College and Research Libraries B y C H A R L E S W . H U N T From Normal School to Teachers College Charles W. Hunt is secretary-treasurer of the American Association of Teachers Colleges and principal of the State Normal School, Oneonta, N.Y. THE NORMAL school has become the teachers college. W h i l e a f e w institu- tions are still named normal schools, these w i l l soon be gone. T h i s transformation, w h i c h is much more than a change in name, has been a m a z i n g l y rapid. D u r i n g the first sixty years of their existence, the normal schools w e r e poorly supported, isolated institutions. T h e y have had, h o w - ever, a significant central purpose w h i c h made them sturdy and fitted them into the A m e r i c a n scene. T h e founders of this nation recognized that education f o r all the people w a s essential in a democracy. A citizen w h o could cooperate w i t h his f e l l o w s in m a k i n g a democracy w o r k w a s essential. I t w a s also implicit in their thought that the individual, and by that is meant all persons, should have an op- portunity to become as much of a person as he could be in this n e w democracy. W h e n common schools w e r e first estab- lished, it soon became apparent that the quality of the experience w h i c h children m i g h t have in them w a s dependent upon the quality of the teacher. I t took about f i f t y years f o r the intellectuals to discover this and convince the people that a n e w kind of institution w a s necessary f o r the education of teachers. T h e first publicly- supported normal school w a s opened in 1 8 3 9 . B y the end of the century these institutions had spread all over the coun- t r y . T h e y did not c o n f o r m to any estab- lished academic patterns. T h e y w e r e folk schools. W i t h the great social changes character- istic of the last f i f t y years, the high school became an extension of the common school. T h e teachers college, close to the people, a part of the public school system, became increasingly the institution f o r the preparation of teachers in the high school as w e l l as the elementary school. T o say that there had been no associa- tion a m o n g the leaders of the rlormal schools in the nineteenth century w o u l d not be true. C h a r l e s A . H a r p e r has w r i t - ten in A Century of Public Teacher Edu- cation the history of these years. I t is nevertheless true that organized associa- tion began about 1 9 0 0 in the middle w e s t . T h e A m e r i c a n Association of T e a c h e r s C o l l e g e s w a s founded in 1 9 1 7 by the presi- dents of five institutions in the middle w e s t . T h i s w a s a signal that the expan- sion and improvement of the teachers col- lege as an essential part of the public school system, reaching f r o m the first grade through the university, had begun. T h e s e far-seeing leaders recognized the need f o r an organization w h i c h w o u l d pro- vide f o r the exchange of ideas and the im- provement of their service. I n the 2 3 years that have f o l l o w e d , the association has g r o w n to a membership of nearly 2 0 0 , distributed throughout the U n i t e d States. 246 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES T h e institutions have had an honorable, if modest, history. B u t the new demands upon their resources have obviously meant expansion in student body and in buildings. J u s t as truly they have required new un- derstanding of the place which the insti- tutions should fill and consideration of the best w a y s in which needs might be met. T h e leaders had to educate themselves, ad- ministrative officers, faculty members, and boards of trustees. T h e y had to present their needs to the public and obtain the necessary support for securing additional facilities of all kinds. T h e battle for a teacher, prepared to serve adequately the needs of his generation, had to be fought again as it w a s fought in the correspond- ing t w o decades of the nineteenth century. Blueprints for accomplishing these changes had become familiar to the lead- ers in the middle west. T h e N o r t h C e n - tral Association, founded before 1 9 0 0 , had no place for teachers colleges and normal schools on its accredited list for colleges and had so many other concerns that it had no program for improvement of the teachers colleges. T h e r e was, however, no l a w to prevent the use of patterns in the A m e r i c a n Association of T e a c h e r s C o l - leges which seemed to be producing re- sults for other institutions in the N o r t h C e n t r a l Association. Discussion in regard to standards for accrediting teachers col- leges found a place in the program of earlier associations and w a s the focus of discussion w i t h the founding of the A m e r i - can Association of T e a c h e r s Colleges. Committees were appointed. T h e execu- tives of the association undertook the w o r k of organizing desirable patterns t o w a r d which the institutions might g r o w . I t w a s important to take the best which had been known in the practice of older types of academic institutions but at the same time to hold fast to the distinctive purposes for which the teachers colleges were founded. Proposals were made, discussed and modi- fied. F i n a l l y in 1 9 2 6 a set of standards w a s adopted, looking f o r w a r d to establish- ing an accredited list of teachers colleges. I t should be noted that the teachers col- leges had the benefit of association w i t h the university schools of education, whose leaders saw the significance of the enter- prise and cooperated w i t h it. T h e establishment of an accredited list of teachers colleges w a s a device. T h e main value of the whole process lay in the education which came about for the execu- tives and, more remotely, for all other persons connected w i t h the teachers col- lege program. It w a s the intent from the beginning that the program should benefit all institutions. A l l were put on the ac- credited list w i t h their deficiencies noted and time w a s given for improvement be- fore the more rigid standards w o u l d be applied. In 1 9 2 7 the program of accred- iting began. Readers w h o have come this f a r may be w i l l i n g to look at the whole picture for a little longer before w e come to the discus- sion of the library program in detail. T h e standards set up the f o l l o w i n g require- ments : Standards A n institution must have for its cen- tral purpose the education of teachers. I t must admit only graduates of a standard four-year high school. It could a l l o w no credit for teaching experience toward the college degree. E a c h student must com- plete 1 2 0 hours of w o r k for graduation. A reasonable ratio of students to faculty, to be determined by later study, must be maintained. In this standard as in others, it w a s expected that continued study w o u l d lead to the modification of the standard and moving goals be characteris- JUNE, 1940 23 7 tic of the program. T h e f a c u l t y must have a minimum preparation of the mas- ter's degree. T h e maximum teaching load for the staff w a s set at 1 6 hours a week. A training school for practice teaching w a s a specific requirement. T h e curriculum must exhibit sequence of courses and there must be segregation of immature f r o m mature students. R e - quirements for safeguarding health and developing health habits w e r e set up. T h e living conditions of students must receive adequate consideration. T h e library must have 1 5 , 0 0 0 volumes w e l l distributed, but more of this specific requirement later. G e n e r a l requirements for laboratories and shops w e r e made. T h e location, construc- tion and care of buildings w e r e considered, and adequate financial support required. A general requirement made it possible for the accrediting committee to j u d g e the general tone of the teachers college on less tangible elements than those directly men- tioned in the standards. T h e administra- tion of the accrediting plan allowed for local differences but made improvement by all necessary. Administration Made More Effective T h e standards have been modified since their first adoption and their administra- tion made more effective. T w e n t y - f o u r studies offering objective evidence for necessary changes have been printed in the Yearbooks of the association. T h e s e stud- ies have been made by individuals or com- mittees usually under the supervision of the standards committee, which n o w has in progress studies on publicity, extension programs, health, curriculum, student per- sonnel, and library. A standard in re- gard to tenure has been recently added. So much for a general statement. I shall not attempt to list the changes which have come about in the institutions. T h e first accredited list w a s published in F e b r u - ary 1 9 2 8 , and none of the institutions f u l l y met the minimum standards. T h e num- ber has increased to 1 5 8 institutions and all meet the minimum requirements of the standards. I t w o u l d not be f a i r to at- tribute all changes to the adoption of standards and the accrediting process. It w o u l d be agreed among the executives that this device has been one of the major in- fluences in the education of all concerned in the improvement of the institutions. In 1 9 2 8 a bachelor's degree w a s typical for f a c u l t y preparation. O n e out of five in the faculties today has a doctor's de- gree. O n e out of three has sixty hours of graduate preparation. A l m o s t all mem- bers of the staffs have the master's degree, including the teachers in the campus school. T h e importance of the training school and of student teaching has been continuously stressed and definite stand- ards enforced. Significant developments have occurred in the health area. A l l stu- dents are examined by a physician an- nually, some form of hospital care is pro- vided, and instruction in health is given to all students. O n e further w o r d before going to the specific question of the library. T o appre- ciate the progress made in teachers colleges it is necessary to visit the institutions. T h e campuses have been widened, build- ing programs have been in evidence nearly everywhere. T h e quality of the student body has improved. In 1 9 2 8 , 2 5 per cent of the graduates received the bachelor's degree; 7 5 per cent w e r e at the two-year level. In a little over a decade this situa- tion has been reversed. If a librarian has been patient enough to read thus f a r w e shall n o w r e w a r d him w i t h details in regard to the library. T h e first objective study made on which to base a program of improvement concerned 248 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES the standard for libraries. I t w a s made by G . W . Rosenlof, w h o w a s then a grad- uate student at T e a c h e r s College, C o l u m - bia University, for his doctoral thesis and w a s made under the direction of E d w a r d S. E v e n d e n . H e collected information about: N u m b e r of books and their classifica- tion N u m b e r of periodicals T y p e s of library indexes, reader's guides, and other aims Records of accessions L i b r a r y personnel Policies of duplication Support of libraries T r a i n i n g school, seminar, departmental and textbook exhibit libraries Physical plant and equipment L i b r a r y administration T h e first report w a s made in 1 9 2 8 and w a s printed in the Y e a r b o o k of the asso- ciation. E v e n the summary and conclu- sions of this study are too long to quote. T h o s e w h o are interested may refer to the Y e a r b o o k . T h e number of books reported by 5 9 schools showed a range of from 5 3 3 5 to 1 0 1 , 4 1 4 , the average for all schools being 1 6 , 9 3 4 . T w o - t h i r d s of the schools reported f e w e r than 1 5 , 0 0 0 books. T h e professional collection represented from 6 . 7 per cent to 2 6 per cent of the total libraries, the average for all schools being 1 4 . 3 per cent. Duplication ranged from 1 . 3 per cent to 5 2 . 5 per cent. T h e range for the number of periodicals w a s from 4 0 to 3 0 5 . T h e typical librarian had completed a four-year college or nor- mal school course and had approximately one year of technical library training w i t h some teaching experience. T h e library staff w a s found in most instances to be altogether inadequate to the need. N o uniformity w a s found in regard to the budget for libraries. T h e method of its handling indicated that the library w a s not typically considered to be of major importance. Result of Study A s a result of this study the f o l l o w i n g standards were recommended: Books—Each teachers college shall have a live, well distributed library bearing spe- cifically upon subjects taught. There should be at least 15,000 volumes, exclusive of all public documents, distributed approximately as follows: P e r cent General library economy, etc 7.5 Phijosophy and psychology 5.0 Religion and bible stories 2.5 Sociology and education 20.0 Languages and philology 2.5 The sciences 7.5 U s e f u l arts 7.5 Fine arts 5.0 Literature 20.0 History and geography 20.0 Fiction 2.5 Not more than 15 per cent of the total number of books should represent duplicate copies. This library shall be administered by one or more professionally trained persons who have a minimum academic training and who hold a bachelor's degree or its equivalent. Preferably these shall be persons who have had some teaching experience. Periodicals—Each teachers college shall have a well selected library of periodicals in- cluding not only locally but nationally well known and recognized periodicals. These should be well distributed as to the various subjects of the curricula and interests of students and faculty. Such a collection should not be less than 125. Each teachers college shall provide for a textbook exhibit library, consisting of all accepted and standard textbooks and other library material. Each teachers college shall have a training school library of not fewer than 2000 well distributed books of both general cultural and special reference nature. These should preferably be housed in the training school under the administration and supervision of a special training school librarian. Each college should have a definite annual appropriation of not less than 5 per cent of the total college budget exclusive of JUNE, 1940 23 7 capital outlay to be used exclusively for library purposes distributed in such a man- ner as to give due regard to each of the items properly included in a library budget. Such items and their proportionate share of the budget for library purposes are sug- gested as follows: P e r c e n t S a l a r i e s a n d w a g e s 55 L i b r a r y s u p p l i e s 2 T r a v e l . 1 P r i n t i n g a n d p u b l i c a t i o n s 2 B i n d i n g a n d r e p a i r s 5 B o o k s 2 5 P e r i o d i c a l s 5 N e w e q u i p m e n t 5 W h a t has happened as a result of this program of improvement? Again it will be impossible to give the answers in detail. Those who are interested may consult the files of the Yearbooks. A n index of the entire file was first published in 1 9 3 8 and printed in the Yearbook. It would be necessary to visit the campuses of our teachers colleges to appreciate f u l l y what has happened during this period and what the present status of our libraries truly is. T h e Carnegie Corporation became in- terested in the libraries of teachers col- leges as it had been interested in those of arts colleges and junior colleges and made grants to 29 institutions for the improve- ment of their collections. One of the in- spectors for the Carnegie Corporation was Foster Mohrhardt, librarian of the Car- negie Library at Washington and Lee Uni- versity, Lexington, V a . His interest in this problem has led him to compare the original findings of D r . Rosenlof with the data submitted in the annual reports for !939) a ten-year span. I quote from this as yet unpublished study: Before presenting the comparison showing the ten-year development, it should be pointed out that a larger and more repre- sentative number of colleges are included in the 1938 statistics. It seems possible that many of the schools which did not supply in- formation to Dr. Rosenlof were reluctant to fill out the questionnaire because of their inadequate library support and facilities. The 1928 results, therefore, probably show a flattering picture of the condition at that time. T e a c h e r s C o l l e g e s a n d N o r m a l S c h o o l s 1 9 2 7 - 2 8 V o l s , i n L i b r a r y R a n g e 2 , 0 9 7 - 1 0 1 , 4 1 4 M e d i a n 9 , 2 0 0 P e r C e n t o f D u p l i c a t e s R a n g e 1 . 3 - 5 2 . 5 M e d i a n 1 4 . 8 B u d g e t f o r B o o k s a n d P e r i o d i c a l s R a n g e $ 2 5 0 - $ 9 , 4 5 0 M e d i a n $ 1 , 9 5 0 T o t a l L i b r a r y B u d g e t R a n g e $ I , 5 O O - $ 3 9 , I O 6 M e d i a n $ 6 , 7 5 0 P e r C e n t o f H o l d i n g s i n E d u c a t i o n R a n g e 5 - 6 - 4 2 . 3 M e d i a n 1 5 . 1 T e a c h e r s C o l l e g e s a n d N o r m a l S c h o o l s 1937-38 1 0 , 7 2 0 - 1 4 8 , 5 0 0 2 8 , 1 0 8 2-45 $ 5 2 6 - $ I 3 , 2 2 I $ 2 , 7 4 5 $ I , 8 6 5 - $ 3 8 , I O 6 3-5-40 IS Even when it is admitted that teachers college libraries in 1928 were far below what they should have been, a study of the de- velopment over the period from 1928 to 1938 is impressive. The increase in the me- dian for book holdings from 9200 volumes to 28,108 volumes is particularly significant. Possibly it was influenced by the emphasis of accrediting bodies, but even so it is an un- precedented development. This tripling of the library book stock was probably a most healthy and provocative influence. Teachers college administrators had to meet many problems arising from this. The readers' demands on the libraries increased. Hous- ing facilities became crowded and inadequate, and a practical test was made of the abilities of the librarians. The decrease in the percentage of dupli- cates is commendable, and a further decrease is recommended. Teachers college budgets are still far too small to permit the heavy buying of duplicates which is so common. Medians for both the total library budgets and the book budgets have increased over 40 per cent in this period. If this trend can be continued for the next decade, these libraries will reach a level where they can provide the service needed by the faculty and stu- dents. 250 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES