Department Committee on Appoint- ments and Promotions, sabbatical leaves, sick leaves, retirement benefits, and medi- cal care, but not as to academic ranks, salary schedules, or vacation allowances. In a neighboring institution, Columbia University, professional members of the library staff receive presidential appoint- ments, and thus by definition are assumed to possess faculty status. The Columbia librarians are granted most of the privi- leges accruing to faculty members, except sabbatical leaves and full summer vaca- tions; an exception also is that there are no direct equivalencies between faculty and library salary schedules. Similar systems may be found in a number of other privately-endowed uni- versities. In the classified scheme adopted about six years ago by Harvard, four pro- fessional groups are recognized. Those at the upper levels are given Harvard Cor- po:t;ation appointments, and in such mat- ters as tenure, pensions, insurance, fac- ulty club membership, health program and other "fringe benefits" receive treat- ment identical to that of members of the instructional staff. Librarians are, how- ever, considered a group apart, and are not integrated with the faculty in any for- mal sense, such as academic titles and salary scales. At Duke University, a few top-level in- dividuals-the librarian, assistant librar- ian, medical school librarian, divinity school librarian, and law school librarian -hold academic ranks. Otherwise, librar- ians who have served two years on the staff and have reached thirty years of age are eligible to participate in TIAA, and to receive hospital care and insurance benefits on the same basis as teaching members of the faculty. Also, it is re- ported that "members of the staff whose formal training would qualify them for teaching positions in the university re- ceive salaries comparable to those paid the teaching staff." Except for the general library adminis- trators, librarians at Stanford University are classified in four grades I-IV. A leaf- let entitled "Personnel Information for Staff Members," issued by the library, states: "Librarians are regarded as part of the academic staff of the university and have a status broadly equated with faculty in that they enjoy most of the privileges of faculty members; but they do not receive formal faculty rank and 256 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES i I . are not members of the Academic Coun- cil." Since 1962, the senior-level librar- ians have come under the TIAA-CREF retirement system, and they enjoy cer- tain other perquisites normally accorded solely to the teaching faculty. In several state universities-for ex- ample, University of Maryland, Univer- sity of Massachusetts, and University of Missouri-librarians are likewise under special classifications. Typical is the Uni- versity of Missouri, where it is reported that librarians "are not members of the academic staff, yet they receive most of the substantive benefits which accrue to the academic staff. They are entitled to the same privileges in relation to retire- ment, sick leave, leaves of absence, and so forth that apply to the members of the teaching staff who are on eleven-month appointments." ESTABLISHED SYSTEMS Academic status for librarians has be- come firmly established over a period of years in a considerable number of Ameri- can universities. Reference has already been made to Washington State Univer- sity, Kansas State University, Iowa State University, and Purdue University. Other universities where academic rec- ognition for librarians has long been a fact of life include the University of Illi- nois, University of Miami (Florida), Uni- versity of Nebraska, University of New Hampshire, University of Tennessee, Uni- versity of Utah, and all institutions in the Oregon State System of Higher Educa- tion. At Miami, the professional staff of thirty and one-half is distributed by rank as follows: professors, three and one-half; associate professors, five; assistant pro- fessors, eleven; and instructors , eleven. Tennessee's total staff numbers eighty- seven. Of twenty-eight in the professional category, the breakdown is: four profes- . sors, two associate professors, three as- sistant professors, twelve instructors, and seven professional assistants. New Hampshire has adopted a classi- JULY 1964 fied plan for its librarians: class A, pro- fessor; class B, associate professor; class C; assistant professor; class D, instructor. The classifications are equivalent in sala- ries, responsibilities, and privileges to the corresponding faculty ranks. At Utah, any member of the professional staff with a graduate degree in library science is given the rank of instructor. By custom, the librarian ranks as a professor and the assistant librarian as associate professor. All heads of important departments and the principal branch librarians receive the rank of assistant professor, if they also hold library science degrees. All of Illinois' six state universities grant full academic standing to librarians. In addition to the University of Illinois in Urbana and in Chicago, these include Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University, Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, and Western Illinois University. Upon unanimous recommendation of the faculty, the board of trustees of illi- nois State University recently approved establishment of the library as an aca- demic department. Northern Illinois Uni- versity has evolved a novel device for giving librarians a voice in the affairs of the institution. For voting purposes the library staff has been divided between the four colleges in the university on a ratio of one librarian for each fifteen faculty members. Another form of recognition was lately granted at Southern Illinois University where the Graduate Council specifically designated librarians as eligi- ble to membership on the graduate fac- ulty, even though they may not be teach- ing graduate courses. AGENDA FOR THE FUTURE Meanwhile, the struggle by librarians for improved standing continues, in some instances with excellent prospects for suc- cess. At the University of North Carolina, for example, where librarians have long been governed by a state Personnel Act, the university administration has accepted 257 the principle that professional members of the library staff are and shall remain under the direction of the academic dean. A decision is presently pending exempt- ing library personnel from the Personnel Act. If approved as anticipated, the ap- pointment, promotion, and all privileges of librarians will be essentially the same as those of the academic staff. Louisiana State University also has un- der serious consideration the extension of faculty status to its library staff, a group which now has "equivalent faculty status." The outlook appears less favorable at the University of Texas, where only the chief librarian and assistant librarians are exempt from civil service rules and regu- lations. A current proposal for classifying librarians as "academic-professional" has met with a cool reception from the uni- versity administration, who views it as simply another attempt by a nonteaching group to break down academic standards and force itself into the charmed circle of full faculty recognition. The realities of the situation are more clearly discerned by the vice provost of Duke University who agrees that "we can't compete in the market place unless we are willing to give librarians academic status." The advantages to the institu- tions themselves are well described by William H. Carlson, director of libraries for the Oregon State System of Higher Education: "I regard full academic status for li- brarians as a major contributing factor to the high quality staffs which we have been able to assemble, and for the most part to hold, in the Oregon system. On my scale of important things, full academic status ranks at or near the top." Several correspondents emphasized the desirability and in fact the necessity of paying as much attention to responsibili- ties as to privileges in justifying librar- ians' claim to full acceptance by the fac- ulty. As reiterated on many occasions, librarians must participate actively in the academic affairs of their universities, of- fer equivalent academic training and ex- perience, and contribute to the advance- ment of the library profession, if the con- cept of academic status is to be valid and to win over the skeptics. The present situation was succinctly described by Ralph E. McCoy, director of libraries, Southern Illinois University: "Our real problem is in locating librarians who are worthy of the ranks that we are able to offer." • • Building Consultants Institute 258 EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES LABORATORIES, Inc., a subsidiary of the Ford Foundation, is sponsoring an Institute for College Library Building Con- sultants at the University of Colorado, August 10 through 14. The in- stitute is directed by Ralph Ellsworth, and guest lecturers include Keyes Metcalf and William Jesse. Attention is concentrated upon the role of consultants, the writing of building programs, the essential elements of a building program, cam- pus planning procedures, the role of the faculty-library planning com- mittee, new factors in library programs, new teaching methods and tech- nology, automation, miniaturization, electronic control of information, coordinated library programs and activities, basic dimensions and spec.- ifications, growth calculations, and the evaluation of architectural draw- ings. Participation is limited to fifteen registrants, and some fellowships have been made available by EFL to selected participants. • • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES