College and Research Libraries HELEN WHEELER Community College Library 1965 Questionnaires were circularized to the librarians and presidents of 334 public, coeducational junior colleges. Among subjects explored were characteristics of junior college faculty members, their library aware- ness, teaching methods, library aspirations and frustrations. Replies from the presidents and librarians are compared, similarities in attitudes ob- served and differences noted. Also given are the qualifications sought by junior college presidents in prospective directors of their libraries. IN A CONTINUING EFFORT to study the progress of community college library programming, a brief multiple-choice questionnaire was sent to all community college library directors in February, 1965. The important area of faculty- library integration was selected for con- centration. Later a questionnaire di- rected to the chief administrators of the community colleges whose library direc- tors had responded explored their library attitudes and experiences. Assurance was given that the library directors, admin- istrators and institutions would not be identified in any tabulation. The sixth edition of American Junior Colleges was utilized to provide a population of three hundred thirty-four public, coeducation- al junior colleges. Because there is no comprehensive listing of American com- Dr. Wheeler is Associate Professor of Li- brary Science in the University of Hawaii. In 1963, as part of the doctorate at Co- lumbia University, the writer asked com- munity college librarians to describe their programs. The project became known as "The Community College Library; An Ap- praisal of Current Practice;' available as University Microfilm 65-4755. A book en- titled "The Community College Library; A Plan for Action," based in part on this work, was published by Shoe String Press, 1964. munity colleges, it was necessary to ask recipients to disregard the questionnaires if they considered that their institutions were not functioning as community col- leges. Therefore, the response of two hundred thirty librarians (68.86 per cent) perhaps is not fully indicative of the ex- tent of their cooperation and support. Of the two hundred thirty chief admin- istrators contacted, one hundred four- teen ( 49.56 per cent) responded. ( Al- though "chief administrator" may refer to community college president, super- intendent, dean, etc., the term "presi- dent" will be subsequently used.) Community college teachers as viewed by their library directors are members of faculties ranging in size from ten to three hundred twenty-five, with the average faculty size between twenty- five and fifty. Two institutions rely entirely on part-time personnel, but twenty-five are able to recruit all full- time teachers. Although 77 per cent of all of the teachers must meet some type of certification requirements, 64 per cent of these requirements can be satisfied on provisional or temporary bases. Forty- three of the two hundred thirty com- munity colleges involved in this survey have faculties for which the master's de- gree is standard equipment, whereas the teachers of ninety-two have been pre- /395 3961 College & Research Libraries • September, 1966 pared mainly by .education courses. More than half report that their only other teaching experience had been in high schools. Although the majority of fac- ulties were characterized as stable ( as opposed to transient) by the librarians, community college teachers as individ- uals seem headed towards other kinds of employment -so that the librarians were prepared to list their destinations readily: about 40 per cent left for , posi- tions in four-year colleges; 25 per cent shifted to other types of teaching; and 9 per cent went into or returned to busi- ness. The master's degree in a subject spe- cialization topped the list of character- istics considered desirable for an effec- tive community college faculty member from the point of view of the librarian. So-called "library-mindedness" was sec- ond, followed by broad liberal arts un- dergraduate preparation. Other char- acteristics many librarians hoped for in their faculty were community-minded- ness, ongoing professional activities, and education coursework. It is interesting to note that when asked the same ques- tion (What characteristics do you con- sider most necessary for an effective community college faculty member?), most presidents also ranked the master's degree in subject-matter specialization first, but community-mindedness and on- going professional activities followed in that order. It was not unexpected that community college library directors found their Eng- lish departments to be more library- minded in teaching methods and atti- tudes than their science or business de- partments, although several social sci- ence departments were more librarY'- minded than English departments. Re- lating their courses to the library pro- gram least were the mathematics, tech- nical, and science departments. Ways that community college faculty actively block an effective library program most frequently included the making of as- signments before notifying the library ( 70.43 per cent of the librarians reported this as being .the most frequent tech- nique), assuming nonexistent library skills on the part of the students, and failing to recognize the importance of their part in the teaching and conveying of library attitudes and experiences. Other techniques frequently cited were failure to recognize the difference be- tween library orientation and library in- struction, over-use of text material, and failure to take some responsibility for their part of the library collection. One hundred eighty-four (80 per cent) of the community colleges have faculty library committees, although the library director is not always a member. He is chairman, however, of one hundred (54 per cent) of them. The great majority of the committees were appointed by the administration without involvement of the librarian. Librarians who considered their library committee ineffective and undesirable, or who were unable to characterize its main function as ad- visory were in the minority; on the other hand, many avoided this whole area of questioning. Those who detailed their opinions as to why the library committee was not entirely satisfactory described committees which met to formulate pol- icy and administer the library, to evalu- ate for accreditation, or which were dor- mant, did not have enough time, never met, or were uninformed or apathetic. When community college presidents were asked their reasons for having li- brary committees, only a fraction re- plied, which suggests that it is regarded as traditional, or "the thing to do." Most of the specific reasons given by presi- dents for having faculty library com- mittees related to structuring policy and selecting books. And yet almost all in- dicated in their replies to the next ques- tion that they would characterize their library committee's main function as ad- Community College Library 19651397 visory. Most avoided the question of how the committee was established. Almost all community college faculty regularly utilize reserve materials col- . lections. Librarians reported only 17 per cent of their faculties as really misusing this technique, which is probably not a high percentage in public education to- day. A good proportion (72 per cent) were reported making assignments re- quiring use of the general book collec- tion. About the same percentage rec- ommend books regularly. But full utiliza- tion of the library staff as members of the teaching team is another matter- only about 39 per cent. Almost half of the community colleges have depart- mental faculty representatives. Likewise, about half have a substantial portion of the faculty working on advanced de- grees. The community college president's perception of his teachers, students, li- brarians, and library program is a re- vealing part of this picture of faculty- library integration. Fully 40 per cent feel that their faculties fail to utilize li- brary resources in their teaching. In the opinion of the presidents, ways in which this failure manifests itself most fre- quently include "not requiring enough reading," being "one textbook people," "making too little use of the library," "failing to encourage student use," and having limited knowledge of the collec- tion. Also, 75 per cent of the community college presidents characterize .their new students' previous library experience as being inadequate for college work. One hundred ten of the one hundred fourteen community college presidents ranked the master's degree in library science from an accredited school among the basic characteristics of the capable library director. Second only to it is "ex- cellent references from previous em- ployers." Other characteristics of im- portance to the presidents-in descend- ing order of frequency-are professional post-library-school experience, ongoing professional activities, audiovisual train- ing or experience, teaching experience, and administrative experience. Can this be interpreted to mean that the presi- dents consider audiovisual and teaching experience more important than library administrative experience in the library director they recruit? Of le~t impor- tance in their criteria for the capable community college library director's qualifications are origin in the com- munity, publications, youth, "personal- ity," and residence in the community. Perhaps a final word should be said about the library programs which these library directors have been able to de- velop. Considering the number of vol- umes in the book collection as one among several significant factors in the effectiveness of the library program, 7 4 per cent of the responding community college libraries have less than the twenty thousand books recommended by the Junior College Library Standards.1 Of the six community college libraries having at least fifty thousand books, five are located in California. Another con- sideration of the Standards is the propor- tion of the student body which can be accommodated in the library at one time. Nineteen ( 8 per cent) of the community colleges meet the recommended 25 per cent of the full-time-equivalent student body. This has been a brief report of demo- graphic aspects of American community college library programs during the past year, with emphasis on their relation- ships to and with their faculties. It is not possible to make much interpretation of the data, but they may be useful in il- luminating the contemporary picture. • • 1 American Library Association. Association of Col- lege & Research Libraries. "ALA Standards for Junior College Libraries," College & Research Libraries, XXI ( May 1960), 200-206; American Library & Book Trade Annual, 1961. (New York: Bowker, 1960), pp. 125-32.