TOC Editorial 305 Editorial Faculty Status for Librarians: Force-Fitting into an Inappropriate Mold or Not? Much has been written on the status of academic librarians. If one were to com­ pile a bibliography on the topic, it would be reasonable to expect at least 250 entries. Based on a casual observation of the litera­ ture, many of the articles published on the topic occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Fewer articles have been published on the status of academic librarians in the 1990s than in the 1980s. Are our colleagues hav­ ing second thoughts about achieving and/ or maintaining faculty status? I think not. Notwithstanding the tremendous growing pressures on academic librarians to meet higher expectations of users, it is my opin­ ion that most librarians with faculty status still firmly believe in the virtues associated with this standing. Due to the position (chief officer of the university libraries), provosts and presidents normally “give” the head librarian the rank of professor or its equivalent. Personal Bias Unquestionably, I believe in and support faculty status for librarians. My profes­ sional career has provided me the oppor­ tunity to work in libraries with faculty sta­ tus and rank, in libraries with only faculty status, and in libraries without either. Li­ brarians with faculty status and rank (i.e., assistant professor, associate professor, pro­ fessor) tend to be better perceived as peers by nonlibrarian faculty. Also, these librar­ ians appear to have more intellectual vi­ brancy, owing, I believe, to the research and publishing expectations. Nevertheless, if a library does not have faculty status and the librarians do not want to pursue such, I believe it is counterproductive to force fac­ ulty status on them. Faculty status carries with it many expectations and responsi­ bilities. Job performance is usually the criterion given the most weight during evaluations of academic librarians. However, research/ publications is the number one criterion for promotion/tenure for teaching faculty in many research universities. At some ma­ jor research universities, excellent teaching may be suspect (i.e., devoting too much time to teaching and not enough time to research). The “teacher of the year” recipi­ ents at some universities have lost their jobs because they did not have sufficient publi­ cations to qualify for tenure. Do as I Say Unlike the deans of schools and colleges in major research universities, many of the directors of libraries holding mem­ bership in the Association of Research Li­ braries do not hold a doctorate and are not perceived as established scholars. They are generally perceived as good ad­ ministrators. Search committees (which normally include some nonlibrarian fac­ ulty) are recommending librarians to fill the position of director/university librar­ ian/dean whose research/publications may only qualify them for the rank of assistant professor. However, due to the position (chief officer of the university libraries), provosts and presidents nor­ mally “give” the head librarian the rank of professor or its equivalent. And this same head librarian has final say on the 305 306 College & Research Libraries July 1999 promotion of librarians jumping the hurdles necessary for becoming an asso­ ciate professor and professor. Four-year colleges and small- to medium-sized uni­ versities tend to place more emphasis on the doctorate while filling their head li­ brarian position. Could one extract from these practices that research universities are less interested in their head librar­ ians having an understanding of research skills (e.g., completion of a doctoral dis­ sertation) than four-year colleges and small- to medium-sized universities? Possibly. Such practices contain a bit of both irony and paradox. Why Bother? Librarians have expressed to me their ear­ nest concerns about faculty status. Some believe faculty status has a negative impact on their service performance. Many are concerned about lacking the skills neces­ sary to perform research at a level compa­ rable to the nonlibrarian faculty. In addi­ tion, the length of appointment (i.e., nine- or ten-month versus twelve-month) is an understandable bone of contention for li­ brarians. Why should the nonlibrarian fac­ ulty get two to three months off in the sum­ mer to conduct research, recharge, and reflect while librarians have twelve-month appointments? In 1983, John N. DePew expressed his views on problems gener­ ated by faculty status for librarians: Faculty status is inappropriate for li­ brarians because it creates tensions that obscure the proper role of the li­ brarian, and it interferes with the ef­ fective delivery of library services by diverting librarians’ energies and at­ tentions from those services.1 The Debate Continues The ACRL Academic Status Committee has been quite active in strengthening the con­ cept and practice of granting/maintaining academic status for librarians. This important committee has expressed concern that with each succeeding generation of librarians, there is a worry that the values of academic status are being forgotten.2 According to the Academic Status Committee, guarantees of academic freedom, provision of collegial gov­ ernance, fair compensation, greater involve­ ment in and support for the educational pro­ cess, higher standards of achievement for librarians, and recognition of librarians’ teach­ ing role are some of the basic reasons that fac­ ulty status should endure and flourish.3 In 1993, Beth J. Shapiro argued that there are many myths about faculty status for librarians. She indicated that ACRL should reevaluate faculty status for librarians be­ cause the concept has outlived its useful­ ness and that ACRL should stop promot­ ing unproductive issues such as faculty sta­ tus and begin developing a framework for professional work in the library of the twenty-first century.4 In the graduate library and information science courses I teach, the issue of faculty status surfaces. My advice to the students planning to become academic librarians is that if they want to become like the nonlibrarian faculty, they should seek em­ ployment in an institution of higher edu­ cation offering faculty status for librarians. If they do not want the responsibilities that go with faculty status, they should look for employment in an academic setting that does not require such. Regardless, the de­ cision is personal and should be respected. And that is the way it should be! DONALD E. RIGGS Editor Notes 1. Thomas N. DePew, “The ACRL Standards for Faculty Status: Panacea or Placebo,” College & Research Libraries 44 (Nov. 1983): 407–13. 2. "Faculty Status: 2001,” College & Research Libraries News 54 (June 1993): 338–40. 3. Ibid., 339. 4. Beth J. 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