College and Research Libraries


By J A M E S A . M c M I L L E N 

Academic Status of Library Staff 
Members of Large Universities 
The director of libraries, Lousiana State 
University, discusses the status of librar-
ians in thirty-seven large universities. 

AN ACADEMIC survey of the institution . I represent has been arranged for 
which has led me to give some thought 
to the relation of members of the library 
staff to the faculty and the numerous 
other employes of the university. W h a t 
should be their status in the group and, 
especially, are library staff members to be 
treated as members of the faculty or are 
they merely administrative employes? 
These are questions that should be defi-
nitely determined sooner or later. Some 
may suggest that it is best to "let well 
enough alone," but the question is bound 
to come up until there is a definite satis-
factory statute, or official rule covering 
the subject. 

In order to ascertain what the practices 
of the larger institutions are, I directed 
personal letters to some thirty-five head 
librarians, all of whom replied and cited 
conditions existing in their respective 
universities. Information was secured 
in regard to two other institutions, 
so this paper summarizes the practices 
of thirty-seven large universities, all 
of which have libraries in excess of 
200,000 volumes. 

Only eleven institutions have specific 
regulations on this matter and but four 
definitely have rules stating that mem-

bers of the professional library staff are 
classed as members of the faculty. In 
seven universities the members of the li-
brary staff are considered as a special 
professional group and are, therefore, set 
apart from other administrative employes. 
Of the twenty-six institutions remaining, 
ten definitely rate library workers, except 
some departmental heads, as administrative 
employes, while sixteen have no particular 
rank assigned to professional library mem-
bers. 

In the various college catalogs some em-
ployes of the library are listed among 
the faculty while others place them among 
those assigned to the heading "Other Em-
ployes of the University." M a n y have 
a separate listing headed " T h e Library 
S t a f f . " Probably the last mentioned ar-
rangement is best in any case, as the 
names of those having definite faculty 
rating can be put in their proper places in 
the faculty list, whether the latter is ar-
ranged alphabetically, by rank, or accord-
ing to seniority. 

Director's Rank 

Judging from the replies, the librarian 
or director of the library is almost in-
variably given academic rank, usually as 
professor and in one or two cases as dean. 
While the rank of associate librarian or 
assistant librarian does not prevail in all 
institutions, these officials are counted as 
members of the faculty in twenty institu-

138 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



tions while only eleven universities include 
heads of library departments among 
the faculty. So much for the statistical 
side. 

Librarians' Opinions 

T h e comments made in letters received 
on this apparently very undecided question 
are highly quotable. A great difference of 
opinion prevails on the question as to 
whether the library worker should be 
rated as a teacher or as an administrative 
employe. Among those with decided 
negative opinions on the subject I may cite 
three librarians. One states that "it is 
easier for librarians to retain their self 
respect as librarians, which they are, 
rather than as members of the faculty, 
which they are not." Another writes: 
" L i b r a r y work in technical lines is not 
academic work. T h i s does not mean that 
it is worse or better; it is merely other." 
Another states the problem clearly: " H e r e 
those who teach are members of the fac-
ulty and those who do not are administra-
tive officers, and that is all there is to it." 
Still another contributes this thought: " I 
can see no real analogy between the work 
of librarians and that of the f a c u l t y . " 

Directly opposite opinions were forcibly 
expressed by several, each giving cogent 
reasons for his stand on the question. One 
librarian who has given much study to 
the matter states his position positively: 
" I am opposed to the tendency apparent 
in some quarters to class all library staff 
members as administrative. . . . T h e con-
clusion seems inescapable that whatever 
dignity may attach to an 'administrative' 
official is limited to himself and in the 
minds of others almost inevitably results 
in the classification of his assistants as 
clerks." Another states his argument 
flatly: " I see no reason why all members 

of my professional staff should not be 
given the same standing in the university 
community as a teacher." Still another 
cites the fact that "the problem is different 
from the business organization .• . . be-
cause of the essential connection of the 
library staff with the teaching and research 
program." In one large institution the 
librarian writes that he has always re-
sisted the implication that members of the 
library staff are "stenographers, although 
they do use typewriters." T h e fact that 
"members of the staff contribute enough 
to the educational process to warrant their 
recognition," leads another librarian to 
argue for faculty status for his profes-
sional staff. 

Few Universities Have Regulations on 
Subject 

In twenty-six of the thirty-seven insti-
tutions studied no definite written specific 
regulation covers the subject. M a n y let 
well enough alone and, as one librarian 
states it, the " w a y out of the headache is 
to ignore the problem." Where librarians 
have satisfactory conditions, are treated 
liberally in the matter of sick leave and 
vacations, are included in provisions for 
group insurance and retirement pensions— 
the question is never a live one, but they 
naturally prefer that the position of staff 
members be well esteemed and do not 
like to see their several names scattered 
alphabetically in a list several pages long 
headed "Other Employes of the Univer-
sity." Some institutions of higher edu-
cation open only to men have only men on 
their faculty so women on the library 
staff could not well be ranked as faculty 
in such places. In many schools there 
seems to be considerable disinclination to 
enlarge the faculty list by inclusion of 
names from the large nonteaching groups. 

MARCH, 1940 
12 7 



Among the latter are laboratory assistants, 
medical technicians, etc., who are tech-
nically trained like professional librarians, 
but do not actually teach. A librarian 
writes in this regard: " I doubt very much 
whether w e shall be considered 'scholars 
and gentlemen' until we have the same 
tags for the same amount of work as our 
teaching brothers and sisters." So the 
matter of assigning precise rank for all 
professional members of the staff would be 
a hard task indeed. 

Theoretical Dignity 

Even though statutes are not specific 
in regard to status of members of library 
staffs in the academic hierarchy, there are 
certain disadvantages accruing to being 
ranked as faculty. One man states it 
clearly: " L o n g years ago against my bet-
ter judgment, I yielded to the feeling then 
ripe among the members of the profes-
sional staff and tried to secure for them the 
inestimable privilege of walking in cap 
and gown in the academic procession at 
commencement." Another in explaining 
that he is the only one connected with the 
library who is considered as a member of 
the faculty states: " I am the only mem-
ber of the staff who has faculty rank and 
I enjoy the theoretical dignity of a f u l l 
professorship and a vote at the monthly 
faculty meetings. . . . In the commence-
ment procession I march fairly near 
the front of the line, with the earliest 
division (agriculture), the arrange-
ment within divisions being the tallest 
men f i r s t ! " 

Some universities seem to have solved 
this problem satisfactorily by setting up 

the library staff as a "separate profes-
sional group" rather than as faculty or 
administrative employes. Because of the 
high requirements in some institutions for 
rank of instructor it would seem to be 
inadvisable to attempt to start a begin-
ning assistant, fresh from library school, 
at this grade. T h e whole problem would 
seem best solved by some such statute as 
is in force at Columbia University which 
reads: "Library Staff. Members of the 
Library staff shall be classified as profes-
sional and nonprofessional and assigned to 
appropriate grades of service within each 
group. Permanent members of the pro-
fessional staff will rank with officers of 
instruction or officers of administration 
in respect to academic privileges." In the 
statutes of the University of Illinois there 
is the statement that members of the staff 
"may be given appropriate academic 
rank." Such a regulation, setting up the 
library staff as a definite professional 
group, would be satisfactory to those who 
are "yet to be convinced that faculty 
ranking is necessary or desirable for li-
brarians." A t the same time, it would 
answer the objection of the librarian who 
does not like his people being called a mere 
part of the "hired help." 

T h e psychological questions involved 
are perhaps most important of all, so all 
can agree, I believe, to any regulation 
that recognizes the place of the library 
staff in the educational institution and, at 
the same time, gives proper dignity to 
their work. W e may not be teachers by 
title, but we perform an indispensable 
service for which we have been specially 
trained. 

140 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES