College and Research Libraries H. VAIL DEALE Academ_ic Libraries in Iran Iranian librarianship is in the embryonic stages of development, espe- cially with respect .to modern and functional academic libraries. In three major areas-personnel, resources, and physical facilities-the academic libraries are deficient compared with Western standards. Al- though all major cities of Iran do have either a college, university, or technical library, the best academic libraries are to be found at the University of Tehran, Pahlavi University, and the University of Is- fahan. THE MODERN CONCEPT of librarianship as a professional career is largely a de- velopment of the last decade in Iran. Though h er cultural and educational heritage is an ancient and distinguished one, the idea of attractive, functional libraries open to the public is a recent innovation, and one · that is still being tested as it develops. Libraries have flourished in Iran for many centuries, but it is only recently that efforts have been made to adopt Western methods and techniques, and to encourage inde- pendent study and leisure reading be- yond the traditional memorization of textbooks. 1 The purpose of this paper is to survey some of the recent develop- ments in academic librarianship in Iran, and to assess some of its strengths and weaknesses.2 Iran's modern educational system may be said to date from the establishment of the College of "Darol-Fonon" ( House of Sciences), founded in the capitol city of Tehran (1850). 3 Anum- ber of British, Austrian, French, Polish, and Italian instructors were brought there to teach technical and scientific subjects. The college began with 100 se- Mr. Deale is director of libraries, Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin. lected students, all sons of nobility. L ater the curriculum was expanded and three foreign languages (English, French, and Russian) together with painting and music, were added. In 1858 there was created a Ministry of Sci- ences and Fine Arts, and a few years later ( 1862), a special bureau of trans- lation, attached to the Court of the Shah, for the purpose of translating important European books into the Per- sian language. It was just a century ago ( 1873) that the first official library, called the Royal Library since it was at- tached to the Court, was inaugurated. A society "for the establishment of the national schools" was founded in 1897, thereby providing the first free schools throughout the country. In this same year, the National Library was begun, and two years later, a college of politi- cal science and an agricultural college were opened under government aus- pices.4 Although the Constitution of 1906 and later laws passed in 1910 under- scored the government's responsibilities and concern for education, it was not until the reign of Reza Shah, father of the present ruler, that any great impetus was given to education. Not only was he responsible for the founding of state schools, teachers' training colleges, tech- / 47 48 I College & Research Libraries • January 1973 nical colleges, and a modern university in Tehran, but he also dispatched hun- dreds of scholarship students .abroad for further study. Universal free pri- mary education came with legislation passed in July 1943. The tremendous growth of both primary and secondary education since World War II, and the government's continued efforts to wipe out illiteracy, give indication of its con- cern for education.5 In the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury, university education was remod- eled along the lines of the French sys- tem. Several university "colleges" were established in Tehran and functioned independently until 1934. In that year they were merged to form the present University of Tehran. During the aca- demic year, 1968-1969, some 50,000 stu- dents attended forty-four Iranian insti- tutions of higher education.6 Over 20,000 students are studying in other countries, a majority of these in the United States. Major provincial univer- sities, created since 1934, have followed the pattern set by the University of Tehran, and many aspects of higher ed- ucation are being influenced by Ameri- can practice. 7 This brief background will serve as an introduction to the ma- jor aim of this discussion: a considera- tion of academic librarianship in Iran. The best of Iranian libraries are con- nected with the universities or with the government ministries. In spite of an increasing acknowledgment by adminis- trators and younger faculty that li- braries are essential, and must receive greater support, most academic libraries are understocked, poorly managed, and contribute little to the education of the student. It is difficult to expect otherwise, as Slocum comments, "in a country in which librarianship has no status, in which there are literally only a handful of professional librarians, and in which the educational system is based on the memorization of textbooks."8 There are exceptions, of course, and in the last five years alone the number of profes- sional librarians has more than quad- rupled. In the universities, each inde- pendent "faculty" has its own collec- tion of books and periodicals, with the result that there is often duplication of materials and insufficient coverage of major fields of learning. The students are not, for the most part, encouraged to use libraries; those who might wish to do so find it difficult. There are few libraries with open shelves, card catalogs are generally inadequate, and the sub- professional staff is not equipped to give reference service. Only two univer- sities in all of Iran have firmly estab- lished the position of director of li- braries. 9 As recently as 1970, the oldest and largest institution in the country (the University of Tehran) had head librarians for each of its faculty li- braries, but no coordination of library administration. Few Iranian academic li- braries would measure up to American standards for college libraries, but it is perhaps unfair to make such compari- son at this stage in their development. Let us proceed now to an examination of the three major areas of academic librarianship, and survey the strengths and weaknesses of several typical li- braries. The most crucial problem facing Iranian librarianship today, and in the immediate future, is that of personnel. "The development of university li- braries requires above all the intellectu- al and professional services of men and women who have been trained for pre- cisely such purposes-expert librari- ans."10 In part it is a problem for the universities and government to solve, but also one of major concern to the embryonic library profession of Iran.11 In 1965, according to the best estimates available, there were no more than a dozen trained librarians (master's de- gree in library science) in the entire country; today there are approximately 100, most of them in the various li- braries located in Tehran. There are in- sufficient Iranian professionals to £II the top positions in the country's academic libraries. The heads of the four "fac- ulty" libraries at Pahlavi University, for example, are all Americans on tempo- rary appointments. For the past £ve years there has been a Fulbright profes- sor on the library science faculty at the University of Tehran. For one thing, it is difficult to £nd candidates whose academic and scholarly quali£cations are sufficiently high to qualify them for admission to graduate schools of library science. One of the solutions to the per- sonnel problem will be to seek out such individuals, sending them abroad for the master's degree, or encouraging them to apply for admission to the li- brary science program at the University of Tehran. Though there are also sev- eral other library schools in the Middle East most Iranians prefer to study in the United States if they can meet ad- missions requirements and secure the necessary funds to support themselves for the duration of their study abroad.12 One of the more signi£cant develop- ments of the past £ve years was the es- tablishment of Iran's £rst formal in- struction program in library science. In 1966, Alice Lohrer, associate professor at the Graduate Library School, Univer- sity of Illinois, with the able assistance of Iranian colleagues, organized the De- partment of Library Science in the Fac- ulty of Education, University of Teh- ran. The purpose of the new program was to provide professional library edu- cation for the University's own library staff members, to provide professionals for other developing institutions of higher education, and also to provide some understanding of library use for future teachers. 13 A four-year bachelor's degree and pro£ciency in English were required for admission to this two-year, 36 semester-credit-hour, master's degree Academic Libraries in I ran I 49 curriculum. English was chosen as the language of instruction since the senior instructors (at that time) were Ameri- can Fulbright professors who taught in teams with Iranian colleagues who were expected eventually to take over all ad- ministration and instruction. Most of the classes are now taught in Persian (Farsi), except in cases where there is a foreign instructor. Perhaps a more valid reason for using English would be the lack of library science materials in Persian, and that without a reading knowledge of English students would be handicapped. The program was de- signed to combine the best features of American library education with the needs of Iranian librarians. In the sum- mer of 1968 the department added an undergraduate minor. This was intend- ed for students in Education and other £elds who could prepare to become teacher-librarians and public library as- sistants. Students still have some difficul- ty adapting to modem methods of in- struction (without textbooks), and still try to take notes verbatim and to review by memorizing all assignments. In academic libraries the nature and size of the staff is affected by such fac- tors as number of students, faculty, size and design of library, the character and condition of the book collection, branch collections, hours, teaching methods, etc. Staff members in most Iranian academic libraries are subprofessionals or clerks without the bene£t of either long ex- perience or graduate study. Thus, the primary need is for administrators, ref- erence librarians, catalogers, and faculty for the library science program. Each year there are a few more graduates who receive degrees from abroad; each year there are a few more graduates from the newly developing library school at the University of Tehran, but the demand for trained personnel ex- ceeds the supply, and will continue to do so for some years. Possible solutions? One is to break down the tradition that 50 I College & Research Libraries • January 1973 most Iranian young people become doc- tors, engineers, or lawyers. There must be a concerted campaign for the recruit- n1ent of capable young men and women who will choose a career in librarian- ship. At the same time, there must be efforts made to improve the status and remuneration of those who make the effort to secure the master's degree in li- brary science. Professional librarians trained in a foreign country now re- ceive about 3,000 tomans ( $400) per month; while those who received a de- gree in Iran find there is a 500 taman differential ( $75) in their monthly sal- ary. University officials should seriously consider subsidizing one or more candi- dates annually for the master's degree in library science, making it a condition of the grant that the individual return to that institution for at least two years of service. Through the Fulbright pro- gram, and other outside assistance, for- eign librarians (as lecturers and con- sultants) have been a temporary solu- tion to the shortage of librarians, but the day must soon come when there is no longer the need for such assistance. Guidelines must be established for staff- ing of academic libraries, ensuring ade- quate coverage in the first instance, and a basis for future planning and financ- ing.l4 Problems of personnel will con- tinue to plague Iranian academic li- braries if librarianship is looked upon as a second-rate profession, without equal status and compensation to that of the teaching faculty. A second major problem that exists in Iranian academic libraries is the size and quality of their collections. Because of the traditional textbook method of teaching, and the indifference to li- braries in general, most academic library collections in Iran have been useless. Books are purchased haphazardly, cata- logued chaotically, and shelved by any convenient system (including date of acquisition). Most card catalogs are hopelessly inadequate, and there have been almost no other aids, such as in- dexes and bibliographical guides, for the location of material. Open shelves are a recent innovation; there is a lack of scholarly periodicals and reference materials; reference and bibliographical works that do exist are almost entirely in foreign languages (useless to a ma- jority of students). The scene is gradually changing, how- ever, and the role of the library in high- er education is recognized. The institu- tion with the largest collection is, of course, the University of Tehran, with resources totaling some 275,000 volumes and manuscripts. These materials are dispersed among thirty departmental or "faculty" libraries, though a central li- brary collection has now been estab- lished with the opening of the univer- sity's new central library building (com- pleted 1970). Two other universities in Iran have collections of approximately 100,000 volumes, though the quality of these resources at Pahlavi and Isfahan universities is dubious. Other academic institutions have collections of under fifty thousand volumes, and probably lack the basic resources to support sub- jects in their own curricula.15 A part of the problem in providing adequate resources stems from the prac- tice of making the deans responsible for the distribution of funds. In most cases there is no published library budg- et, no director of libraries, and no reg- ular book funds for annual support or development of collections. In one par- ticular case, the chancellor informed me that a reasonable sum was available for books during the current year. He ne- glected to add that this modest amount also covered periodical subscriptions, binding, or duplicates for reserve. Ac- cording to the library staff less than five thousand dollars was actually available for the purchase of books that year. In another situation, the administration found it expedient to spend a sizable amount on a special collection of old newspapers (unbound), but the librari- ans didn't even know how much was available for books. It is essential that book funds be provided annually, that restrictions on imports and currency be modified, and that cumbersome postal procedures be overhauled. The acquisi- tion of materials in the Middle East is a tedious and frustrating process at best, presenting daily obstacles to library growth and development. In nearly all the academic libraries I visited, there was need for some kind of "standards" in the selection of ma- terials. Assuming that the university grants the library staff responsibility and authority for book selection and acqui- sition, a close working relationship must be cultivated with the teaching faculty. The third major area essential to good academic library service is that of physical facilities. A balanced staff is not enough; a basic book collection, however well-selected and funded, is not enough; there must also be attrac- tive, functional facilities for effective library service. Though the physical fa- cilities of Iranian academic libraries are often impressive, too often they have been planned and executed without ade- quate consultation among librarian, ar- chitect, and university administrators. Appearance is all-important in the Iran- ian concept, and one frequently won- ders whatever happened to the princi- ple that "form follows function.'' Re- gardless of exterior or interior embel- lishment, the most successful library buildings have been those which clearly and directly express and provide for the functions that are performed within them. One of the largest university libraries in the Middle East has just been com- pleted on the University of Tehran campus. Its book capacity is one-half million, and though it will ultimately rise to a height of ten stories, its design seems to stress monumentality rather than simple function. Nevertheless, it Academic Libraries in Iran I 51 is impressive, even by western standards of construction. At Pahlavi University's new moun- tain-side campus, a six-million-dollar li- brary is presently being built. Located at the pinnacle of the campus, it will eventually be surrounded by other aca- demic buildings already planned for the site. The present library at Pahlavi was planned and constructed while I was acting director of libraries ( 1965--66), and is a modest, cement-block structure on one level, with two large reading rooms on either side of a central circu- lation counter. Two additions have been necessary in the past five years due to the heavy use of the library by students. In addition to this central library, Pah- lavi has new libraries for both engineer- ing and agriculture faculties, and its ex- cellent Medical Library has expanded as far as it possibly can in its present quarters in the main building of the Faculty of Medicine. The present University of Isfahan is in the process of building an entirely new campus, and there are many incon- veniences caused by the fact that its li- braries are scattered in various parts of the city at the present time. Already there are several attractive modem buildings on the new campus, with tem- porary libraries located in three of them. Though they provide large read- ing rooms, no imagination has been shown in the arrangement of stacks, of- fices, or furnishings; in fact, the branch libraries all look alike. Each of the li- braries have closed stacks, no profession- al staff, and no evidence of reference service. According to the director of li- braries, provision is being made to open up the stack areas and to rearrange the check-out counter for proper control of egress. Though a new central library is on the drawing boards for this rapidly developing campus, the central collec- tion remains on the downtown campus and houses about 40 percent of all li- brary resources. It has a depressing in- 52 I College & Research Libraries • January 1973 terior, is poorly arranged, and is certain~ ly inconvenient for student use. Eventu ~ ally the University of Isfahan should be the equal of Pahlavi and the U niver- sity of Tehran. Among the smaller academic institu- tions, Damavand College (formerly the Iran Bethel School for Girls) has made good use of its limited space in the base- ment of the school's main building in the heart of downtown Tehran. Future plans call for a new campus in subur- ban Tehran, enlarging all aspects of the college on a campus designed by Frank Loyd Wright Associates. Reportedly the first major building, for which funds are available, will be the library. The administration at Damavand appears to be progressive, and the president was anxious that plans for the library be carefully evaluated by a professionally- trained librarian. Another small college, catering to middle-class Iranian young women, is Iranian Girls College, located on a lovely campus in north Tehran. The physical facilities of its library are impressive, with one of the most attrac- tive and functional reading rooms of any Iranian library visited. However, there is no professional librarian in charge, and the staff consists of un~ trained clerks and former students. The budget is quite small, and the circula- tion of books per student is low. Pars College, a private, liberal arts in- stitution serving about 1,500 students, most of whom live in Tehran, is housed in three large older buildings in subur- ban Tehran. The librarian, one of the first graduates of the library science master's program at the University of Tehran, is doing a commendable job under difficult circumstances. The li- brary, with less than 7,000 volumes, is located on the second floor of the Ad- ministration/ classroom building; it is crowded, in need of more staff and more space for expansion. There is a second collection in one of the other buildings, and both parts of the library have been made as attractive as possible. Plans for a new campus, competently drawn by a firm of French architects, include a separate library building. No funds are in sight for its development. Though no specific mention has been made of Tehran's National University, or the provincial universities at Mashad, Tabriz, Ahwaz, Kerman, or Rezayieh, the pattern is similar. By Western stan~ dards, most Iranian academic institu~ tions are still in the stages of growth and development, while attempting to meet the needs of today' s expanding student population. The urgency of, and the need for, college and university and technical education in a country that is moving rapidly into the twenti- eth century poses one of the biggest problems to educational planners in Iran. When the current "Fourth Plan" was prepared, it envisaged some 40,000 students applying for admission to insti~ tutions of higher education by 1972; it is now certain that the number will prove to be more than twice what had been anticipated. Though there are now colleges or universities in all the major cities of Iran, plans are already being made for the extension of these institu- tions, and for additional new ones in the decade of the seventies.16 With the development of higher education will come the development of libraries, but there is needed a dedicated effort on the part of Iran's core of professional li- brarians to see that modern librarian- ship is not ignored and that funds are made available from the government and other sources for staffing, collec- tions, and buildings. Furthermore, it will not be sufficient to provide libraries properly staffed, properly stocked, and properly funded. Iranians will need to be instructed in their use, encouraged to do more inde- pendent reading, and weaned from their traditional patterns of learning. It is an exciting and challenging period in Iran's social and cultural develop- ment, and it offers an opportunity to Academic Libraries in I ran I 53 anyone who becomes in any way in- volved with it. REFERENCES 1. "Public and private libraries under the Seleucids, who ruled from 320 to 261 B.C., and under the Parthians, from 250 B.C. to A.D. 226, contained large indexed parch- ment rolls and clay tablets all easily accessi- ble to scholars."-Ibrahim V. Pourhadi, .. Iran's Public and Private Libraries," Quarterly Journal of the Library of Con- gress 25:222 (July 1968). 2. The author has had Fulbright assignments in Iran on two separate occasions: At Pahlavi University, Shiraz ( 1965-66) and at the Department of Library Science at the University of Tehran ( 1970-71). 3. Iran Almanac and Book of Facts, 1970. Tehran, Echo of Iran, 1970. 4. Pourhadi. Iran's Public ... Libraries, p. 222: "The National Library ... was not officially opened until 1937, although it has large collections relating to the 16th and 17th centuries ... obtained from private and public libraries dating back to the early sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies." 5. Although approximately 75 percent of Tehran's population is literate, among the population outside the capitol this figure drops to 24.4 percent. The Shah's "Literacy Corps," and the building of more schools, is progressively combatting illiteracy. (Source: Iranian Statistical Center, Na- tional Census of Population and Housing, November 1966, Vol. 72: Total Country- Settled Population, March 1968, table 7, p. 19, and Vol. 10: Tehran Shahrestan, (August 1967), table 7, p. 66. 6. Iran Almanac and Book of Facts, 1970 . 7. Pahlavi University in Shiraz, for example, is referred to as an "American type uni- versity." 8. Joel B. Slocum, Iran: A Study of the Edu- cational System of Iran ... , Washington, D. C., Council on Evaluation of Foreign Students Credentials, 1969, p. 24. 9. Pahlavi University (Shiraz) and Isfahan University (Isfahan). 10. M.A. Gelfand, University Libraries for De- veloping Countries (Paris: UNESCO, 1968), p. 50. 11. The Iranian Library Association was of- ficially established in October, 1966. 12. There are schools in Ankara, Beirut, and Tel Aviv. 13. Ali Sinai, and John Harvey, "The Iranian Library Scene," in International Library Review 1:107 ( 1969). 14. "Guidelines" are being developed by the Iranian Documentation Center, Tehran. 15. Iran Almanac, 1970. 16. See Ehsan Yar-Shater, Iran Faces the Seventies (N.Y.: Praeger, 1971), p. 217- 59.