College and Research Libraries


B y C L A R E N C E G O R C H E L S 

Making Subject Specialists Available 
for Service 

Mr. Gorchels is acting assistant director 

of libraries, State College of Washington, 

Pullman. 

IF TWO ARE GOOD, are e i g h t b e t t e r ? I n short, t h a t is the question b e i n g p u t to 
the test in the l i b r a r y of the S t a t e C o l l e g e 

of W a s h i n g t o n . 

T h e S t a t e C o l l e g e of W a s h i n g t o n pos-

sesses one of the first and finest of the n e w 

p o s t - w a r l i b r a r y b u i l d i n g s c o n s t r u c t e d es-

pecially to o f f e r the a d v a n t a g e s of l i b r a r y 

service based on the s u b j e c t - d i v i s i o n a l - l i b r a r y 

type of o r g a n i z a t i o n . T h e n e w $3,000,000 

b u i l d i n g , 1 n o w in its f o u r t h y e a r of service 

to the 5600 students and f a c u l t y of the col-

lege, has been an i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r in ena-

b l i n g the d i r e c t o r of libraries, G . D o n a l d 

S m i t h , and the l i b r a r y staff to d e v e l o p a 

p a t t e r n of service w h i c h is designed to m a k e 

the l i b r a r y a v e r y a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a n t in the 

i n s t r u c t i o n a l and research p r o g r a m s of the 

c o l l e g e . 

T h e characteristics and the theoretical 

a d v a n t a g e s of the s u b j e c t divisional p l a n 

h a v e been w e l l e x p o u n d e d in l i b r a r y litera-

t u r e , 2 and at least one v e r y good detailed 

s t u d y of a s u b j e c t divisional u n i t has ap-

1 "Modular Library U n d e r Construction," Architec-
tural Record, C I V (July, 1948), 102-9. 

2 Ralph E. Ellsworth, "Colorado U n i v e r s i t y ' s Divi-
sional Reading Room P l a n : Description and Evaluation," 
COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES, I I ( M a r c h , I 9 4 1 ) , 
103-9, 192. W . H . Jesse, "Divisional Organization," 
Journal of Higher Education, X V (December, 1944), 
459-64. John D. Chapman, Ralph H . Hopp, Arthur J. 
V e n n i x and Kathryn R. Renfro, "The Divisional Li-
brary at Nebraska: T w o Aspects," COLLEGE AND RE-
SEARCH LIBRARIES, X V (April, 1954), 148-57. G. 
Donald Smith, "The Divisional Organization of the 
Reader Services at Washington State College," Changing 
Patterns of Reference Service. ( S e a t t l e : U n i v e r s i t y of 
Washington, Bureau of Governmental Research and 
Services, 1953), 11-19. 

peared in the pages of this j o u r n a l . 3 

Y e t , investigation indicates that libraries 

h a v e hesitated to develop the r e l a t i v e l y pure 

type of s u b j e c t divisional o r g a n i z a t i o n w h i c h 

should m o r e c l e a r l y d e t e r m i n e the f u n c t i o n a l 

a d v a n t a g e s and d i s a d v a n t a g e s of this type of 

o r g a n i z a t i o n . T h i s situation p r o m p t s the 

question of w h y o n l y one or t w o l i b r a r i a n s 

w i t h a special s u b j e c t interest are put into a 

divisional l i b r a r y w h i c h i n e v i t a b l y has seven 

or m o r e special subjects. C e r t a i n l y , it 

w o u l d be d i f f i c u l t to test f a i r l y the v a l u e of 

s u b j e c t specialists in reader service activities 

in a science divisional l i b r a r y , f o r instance, 

if the science l i b r a r y had specialists o n l y in 

physics and z o o l o g y . W h a t happens to bot-

a n y , c h e m i s t r y , m a t h e m a t i c s , a g r i c u l t u r e , 

and e n g i n e e r i n g ? A g a i n , it w o u l d be diffi-

c u l t to f a i r l y test the v a l u e of s u b j e c t special-

ists in a h u m a n i t i e s divisional l i b r a r y , say, 

if the humanities l i b r a r y had l i b r a r i a n s w i t h 

special s u b j e c t interest in o n l y A m e r i c a n 

l i t e r a t u r e and fine arts. W h a t happens to 

f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e s , music, religion, and 

p h i l o s o p h y ? F i n a l l y , it w o u l d be r a t h e r 

d i f f i c u l t to test f a i r l y the v a l u e of s u b j e c t 

specialists in p e r f o r m i n g operations i n v o l v e d 

in the o r g a n i z a t i o n of resources in, say, a 

social science divisional l i b r a r y , if the social 

science l i b r a r y had l i b r a r i a n s w i t h special 

s u b j e c t interest in o n l y history and econom-

ics. W h a t happens to sociology, educa-

tion, p s y c h o l o g y , business, and political 

science ? 

C o n s e q u e n t l y , in the l i b r a r y at the S t a t e 

3 Percy C. Morrison, "Variation of the Subject Divi-
s i o n a l P l a n a t O r e g o n , " COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRAR-
IES, X I V (April, 1953), 158-63. 

OCTOBER, 1955 347 



C o l l e g e of W a s h i n g t o n , v a r y i n g n u m b e r s 

of l i b r a r i a n s w i t h a p p r o p r i a t e special sub-

j e c t interests h a v e been assigned to each of 

the three divisional libraries. A t this time, 

e i g h t professional l i b r a r i a n s are in the social 

science l i b r a r y , six p r o f e s s i o n a l l i b r a r i a n s 

are in the science l i b r a r y , and five pro-

fessional l i b r a r i a n s are in the h u m a n i t i e s 

l i b r a r y . 

T h a t adds up to nineteen p r o f e s s i o n a l 

l i b r a r i a n s ! W h a t do they a l l d o ? O b -

v i o u s l y , they h a v e duties w h i c h are consider-

a b l y m o r e v a r i e d t h a n those of a r e f e r e n c e 

l i b r a r i a n in the a v e r a g e m e d i u m - s i z e d uni-

v e r s i t y l i b r a r y r e a d i n g r o o m . A s has al-

r e a d y been implied, of course, most of these 

nineteen professional l i b r a r i a n s w i t h special 

s u b j e c t interests h a v e t h r e e - f o l d respon-

sibilities : ( i ) they p a r t i c i p a t e in reader 

service w o r k . ( 2 ) they have a role in the 

selection of the l i b r a r y ' s resources, and ( 3 ) 

they h a v e duties of m a j o r i m p o r t a n c e in-

v o l v i n g the c a t a l o g i n g and o r g a n i z i n g of the 

l i b r a r y ' s resources. 

B a s i c a l l y , it is f e l t t h a t the w o r t h of the 

s u b j e c t specialist is g r e a t l y increased as he 

participates in the o r g a n i z a t i o n of the li-

b r a r y ' s resources ( e s p e c i a l l y in s u b j e c t cata-

l o g i n g and c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ) as w e l l as partici-

p a t i n g in book selection and service to 

readers' activities. I t is this d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n 

of c a t a l o g i n g , in the broadest sense of the 

t e r m , w h i c h m a k e s possible the h i g h l y de-

sirable situation of h a v i n g m o r e s u b j e c t 

specialists a v a i l a b l e f o r reader service. F o r , 

w h e n the l a r g e staff of c a t a l o g e r s needed in a 

u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y is t a k e n o u t of the behind-

the-scenes c a t a l o g i n g d e p a r t m e n t and as-

signed to divisional l i b r a r y posts, each divi-

sional l i b r a r y g e t s a substantial increase of 

s t a f f . A d m i t t e d l y , the c a t a l o g i n g w o r k s t i l l 

m u s t be done. B u t w h y n o t h a v e it done 

in the a p p r o p r i a t e divisional l i b r a r y in d i r e c t 

and c o n s t a n t c o n t a c t w i t h reader service re-

q u i r e m e n t s ? I t is i m p o r t a n t to m a k e the 

l i b r a r y ' s s u b j e c t specialists a v a i l a b l e f o r the 

m a x i m u m a m o u n t of r e a d e r service w o r k as 

w e l l as f o r selection of resources duties and 

c a t a l o g i n g and b i b l i o g r a p h i c w o r k in his 

special s u b j e c t area. T h u s , it is a d v a n -

tageous f o r h i m to be p h y s i c a l l y located in 

the a p p r o p r i a t e divisional l i b r a r y a r e a if he 

is to h a v e a f u l l o p p o r t u n i t y t o g e t to k n o w 

the readers ( s t u d e n t s and f a c u l t y ) and the 

needs of these readers w h o come to this di-

visional l i b r a r y . 

T h i s idea of c o m b i n i n g service to readers 

w i t h c a t a l o g i n g is not v e r y o r i g i n a l , of 

course. T h e idea has been considered by a 

n u m b e r of l i b r a r i a n s o v e r the years, and a 

c o n c r e t e proposal by J o h n J . L u n d appeared 

in p r i n t in 1 9 4 2 . 4 O t h e r l i b r a r i a n s , such as 

R a y n a r d S w a n k 5 and G . D o n a l d S m i t h 6 

h a v e in recent y e a r s presented refinements. 

Y e t , M o r r i s o n 7 s u m m a r i z e d the e x i s t i n g 

s i t u a t i o n v e r y w e l l w h e n he s a i d : " S o m e ad-

herents of the s u b j e c t divisional plan h a v e 

modified the p l a n to the e x t e n t of c e n t r a l i z -

i n g c a t a l o g i n g , or c i r c u l a t i o n , or g o v e r n m e n t 

and i n t e r n a t i o n a l documents, or a n y com-

bination of these l i b r a r y f u n c t i o n s , or all of 

t h e m . " I n o t h e r w o r d s , libraries are v e r y 

s l o w to b r e a k w i t h past p a t t e r n s of cen-

t r a l i z a t i o n of m a n y of the t r a d i t i o n a l f u n c -

tions of u n i v e r s i t y libraries. 

H o w e v e r , at the S t a t e C o l l e g e of W a s h -

i n g t o n , in a d d i t i o n to c a r r y i n g on the ex-

p e r i m e n t of d e c e n t r a l i z e d c a t a l o g i n g , the 

l i b r a r y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n has also r e j e c t e d the 

t r a d i t i o n a l separate and special d o c u m e n t s 

r o o m and the special reserve r e a d i n g r o o m . 

T h e concept of establishing special l i b r a r y 

f u n c t i o n s r o o m s is n o t considered to be in the 

best interest of o v e r - a l l service. A l a r g e col-

lege or u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y is i n t r i n s i c a l l y a 

4 John J. Lund, " T h e Cataloging Process in the Uni-
versity L i b r a r y : A Proposal for Reorganization," COL-
L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S , I I I ( J u n e , I 9 4 2 ) , 2 1 2 -
18. 

5 R . C. Swank. " S u b j e c t Cataloging in the Subject-
Departmentalized L i b r a r y . " In Jesse H . Shera, and 
Margaret E. Egan, eds. Bibliographic Organisation. 
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1 9 5 1 ) , 187-
199. 

6 G. Donald Smith, op. cit. 
7 P e r c y C. Morrison, op. cit. 

348 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



v e r y c o m p l e x institution in itself. I t is no 

easy m a t t e r to orient the a v e r a g e s t u d e n t to 

the point at w h i c h he can use the l i b r a r y 

efficiently and c o n f i d e n t i a l l y . I n this re-

spect, the s u b j e c t divisional type of o r g a n i z a -

tion has real a d v a n t a g e s . I t is r e l a t i v e l y 

easy f o r the s t u d e n t to learn that w h e n he 

w a n t s m a t e r i a l s and services in the social 

sciences, f o r e x a m p l e , he should go to the 

social science l i b r a r y . S o m e t h i n g concrete is 

accomplished. H o w e v e r , if special rooms, 

such as a d o c u m e n t s room or reserve book 

room, are set up, there is an increase in the 

likelihood that the student w i l l be over-

w h e l m e d and c o n f u s e d . A l s o , at times he 

m i g h t be g i v e n the " r u n - a r o u n d . " H e can be 

r e f e r r e d f r o m one room to a n o t h e r and f r o m 

one person to a n o t h e r almost ad infinitum. 

O n the other hand, it is r e c o g n i z e d at the 

S t a t e C o l l e g e of W a s h i n g t o n t h a t some ac-

tivities are so m e c h a n i c a l that professional 

l i b r a r i a n s need not be i n v o l v e d except in 

broad policy m a k i n g . T h e m o r e routine 

" t e c h n i c a l processes" of o r d e r i n g n e w books 

( a f t e r professional s e l e c t i o n ) , c h e c k i n g in-

voices and a p p r o v i n g p a y m e n t , c a t a l o g c a r d 

p r o d u c t i o n , card filing, book m a r k i n g and 

p o c k e t i n g , and the sending and r e c e i v i n g of 

b i n d i n g are c e n t r a l i z e d in the l i b r a r y ' s tech-

nical service division. I t is l i k e l y that even 

more technical and p r e d o m i n a n t l y clerical 

activities can be a d v a n t a g e o u s l y t r a n s f e r r e d 

to a c e n t r a l i z e d area. 

I t w o u l d be shortsighted to f a i l to ac-

k n o w l e d g e at least three m a j o r p r o b l e m s 

w h i c h c h a l l e n g e the success of the pure sub-

j e c t divisional type of o r g a n i z a t i o n in the 

l i b r a r y . F i r s t , h o w can a l i b r a r y success-

f u l l y r e c r u i t and develop the v e r y essential 

s u b j e c t specialists? S e c o n d l y , h o w can 

older staff librarians w h o h a v e w o r k e d only 

the t r a d i t i o n a l w a y in the t r a d i t i o n a l l i b r a r y 

set-up as c a t a l o g e r s or r e f e r e n c e l i b r a r i a n s 

e x c l u s i v e l y be i n t e g r a t e d e f f e c t i v e l y into the 

n e w type o r g a n i z a t i o n ? T h i r d l y , h o w can 

s u b j e c t specialization be combined w i t h 

l i b r a r y technical duties in a w a y to assure 

efficient, p r o d u c t i v e w o r k f r o m each l i b r a r i -

an ? T h e s e p r o b l e m s can be r e c o g n i z e d and 

defined, but not m u c h in the f o r m of in-

s t r u c t i o n a l a n s w e r s can be o f f e r e d n o w . 

A s f o r P r o b l e m I , in these times, ad-

m i t t e d l y , the l i b r a r y c a n n o t v e r y s u c c e s s f u l l y 

outstrip the competition f o r s u b j e c t special-

ists. T h e r e f o r e , specialists on the d o c t o r a l 

l e v e l h a v e been rare in the l i b r a r y . B u t by 

o f f e r i n g opportunities f o r a d d i t i o n a l s u b j e c t 

d e v e l o p m e n t and by h a v i n g a f a i r l y good 

s a l a r y scale, the l i b r a r y has been successful in 

e n g a g i n g specialists on the m a s t e r ' s degree 

l e v e l . F u r t h e r m o r e , the device of assigning 

a special s u b j e c t interest to each l i b r a r i a n 

has also been f o u n d to be s a l u t a r y . 

C o n c e r n i n g P r o b l e m I I , the older staff 

m e m b e r s themselves have m a d e a v e r y 

earnest e f f o r t to serve in their n e w roles. 

A d a p t a t i o n has been v e r y difficult in some 

cases, of course, but the l i b r a r y a d m i n i s t r a -

tion has not been inflexible. A f e w com-

promises h a v e been made f o r the benefit of 

t w o or three persons w h o m i g h t o t h e r w i s e 

be too u n p r o d u c t i v e . 

P r o b l e m I I I , c o n c e r n i n g w a y s and means 

of successfully c o m b i n i n g s u b j e c t specializa-

tion w i t h l i b r a r y technical duties, remains 

most imposing. I t is too e a r l y in the de-

v e l o p m e n t of the plan to claim any degree of 

success. B u t the w i l l i n g n e s s of most good 

staff members to accept the prescribed 

v a r i e t y of activities and duties is the most 

e n c o u r a g i n g f a c t o r at this time. 

I n s u m m a r y , the pure s u b j e c t specializa-

tion plan has been developed f o r the l i b r a r y 

of the S t a t e C o l l e g e of W a s h i n g t o n in the 

belief that the plan gives better service to 

the students and f a c u l t y . B y p a r t i c i p a t i n g 

in r e f e r e n c e service, in the selection of the 

l i b r a r y ' s resources, and in the o r g a n i z a t i o n 

of the l i b r a r y ' s resources, each s u b j e c t 

specialist-librarian is able to m a k e a m o r e 

complete c o n t r i b u t i o n to the services of the 

l i b r a r y . 

OCTOBER, 1955 349