College and Research Libraries B y C E C I L K . B Y R D School for Administrators: The Rutgers Carnegie Project LI B R A R Y S C H O O L S offer only limited training to students f o r administra- tive responsibility in libraries. Matteoti, w h o had a penchant f o r classifying things academic, h a d he lived, w o u l d probably have arranged contemporary library ad- ministration courses in a most system- atic manner. T h e r e w o u l d have emerged in his scheme the "cover-all" variety of- fered in a v a c u u m by instructors whose actual administrative experience oc- curred sometime between the Spanish- A m e r i c a n W a r and the Bull-Moose cam- paign. Or, contrarily, the dynamic, hu- man-relations oriented course taught by the scholar-teacher whose contacts with current administrative needs and prac- tices are maintained through the medi- um of visits with the professional elite in hotel corridors at library conventions, gleaned by attendance at work-shops, or are painstakingly distilled f r o m the latest treatise on "scientific" management. Gen- erally, the educational background and lack of experience and maturity of the students prohibits f u l l profit even of the most superlatively organized and con- ducted library school course. T r a d i t i o n - ally, library administrative talent has been d r a w n f r o m the r a n k s — f r o m per- sonnel whose opportunity f o r additional training beyond the degree stage has been largely limited to the on-the-job variety. T h i s practice has led to what may be called a nose-to-the-grindstone philosophy of library management that is characteristically visionless, haphazard, • | r .. . - .. - Dr. Byrd is Associate Director of Li- braries, Indiana University. and entirely unsuited f o r the missile age. A lamentable state, a condition that has caused real concern to those in the pro- fession w h o take the long and reflective look into the f u t u r e when more and larger libraries will demand greater num- bers of highly skilled administrators. L o w e l l A . M a r t i n , then dean of the G r a d u a t e School of L i b r a r y Service at Rutgers, showed concern over the prob- lem. H i s interest in the educational as- pects of library administration is well known and of long standing. U n d e r his direction the library school at R u t g e r s experimented with several types of re- alistic management training programs f o r practicing librarians. T h e educa- tional theory supporting this R u t g e r s movement seems to rest on the belief that librarians serving in administrative positions, and still resilient enough to learn, benefit not only themselves but the profession generally by participating in a program tailored to cover intensively current library administrative problems, practices, and theories. T h e r e is convic- tion that the growth and development of libraries in the last thirty years and the resulting fragmentation of services has brought a host of problems the solu- tions of which call f o r enlightened and more i n f o r m e d management at every level w i t h i n the profession. One of these experiments was reported by W i l l i a m B . R e a d y in his " T h e R u t g e r s Seminar f o r L i b r a r y A d m i n i s t r a t o r s " ( C R L , X V I I I ( 1 9 5 7 ) , 2 8 1 - 8 3 ) . T h i s is an i n f o r m a l report on the most recent "school f o r administrators" or ex- ecutive training program conducted by 130 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES- Rutgers, March to J u n e , 1958. It was de- scribed in the literature available to the participants as the Carnegie Project in A d v a n c e d L i b r a r y Administration. T h e R u t g e r s registrar labeled it as " F i e l d C o u r s e — L i b r a r y Administration, 702." T h i s program differed in many respects f r o m the one reported by M r . R e a d y : It was financed by a grant f r o m the Car- negie Corporation; there were only eight students; all came f r o m libraries which are members of the Association of R e - search Libraries; the curricular emphasis was primarily, but not wholly, on indi- vidual field work. More specifically the experiment was a combined seminar and internship af- f a i r of twelve weeks: three of seminar, seven of field work, and two devoted to field trips. W i t h the cooperation of the libraries of Rutgers, Princeton, Pennsyl- vania, Johns Hopkins, N e w Y o r k Pub- lic, C o l u m b i a , H a r v a r d , and Y a l e , a mu- tually agreed u p o n topic, broad in scope and generally relating to common prob- lems in other research libraries, was as- signed to each student f o r intensive study and reporting in one of the eight librar- ies. T h e following librarians were selected to participate and were inducted as fel- lows at N e w Brunswick on March 3, 1958 f o r additional training: Cecil K . B y r d , associate director, I n d i a n a Uni- versity Libraries; W i l l i a m Harkins, asso- ciate director, University of F l o r i d a Li- braries; Gustave A . Harrer, assistant di- rector, Stanford University Libraries; John M c D o n a l d , assistant to the director, Washington University (St. Louis) Li- braries; N a t a l i e Nicholson, executive as- sistant to the director of libraries, Massa- chusetts Institute of T e c h n o l o g y ; Wil- liam Pullen, then assistant librarian f o r technical processes, University of N o r t h C a r o l i n a L i b r a r y ; R i c h a r d Shoemaker, librarian, D a n a L i b r a r y , R u t g e r s Uni- versity; James Skipper, assistant direc- tor, Michigan State University L i b r a r y . T h e first week, March 3-8, was spent at R u t g e r s in what might be termed briefing or indoctrination sessions. Li- brarians and staff members f r o m the co- operating institutions appeared to de- scribe each institution's libraries in gen- eral, and to discuss in f u l l the study to be made by the fellow assigned there. I n between these appearances in seminar and in i n f o r m a l conclave, meal times and evenings, the g r o u p discussed, argued, debated, and, occasionally, vehe- mently disagreed on the major problems confronting contemporary research li- braries: buildings, use of space, staff, acquisitions, cataloging, public service, finance, growth, and interlibrary cooper- ation. A t times these discussions almost reached the intellectual breadth and emotional intensity of those that char- acterize A R L meetings; f o r a few sec- onds, in charting f u t u r e developments, the stratosphere of the Council on Li- brary Resources was reached. W h i l e the student of "scientific" administration might aver the discussions related mostly to operations and hardly at all to man- agement theory they were beneficial and the topics discussed are primary prob- lems to be faced and solved by library management, now and tomorrow. T h u s indoctrinated and buttressed w i t h what one fellow described as " t h e best year's course in administration ever compressed into a one hundred and twenty hour work-week," the fellows departed to their assigned libraries f o r field work. F o r one month the staffs of eight great eastern libraries patiently answered ques- tions, supplied reams of data, conducted tours, and acted as social hosts to the fellows while they viewed, contemplated, questioned, surveyed and, sometimes, meditated. B y r d labored at C o l u m b i a on space requirements f o r books, readers, and staff f o r C o l u m b i a libraries f o r the next generation. Harkins reviewed the building program of the University of Pennsylvania. H a r r e r battled with relo- MARCH 1959 131 cation, storage, and rejection of materials at H a r v a r d . M c D o n a l d scrutinized the problems of library organization and service in a decentralized u n i v e r s i t y — Rutgers. Nicholson worried and fretted over centralization of science libraries at J o h n s Hopkins. P u l l e n studied and puzzled through selective acquisitions at Yale. Shoemaker demonstrated what im- pact cataloging at the source w o u l d make on technical processes at Princeton. Skip- per investigated interlibrary cooperation in the N e w Y o r k metropolitan area. (If Professors Metcalf and M a r t i n decide the reports in final f o r m are genuinely pro- vocative and have general relevancy they w i l l be published as a v o l u m e at a later date.) A l t h o u g h the topics assigned to the fellows f o r study represented a concen- tration on a particular, and sometimes pressing, library problem of one of the eight institutions, and though most were approached f r o m an a p p l i e d rather than a theoretical avenue, all related in some degree to administration as it is currently practiced in research libraries. It can be quickly noted by reviewing the topics that none dealt with narrow segments of library operations. A l l demanded a f a i r l y comprehensive grasp of the library complex at each institution. P r o b l e m solving of this type seems, to this re- porter, the best possible training f o r library management. A t the end of one month in the field the fellows gathered at H a r v a r d , A p r i l 7, f o r the beginning of a tour of each of the cooperating libraries. B e g i n n i n g with H a r v a r d two days were spent at each of the libraries in the f o l l o w i n g order: Yale, C o l u m b i a , N e w Y o r k Pub- lic, Princeton, Rutgers, Pennsylvania, and J o h n s Hopkins. T h e s e visits or in- spection trips served a three-fold pur- pose. T h e resident fellow was given an opportunity to discuss his special study in detail both with the g r o u p and key members of the library staff and to hear it criticized and enlarged upon. Staff members at each library most f a m i l i a r with the subject matter of each fellow's study were available freely f o r lengthy a n d h e l p f u l consultation. F i n a l l y the opportunity to roam, question, a n d dis- cuss administration in the eight libraries was in itself educational. T h e r e are com- mon management practices in all re- search libraries which, if made k n o w n and formalized, could and w o u l d be applicable in all types of libraries. T h e d e m a n d made by these g r o u p vis- its on library time and energy must have been considerable. T h e librarians and staffs of the cooperating libraries never lost e q u i l i b r i u m and, indeed, were so g i f t e d in the art of hospitality that they even appeared to enjoy the presence of Metcalf and entourage. A l l went beyond the normal professional courtesies and provided the touring fellows with lunch- es, dinners, and other forms of gastro- nomic entertainment that were enjoy- able, convivial, and fattening. Somewhat road-worn the fellows de- parted f r o m J o h n s H o p k i n s on A p r i l 24 to return to their respective libraries f o r three weeks additional study and the task of putting reports in preliminary written f o r m . T h e period f r o m M a y 16 to noon of M a y 29 at R u t g e r s was devoted to re- porting and f u r t h e r seminar lectures and discussions on library administration. One f u l l day was allowed f o r each re- port. T h e preliminary written report was read before the g r o u p and the chief librarian, usually the associate l i b r a r i a n as well, of the institution where the study was made. L i b r a r i a n s were given first opportunity to correct, amend, agree, or disagree with the reporter, a f t e r which the fellows and teacher commented free- ly. F o l l o w i n g this rather f o r m a l session, a closed seminar was given over to dis- cussing the strength and weakness of the report. T h e critical comments and suggestions f o r changes provoked by 132 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES- these post-mortems proved h e l p f u l to the fellows in writing the final d r a f t of their reports. A n y assessment of the program must, I presume, start with the leadership and in final analysis be somewhat subjective. T h o s e who have k n o w n Keyes Metcalf as a librarian may have been impressed with his seriousness, devotion to duty, knowledge, and unflagging zeal f o r the profession. T o have known h i m as a classroom teacher was a privilege granted to only a f e w — t o o few. A s a teacher I like to think the real and hidden Met- calf was revealed. H e brought to his latter-day profession all of his accumu- lated knowledge plus a genuine and con- tagious enthusiasm—a prime requisite f o r successful teaching. His method was a m i x t u r e of the Socratic generously laced with disarming sincerity, boyish charm, and a mischievous nimbleness that permitted him a frequent misquot- ing of a fellow's remark f o r the sake of a r g u m e n t — a n d the incidental enjoy- ment of at least seven fellows. N e v e r dog- matic or doctrinaire, and only occasion- ally long-winded, he was the personifica- tion of the mature scholar, prodding, probing, p u l l i n g and pushing eight fel- lows into his orbit. T h e wisdom he dis- pensed on administration, based on a half century of library experience, was encyclopedic, applicable, and assimilable. T h e replies to a one-query question- naire (the seminar decided such instru- ments of fact-gathering were not per se obnoxious but quickly became so with the supplying of answers) soon a f t e r the completion of the course asking what benefits the fellows received f r o m the program were typical, characteristic and, perhaps, revealing only to a small degree because they were written too soon a f t e r the event: " I made seven new friends, gained a very large amount of knowl- edge, got a good perspective on our own problems, and had a whale of a good time," wrote one fellow k n o w n f o r brev- ity and a passion f o r good living. An- other admitted to " A n immensely broad- ened understanding of w h a t I, as a li- brarian, am about and how to do it, gained f r o m discussions w i t h many top- flight librarians, f r o m observation of other fine libraries, and in particular, f r o m close association w i t h one of the world's great librarians and the finest g r o u p of fellows (and one woman) I ' v e ever met." A non-speculative but keenly realistic fellow " f e l t that I acquired much practical, v a l u a b l e information. Certainly the seminar talks were a train- ing in getting to the heart of problems and taking the long f o r w a r d l o o k . " T h e two humorists-laureates of the group described their reactions. One said: " A s f o r what I did (or did not) get f r o m the seminar; this is a different breed of cats. First, I learned that it is most difficult to act intelligent f o r a three-month stretch when you really aren't. T h i s type of bluff can succeed up to and including f o u r weeks, but a f t e r that the jig's u p ! " T h e other: " F o r my own part, I feel that the seminar w i l l be most v a l u a b l e to me. A s the most stupid of the group, I, of course, had the most to learn. A t least, I now realize that there is actually no right or wrong solu- tion to any administrative problem, but there may be many sides." One fellow, and not the self-assertive type, f o u n d there were casual benefits: " A l m o s t of equal importance was the knowledge gained daily f r o m discussing mutual interest problems with my col- leagues and in learning the practices re- garding such problems at other institu- tions. T h e r e is much to be said also f o r the opportunities of h a v i n g sat in con- ferences with the directors and some staff members of eight top research libraries, both on their home grounds and away f r o m their libraries. . . . " A most serious and diffident fellow f o u n d justification f o r his profession: " I (Continued on page 153) MARCH 1959 133 The Harassed Humanities (Continued from page 110) preserved and extinction—the real ex- tremity where only another k i n d of intel- ligence can effectively work. Military security can no longer be preserved by military or by scientific means. T h e r e is only one other means. W e need the thinking of humanistic scientists, or, if you will, of humanists; we need the hu- manities. W e need the man w h o speaks not only his own language, but the uni- versal language of creative responsibil- ity. A n d how simply one can illustrate: while the R u s s i a n embassy, seat of polit- ical power, was the scene of violent riot- ing in Washington, the Moiseyev dancers were p e r f o r m i n g before packed auditori- ums throughout the country and young V a n C l i b u r n h a d just returned f r o m his spectacular triumph in Moscow; again, just a f t e r R i c h a r d N i x o n was stoned by indignant mobs in Caracas, the San Fran- cisco B a l l e t C o m p a n y repeatedly per- formed, in that same city, to overflow audiences whose enthusiastic demands it could not meet because of a touring schedule. T h e r e is a language, a greater language than that of politics or statis- tics or cold but killing f o r m u l a e , a lan- guage that all men speak and under- stand: it is the language of h u m a n cul- ture. W e have never needed to hear that language so desperately as we need to hear it today in the councils of power. B u t to give it voice, we must first supply M r . N i x o n , M r . Dulles, and many others, with an education in the humanities. If any one of you wishes to suggest a cur- riculum, you can reach these worthies at either N u m b e r One Madison A v e n u e or N u m b e r One M a i n Street. T h e addresses designate the same place. H o w b e a u t i f u l l y W . B . Yeats p u t it: " T h e artist loves above all life at peace with itself." It could not be otherwise, f o r his function, a f t e r all, is the creation of harmonies and unities, those monu- ments of unaging intellect that comprise the order of civilization and preserve it f o r us to carry on. In the last analysis, what other study is worth our time? W i l l i a m B l a k e told us why: " W h e r e M a n Is Not, N a t u r e Is B a r r e n . " The Book in the USSR I t can safely be said that the book has played an outstanding part in the cultural revolution accomplished in the USSR. Being accessible to the people, becoming part and parcel of the Soviet man's everyday life, the book is now a thing of prime necessity. Statistics on book publishing and sales are usually a fairly reliable index of the cultural, and even of the scientific, development of a nation. One may guess that there is a correlation of considerable significance between the large circula- tion of books and so advanced a scientific achievement as the launching of the first earth satellites.—Yuri Gvosdev, Assistant Commercial Counselor of the Em- bassy of the U n i o n of Soviet Socialist Republics, in Iron Curtains and Scholar- ship: The Exchange of Knowledge in a Divided World, Papers Presented before the Twenty-Third Annual Conference of the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago, July 7-9, 1958, ed. by Howard W . Winger (Chicago: 1958), p.43. 134 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES-