ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


LETTERS

T h e  editors have received th e  follow ing 
letter com m enting on th e  A C R L  policy 
statem ent on th e  M .L .S. degree. T h e  ed­
itors w elcom e such com m ents from  the 
m em bership on policy statem ents. W e  rec­
ognize not only our responsibility to report 
th e  new s o f A C R L  to its m em bership bu t 
also th e  im portance and value o f report­
ing th e  m em bership’s com m ents and re­
actions to A C R L . In  this regard w e offer 
th e  pages o f th e  News as a fo ru m  fo r th e 
exchange o f ideas and opinions on m atters 
o f concern to th e  m em bership‚ w ith in  o f 
course, th e  usual constraints o f space avail­
able.

D ear E ditor:
I thin k th a t the A CR L B oard of D irectors 

m ade a m istake w h en  its m em bers approved 
th e  policy statem en t a t th e ir M idw inter m eet­
ing in  Jan u ary  of this year (C &R L  N ew s, 
M arch 1975, p .6 9 ) to  th e  effect th a t the m as­
te r’s degree in library science is th e appropri­
ate term inal degree for academ ic librarians.

T h e M.L.S. degree is not enough for academ ­
ic librarians now, and certainly th e  require­
m ents o f th e  fu tu re  are going to  be m uch g reat­
er. (See, E . J. Josey, N e w  D irections fo r A ca ­
dem ic Library Service, Scarecrow  Press, 1975, 
p .3 2 2 .) T he “generalist” librarian is already an 
anachronism  in  th e  university an d  research li­
b rary  a n d  is going to becom e ever m ore so w ith 
th e  u n relen tin g  tre n d  to w ard  specialization. 
T h e M.L.S. m ay w ell have b een  an ap p ro p ri­
a te  term inal degree a few  decades ago, w hen 
m ost librarians sp en t th e  g reater p a rt of th e  
d ay  doing routine acquisitions w ork an d  routine 
cataloging, th e  larger p a rt of w hich is now  done 
b y  paraprofessionals, a  new  class of specialists, 
an d  b y  clerical assistants. In  m any libraries, in ­
cluding our own, directional questions, as w ell 
as routine an d  superficial reference questions, 
are now  h an d led  b y  nonprofessionals. Assum­
ing th a t th e answ ers are  to  be fully com petent 
or b etter, th e  rem aining inquiries do in  fa c t re ­
quire subject specialties on th e  p a r t of th e  ref­
erence faculty, evidenced in  p a rt by th e atta in ­
m e n t of advanced degrees in relevant subjects.

U n d erg rad u ate students w ith  strong subject 
interests, graduate students doing advanced re­
search, an d  faculty scholars m u st hav e th e  
know ledge th a t th e  full im plications of th e  
questions p u t to  th e  reference lib rarian  are u n ­
derstood. T hey n eed  also to h av e full confi­
dence th a t th ey  will b e  answ ered com petently 
b y  subject specialists.

T h e  drive o f librarians for full faculty status, 
including titles an d  benefits, as w ell as th e  ever­

increasing pressure being exerted by faculty 
and university adm inistrators tow ard excel­
lence, in d icate clearly to m e th a t academ ic li­
brarians m u st presen t stan d ard  academ ic cre­
dentials: besides th e  M.L.S., a relevant subject 
m aster’s degree and pro b ab ly  th e  doctorate 
eventually.

T h e h a n d w ritin g  is on th e  w all. If librarians 
fail to  m eet the challenge, th e re  are others on 
th e cam pus ready to provide a h ig h er level of 
academ ic su p p o rt services, relying m ore heavi­
ly on n o n p rin t m edia. L ibrarians will b e  left 
b e h in d  th ro u g h  th e ir ow n inability or unw illing­
ness to  accept a challenge. T h e M.L.S. is not 
a d e q u a te  for th e  university library today, and 
it w ill b e  less so very soon.

Sincerely,
Louis A . K enney 
Director o f Library Services 
San Diego Sta te U niversity

■ ■

Correction
In  th e  M ay issue of C &R L  N ew s, page 
142, th e  F olger L ibrary w as m istakenly 
identified as b ein g  at th e  U niversity of 
C alifornia, Berkeley. T he F olger L ibrary 
in W ashington, D .C ., w as th e  acquiring 
institution.

N ews items for inclusion in C & R L News should be 
sent to  M ary Frances Collins, Assistant Director of 
Libraries for Technical Services, University Library 
ULB-35A, State University of New  York a t Albany,
1400 W ashington A v e., Albany, N Y  12222. A d v e r­
tising (including classified ads) should be sent to 
Leona Swiech, A dvertising O ffic e , A m erican Li­
brary Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 
60611. Production and circulation m atters are han­
dled  by A L A  C entral Production Unit, a t the 
abo ve address.
News e d ito r: M ary Frances Collins, Assistant D i­
rector o f Libraries fo r Technical Services, State 
University o f New  York at A lb an y, A lban y. As­
sociate News ed ito r: Anne Dowling, Assistant Li­
b rarian, Acquisitions Departm ent, Library, State 
University of New York a t A lb an y. Editor: Rich­
ard  D. Johnson, M iln e Library, State University 
C o lleg e, O neonta, New  York 13820. President, 
A C R L : H . W illia m  A xford. Executive Secretary, 
A C RL: Beverly P. Lynch.
C o lle g e  & Research Libraries is published by the 
Association of C o lle g e  and Research Libraries, a 
division of the Am erican Library Association, 17 
times yearly— 6 bim onthly Journal issues and I I  
monthly (com binin g July-August) News issues— at 
1201-05 Bluff St., Fulton, M O  65251. Subscription, 
$15.00 a year, or to  members of the division, 
$7.50, included in dues. Second-class postage paid  
a t Fulton, Missouri 65251.
©  A m erican Library Association 1975. A ll m aterial 
in this journal subject to  copyright by the A m e ri­
can Library Association may be photocopied for 
the noncom mercial purpose o f scientific or educa­
tional advancem ent.

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