College and Research Libraries


l i b r a r y a d m i n i s t r a t o r ? H e r e is a brief list, 
each w i t h its c o n v e r s e : 

K N O W H O W TO S P E A K — a n d how to listen. 
KNOW HOW TO W R I T E — a n d h o w t o r e a d . 
K N O W H O W TO W O R K F A S T a n d h o w t o d o 

nothing. 
KNOW HOW TO DELEGATE a n d h o w t o 

retain. 
KNOW HOW TO CREDIT OTHERS a n d h o w 

to take blame. 
K N O W H O W TO C H A N G E Y O U R L E N S FROM 

WIDE TO N A R R O W — a n d h o w t o b e b l i n d . 
K N O W H O W TO W I N L O Y A L T Y — a n d h o w t o 

be loyal. 
If anyone k n o w s of such a p a r a g o n , have 

him w r i t e to U C L A . W e have an opening at 
the bottom, at $ 3 5 0 0 per y e a r , w i t h n o w h e r e 
to go but up. 

B y K A T H L E E N C A M P B E L L 

The Librarian as Administrator 
Miss Campbell is librarian, Montana State 

University. 

BOTH D r . L a w r e n c e C l a r k P o w e l l
1 and 

D r . M a u r i c e F . T a u b e r 2 discussed this 
m a t t e r of " T h e L i b r a r i a n as B o o k m a n or 
A d m i n i s t r a t o r " a number of y e a r s ago. D r . 
P o w e l l took the side of the l i b r a r i a n as book-
man, and while he pointed out that a "passion 
f o r books is the g r e a t e s t single asset a li-
b r a r i a n can h a v e , " he nevertheless agreed 
w i t h D r . T a u b e r that to be a bookman w a s 
not enough—the l i b r a r i a n must be an ad-
m i n i s t r a t o r as w e l l . T h e s e articles by 
P o w e l l and T a u b e r cover the subject v e r y 
w e l l in a general w a y , but I should like to 
point out the situation in the small university 
l i b r a r y . 

V a r i o u s dictionaries define " b o o k m a n " as 
" a s c h o l a r , " and it is w i t h this definition in 
mind that I w i s h to discuss the m a t t e r . I n 
the beginning, I w a n t to say that I can think 
of no more ideal combination f o r a l i b r a r i a n 
than that of b o o k m a n - a d m i n i s t r a t o r , but in 
the s m a l l university l i b r a r y , the talents of a 
bookman could be lost, and I am quite sure 
that he might find himself s o m e w h a t unhappy 
in his job. 

I n the small university, f o r the most p a r t , 
f u n d s are limited, and the l i b r a r y budget 
u s u a l l y is inadequate to meet the c u r r e n t 
needs of the teaching f a c u l t y to say nothing 
of building up r a r e book and scholarly collec-
tions. O f course, in e v e r y l i b r a r y the li-
b r a r i a n must be responsible f o r the selection 

1 Powell, Lawrence Clark, "The Chief Librarian: 
Bookman or Administrator?" Stechert-Hafner Book 
News, 3:13-14, October 15, 1948. 2 Tauber, Maurice F., "Bookman and Administrator," 
Stechert-Hafner Book News, 3:73-74, March 1 5 , 1949. 

of books of a general n a t u r e in all fields, and 
he w i l l , if he is alert, take the initiative in 
maintaining the strong collections in his li-
b r a r y . T h e s m a l l university is an under-
g r a d u a t e school p r i m a r i l y , o f f e r i n g no 
advanced degrees beyond the M a s t e r ' s , and 
even then, in m a n y cases, only in restricted 
fields. T h e n , too, there is the question as to 
w h e t h e r money should be spent f o r scholarly 
or r a r e book collections at the sacrifice of 
g e n e r a l l y needed l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s . T h e 
teaching load in the small university is apt to 
be heavier than in the l a r g e schools, again 
because of inadequate f u n d s , thus limiting 
time f o r research and consequently publication 
by f a c u l t y . 

A l i b r a r i a n even though he be a scholar 
cannot possibly k n o w the highly specialized 
m a t e r i a l s in all fields represented in his li-
b r a r y . T h e r e f o r e , he should m a k e use of the 
k n o w l e d g e of his f a c u l t y w h o are, or certainly 
should be, specialists in their fields. F u r t h e r -
more, and j u s t l y so, many f a c u l t y members 
consider their p a r t in the building of l i b r a r y 
collections not simply a privilege but an in-
herent right based on the assumption that the 
function of the f a c u l t y is to guide students in 
their reading and the responsibility of the 
l i b r a r y is to o f f e r bibliographic aid and to 
m a k e m a t e r i a l s a v a i l a b l e f o r use. In f a c t , as 
g i f t collections come to o u r l i b r a r y , members 
of the f a c u l t y are invited to look over the m a -
terial of a highly specialized n a t u r e and to 
assist the l i b r a r i a n in determining w h e t h e r 
such m a t e r i a l should be added to o u r l i b r a r y 
or o f f e r e d to l i b r a r i e s in the P a c i f i c N o r t h -
w e s t R e g i o n having strong collections in the 
subject field concerned'. Such cooperation, in 

JULY, 1954 329 



my opinion, gives the f a c u l t y an added interest 
in the library. 

I n the small university l i b r a r y , the librarian 
usually must c a r r y f u l l responsibility f o r ad-
ministration since the size of the library and 
the budget do not w a r r a n t an administrative 
assistant. If an assistant librarian is desig-
nated, he has other duties, such as head of a 
department, and has little time f o r much else 
than minor administrative duties. T h i s 
means that the librarian should be f a m i l i a r 
with procedures in every department in the 
l i b r a r y in order to understand the problems 
of staff members, to interpret and to coordi-
nate the w o r k of the library, and to determine 
policies intelligently. A l s o , because of a 
limited s t a f f , it is not unheard of f o r the li-
brarian, in an emergency, to c a r r y a depart-
mental schedule or to supervise w o r k within a 
department. 

Public relations w i t h f a c u l t y is an im-
portant p a r t of the librarian's w o r k . In the 
small university, many hours a w e e k go into 
conferences with f a c u l t y regarding l i b r a r y 
policy, f a c u l t y needs, and most important, the 
acquisition of l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s since a limited 
budget requires selective acquisition. 

I n M o n t a n a , the librarian of the State 
U n i v e r s i t y is, by l a w , chairman of the State 
L i b r a r y Extension Commission. In this ca-
pacity, she is expected to c a r r y her share of 
responsibility f o r l i b r a r y development in the 
state, to w o r k with librarians, organizations, 
individuals, and legislators in securing finan-
cial support f o r the Commission, to assist 
communities in organizing libraries and in 
improving their l i b r a r y service, which means 
some t r a v e l through the state (and if you 
have ever been in M o n t a n a you can under-
stand w h a t t r a v e l means) to assist in pre-
paring the budget, to call meetings of the 
Commission, to represent the Commission at 
v a r i o u s conferences, and to do the most un-
expected things at the most unexpected times. 
T h e services of the C h a i r m a n are gratuitous 
except f o r t r a v e l expenses, and are considered 
by the university as a service to the state. 
Needless to say, these duties represent many 
" a d m i n i s t r a t i v e " hours. 

T h e l i b r a r i a n of the small university seems 
to be pretty w e l l bogged down with the or-
ganization and administration of his l i b r a r y 
doing his best to make his l i b r a r y collections 
available and his services efficient. H e might 

have " a passion" f o r books, but the position of 
acquisitions librarian is vacant and book re-
quests are flowing in, so he foregoes his 
" p a s s i o n " and supervises order w o r k along 
with his r e g u l a r duties; or he might like to 
visit book shops and discuss books by the 
hour, but the closest book stores are more 
than 500 miles a w a y , and even worse, no 
money has been allocated f o r this purpose. 

P e r h a p s in the final analysis, the adminis-
tration of the library of a small university is 
not so v e r y different f r o m that of the l a r g e 
university. H o w e v e r , the l a r g e university 
library because of size of staff and organiza-
tion usually has one or more administrative 
assistants on the staff. W i t h the librarian re-
lieved of administrative duties, he is f r e e to 
devote his time to books and to scholarly and 
r a r e book collections—or at least this w o u l d 
seem to be the case in D r . P o w e l l ' s l i b r a r y . 

N o w as to w h a t can be done t o w a r d train-
ing better l i b r a r y administrators. L a s t 
summer, I had the pleasant and interesting 
experience of teaching " C o l l e g e and U n i v e r -
sity L i b r a r y P r o b l e m s " in one of the library 
schools in the W e s t . T h e class consisted of 
students both with and without l i b r a r y ex-
perience. M a n y of the inexperienced students 
w e r e unable to grasp the essentials of library 
administration because they had no idea of the 
organization or operation of a library, and 
w o r k i n g in competition with experienced stu-
dents, n a t u r a l l y they w e r e f r u s t r a t e d . Since 
a knowledge of library organization is neces-
sary f o r understanding the basic problems 
connected with a library, or even a department 
within a library, it seemed to me then that a 
student should have at least a period of good 
observation in a library b e f o r e being admitted 
to a library school. 

I have been somewhat surprised at the 
number of l i b r a r y school graduates, with no 
experience of any kind other than the usual 
t w o or three weeks of field practice, w h o have 
applied f o r supervisory and administrative 
positions in libraries. I say surprised because 
I am wondering if this is an indication on the 
p a r t of some l i b r a r y school g r a d u a t e s that 
they consider themselves trained f o r super-
visory or administrative positions upon leaving 
l i b r a r y school. 

D r . L o w e l l M a r t i n , in his article entitled, 
" S h a l l L i b r a r y Schools T e a c h A d m i n i s t r a -
t i o n ? " 3 brings out some important points. 

330 COI.LEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



H e agrees that there is a place in the first y e a r 
c u r r i c u l u m f o r a course in l i b r a r y adminis-
tration, but his article is concerned w i t h the 
need f o r something beyond that first y e a r — a 
f u r t h e r development, "in which the teaching 
of l i b r a r y administration is built around the 
' a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p r o c e s s ' . " 

If l i b r a r y schools a r e to u n d e r t a k e the j o b 
of training executives, then there are the ques-
tions which D r . M a r t i n asks, " S h a l l all stu-
dents be trained as a d m i n i s t r a t o r s ? If not, 
w h o w i l l select the 'elite', and on w h a t b a s i s ? " 
C e r t a i n l y the a n s w e r to the first question can 
be " n o " since all l i b r a r y school students a r e 
not potential a d m i n i s t r a t o r s . T h e second 
question might be a n s w e r e d by m a n a g e m e n t ' s 
method of executive officers selecting promis-
ing young men and w o m e n in their firms to 
be trained f o r executive positions. B u t there 
is a f u r t h e r question to be a n s w e r e d . Since 
all a d m i n i s t r a t o r s a r e not potential teachers, 
w h o w i l l decide which l i b r a r i a n s are success-
f u l a d m i n i s t r a t o r s as w e l l as qualified teach-
ers and have the ability to train l i b r a r y 
executives ? 

I n a recent issue of the Library Journal 
R i c h a r d D a h l , 4 l a w l i b r a r i a n of the U n i v e r -
sity of N e b r a s k a , discuscses the " c a s e 
s y s t e m " as a means f o r teaching l i b r a r y ad-
ministration in o u r l i b r a r y schools, and this 
method of teaching deserves some thought. 
D r . M a r t i n in his article also r e f e r s to the 
" c a s e s y s t e m " as a possible means f o r pre-
senting l i b r a r y administration, but does not 
the " c a s e m e t h o d " presuppose a k n o w l e d g e of 
l i b r a r y o r g a n i z a t i o n ? So again w e a r e back 
to the problem as to w h e t h e r students should 
have an observation period in a l i b r a r y b e f o r e 
being admitted to a l i b r a r y school. 

A student upon leaving l i b r a r y school finds 
his interest in a certain department of a li-
b r a r y , and if he has ability and is ambitious 
at all, in time he w i l l become a specialist in 
the field represented. H o w e v e r , he may h a v e 
a d m i n i s t r a t i v e potential and a desire to develop 
it. T h i s necessitates a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n f r o m 
specialist to " g e n e r a l i s t " because in the s m a l l 

3 Martin, Lowell, "Shall Library Schools Teach Ad-
ministration?" C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S , 
6:335-340, September, 194S. 4 Dahl, Richard C., "The 'Case System' for Library 
Schools," Library Journal, 79:17-20, January 1, 1954. 

university l i b r a r y , at least, he must u n d e r -
stand w h a t the v a r i o u s specialists in his li-
b r a r y a r e talking about in o r d e r to do some-
thing about it. T h e problem involved is h o w 
shall the " g e n e r a l i s t " be developed. W h e t h e r 
the passive methods of teaching and lectures 
or the active development methods of l e a r n i n g 
through practical experience, or both, are to 
be employed in training executives is a m a t t e r 
which must be decided by l i b r a r y adminis-
t r a t o r s and l i b r a r y schools alike. F o r my o w n 
part, I should imagine that an ideal w a y to 
g r o o m an a d m i n i s t r a t o r f o r a s m a l l u n i v e r -
sity l i b r a r y w o u l d be a concentrated in-train-
ing p r o g r a m of say f r o m six months to a 
y e a r in a l a r g e w e l l - a d m i n i s t e r e d university 
l i b r a r y w h e r e the candidate could w o r k di-
rectly w i t h the l i b r a r i a n and his a d m i n i s t r a -
tive assistants. T h i s w o u l d give the candidate 
an opportunity to observe many and v a r i e d 
administrative problems, to have a p a r t in 
solving them, and to broaden his a d m i n i s t r a -
tive background. H e w o u l d then be in a posi-
tion to adapt his training to his own l i b r a r y 
needs. T h e difficulty involved here, h o w e v e r , 
w o u l d be w h e t h e r the l a r g e l i b r a r y executive 
and his administrative assistants w o u l d be 
w i l l i n g to give the time and to assume re-
sponsibility f o r training a d m i n i s t r a t o r s f o r 
the l i b r a r y profession. T h e task is not an 
easy one nor can it be accomplished overnight. 
M a n a g e m e n t has spent y e a r s and hundreds of 
thousands of d o l l a r s in training executives f o r 
business. A f t e r all, l i b r a r y administration is 
not too f a r removed f r o m business adminis-
tration. C e r t a i n l y the same f a c t o r s a r e in-
v o l v e d : finances, budgets, organization, and 
p e r s o n n e l ; building, equipment, and long-term 
planning. A little training in that " m o d e r n 
s c h o o l - o f - p u b l i c - a d m i n i s t r a t i o n " that D r . 
P o w e l l speaks of m a y not be completely out 
of place in the book w o r l d . I n f a c t , by the 
time that D r . P o w e l l has finished w i t h his 
spring semester class at C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y 
(and I quote D r . P o w e l l — " o f all things, a 
class in l i b r a r y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n " ) he probably 
w i l l w a n t to tackle this m a t t e r again in the 
expanded f o r m of " T h e L i b r a r i a n as B o o k -
man, A d m i n i s t r a t o r , or P i o n e e r in the 
A d m i n i s t r a t i v e P r o c e s s " — h e , of course, dis-
cussing the training of l i b r a r y a d m i n i s t r a t o r . 

JULY1954 331