College and Research Libraries


By CHARLES F. GOSNELL 

A Voice for National Interests 

As readers of College and Research Li-
braries know~ the American Library Asso-
ciation proposes a campaign for a Library 
Development Fund~ with a view to caring 
for the interests of libraries at the nation~ s 
capital. The bearing of this upon the posi-
tion and work of college and reference li-
braries ·is brought out in the following 
statement. 

As ISOLATED INDIVIDUALS, the members 
~ of a profession have great difficulty 
in making their influence felt in public 
matters. With the development of group 
consciousness and group organization and 
the erection of machinery of contact with 
other groups,, they become more important 
social factors. 

While professional associations lack the 
financial resources of business groups and 
while they lack the numbers of labor and 
agricultural associations, they possess assets 
which are of prime · importance in public 
affairs today: namely, the technical knowl-
edge of their members and strategic places 
their members fill in modern society. Yet 
the importance of librarians to modern so-
ciety seems to be equaled only by their 
modesty and timidity and, all too often, by 
their frustration. They are charged with 
care of that great collective brain of modern 
technological civilization, the printed page. 
It is the corporate memory of things past 
and the great medium of communication 
and integration of thought for the present 
and future. But by their very selfless devo-
tion to it, librarians sometimes fail to save 
it from those who would destroy it or from 

those who, from ignorance or indifference, 
would starve it. 

There is evidence that we as a profession 
are beginning to know and appreciate com-
pelling economic, political, and social facts. 
The American Library Association plan to 
establish a Washington representative is a 
most welcome sign that the professional 
association is seeking to keep in step with 
the times and that the zeal to greater serv-
ice which moved the founders in I 876 is 
glowing anew. 

Although the national Constitution does 
not so provide, it is increasingly apparent 
that there are two levels or bases of repre-
sentation in our government. The first and 
highest is that which always has ·existed, 
that of duly elected officials, broadly repre-
senting parties and localities. The second 
basis of representation is. that of groups of 
citizens with common interests. While 
each individual citizen still has the ancient 
right of petition, in effect it has been de-
valuated by the tremendous increase in the 
number of citizens and by the complexity . 
and interrelationships of each citizen's needs 
and desires. It is only through the group 
and with expert testimony, effectively pre-
sented, that the modern citizen can be 
heard. 

99 

As a pr~fession, we librarians are noted 
for loyalty and devotion to the public 
welfare. Our satisfaction is in service, and 
no amount of increase in sales and consump-
tion · will be reflected in increased profits. 
We are peculiarly fitted to raise our voice 
in Washington for the good of all. 

The plan to have an established represen-



tative m Washington is by . no means an 
experiment. Certainly it is not new to 
other professional associations. Many of 
the groups to whom we are closest in inter-
est have permanent headquarters there and 
wield important influence, among them 
being the National Education Association, 
the American Council on Education, the 
American Council of Learned Societies, and 
the American Association .of Y niversity 
Professors. The American Library Asso-
ciation has done this sort of thing with 
great success in one field, that of library 
relations with Latin America, and recently, 
to some extent, in connection with other 
international relations. Our representa-
tives have been accepted as experts and 
have rendered important services to the 
government. There has been no question 
as to their sincerity and the value of their 
contribution nor of the purposes of the 
Association which sponsored their efforts. 
We have both the right and the duty to 
have a voice in other affairs of even greater 
importance. 

It is true that we have spoken on other 
points a,nd other issues and occasionally our 
voice has been heard. But the record is 
not completely satisfactory. Perhaps those 
who have listened to our representatives 
have measured our convictions as to what 
was said by our failure to provide constant, 
continual, and completely effective support. 
Without reflecting on the excellent work 
which has been done on a part-time basis, 
doubtless more could be accomplished with 
a regularly assigned representative who was 

·in a position to learn his way around, to 
get acquainted, to be always available for 
questions, and to practice that watchful 
waiting which is essential in gaining results. 

Among the issues with which college, 
university, and research liprarians have 
recently been concerned, or may soon in 
the future be concerned, the following may 
be cited. The conclusion is obvious that 

concentrated effort_ is necessary and that 
the A.L.A. campaign deserves fullest 
support. 

We are all in teres ted in ~ecuring surplus 
property; we want to deal directly rather 
than thro~gh brokers in the open market; 
we certainly don't want to see this material 
destroyed, as some have proposed. If any 
governmental aid to college and research 
libraries is available again, we want to put 
in our claim. As the programs for return-
ing veterans develop, college and university 
librarians wish proper recognition for the 
services they render; this support finally 
came for the Army Specialized Training 
Program, but we were worried by the 
delay. 

We are disturbed by the increasing limi-
tations and difficulties in the distribution 
of government documents. Our primary 
concern is not self-interest in making our 
acquisition work easier but our fundamental 
responsibility 1n a democracy to see that 
documents are properly available. We are 
glad that the Library of Congress catalog 
is at last ~eing printed but we are distressed 
that so useful and important a tool could 
not be produced and distributed by the same 
liberal -hand that has broadcast so many 
thousands of tons of paper bearing print of 
relatively little consequence. In harsh but 
reasonable words someone has compared the 
cost of this set with the cost of a comparable 
volume such as the Army Medical Library 
catalog and called the difference a tax on 
the dwindling book funds of our libraries. 

We are faced with continued difficulties 
in the way of purchase and importation of 
foreign books. If we are to continue to 
serve our college and university students 
and faculties, we must insist that these 
channels be cleared as soon as possible. 

When we seek to make our voice heard 
in Washington we are not looking for 
Santa Claus. We are only expressing our 
belief in the vital importance of our work. 

100 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES