College and Research Libraries


Recent Publications 

BOOK REVIEWS 

Riggs, Donald E., ed. Library Leadership: 
Visualizing the Future. Phoenix: Oryx 
Press, 1982. 153p. $27.50. LC 82-2174. 
ISBN 0-912700-64-5. 
"Appalled by a scarcity of books and ar-

ticles on leadership in the library litera-
ture," editor Donald Riggs has set about 
to provide some thinking that he hopes 
will lead to strong, creative leadership for 
librarians as we are "led" into the next 
century. Enlisting the aid of eleven other 
librarians to help him visualize the future 
in library leadership, the editor has assem-
bled a collection of essays that provide a 
thoughtful starting point for "identifying 
the role (library) leadership must serve 
during this decade and the ensuing one." 

The editor sets the tone for the book in 
his introduction, where he gives some in-
sights into leadership in general, particu-
larly from the writings of Warren Bennis, 
and then shares some of his own percep-
tions of leaders and leadership. He then 
turns to his colleagues for their views on 
leadership as ''derived from their role as 
leaders and/or their experience in the area 
in which they are writing." Essays cover 
types of libraries as well as library ser-
vices. Florence Kirwin writes on leader-
ship in small public libraries while Don 
Sager explores the topic as he perceives it 
applying to the large public library. The 
academic world is partially covered by 
Sheryl Anspaugh, who discusses leader-
ship in community/junior colleges, and 
Edward Shaw, who looks at the subject 
from the perspective of the research li-

brary. Harold Lord examines the school li-
brary/media arena, while Stephanie 
Stowe approaches the issue from the 
special-library point of view. Library ser-
vices are covered in essays by Michael 
Gorman on technical services, Dora 
Biblarz on collection development, and 
Carolyn Dusenbury on reference services. 
Tom Galvin looks at library education, 
while Donald Riggs speaks to the leader-
ship issue at the state level, and Elizabeth 
Stone anchors the book with a discussion 
of leadership at the American Library As-
sociation. All of the essays are well writ-
ten, but as is true of any such collection, 
some make stronger statements than oth-
ers, e.g., Don Sager, Edward Shaw, Mi-
chael Gorman, and Elizabeth Stone, to 
name only four. 

Effective leadership, suggest many of 
the essayists, will require a thorough un-
derstanding of the environment in which 
librarians will be working and an ability to 
function within the changing dynamics of 
an individual situation, particularly as it 
relates to meeting increasing· demands 
with fewer resources. Inherent in this 
leadership will be what Edward Shaw 
speaks of as the "courage to fail." Risk 
taking, vision, innovativeness, flexibility, 
initiative, critical -judgment, and sensitiv-
ity to the needs of other human beings, 
whether staff, users, or decision makers, 
will be some of the characteristics of effec-
tive leadership in the ensuing years. Criti-
cal to the whole issue will be the individ-
ual's response to technology. Probably no 

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264 College & Research Libraries 

other phenomenon will have (or is hav-
ing) greater impact on libraries and librari-
ans than technology. How well the issue is 
handled will go a long way toward the 
success or failure of library leadership, 
and from there our success or failure as li-
braries and librarians. 

Overall, one can get a good start on visu-
alizing the future of library leadership in 
this collection of essays, though some will 
be disappointed. Librarians in the 
medium-size public library, the four-year 
college, or the small university will not 
find their concerns addressed directly, an 
interesting lacuna, considering from num-
bers alone, their positions in the library 
world. This is not to say that librarians in 
these settings will not find something of 
value to them in the book, but they do 
have specific needs that should have been 
addressed. 

There is something for everyone in this 
book, and hopefully, it might stimulate a 
class lecture or two in the library schools. 
All in all, a thoughtful beginning point for 
focusing on a critical need for the pro-
fession in the immediate future, 
leadership.-Robert D. Carmack, University 
of South Dakota. 

Coser, Lewis A. Books: The Culture and 
Commerce of Publishing. New York: Basic 
Books, 1982. xiii, 411p. LC 81-66100. 
ISBN 0-465-00745-7. 
Each year, it seems, at least one new 

book on publishing comes on the market. 
Books about the making of books remain 
popular and the industry continues to 
draw interest from within as well as from 
the outside. Viewpoints, of course, differ. 
Publishers such as William Jovanovich, 
Stanley Unwin, and more recently 
McGraw-Hill's Curtis Benjamin, offer 
strong personal views based on long-term 
experience, but without the benefit of re-
search. Others, such as John Dessauer, 
have approached the subject in a more 
general, almost journalistic way, thus of-
fering good descriptions, but no interpre-
tations. The late Fritz Machlup made a 
monumental attempt to capture the world 
of books in his macro-economic study on 
the printed word (New York, 1978). 

May 1983 

Now the time for the sociologists has 
come . Lewis Coser and Charles Kadushin 
are established and prominent social sci-
entists, and their associate Walter Powell 
appears to be on his way to such standing 
with his forthcoming book on decision 
making in scholarly publishing (Chicago, 
1983). Appropriately, the authors are 
''largely concerned with the rich context 
of human relations.'' They recognize that 
it is hard to generalize about an industry 
as diversified and heterogeneous as pub-
lishing. Yet, they aim at a full-scale study 
emphasizing nonfiction, using prevalent 
social science research techniques and 
methods. 

The first part of the book deals with the 
history and structure of the industry. The 
topic has been well described elsewhere, 
but the treatment here is different. For in-
stance, the always controversial topic of 
mergers and power concentration is en-
lightened by good research on specialized 
and successful smaller publishing ven-
tures, thus presenting a much more bal-
anced point of view. A most interesting 
chapter on networks, connections, and 
circles presents invaluable insight into the 
flow and process of decision making. 

The people who write and make books 
are the subject of the second part of this 
book. These chapters, by combining fac-
tual data and interview results, make for 
very informative reading about authors, 
editors, and others in the industry. The 
chapter on the growing importance of 
women in publishing deserves special at-
tention. The final chapters deal with ''out-
siders" such as literary agents and book 
reviewers. It is somewhat surprising that 
the authors identify book distribution 
channels as if they were outside of the in-
dustry. While it is true that many pub-
lishers consider the matter of distribution 
to be someone else's problem, the recent 
Book Industry Study Group report on the 
issue (New York, 1982) suggests that it is a 
problem central to the industry. 

A fascinating epilogue on publishers as 
''gatekeepers'' of ideas will stand as a wel-
come and important contribution to the 
literature. The book ends with a very use-
ful and enlightening appendix on research