ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


210

phisticated. The librarian who provides such 
guidance plays a major role in the learning 
process.

The character and quality of an institution 
of higher learning are shaped in large measure 
by the nature of its library holdings and the 
ease and imagination with which those resources 
are made accessible to members of the aca­
demic community. Consequently, all members 
of the faculty should take an active interest 
in the operation and development of the li­
brary. Because the scope and character of li­
brary resources should be taken into account 
in such important academic decisions as curric­
ular planning and faculty appointments, li­
brarians should have a voice in the develop­
ment of the institution’s educational policy.

Librarians perform a teaching and research 
role inasmuch as they instruct students for­
mally and informally and advise and assist 
faculty in their scholarly pursuits. Librarians 
are also themselves involved in the research 
function; many conduct research in their own 
professional interests and in the discharge of 
their duties.

Where the role of college and university li­
brarians, as described in the preceding para­
graph, requires them to function essentially as 
part of the faculty, this functional identity 
should be recognized by granting of faculty 
status. Neither administrative responsibilities nor
professional degrees, titles, or skills, per se, 
qualify members of the academic community
for faculty status. The function of the librarian
as participant in the processes of teaching and
research is the essential criterion of faculty
status.

College and university librarians share the
professional concerns of faculty members. Aca­
demic freedom, for example, is indispensable
to librarians, because they are trustees of knowl­
edge with the responsibility of insuring the
availability of information and ideas, no mat­
ter how controversial, so that teachers may
freely teach and students may freely learn. 
Moreover, as members of the academic com­
munity, librarians should have latitude in the
exercise of their professional judgment within
the library, a share in shaping policy within

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Adopted by the Membership of the Association 
of College and Research Libraries, Dallas, 
Texas, June 26, 1971.

W ith publication increasing a t an exponen­
tial rate, with the variety of forms of publica­
tion proliferating rapidly, with significant schol­
arly and information material appearing in all

the institution, and adequate opportunities for 
professional development and appropriate re­
ward.

Faculty status entails for librarians the same 
rights and responsibilities as for other members 
of the faculty. They should have correspond­
ing entitlement to rank, promotion, tenure, 
compensation, leaves, and research funds. They 
must go through the same process of evalua­
tion and meet the same standards as other 
faculty members.1

On some campuses, adequate procedures for 
extending faculty status to librarians have al­
ready been worked out. These procedures vary 
from campus to campus because of institutional 
differences. In the development of such pro­
cedures, it is essential that the general faculty 
or its delegated agent determine the specific 
steps by which any professional position is to 
be accorded faculty rank and status. In any 
case, academic positions which are to be ac­
corded faculty rank and status should be ap­
proved by the senate or the faculty at large be­
fore submission to the president and to the 
governing board for approval.

W ith respect to library governance, it is to 
be presumed that the governing board, the ad­
ministrative officers, the library faculty, and 
representatives of the general faculty, will 
share in the determination of library policies 
that affect the general interests of the institu­
tion and its educational program. In matters 
of internal governance, the library will operate 
like other academic units with respect to de­
cisions relating to appointments, promotions, 
tenure, and conditions of service.2

1Cf. 1940 Statement of Principles on Aca­
demic Freedom and Tenure; 1958 Statement 
on Procedural Standards in Faculty Dismissal 
Proceedings; 1972 Statement on Leaves of A b­
sence.

2Cf. 1966 Statement on Government of Col­
leges and Universities, formulated by the Amer­
ican Council on Education, American Associa­
tion of University Professors, and Association 
of Governing Boards of Universities and Col­
leges. ■ ■

S tandards for Faculty Status 
for College and U niversity L ibrarians

the world’s languages, with the bibliographical 
apparatus of many fields and subfields becom­
ing increasingly difficult to use, with the grow­
ing sophistication of library and information 
technology, and with the development of aca­
demic libraries into large and complex organi­
zations, the work of the academic librarian has 
become highly specialized and demanding.



211

The academic librarian makes a unique and 
important contribution to American higher edu­
cation. He bears central responsibility for de­
veloping college and university library collec­
tions, for extending bibliographical control over 
these collections, for instructing students (both 
formally in the classroom and informally in the 
library), and advising faculty and scholars in 
the use of these collections. He provides a 
variety of information services to the college or 
university community, ranging from answers 
to specific questions to the compilation of ex­
tensive bibliographies. He provides library and 
information services to the community at large, 
including federal, state, and local government 
agencies, business firms and other organiza­
tions, and private citizens. Through his own 
research into the information process and 
through bibliographical and other studies, he 
adds to the sum of knowledge in the field of 
library practice and information science. 
Through membership and participation in li­
brary and scholarly organizations, he works to 
improve the practice of academic librarian- 
ship, bibliography, and information service.

Without the librarian, the quality of teach­
ing, research, and public service in our col­
leges and universities would deteriorate seri­
ously and programs in many disciplines could 
no longer be performed. His contribution is in­
tellectual in nature and is the product of 
considerable formal education, including pro­
fessional training at the graduate level. There­
fore, college and university librarians must be 
recognized as equal partners in the academic 
enterprise, and they must be extended the 
rights and privileges which are not only com­
mensurate with their contributions, but are 
necessary if they are to carry out their respon­
sibilities.

The Committee on Academic Status of the 
Association of College and Research Libraries 
strongly endorses the formal recognition of the 
college or university librarian’s academic sta­
tus by all institutions of higher education and 
their governing bodies. It urges that the As­
sociation of College and Research Libraries and 
the American Library Association adopt as stan­
dards the following rights and privileges for 
all academic librarians:

1. Professional responsibilities and self de­
termination. Each librarian should be as­
signed general responsibilities within his 
particular area of competence. He should 
have maximum possible latitude in ful­
filling these responsibilities. However, the 
degree to which he has fulfilled them 
should be regularly and rigorously re­
viewed. A necessary element of this re­
view must be appraisal by a committee 
of peers who have access to all available 
evidence.

2. Library governance. College and univer­
sity libraries should adopt an academic 
form of governance. The librarians should 
form as a library faculty whose role and 
authority is similar to that of the faculties 
of a college, or the faculty of a school or 
a department.

3. College and university governance. Li­
brarians should be eligible for member­
ship in the academic senate or equivalent 
body at their college or university on the 
same basis as other faculty.

4. Compensation. The salary scale for librar­
ians should be the same as that for other 
academic categories with equivalent edu­
cation and experience. Librarians should 
normally be appointed for the academic 
year. If a librarian is expected to work 
through the summer session, his salary 
scale should be adjusted similarly to the 
summer session scale of other faculty at 
his college or university.

5. Tenure. Librarians should be covered by 
tenure provisions the same as those of 
other faculty. In the pretenure period, 
librarians should be covered by written 
contracts or agreements the same as those 
of other faculty.

6. Promotion. Librarians should be promoted 
through ranks and steps on the basis of 
their academic proficiency and profes­
sional effectiveness. A peer review sys­
tem similar to that used by other faculty 
is the primary basis of judgment in the 
promotion process for academic librarians. 
The librarians’ promotion ladder should 
have the same titles, ranks, and steps as 
that of other faculty.

7. Leaves. Sabbatical and other research 
leaves should be available to librarians 
on the same basis, and with the same re­
quirements, as they are available to other 
faculty.

8. Research funds. Librarians should have 
access to funding for research projects on 
the same basis as other faculty.

9. Academic freedom. Librarians in colleges 
and universities must have the protection 
of academic freedom. Library resources 
and the professional judgment of librar­
ians must not be subject to censorship.

To implement these standards, the Associa­
on of College and Research Libraries and the 
merican Library Association will:

1. Publicize these standards to all colleges 
and universities and their libraries, all 
library schools, all library organizations, 
all higher education organizations, and all 
agencies which accredit academic institu­
tions.

2. Seek to have these standards formally 
adopted or endorsed by all colleges and

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212

universities and their libraries, all library 
schools, all library organizations, all high­
er education organizations, and all agen­
cies which accredit academic institutions.

3. Investigate all violations of these stan­
dards which are reported by members of 
the Association of College and Research 
Libraries. Such investigations will be co­
ordinated and supervised by the Com­
mittee on Academic Status of the Asso­
ciation of College and Research Libraries.

4. Invoke the following sanctions against 
institutions of higher education which are 
found, after such investigation, to be in 
violation of any or all of these standards:
a. Publicize the violation and the institu­

tion concerned in CRL News and other 
appropriate publications.

b. Refuse to accept advertisements in 
any ALA publication for positions at 
th at institution.

c. Discourage its members from accept­
ing employment at that institution, 
through notices in its publications and 
other means.

A reasonable amount of time—three to five 
years—should be provided college and uni­
versity libraries which do not currently con­
form to any or all of these standards, to en­
able them to do so. However, no such grace 
period should be provided to libraries which 
currently do conform, either wholly or in part, 
and which seek to deny or withdraw any such 
rights and privileges.

■ ■

N orm an Tanis E lected Vice President

Norman E. Tanis, director of University Li­
braries at California State University, North­
ridge, is the newly elected vice-president of the 
Association of College and Research Libraries. 
Tanis received a total of 1,849 votes in the 
elections held late this spring. Richard Ducote, 
director for Instructural Resources at the Col­
lege of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, polled 
1,081 votes. Both Tanis and Ducote have long 
been interested in and associated with two- 
year colleges and their nominations recognized 
the increasing importance of junior and com­
munity college librarians in ACRL.

After obtaining a Master of Arts in Library 
Science and an M.A. in history from the Uni­
versity of Michigan, Tanis became reference 
librarian and later head librarian at Henry 
Ford Community College, Dearborn, Michigan. 
From 1966 through 1969 he held the position 
of director of libraries and professor of Li­
brary Science at Kansas State College, Pitts­
burgh, Kansas. He has been at California State 
University, Northridge, formerly known as San 
Fernando Valley State College, since 1969.

Tanis received his undergraduate training at 
Calvin College. In addition to his other de­
grees from the University of Michigan he 
was awarded an M.A. in education from that 
institution in 1961. Tanis has been a member of 
the ACRL Board of Directors since 1967. He 
also served in this capacity from 1962 to 1965. 
He has been chairman of the Junior College 
Libraries Section, chairman of the Committee 
on Standards and Accreditation, a member of 
the Editorial Board of College & Research L i­
braries, and a member of the ACRL–Asso-

ciation of Research Libraries Joint Committee 
on University Libraries Standards. He has also 
held positions on various ALA committees and 
has been an ALA representative to other edu­
cational and professional organizations.

As vice-president Tanis will serve as a mem­
ber of the New York Conference Planning 
Committee, a member of the ALA Budget 
Assembly, and chairman of the ACRL Plan­
ning Committee. He will become ACRL’s 
thirty-fifth president at the close of the Las 
Vegas Conference in June of 1973.

The results of the section and subsection 
elections are as follows: ( Elected officers are 
shown in italics.)

COLLEGE LIBRARIES SECTION

Vice Chairman/Chairman-Elect: Father Jo­
vian Lang, librarian, University of South Flor­
ida, Tampa, Florida (385); Richard C. Quick, 
director of libraries, State University of New 
York, College of Arts and Science, Geneseo, 
New York (514). Secretary; Carol C. Hender­
son, reference and circulation librarian, George 
Mason College of the University of Virginia, 
Fairfax, Virginia (3 8 8 ); Beverly M. Johnson, 
chairman, Catalog Department, San Diego State 
University, San Diego, California (487).

JUNIOR COLLEGE LIBRARIES SECTION

Vice Chairman/Chairman-Elect: Louise 
Giles, dean of Learning Resources, Macomb 
County Community College, Warren, Michi­
gan (279); W. Christian Sizemore, acting aca­
demic dean, South Georgia College, Douglas,