College and Research Libraries ROBERT P. HARO Book Selection in Academic Libraries Historically~ most academic libraries have depended upon the faculty for the selection of library materials. Faculty representatives~ ap- pointed to deal with the library~ made or approved necessary selec- tion for a particular department of instruction. However~ for one reason or another~ most academic libraries have in more recent years felt the need to supplement the endeavors of the faculty through the use within the library of bibliographers and subject specialists respon- sible for book selection. A survey was made to determine the amount and methods of book selection within the library~ and results of that survey are reported. IN ORDER to determine how book selec- tion is accomplished in larger academic libraries, a questionnaire was composed and sent to seventy selected academic libraries ranging in size from three hun- dred thousand volumes to over a mil- lion.1 The questionnaire sought to dis- cover whether the library in question had librarians responsible for book se- lection, with what department in the li- brary they were associated, what quali- £ications were desired or required, and whether or not they had different salary scales or other bene£its for these special- ists. Sixty-seven of the seventy libraries canvassed replied; and of these, sixty- two were engaged in book selection. 2 While most academic librarians now agree that they (librarians) should en- gage in book selection, there is at present little agreement on selection methods and procedures, and where such selec- tors should be located within the library system. The results of this survey demon- strate both agreement on the need for more book selection from within the li- 1 For the purposes of this article, college, research, and university libraries will be referred to collectively as academic libraries. 2 The term "book selection" as used in this article excludes the selection and purchase of reference ma- terials and occasional general items for the library. Mr. Haro is Social Sciences Bibliographer, University of California at Davis. 104 I brary and also the lack of agreement on how best to accomplish it. Most of the larger academic libraries with £irmly established area studies, or medium-sized libraries with accelerated programs for collection development, were utilizing bibliographers or subject specialists responsible for the selection of library materials. Of the libraries with over £ive hundred thousand volume col- lections, approximately 69 per cent utilized bibliographers or subject spe- cialists who were located in the tech- nical services or were directly respon- sible either to the director of libraries or to one of the assistant directors; 22 per cent of the remaining libraries within this size-class utilized the heads of di- visional reading rooms or subject areas as selectors. 3 Only 6 per cent of these libraries used subject bibliographers or subject specialists in reference depart- ments as selectors. The remaining 3 per cent utilized combinations of the above or other methods. The majority of these libraries also had a pay scale for these selectors different from or higher than other librarians within the same class of position but without book selection duties. 3 The term "subject-divisional arrangement" here refers to those libraries that shelve all library materials in broad subject sections, such as all social sciences materials on floor one, humanities on floor two, and etc. Book Selection in Academic Libraries I 105 If employed as a selector, approximately 60 per cent of the librarians with both a library degree and an advanced degree in a subject field were on a different or higher salary scale. In libraries that lo- cated selectors in reference departments, however, 76 per cent were on the same salary scale as other librarians in that department. In addition, 56 per cent of the selectors located in reference depart- ments received no reduction in the num- ber of weekly hours they were required to appear at the public reference desk to allow for selection duties. Ostensibly, selection by librarians functioning as subject specialists in ref- erence departments or some other public services position appears an excellent and perhaps economical approach. Where the particular academic library is undergoing a period of accelerated growth and rapid collection development for new or expanded graduate and area studies programs, however, latent prob- lems eventually demonstrate the weak- nesses of such an approach. Problems of administrative control, overlapping of authority and supervision, duplication of effort by selectors and acquisition/order personnel, conflicts in reference desk duty and selection assignments, to name but a few, make the location of selectors in one of the public services departments something only to be undertaken with considerable care and planning. In-depth and expensive accelerated collection de- velopment demands block purchases, regular and sometimes extensive book purchasing trips and, obviously, con- siderable bibliographic competency and sophistication. If possible, librarians in- volved in this type of selection or col- lection development should be true specialists with a rich language back- ground, graduate-level subject compe- tence and/ or have an intimate knowl- edge of the book business, market, and out-of-print trade. 4 Of course, the choice 4 Philip J, M c Niff, " Foreign Area Studies and Their Effect on Library D evelopm ent, " C ollege and R esea·rch L ibraries, XXIV (Jnly 1963 ), 295. of location for selectors within the li- brary system depends upon other factors, such as the size of the academic institu- tion; size, arrangement and growth rate of the library's collection ( s ) ; expansion of curricula to include graduate pro- grams and developing area studies ; archival programs; and special collec- tions. The results of this survey demonstrate that most academic libraries with a sub- ject-divisional library arrangement usu- ally prefer to have the heads of such di- visions, reading rooms , or sections func- tion in a dual capacity as both reference librarians and book selectors, a system that is not altogether without its advan- tages and merits. Small libraries that do not have a subject-divisional library ar- rangement usuaily tend to favor the lo- cation of book selectors in their reference departments. Most of the larger and rapidly growing academic libraries ap- proach the problem of book selection and the location of selectors within the library system from other directions, however, such as bibliographers in ac- quisition departments; curators; separate book selection or collection development departments ; area specialists; or bibliog- raphers. 5 SURVEY OF BOOK SELECTION IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES TOTAL NUMBER OF QUESTIONNAIRES SENT OuT 70 TOTAL N UMBER OF REPLIES RECEIVED 67 N UMBER OF LIBRARIES E GAGED IN BooK SELECTION . 62 TYPES oF PosiTIONS HELD BY PER SELECTORS No. CENT Subject bibliographers or sub- ject specialists in r eference departments 8 13 Subject bibliographers or sub- ject specialists in acquisition departments 13 21 Bibliographers (responsible only to the director or assistant di- rector) 11 18 5 C ecil K. Byrd , " Subject Specialists in a University Library," College and R esearc h Libraries, XXVII ( May 1966), 191-93. 106 I College & Research Libraries • March~ 1967 Heads of divisional reading rooms or subject areas (pub- lic services personnel) Department heads other than in public services Separate book selection depart- ments Other methods TOTALS REQUIRED QuALIFICATIO s FOR SELECTORS Library degree with appropriate undergraduate training or subject competence Library de·gree with graduate work and/ or advanced sub- ject training Library degree with an ad- vanced degree in subject field No library degree but with appropriate undergraduate training or subject compe- tence . No library degree but with ap- propriate graduate work or advanced degree in subject field No required qualifications for selectors TOTALS 15 5 2 8 62 24 8 3 13 100 PER No. CENT 15 24 12 19 21 34 2 3 4 7 8 13 62 100 APPOINTMENTS FOR SELECTORS Regular twelve-month appoint- ment with one-month paid vacation Ten month appointment SELECTORS IN P uBLIC SERVICE -REFERENCE DEsK DuTY Reduced number of hours at reference desk allowed for PER No. CENT 59 95 3 5 PER No. CENT selection duties 11 49 No allowance made for reduced number of hours at reference desk to perform selection 14 56 SELECTORS IN PUBLIC SERVICE -SALARY ScALES Pay differential for selectors PER No. CENT (higher or different scale) 6 24 No pay differential for selectors 19 76 STATUS OF LIBRARIANS IN INSTITUTIONS SURVEYED Academic status for librarians Faculty status for librarians Other PER No. CENT 41 18 8 62 27 11 NoTE: It is interesting to note that of the libraries that do not engage in book selection, four out of the five have neither academic nor faculty status for their librarians. ••