College and Research Libraries


B y M A B E L L . C O N A T 

Objectives for Today 

A Message from the President of A.C.R.L. 

FOR SOLID A C C O M P I S H M E N T in a n y field of endeavor goals must be set, both 
near and distant. F o r a clear statement of 

long-term objectives for college, univer-

sity, and reference libraries, w e cannot do 

better than to turn back to the objectives 

L o u i s R o u n d W i l s o n proposes in his 

" C h a l l e n g e of the 1930's to the 1940's" 1 

and also to " T h e P r o g r a m of the Associa-

tion of C o l l e g e and Reference L i b r a r i e s ; 

A Report by the Policies C o m m i t t e e . " 2 

Embodied here are the recognized profes-

sional aims which must not be lost sight 

of in the exigencies of the present. 

T o d a y w e are called upon to make a 

contribution outside and beyond the im-

mediate concerns of professional programs 

of development. O n e of the cherished 

principles in A m e r i c a n library tradition 

has been that libraries should gather and 

make available impartially, material on 

both sides of controversial issues. Some 

of us leaned over backward in trying to 

achieve strict neutrality and have inter-

preted this principle to mean that w e 

should never take a positive attitude in 

presenting and stressing any one side. 

A c c o r d i n g to the report of the survey of 

college and university libraries in the na-

tional defense program conducted a year 

ago by the A . C . R . L . Committee on N a -

tional Defense Services: 

1 College and Research Libraries 1:130-31, March, 
1940. 

2 College and Research Libraries 2:291-300, Sep-
tember, 1941. 

A majority believed that the college li-
brary could not make a significant contri-
bution on its own, and a conservative 
tendency dominated the comments regarding 
the adoption of a positive and vigorous atti-
tude in trying to interest people concerning 
the problems around them. T h e library 
was generally regarded as having met its 
responsibility if it made available materials 
on all aspects of these problems.3 

T h e national picture has sharply al-

tered since those pre-Pearl H a r b o r days, 

and it is doubtful that this statement rep-

resents n o w the attitude of t h o u g h t f u l 

college librarians. M a n y scholarly li-

braries are performing significant w a r 

services, acting as information centers, pro-

viding materials to aid in research projects 

related to the w a r effort, and in addition 

attempting to carry on normal activities 

in spite of reductions in staff and budgets. 

O n every hand w e are told that "books 

are weapons" and that "books can help 

to decide the peace." A c c o r d i n g to E d g a r 

Ansel M o w r e r , " w h e t h e r w e get a tem-

porary peace or a lasting peace, a foolish 

peace or a peace of discernment . . . w i l l 

result very largely from the kinds of books 

our people read between now and the day 

the peace congress (if there is one) gets 

g o i n g . " 4 D o we, the custodians and han-

dlers of books, believe these statements? 

3 Wilson, Eugene H. " S u r v e y of Libraries in 
Colleges and Universities W h i c h A r e G i v i n g Engi-
neering D e f e n s e T r a i n i n g C o u r s e s . " College and Re-
search Libraries 3:30, December, 1941. 

4 M o w r e r , Edgar Ansel. " I n f o r m i n g the Citizen 
in a World at W a r . " A.L.A. Bulletin 36:455, July, 
1942. 



A n d if w e do, do w e act .as if w e believed 

them ? T o so marshal our forces that they 

contribute to the w i n n i n g of the peace w i l l 

require much effort and very likely new at-

titudes on our part. 

Accelerated IVar Program 

Because of the accelerated w a r program 

in our e d u c a t i ^ a l institutions and else-

where, there is little time or opportunity 

for students, faculty, or laymen to become 

familiar w i t h all the important discussions 

of the w a r and postwar problems that are 

coming from the presses. I t therefore be-

comes a signal duty for librarians to direct 

attention to the most significant and 

thought-provoking publications for him 

w h o runs and w h o must run. Some of us 

may need to make room in our personal 

reading for these books so that w e can 

discuss them w i t h discrimination born of 

personal knowledge. T h e important task 

is to help build for the f u t u r e n o w — t o 

stress the books that w i l l c l a r i f y the is-

sues and promote a f u l l e r understanding 

of the cultural achievements, the needs, 

and the hopes of other peoples. 

O n e of our university presidents re-

cently said: 

T h i s is not merely a w a r — i t is the great-
est revolution civilization ever experienced. 
. . . W e are to have a new social order. 
Unless our young people are trained to 
understand the new order and to shape it 
according to the principles for which they 
are fighting, there is little sense in con-
tinuing the struggle. If there ever was a 

time when students should have access to 
accurate information and sound advice, free 
from hysteria, this is such a time. 

L i b r a r i a n s in educational institutions 

cannot escape the responsibility for the 

extracurricular reading of the students 

today, many of w h o m w i l l be the leaders 

tomorrow. Honest, unprejudiced, and 

authoritative materials must be at hand 

where the students cannot but be attracted 

to t h e m — m a t e r i a l s that w i l l contribute 

to an intelligent understanding of events, 

of the changes w r o u g h t by modern science, 

making of the w o r l d one neighborhood, 

and of the necessity of settling postwar 

problems in terms of basic human needs, 

if w e are to have a permanent peace. 

A.L.A. Wartime Policy 

Unreservedly w e subscribe to the A . L . A . 

w a r t i m e policy recommendation " t h a t 

every library give the greatest possible 

emphasis for the duration of the w a r to 

those materials and services w h i c h w i l l 

give people the facts and ideas that w i l l 

enable them to make intelligent decisions. 

. . . " 5 T o give concrete direction to this 

aim, the Association of C o l l e g e and R e f e r -

ence Libraries has a Committee on W a r -

time Activities under the aggressive 

chairmanship of C h a r l e s H a r v e y B r o w n . 

W e look f o r w a r d w i t h confidence to the 

results of its endeavors and bespeak your 

f u l l cooperation and support in achieving 

them. 

5 A.L.A. Bulletin 36:428, J u l y , 1942. 

4 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES