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North Carolina Libraries
While others were
learning to read
and use the
information in the
books we had
warehoused and
classified to
advance
themselves and
their professions,
we essentially
stranded our
power and image
in the minds of the
rest of the world
somewhere
between the Xerox
monk and Marian
the Librarian.
" Howard McGinn, 1992
om
2° CED Special Edition 1992
ve Crisis in Libragianship
bRARIES
North Carolina Libraries
wishes to thank
the Division of State Library
for its
LSCA grant
to publish this special issue of the journal.
Volume 50
N ISSN 0029-2740
Special Edition 1992
mum CRISIS IN LIBRARIANS PP
From the President
Crisis in Librarianship: The Editor's Perspective, Frances Bryant Bradburn
Why Networking in Libraries? Howard F. McGinn
Working for a Change, Duncan Smith
CONF WN
1
The Power to Restructure: Meeting the Challenge of Change for School Media
Coordinators, Lynda B. Fowler
1 5 Encountering the Twenty-First Century: Libraries, Reference Departments,
Reference Librarians, Kenneth W. Berger, B. Ilene Nelson, and Johannah Sherrer
20 Libraries: No Longer Free of Fee, Kenneth Marks
24 The For-Profit Syndrome: Will Libraries Be Next? Alice Wilkins
27 The Crisis in Youth Services, Satia Orange and Cal Shepard
30 Point: Librarians as Cultural Guardians and as Information Professionals,
Rose Simon
31 Counter Point: So, What's Wrong With A Little Culture? Harry Tuchmayer
32 North Carolina Library Networks: A Bibliography on Library Cooperation
Involving the Old North State, Plummer Alston Jones, Jr.
37 The Lessons of Locust Gap: An Allegory, Howard F. McGinn
39 About the Authors
Cover: Everett tobacco barn, Route 150 W., Greensboro, N.C. Photo courtesy of Rose Simon,
Salem College, Winston-Salem.
North Carolina Libraries is electronically produced. Art direction and design by Pat Weathersbee of TeamMedia,
Se eee Greenville, NC. Printed by Walker-Ross Printing Co., Inc., Rocky Mount, NC.
Crises in our libraries are not
new. Your crisis today may bea
dripping pipe over a range of
shelving. Tomorrow it may be
the sudden illness of a staff
member or an unusual assign-
ment by a local teacher.
There are other kinds of cri-
ses, however, some of which
are discussed in this special is-
sue of North Carolina Libraries.
The one I want to speak about
here is the long-term economic
crisis in libraries.
Some of us are acutely aware
because we were early victims
of budget cuts and rising prices.
The more fortunate who es-
caped for a while are now feel-
ing the impact.
The ramifications are seri-
ous. For all of us. For our state. For our
country. For the world.
At the 1992 Midwinter Conference of
the American Library Association, Presi-
dent Patricia Schuman launched a public
relations campaign to raise the visibility of
libraries and library personnel. She kicked
off a telephone call-in campaign to ask
Americans to call an 800 number and
express their support for libraries and li-
brarians ... of all types.
As a part of that campaign, I wrote a
letter to each member of the North Caro-
lina Library Association and asked for help
communicating an important message to
the American public.
Your right to know and to access infor-
mation is being threatened. Locally, many
libraries are facing the most severe budget
cuts since the Great Depression. As always
during a depressed economy, we are get-
ting reports that library use is on the rise.
You canTt exercise your right to know if
your library is closed. You canTt exercise
your right to know if you donTt know how
to read. And you canTt exercise your right
to know if someone else is telling you what
you can or canTt read.
Iasked about local crises. How are fund-
ing cuts affecting your library and the
services you offer to your patrons?
Your responses were immediate and
distressing. Here are excerpts from some of
them.
" The Macon County Public Library has
had the same operating budget from the
county for three consecutive years. Hours
have been cut. The library is now closed
Sundays and Monday evenings.
" When library staff vacancies occur at
the Nantahala Regional Library, the posi-
tions are being filled with lesser qualified
personnel who are paid less than the state
mandated salaries.
" The state no longer mandates a budget
2 " Special Edition 1992
Prom the President
Janet Freeman, President
for school libraries. Money that would
have been allocated to libraries is lumped
together with instructional supplies and
textbooks, and whether a library gets any
budget at all is up to the county or the
individual school. When money is scarce,
as it was this year, there is simply no
contest.
" Bookmobile service from the East
Albemarle Regional Library has been dis-
continued in one county and cut in halfin
three others. Local budgets are frozen.
" In 1989/90 the Walter Clinton Jackson
Library at the University of North Caro-
lina at Greensboro added a third fewer
books than were purchased a decade ear-
lier, despite significant growth in enroll-
ments and programs during that time.
" At the Shepard Pruden Memorial Li-
brary in Edenton purchase of a new heat
pump for the childrenTs room and library
office has been deferred for several years.
" Public school system media coordina-
tors are being eliminated or given addi-
tional non-library responsibilities, thus
diminishing the support for school librar-
ies and media centers.
" Increasing costs of books, CD-ROM
databases, and equipment service contracts
makes upgrading 10-year-old microcom-
puters in school libraries impossible.
Since 1987 the North Carolina State
University Libraries have canceled 3,045
journal subscriptions. No new serials titles
have been purchased during this five-year
period, and the size of the journal and
serials collection has decreased by sixteen
percent. Monograph purchases have de-
clined by more than fifty percent.
Budget for AV equipment " TV/VCRs,
record players, filmstrip projectors, audio-
cassette tape players/recorders, etc. " was
completely cut last year from another
school budget.
In 1990/91 Belk Library at Appalachian
State University faceda one hun-
dred thousand dollar deficit in
periodical subscription renewals,
which resulted in the cancella-
tion of over four hundred titles.
Forsyth County Public Library
had to eliminate the positions
of eleven full- and part-time staff.
Thirty percent of all standing
orders and twenty-five percent
of all serials were cut. All book-
mobile service has been elimi-
nated.
A school librarian wrote, oWe
worry about our childrenTs scores
on the SAT, but we cut the bud-
gets for books at school and
public libraries. We talk about
restructuring education, but we
cut funds in the very places that
could make a real difference in
the way children are taught. We worry
about the work force of tomorrow, but we
cut the funds for technology and all the
wonderful ways to access information that
are now available.�
A university librarian wrote, oShould we
tell this generation of college students,
~Sorry, but we canTt afford to provide you
with the resources essential to your educa-
tion. Come back when things are better.T?�
Our budgets are suffering and the short-
term impact is obvious to us, but to com-
municate the seriousness of the long-term
ramifications, we must raise the awareness
of those who fund our libraries ... these
repositories of the knowledge of civiliza-
tion are being victimized. We as library
personnel and supporters have the respon-
sibility to speak out for libraries and see
that this most democratic of all places in
our society is not jeopardized.
We have made a start but we must
continue. Library personnel in North Caro-
lina rallied to spread the word and gener-
ated 2,578 calls during the oCall for
AmericaTs Libraries� Campaign, the fourth
highest state in the United States!
One of NCLA Executive BoardTs goals
for this biennium is to promote libraries of
all types and formulate and implement an
external marketing campaign to get that
word out, but the Marketing and Public
Relations Committee cannot do it alone.
You need to be a part of the initiative also.
Did you read Cal ShepardTs excellent
article oSpeak Up for Kids!� in the May/
June 1992 issue of Tar Heel Libraries? She
made some practical suggestions about
how to be a positive voice and take posi-
tive action which all of us can use, no
matter what our type of library. I encour-
age you to read it.
We're in this together and unless we
work together, we will not succeed.
RS RS RI
North Carolina Libraries
The decision to devote a special issue to the crisis in librarianship was fraught with
peril. North Carolina librarianship in crisis? Surely not! This is the state whose State
Library, in conjunction with its public libraries, recently has been featured as the
prototype for the successful evolution from print into the networked electronic
environment in a study funded by OCLC, researched and reported by Charles R.
McClure, et. al., and released on July 1, 1992, entitled oPublic Libraries and the
INTERNET/NREN: New Challenges, New Opportunities.� This is the state that sports
three major academic research libraries; the state whose school library media program
is the envy of the nation. In this environment, how could eighteen individuals, albeit
representative of all types of libraries, have the audacity to suggest that we, of all
professions, in North Carolina, of all states, could possibly be in crisis?
Individual examples abound. NCLA President Janet Freeman highlights several
throughout her PresidentTs Column. She touches only the icebergTs tip. Authors
from school, public, and academic librarianship direct our attention to crises within
individual libraries and the profession in general. These authors do not simply point
out the problems. Rather, they suggest theories for thought and strategies for
change that will allow us " and, yes, encourage us " to grow and evolve into a
viable profession for the twenty-first century.
It is tempting to allow the crises to speak for themselves"the crisis of image;
the crisis of a coalitionless profession; the crisis of rigid,outdated thinking; the crisis
of the service-to-all-with-all mentality. Yet central to each
of these issues is the crisis of personal and professional
values. As Kenneth Marks states in his article, oLibraries:
Crisis in Librarianshi e No Longer Free of Fee,� oPerhaps one of the reasons that
p: libraries are not valued is due to our inability to establish a
e e value for our own activities.�
The Editor 'S P. er. spective Marks is referring specifically to monetary value. I
suggest, however, that the crisis is far more than financial;
it revolves around how we value ourselves both as individu-
als and as a profession. Ours is a profession that constantly
fights the sour-faced, bun and brown shoes stereotype. It is
a profession that annually fights inane battles for small
budget increases for materials that are vital to the very survival of the institutions
they support. It is a profession " we are the individuals " who will attempt to
provide the same level of service that was possible two years ago when our libraries
had more staff members, fewer patrons, more money, and no CD-ROMs! We
hesitate to deface the image of libraries as it is included in othe American flag,
motherhood, and apple pie� syndrome. But even mothers strike; Mrs. Fields
advertises!
Why is it that we find our own self-promotion so difficult? Why are we as a
profession " as professionals " not worth our own support? Last year the Execu-
tive Board of NCLA debated with some acrimony the cost of funding library ocom-
mercials� featuring Atlantic Coast Conference athletes and concluding with the tag,
oStay in school, use your library, and read.� To be sure, a six thousand dollar
investment was required, the request was hurriedly compiled, and a less rosy
financial picture was beginning to surface. But these facts pale when one considers
the public relations coup the previous yearTs spots had been and the next yearTs
promised to be. The ACC itself estimates that millions of potential library users
watched those public service announcements across the state, throughout the
South, even in other parts of the United States. And these ads did not specify
college libraries, school media centers, or public libraries. No, all the bases were
covered; it was a marketing masterpiece. Mrs. Field would have been proud. And
yet, by approving only half the request, NCLA demurred.
Why are we unable to see our own value, market our own self-worth? We cannot
wait for our savior; Armageddon may appear before the Ascension. We must nurture
our risk-takers, not stone them; cultivate our visionaries, not gag them. And we must
recognize that there is power in numbers. We need only decide how we choose to use
that power. We can use our financial resources to educate ourselves and our clientele,
potential and present-day. We can use our intelligence and first-line defense of
information to market ourselves individually and professionally, making ourselves
totally indispensable to our targeted communities. Or we can become an incredibly
powerful collective ochicken little� whose sky collapses around us leaving all the
world, not just ourselves, the lesser for our fears and timidity.
by Frances Bryant Bradburn
a a ee ee
North Carolina Libraries Special Edition 1992 " 3
a ee ee ee
Why Networking in Libraries?
he CIA and the KGB have a
problem. The cold war has
ended. The Soviet Union is
crumbling. Both are reducing
staff. And, most amazingly,
several months ago the televi-
sion program o60 Minutes�
actually televised a Soviet technician pre-
paring laboratory slides of slices of a promi-
nent dead SovietTs brain. But the CIA, at
least, has caught a glimpse of the future,
and the future is electronic information,
information transfer, networking. In a re-
cent interview, David Whipple, a former
CIA station chief noted that o ~the impor-
tant person in the intelligence business is
no longer going to be the spymaster, it
seems to me, but the analystT - the expert
able to sift and make sense of the ava-
lanche of information freely available in
the global village of the 21st century.�!
In examining this global village, its
electronic information neural system, its
politics, its applications, my task is to
frame the discussion in the question: oWhy
Networking In Libraries?� I will not con-
centrate on the more technical aspects of
networking; the next regular issue of North
Carolina Libraries will cover that topic ex-
tensively. I will concentrate on two impor-
tant non-technical aspects. The first is the
role of the librarian in networking and its
massive technology shift. The second is
the acquisition and use of power through
networking in order to serve our citizens
and communities. Perhaps the two are one
and the same because in my thinking the
problems and solutions inherent in the
topics answer the question oWhy Net-
working in Libraries?.�
' As librarians, we enter any discussion
of networking with a mental construct
built on a medieval item of technology
called the book. I do not intend to belabor
the old death-of-the-book discussion. In
fact that argument is a red herring. The
book will survive. It is the question of the
survival of the library profession, as we
know it, that forms the real basis of the
death-of-the-book question. Librarianship,
4 " Special Edition 1992
by Howard F. McGinn
like no other profession in history, has
identified itself, and linked its future with
an implement rather than a process. In
doing so it has created its own potential
source of internal collapse.
Yet I think the library profession is
extremely well positioned in this new-
born information age to acquire and wield
enormous power. The shift in information
storage and dissemination from the book
to the computer and telecommunications
has given librarians an opportunity to
reclaim power that has been eroding for
many years. In fact, I suggest a case could
be made that whenever a revo-
lutionary or evolutionary shift
in information technology
occurs, a power position op-
portunity is presented to the
librarian more than to any
other professional.
Think back in history.
Once we had great power be-
cause we were the only ones
who knew how to read. Of
course we may have had a sec-
ond occupation as a priestess
or priest, but the power was
there. We had a very tightly
controlled monopoly. We
made the clay tablets, we illu-
minated the manuscripts, we
bound the books. And only we
were able to write on the tab-
lets or in the books and read
what we wrote; people had to abide by our
interpretation of the writings. It is much
like the legal profession today.
But we have come toa grinding halt in
our understanding of the power of infor-
mation. While we contented ourselves with
the creation of elaborate classification
schemes, the building of great warehouses
to store books, the development of many
tangential services and concerns that had
nothing at all to do with the essential
nature of our profession, we allowed the
power to pass from our hands. The power
passed because we wrapped our profession
around the information storage device
called the book. While others were learn-
ing to read and use the information in the
books we had warehoused and classified to
advance themselves and their professions,
we essentially stranded our power and
image in the minds of the rest of the world
somewhere between the Xerox monk and
Marian the Librarian. And there we have
remained for decades, happily storing and
stamping books.
Moreover, these other professions built
themselves into monopolies through their
professional associations and graduate
education programs. Our graduate library
Librarianship, like no other
profession in history, has
identified itself, and linked its
future with an implement
rather than a process. In
doing so it has created its
own potential source of
internal collapse.
education programs are dying at a disturb-
ing rate. Who will train the information
specialists needed in the information age?
Probably not library schools. The majority
of the specialists, especially those that
earn the higher salaries, will be trained by
the business, computer science, and other
information-related academic depart-
ments. We have lost control over the fu-
ture of our profession because we have
allowed others to decrease the supply of
librarians while the demand for informa-
tion specialists increases.
Consider, too, the power wielded by
the American Medical Association or the
North Carolina Libraries
American Bar Association. Their power
emanates from their creation of monopo-
lies that control entry to the profession,
control membersT business practices and
pricing, and threaten one with legal or
physical death if one does not abide by
their dictums. We librarians have permit-
ted ourselves to become diluted as a dis-
tinct profession because we allow any per-
son who works in a library to call himself
or herself a librarian. Would the American
Medical Association or the American Bar
Association allow me to claim to be a
physician or a lawyer? If I did, I would be
arrested. What does it take to join the
American Library Association or the North
Carolina Library Association? The pay-
ment of dues. We have become the generic
profession, right up there with Scotch tape,
Xerox copiers, and Saran Wrap. Now com-
bine a generic, come one - come all, profes-
sion with the warm fuzzy image the librar-
ies we manage elicit in most peopleTs minds,
and you can begin to understand why we
face chronic recruiting, salary, funding,
and overall image problems. We are rap-
idly transferring our profession to others
who are more aggressive, more willing to
change, more willing to embrace modern
information technology. And we are per-
forming this professional suicide in an age
that is information-dependent. So oWhy
networking in libraries�? It may save the
profession. It may do so because it can
help restore power.
But why should we want power? How
does the acquisition of power and the pres-
ervation of the profession impact on the
reasons for networking? LetTs return to the
discussion of our roots. The modern library
evolved to serve the information needs of
people. It did so primarily through infor-
mation stored on paper. As information has
proliferated, as information storage and
dissemination technology has developed,
the library profession has been presented
with enormous opportunities to serve the
... Whenever a revolutionary
or evolutionary shift in
information technology
occurs, a power position
opportunity is presented to
the librarian more than to
any other professional.
North Carolina Libraries
fullrange of information needs of our towns
and their citizens. In fact, because an in-
creasing amount of information, especially
information generated by state and federal
governments, will only be available in elec-
tronic format, librarians and their funding
institutions will need to make the financial
and personnel investments necessary to
deliver this information to their clients,
especially those who can least afford it. But
we had better get our funding institutions
behind us quickly because in the last few
months the information services landscape
has experienced a cataclysmic shift. That
shift is, of course, the freeing of the Baby
Bells to enter the information provision
business. So again I ask, oWhy networking
in libraries�? Let Judge Green, the judge
who has spent the better part of a decade
overseeing the breakup of AT&T, answer
the question.
This quote is from the Wall Street Jour-
nal. oTf the Bells do enter the information
services industry, it would reshape the mar-
ket, but Judge Green warned that in his
view the changes wouldnTt be for the better.
~The most probable consequences....will be
the elimination of competition from that
market and the concentration of the sources
of information of the American people in
just a few dominant, collaborative con-
glomerates, with the captive local telephone
monopolies as their base.T� 2 oWhy net-
working in libraries�? Obviously libraries
do not have the financial or political clout
to compete with the Baby Bells. But through
networking they can lessen the monopolis-
tic impact of the telecommunicationTs in-
dustry on our communities and people.
So let me summarize this gloomy sce-
nario. Books will not disappear. There will
always be books and multiple outlets for
the acquisition of books. A few large ware-
houses across the country will assure that
the preservation of important titles is ac-
complished. Information services will not
disappear. The unleashing of the Baby
Bells will insure that information
will be provided to households
by telephone company-con-
trolled cable systems or through
phone lines. The institution of
the free public library will gradu-
ally decline in importance as more
commercial book outlets are es-
tablished and as phone compa-
nies franchise information ser-
vice outlets.
Academic libraries will not
escape the effects of a wide open
information marketplace. At the
1992 Educom Conference, I sat
at a table with ten academic li-
brary directors and directors of
academic computing depart-
ments. Seven of the eight library directors
had just been placed under the manage-
ment of their institutionTs academic com-
puting center. The lone survivor was Duke
University. Its library director manages
the academic computing services at the
university. And finally, the library profes-
sion as we know it will disappear unless
drastic steps are taken by the profession as
a whole and by each of us individually.
oWhy networking in libraries�? To save a
profession by taking advantage of the op-
portunities presented by networking and
the important market niches the Baby
Bells and others will probably ignore or
overlook. To assure that we do not disen-
franchise the poor by making the ability to
pay and the ability to process raw informa-
tion into useable data the criteria for par-
ticipation in the global information
economy.
I mentioned above that I thought the
shift in information technology that has
been sweeping the world presents oppor-
tunities. Let me try to combine all of these
thoughts into some final answers to the
question. My answers will concentrate on
service since service will lead to survival.
Service starts with taking advantage of the
opportunities created by the identifica-
tion of needs. We need networking in
libraries to help our towns, their govern-
ments and citizens, participate in the in-
formation age. The crucial information
needs of the future will not be the elec-
tronic telephone pages provided over the
cable systems. The real information needs
will be information that enables local gov-
ernments to function, to plan, to cope
with the by-products of technology, to
preserve the environment, to educate its
citizens, to use tax dollars wisely, to digest
and process and reformat all of that raw
data into food for civic growth. Librarians
know how to do this. The Baby Bells do
not. But in order for the poorer towns, the
more rural towns, to do all of the above,
they must be part of a larger electronic
universe that provides access to all of the
information assets purchased by tax dol-
lars and stored in libraries across the state
and the country.
I want to emphasize this notion of
public information assets. We take for
granted that the information assets in a
public library are for the use of everyone,
since tax dollars were used to purchase
these items. But arenTt public tax dollars
used to support publicly supported univer-
sity libraries? ArenTt public tax dollars used
to pay for the information assets in publicly
supported community college libraries? IsnTt
there a moral and legal responsibility and
position of accountability for state and lo-
cal governments and their citizenry to de-
Special Edition 1992 " 5
mand access to public information assets,
no matter where these assets are main-
tained? Networking in libraries provides
the mechanism to make these public infor-
mation assets available. And fortunately in
North Carolina, our public universities and
most of our other public institutions are
We have lost contro! over the future
of our profession because we have
allowed others to
decrease the supply of librarians
while the demand for
information specialists increases.
concerned about the information needs of
the state and participate vigorously in net-
working programs.
But materials are not the only compo-
nent of information assets. The High Per-
formance Computing Act of 1991 has been
signed into law by President Bush. This act
authorizes the construction of the now-
famous National Research Education Net-
work, better known as NREN. Libraries are
included in the legislation. But so are many
other types of information users. We need
to realize that libraries were included in
the legislation at the last minute because
of lobbying by ALA, the Chief Officers of
State Library Agencies, SLA, and by private
citizens like. A case in point is North Caro-
lina Secretary of Cultural Resources Patric
Dorsey who made a special trip to Wash-
ington to meet with North Carolina Con-
gressman Tim Valentine, chair of one of
two House subcommittees that held hear-
ings on the NREN legislation. This point
needs emphasis. While there isa role given
to the federal Department of Education in
NREN and the law says that libraries are to
enjoy NREN access, universal access will
not occur unless constant lobbying con-
tinues. I firmly believe that the National
Science Foundation, the Department of
Energy, and even the Department of Edu-
cation have no interest in allowing the
ocommon people� of the world to have
significant, daily, affordable access to
NREN. Their information needs are not
considered to be as important or as sophis-
ticated as are the needs of those wanting
access to supercomputers.
Yet NREN will be built with tax dol-
lars. It is a public information asset. Ironi-
6 " Special Edition 1992
cally, it will probably take the privatization
of NREN, as the legislation requires, to
provide full access since Merit, MCI, IBM,
or any other company operating NREN
will be interested in the revenue that can
be gained by opening up access to this
electronic superhighway. You can coun-
teract this trend by lob-
bying your congressman
and senator. Because of
the State Library of
North CarolinaTs pio-
neering work with the
University of North
CarolinaTs Educational
Computing Service to
provide access to
UNCECST LINCNET sys-
tem to all parts of the
state, you can assure ac-
cess by lobbying your
General Assembly mem-
ber for funding to sup-
port LINCNET and the
statewide establishment
of access to LINCNET. This is your key to
participation in the global economy.
NREN, LINCNET, and all of the federal
and state operated telecommunications
systems are public information assets.
You and I are paying for them. We must
assure that we have access to them.
Finally, some words about ourselves.
We are a helping profession. We worry
about the poor, the illiterate, the oppressed.
We are one of the chief supporters of
peopleTs firstamendment rights. We teach;
we counsel; we sacrifice. But who will do
all of this if we are gone, if our profession
disappears? Will the Baby Bells, the Na-
tional Science Foundation, the Depart-
ment of Energy, the business schools? We
have to keep the profession alive if for no
other reason than to continue our tradi-
tion of service. In an age where informa-
tion does and will carry a price tag, we
need to exist. But in order to survive, we
need to break our attachment to the book,
abandon our meekness, become aggres-
sive, embrace technology, form coalitions
with anyone who can help us and whom
we can help. We need to stop being pre-
servers of culture and start being preserv-
ers of people. We need to become informa-
tion managers, information interpreters,
not information warehouse operators.
Networking in libraries will demand this
professional metamorphosis. And in this
process of changing we will see our salaries
rise, our recruiting become more success-
ful, our image improve because we will
become essential cogs in the daily func-
tioning of our communities.
oWhy networking in libraries�? Let
me close with a quotation from Hedrick
Smith, and some thoughts from Loren
Eisley. First Hedrick Smith. In his book,
The Power Game, Smith describes the na-
ture of power in this way: oPower is the
ability to make something happen or to
keep it from happening. It can spring from
tactical ingenuity and jugular timing, or
simply from knowing more than anyone
else at the critical moment of decision.�3
As librarians, we have the ability, because
of our command of the tools of informa-
tion, to make something happen, to keep
something from happening, to use power
with ingenuity, to oknow more than any-
one else.� In order to preserve our profes-
sion, we need to do all of these things. If we
donTt, others will.
Now Loren Eisley. He writes in The
Star Thrower: oBefore act was or substance
existed, imagination grew in the dark.
Man partakes of that ultimate wonder and
creativeness. As we turn from the galaxies
to the swarming cells of our own being,
which toil for something, some entity
beyond their grasp, let us remember man,
the self-fabricator who came across an ice
age to look into the mirrors and the magic
of science. Surely he did not come to see
himself or his wild visage only. He came
because he is at heart a listener and a
searcher for some transcendent realm be-
yond himself.T�4
Your search for power will ultimately
lead you to a confrontation with yourself.
Listen to your inner voices and those of
the people you must serve. Search your
motives, your conscience, your soul and
ask for wisdom to gain and use power.
Cross the ice age of the ancient informa-
tion world to the new ice age of the elec-
tronic world in the search for the transcen-
dent realm, because it is only by reaching
out beyond ourselves, by transcending
ourselves, by serving all others as best we
can that we ultimately gain power now
and in heaven.
References
1 Gerald F. Seib and Peter Gumbel.
oIdentity Crisis. With the Cold War Over,
CIA and KGB Asks What Comes Next.�
Wall Street Journal. November 6, 1991. p.1.
2 Mary Lu Carnevale. Wall Street Jour-
nal. July 26, 1991. p. B1.
3 Hedrick Smith. The Power Game. (New
York: Ballentine Books, 1988), xxiii.
4 Loren Eisley. The Star Thrower. (New
York: Times Books, 1978), 120 - 121.
North Carolina Libraries
ie emp ey
Working for a Change
he one issue around which
librarianship is most likely to
reach consensus is the issue of
change. An overwhelming ma-
jority of the profession acknowl-
edges and admits that in order
to survive, the profession must
change. The exact nature and direction of
this change are open for debate. This is
where the professionTs consensus comes
apart and we each go off into our separate
corners, either by ourselves or with the
faction of our choice. There is nothing
alarming about this picture of our profes-
sional behavior. In fact, this has been the
professionTs status quo. This issue of North
Carolina Libraries illustrates the wide range
of opinion about the need for change that
exists in our profession.
In his article, Howard McGinn argues
that libraries and librarians must become
full partners of the new information infra-
structure or become extinct. His article is
an organizational perspective calling for
significant change in the way our organi-
zations interact and connect with their
constituencies. On the other hand, in their
article, Ilene Nelson, Johannah Sherrer,
and Ken Berger provide us with a view of
the change that needs to occur in the
reference department of the library itself.
Their article is the more personal of the
two and focuses on the changes that need
to occur within the individual. These two
articles illustrate the breadth of change
that needs to occur within the profession.
The profession needs to change at both
the overall organizational level and within
the individual members of the profession.
These authors demonstrate that profes-
sional survival depends on the profession
changing from top to bottom no matter
which way you stand the pyramid.
What is missing from these two ar-
ticles and what is missing from most of the
professionTs discussion of change is not
the what or why, but the how. The profes-
sion is proficient at discussing and arguing
for change, but it has not become adept at
achieving it. Librarianship is not alone in
this. How to achieve significant and last-
North Carolina Libraries
by Duncan Smith
ing change in both organizations and in-
dividuals is at the heart of the debate that
is raging throughout the country. It is the
issue that will become a centerpiece in our
soon to be held Presidential election.
A Case Study
Both McGinn and Nelson stress the im-
portance of information and information
services in their articles. Both authors fo-
cus on the provision of these services as a
hallmark of the profession, and fear that
information services will be one of the first
losses incurred by the profession as it moves
down the road to extinction. Given the
centrality of these services to the profes-
sion and the emphasis given them by
these authors, one would assume that this
is an area in which the profession would
be struggling to ensure its proficiency. A
large body of evidence exists to the con-
trary. In fact, according to existing
research, the profession provides an
accurate answer to requests for infor-
mation only fifty-five percent of the
time. This is not new information; it
has been known for a long time. It is
indicative of the professionTs atti-
tude toward making change that the
fifty-five percent rule has been al-
lowed to remain the professionTs sta-
tus quo.
A time line of published research
on unobtrusive reference will illus-
trate this point. The first five entries
in this time line are taken from Terence
CrowleyTs oHalf-Right Reference: Is It
True?�1
1968: Terence Crowley completes his
dissertation at Rutgers on the
unobtrusive measurement of reference
services. He finds that the librarians in
his sample answer questions with a 54.2
percent accuracy rate.
1971: Thomas Childers refines, expands,
and verifies CrowleyTs work. Scarecrow
Press publishes ChildersT and CrowleyTs
work in a book.
1978: Childers expands on his own work
in a much larger and refined study. He
publishes his results in a journal article.
1981: McClure and Hernon use
unobtrusive methodology in a study of
the effectiveness of government docu-
ments departments. This is the first
example of the use of this methodology
to evaluate and improve practice.
1983: Maryland State Library conducts a
state-wide assessment of reference
accuracy in MarylandTs public libraries.
1985: Ralph Gers and Lillie J. Seward
publish the results of the Maryland
Study in Library Journal. This article
identifies the six behaviors that improve
reference accuracy.2
The profession is proficient
at discussing and arguing
for change, but it has
not become adept at
achieving it.
1986: Maryland State Library develops
and trains two hundred Maryland
librarians in the use of the six behaviors
that improve reference accuracy.3
1986: Maryland State Library conducts a
second unobtrusive study to assess the
effectiveness of its training. This second
study revealed that reference accuracy
had improved to seventy-seven percent.4
1986: Patsy HanselTs article on the
results of an unobtrusive study of
reference accuracy at Cumberland
County Public Library and Information
Special Edition 1992 " 7
Center (CCPL&IC) is published in North
Carolina Libraries. Hansel reports an
accuracy score of 74.7 percent at
CCPL&IC.5
1988: Sandy Stephan publishes an article
in Public Libraries describing the Mary-
land training and its effectiveness.6
1991: The Reference and Adult Services
Section of the North Carolina Library
Association begins planning a train-the-
trainer institute to begin introducing the
oMaryland Model� into libraries in
North Carolina.
1992: Thirty North Carolina librarians
are trained in the Maryland Model with
the express purpose of introducing the
six model reference behaviors into their
libraries and other libraries in North
Carolina.
1992: Laura Isenstein publishes an
article in Library Journal describing the
incorporation of the six model reference
behaviors into Baltimore County Public
LibraryTs performance evaluation
process.7
The oHow� of Change
This time line is a case study of how our
profession changes. First of all, library re-
searchers begin development of a method-
ology and conduct studies which provide
an accurate picture of some aspect of profes-
sional practice. In this case, the picture is of
the professionTs ability to respond accu-
rately to requests for information. The re-
sults of these investigations are reported in
the professional literature. In this case, a
book is published and the first of a series of
articles discussing these investigations is
published. It is important to note that four
years pass between CrowleyTs work and the
publication of this work in the book that
describes his work and the work of Childers.
It is also important to note that the first
article to appear in the professional litera-
ture about this work is ChildersT, and it
appears ten years after Crowley completes
his dissertation on the unobtrusive evalua-
tion of reference service.
The next step in the professionTs
change process is the use of the methodol-
ogy to improve practice. The first instance
where the work of Crowley and Childers is
actually used to describe and recommend
change in professional practice occurs in
1983, fifteen years after Crowley began his
work. The second instance of the use of
this work to improve practice begins in
1983 and culminates in 1986, when the
State Library of Maryland completes its
first round of training in the six model
8 " Special Edition 1992
reference behaviors.
The Maryland experience needs fur-
ther elaboration. First of all, the State Li-
brary of Maryland did not just replicate the
work of Crowley and Childers. The State
Library of Maryland improved on
unobtrusive methodology by focusing not
only on measuring accuracy but identify-
ing those behaviors which lead to librarians
providing an accurate answer to a request
forinformation.8 Once these behaviors had
been identified, a training program was
developed to assist Maryland librarians in
using these behaviors on the job to improve
their performances. Once this training had
been implemented, a follow up study was
conducted to evaluate the training
programTs effectiveness in improving refer-
ence accuracy in Maryland.
Two additional points of interest are
that in both Maryland and North Carolina
a decision was made to develop trainers to
expand the availability of the training.
Secondly, further follow-up studies by
the State Library of Maryland revealed
that follow-up and refresher training
sessions had to be conducted to ensure
that the six model reference behaviors
were consistently applied. Without this
follow-up and refresher training the
use of the behavior declined.? An ex-
tension of this need for reinforcement
of the model behaviors led Baltimore
County Public Library to integrate the
model behaviors into its performance
evaluation process.
At this point, a total of twenty-
four years has elapsed since CrowleyTs
initial work. The training of North
Carolina librarians in the six model refer-
ence behaviors identified by the State Li-
brary of Maryland is beginning this year.
Six years after the citizens of Maryland
began having their questions answered
accurately seventy-seven percent of the
time, there is no evidence to indicate that
the citizens of North Carolina are getting
anything better than ohalf-right reference.�
Change: A Systems Perspective
What is remarkable about the oMaryland
Model� time line is not that the discussed
outcomes took twenty-four years to occur.
Nor is it remarkable that these outcomes
have only occurred in certain pockets of
the profession. What is remarkable about
the oMaryland Model� time line is that the
outcomes occurred at all! The chain of
events that led to a statewide reference
accuracy score of seventy-seven percent
are characterized by happenstance and are
the results of highly individualized and
unique actions.
Without the work of Crowley and
Childers, the methodology for the State of
MarylandTs study would not have existed.
Without the interest of personnel at the
Maryland State Library, the six model ref-
erence behaviors would not have been
identified. Without the staff development
and training expertise of other Maryland
State Library personnel, the training pro-
gram responsible for the diffusion of the
six model reference behaviors throughout
Maryland would not have been devel-
oped. Without the publication of the re-
sults of these studies and efforts, the Refer-
ence and Adult Services Section of the
North Carolina Library Association would
not have learned of the oMaryland Model.�
Without the interest and funding of the
North Carolina Library Association, the
training institute that resulted in thirty
North Carolina librarians becoming quali-
fied trainers in the six model reference
behaviors would not have occurred. With-
out the interest of these librarians and
The major limitation of the
profession's change system is
that no one is in charge.
The major barrier to change
in our profession is that
change has no place in it.
their employers, the bodies needed for the
training institute would not have been
available. Without these individuals, the
citizens of North Carolina would continue
to receive accurate answers to their ques-
tions only fifty-five percent of the time.
Several of the authors in this issue of
North Carolina Libraries imply that if the
profession does not change, it will not
endure. If the profession is to move from
talking about change to doing it, it must
recognize how change occurs. As indi-
cated by the above case study the follow-
ing steps are part of our professionTs change
system:
1. An accurate picture of some aspect of
professional practice is achieved through
research.
2. Based on this picture, strategies for
improving practice are identified.
3. A technique for communicating and
enabling librarians to incorporate these
strategies into their practice is developed
and implemented.
North Carolina Libraries
a
4. A mechanism for ensuring the contin-
ued and consistent utilization of these
strategies is in place.
These four steps are basic to our
professionTs change system. While this
change system may exist in other con-
texts, it is unique in our profession. It is
unique to our profession in the sense that
it is ours. It is unique in the sense that it
belongs to us. It is a system that is decen-
tralized. It is a system for which no one
agency, organization, institution, or indi-
vidual has responsibility.
Who Is Responsible
An examination of one of our professionTs
change tasks sheds some light on the re-
sponsibility issue. The major techniques
available for communicating and enabling
librarians to incorporate new strategies
into their practice are continuing educa-
tion and staff development. Yet continu-
ing education and staff development are
our professionTs foster children. They have
no permanent home in our profession.
They spend their lives moving from one
temporary residence to another, finding a
momentary resting place in this library
school, or that state library, in this section
of a professional association, or in that
library.
Every aspect of our profession admits
that it has some responsibility for continu-
ing education. Library schools, professional
associations, state libraries, employers and
librarians all admit that they have some
responsibility for continuing education.
Yet none of these components of our pro-
fession will admit to having continuing
education as its primary purpose. Each of
these components, however, can, when
asked, tell you who does have primary
responsibility for continuing education,
and it is always someone other than the
component to which you are speaking.
Given the current environment, it is
unlikely that any of the agencies men-
tioned above will adopt continuing educa-
tion and staff development as its primary
responsibility. Given the nature of the
change system and its elements, it is also
unlikely that any one agency could incor-
porate all of the skills, competencies, and
interests needed to ensure that meaning-
ful and lasting change occurs in the profes-
sion. This does not doom librarianship to
being a profession in which change does
not occur. It simply means that when we
stop talking about change and settle down
to doing it, we must own the limitations of
our professionTs change system. The major
limitation of the professionTs change sys-
tem is that no one is in charge. This means
that those individuals who would initiate
North Carolina Libraries
change in the profession must pay particu-
lar attention to the change tasks outlined
above. These same individuals must also
remember that it does not matter so much
who does each of the tasks. What matters
is that the tasks are done. Without atten-
tion to all four of them meaningful and
lasting change is not likely to occur.
Who Will Change
Another aspect of change that the profes-
sion is reluctant to discuss is who will
change. When change is called for, it is
usually called for in sweeping, profession-
wide terms. It is usually phrased in terms
of ous� and othem.� The speaker calling
for change and the audience hearing him
or her becomes the ous.� The remainder of
the profession becomes the othem.� An
interesting variation on this theme is the
professionTs reliance on onew blood� to
produce the change it requires.
At least three major documents have
been issued during the past two years
which call for sweeping change in the
profession. These documents are oThe
Statement of the Decade of the Librarian
1990-2000� produced by the American
Library Association as part of its strategic
planning process; Information 2000: Library
and Information Services for the 21st Century,
the summary report of the 1991 White
House Conference on Library and Infor-
mation Services; and oStrategic Vision for
Professional Librarians,� a document pro-
duced by the Strategic Visions Steering
Committee. Like the articles in this issue,
these documents all call for sweeping pro-
fessional change and tie change to profes-
sional survival. An examination of the
major strategies of these documents to
produce change is illuminating. In all three
cases, the recruitment of a new type of
individual to the profession is a key strat-
egy. In all three cases, continuing educa-
tion and staff development receive some
mention, but only in a minor way. These
three documents suggest that in order for
the profession to change, onew blood�
must be introduced into it. While this is a
useful secondary strategy, it is doomed to
failure as a primary strategy. 10
The new recruit strategy also implies
some interesting assumptions about the
majority of us who are currently working
in the profession. It implies that the
professionTs leadership has largely written
us off. It implies that those who are con-
cerned about professional survival feel that
the best chance for this survival rests with
a onew� few instead of with those of us
who are already here.
Terminus
These fears of the professionTs leadership,
the ones regarding the reluctance of the
vast majority of us to change, are not
unfounded. There are those of us who will
not change. There are, however, those of
us who will.
Librarianship is a hierarchical and
bureaucratic profession. It is a profession
with a place for everything and a profes-
sion that prefers everything in its place.
The major barrier to change in our profes-
sion is not resistance to it. The major
barrier to change in our profession is that
change has no place in it. No single agency
or institution whose primary focus is
change exists in our profession. As the
oMaryland Model� case study shows, when
change occurs it occurs through the in-
volvement of several elements of our
profession. It occurs through the efforts,
visions, and work of several individuals
who may never meet, who may never
know each other.
Our professionTs change system re-
quires the networking of a variety of indi-
viduals, agencies, and resources. It requires
that attention be paid to the change pro-
cess and to the tasks that are required to
ensure lasting and significant change. It
requires our moving as individuals and as
coalitions across the traditional institu-
tional and attitudinal boundaries of our
profession. It requires our coming together
to talk about a change and our coming
together to begin working for a change.
References
1Terence Crowley, oHalf-Right Refer-
ence: Is It True?� RQ 25, 1 (Fall 1985): 59-68.
2 Ralph Gers and Lillie J. Seward, oIm-
proving Reference Performance: Results of
a Statewide Study,� Library Journal 110, 18
(November 15, 1985): 32-35.
3Sandy Stephan, et al., oReference
Breakthrough in Maryland,� Public Librar-
ies 27, 4 (Winter 1988): 202-203.
4 Tbid., 202.
S Patsy Hansel, oUnobtrusive Evalua-
tion for Improvement: The CCPL&IC Ex-
perience,� North Carolina Libraries 44, 2
(Summer 1986): 69-75.
6 Stephan, 202.
7 Laura Isenstein, oGet Your Reference
Staff on the STAR Track,� Library Journal
117, 7 (April 15, 1992): 34-37.
8 Gers and Seward, 32-33.
9 Lillie J. Dyson, oReference Accuracy
Survey,� The Crab (Fall 1991): 7.
10Duncan Smith, oThe Greening of
Librarianship: Toward A Human Resource
Development Ecology,� Journal of Library
Administration (forthcoming).
Special Edition 1992 " 9
The Power to Restructure:
Meeting the Challenge of Change for
School Media Coordinators
or many years I have kept a file
labeled oMedia Profession "
Thoughts On.� The file contains
scribbled notes of my thoughts,
quotations from articles and
speeches, and complete articles
that have particular meaning for me as a
school library media professional. Recently,
as I surveyed the contents of this file, I
found that all the items address the issue
of change in education and how the li-
brary media profession relates to change
and the restructuring process. My collec-
tion suggests that school library media
coordinators have not been influential in
this change process. It is frightening to
realize that our profession is almost non-
existent in what is perhaps the most excit-
ing and revolutionary time in modern
education.
A headline from DSMS Update, a news-
letter published by the Division of School
Media Specialists, AECT, reads oMedia Spe-
cialists in Jeopardy?�! This article notes
that MichiganTs revision of accreditation
standards shall not include specific lan-
guage delineating the need for school li-
brary media specialists in any school in
Michigan. Daniel Barron, in an article from
School Library Activities Monthly, asks is our
oprogram perceived to be essential to the
daily operation of the school and the real-
ization of its mission?�2 A quote from
Kenneth Haycock reads: oThere is rela-
tively little danger to the continued exist-
ence of school libraries. The issue is the
continued existence of the school librar-
ian.�3 Again Haycock, in a keynote ad-
dress to a conference of the International
Association of School Librarians, notes
that few administrators, teachers, or stu-
dents view the school library media center
as part of the instructional process.4
Several of my Own musings in the
folder ask questions about the perception
of school library media coordinators. One
question was generated after a discussion
about several high tech schools in Minne-
10 " Special Edition 1992
by Lynda B. Fowler
sota. After hearing about the advanced
technology, exploratory learning, and
other strategies used in the schools, I was
told that the school librarians play little or
no role in this exciting and productive
instructional situation. My question was
and is, oWhy and how did this happen?�
What message does this send to the ad-
ministrators, teachers, and other visitors
to these highly successful and innovative
schools? Another why-and-how-did-this-
happen question was recorded after read-
ing about Chris WhittleTs plan to design
for-profit, technical, state-of-the-art
schools. His planning committee of highly-
regarded, very influential people does not
include a library, media, or information
specialist. Are we to believe that state-of-
the-art schools can be created and can
exist without the contributions of these
professionals?
In 1991, another handwritten
note acknowledged the loss of
seven district-level library media su- sree
non-existent in what is
perhaps the most exciting
and revolutionary time in
modern education.
pervisor positions across North Caro-
lina. The same note continues: oHow
many school library media coordi-
nator positions were added with
Basic Education Program funds?�
Checking with the Division of Me-
dia and Technology, I found that
very few BEP support positions were
used for media coordinators. I also
discovered that of these positions used for
media, the majority were added to give
schools minimal library media services or
to supplant locally-funded positions. Only
a few of these positions were used to in-
crease library media services to students
and teachers. Currently very few schools
in North Carolina meet the BEP standard
of one library media coordinator for every
four hundred students.
Areview of major educational reforms,
beginning with A Nation At Risk in 1983,
demonstrates how educators, politicians,
and business and industry leaders perceive
the school library media center. Very little,
if any, reference is made to the school
library media program or school library
media coordinator in any of these docu-
ments. We have all read about effective
schools, school-based management, and
other reform and restructuring efforts in
the past several years. How many refer-
ences have you seen to the school library
media center"even when the writings
involve information literacy? How did we
allow ourselves and our profession to be-
come so lacking in influence and so non-
essential that articles can be written about
the information age and the need for stu-
dents to learn how to use information and
not mention the library media center or
the library media coordinator?
During a period in which the public is
demanding substantial educational reform
and local administrators are responding to
these demands, we must accept the fact
our profession is almost
that our profession is not having a signifi-
cant impact on educational reform. We
must decide what we can do to change in
order to be worthy contributors to the re-
form process and, in turn, gain respect for
our profession. We must realize that as
education undertakes the improvement,
restructuring process, we cannot sit idly by.
We must be well prepared and willing to
meet the challenge of reform. We must be
able to define, defend, and prove our will-
ingness to be a part of and to make a
difference in all the issues involved in the
process.
A crisis is defined as oan unstable or
North Carolina Libraries
crucial time or state of affairs whose out-
come will make a decisive difference for
better or worse.�5 Indications are that
school librarianship is in a state of crisis.
We have the power to determine if the crisis
is to have a positive or negative outcome.
That power lies in our willingness to ac-
knowledge and examine our present status,
to determine the factors that have contrib-
uted to this crucial situation, and to make a
commitment to change.
A review of the literature combined
with my personal thoughts leads me to
propose that much of our present situa-
tion can be attributed to a lack of the
following: positive image, distinct role
clarification, strong partnerships with
other educators, viable planning and as-
sessment components in our programs,
and direct identity with national, state,
and local educational reform initiatives.
Our image, a battle the profession has
addressed for years, is one reason we find
ourselves in an unstable time. We are
often faced with negative perceptions. The
possible reason for the problematic image
comes from the fact that few teachers and
administrators understand the olibrary�
parts of our work and tend to associate a
single image of keeper of books with the
job title, even when we demonstrate many
skills beyond that role. Placing sole re-
sponsibility on uninformed outsiders is
no longer an acceptable excuse for the
image problem of school library media
coordinators. Research conducted by Ken-
neth Tewel and Carol Kroll o supports the
perception that library media specialists
still consistently place higher value on the
managerial aspects of their jobs than on
the cooperative planning and teaching
function.�© What message are we sending
tomembers of the school community when
we place primary importance on the func-
tions of organization, management, ac-
quisition, and dissemination? Granted, the
managerial tasks are important to an effi-
cient program, but do we hide behind the
familiar and comfortable parts of our jobs?
Do we use these tasks as a way to avoid the
less comfortable and less concrete and
more demanding aspects of our responsi-
bilities? Are we deceiving ourselves by
thinking we are real contributors to our
schoolTs mission by performing organiza-
tional tasks day in and day out? Do our
daily routines reinforce the perceived im-
age of book keeper?
Are we viewed by our principal or
supervisor as someone always available
because we donTt have responsibility for a
class; as someone to provide a planning
time for teachers; as a teacher of olibrary
skills�? Does the superintendent vow that
school library media centers are essential,
but fail to include us on curriculum com-
North Carolina Libraries
mittees, reform committees, or other im-
portant improvement task forces? Are de-
cisions made about resources without con-
sulting the very person trained in resource
selection? Are reading lists formulated
without our input? When these and other
all-too-familiar events occur, we should
stop and ask why. The real answer might
lie both in our perceived image and our
unwillingness to participate.
Daniel Barron, in an article entitled
oResearch and the National Goals� quotes
from Patsy Perritt and Kathleen Heim.
They conclude that oPersonal skills seem
to be the strongest predictor of success.�7
In the same article Barron quotes from
Kenneth HaycockTs Research about Teach-
ing and Learning through the SchoolTs Library
Resource Center: oSchool library media spe-
cialists who are less cautious and more
extroverted tend to be more successful.�8
In order to be successful, each of us must
assume responsibility for improving our
personal skills. We can no longer sit back
and complain. We must ask ourselves if
our image is an obstacle in promoting a
new view of the school library media cen-
ter and of the library media coordinator,
and then seek ways to create assertively an
image that extends beyond that of the
keeper of books.
Lack of role clarification leaves us
unsure of who we are, how to act, and
what to do. For the past several years we
have been faced with changes in the edu-
cational process in addition to the changes
in librarianship. We have been asked to
deal with computers, the use and produc-
tion of multimedia, distance learning by
satellite, online searching and other forms
of telecommunications, electronic refer-
ence sources, whole-language instruction,
school-based management, interdiscipli-
nary units, cooperative learning, etc., etc.
Some of us have tried to address all of the
initiatives and extended ourselves too far.
Others have retreated because we knew we
couldnTt do and be all things. Only a few
have been able to examine the initiatives,
establish priorities, consider management
of professional time, eliminate some prac-
tices, and continue to have a progressive
and effective library media program.
For role clarification, our focus must
be on Information Power. Our mission is
oto insure that students and staff are effec-
tive users of ideas and information.�? We
accomplish this by providing intellectual
and physical access to materials in all
formats; by providing instruction to foster
competence and stimulate interest in read-
ing, viewing, and using information and
ideas; by working with other educators to
design learning strategies to meet the needs
of individual students; and by fulfilling
our roles as information specialist, teacher,
and instructional consultant.10 The more
we become involved in change and re-
form, the more relevant and useful and
powerful this document becomes. The
initial reading of Information Power may
have left you with a need for more specific
information, more numbers and statistics,
and clearer guidelines. We now find, upon
close examination, that Information Power
is an indispensable guide in helping us
focus on the important issues of library
media programs and reform and put our
responsibilities in perspective with the roles
we must perform as library media coordi-
nators and as members of the school fac-
ulty. Linda Waddle, a school library media
specialist, suggests, oThose who reject the
roles recommended in Information Power
no longer belong in the school library
media profession.�!1 A profound and per-
haps unsettling statement, but one that
each of us should examine closely. We
should question our personal beliefs con-
cerning our roles as information specialist,
teacher, and instructional consultant and
determine if our acceptance level of these
roles qualifies us for membership in the
school library media profession. We can
decide to take charge of clearly defining
our roles and demonstrating, through our
every action, these roles to students, fac-
ulty, and administration.
A clear, concise role definition will
lead to a better understanding of our posi-
tion within the instructional process. Tewel
and Kroll conclude that
before media specialists can
function in a teaching role, they
must be involved in the curricu-
lum. But before that can happen,
the media specialist must have a
self-image of,and be viewed by
others, as being an integral part of
the instructional process. Simply
stated, school library media
specialists must perceive them
selves as full-fledged faculty mem-
bers before change can take place.12
A thorough knowledge of the curriculum,
of research on various teaching strategies,
of resource-based instruction, and of other
instructional issues is essential to being an
integral part of the instructional process.
Direct involvement with instruction
is also essential. Daniel Barron classifies
involvement of library media coordina-
tors into two categories: oPassive means
that the media specialist maintains a ware-
house, waiting for someone to come by.
Active means that the media specialist
goes out to find out what people want and
need, locates materials, then helps people
to use them.�!3_ Why have we chosen to
be passive and reactive in the instructional
Special Edition 1992 " 11
process? Nothing in our training and
background has given us the right or privi-
lege to be on the sidelines of instructional
decisions. How can researchers Tewel and
Kroll be oshocked to discover that few of
the media specialists surveyed wrote or
spoke of integrating the library media pro-
gram into the curriculum of the school�?14
Our positions within a school cannot be
justified if we are not an integral part of the
instructional process. Our integrity should
not allow us to be seen as non-contribu-
tors with little connection to the whole.
Marilyn Miller contends that, oThe sur-
vival of library media specialists as a viable
part of the instructional system depends
on their developing programs and services
that become learning intensive.� 15 Under
close examination, do our programs and
services meet this criterion?
The revision of the North Carolina
public school curriculum, in progress, of-
fers library media coordinators an excel-
lent opportunity to become fully en-
trenched in the instructional process. The
revised curriculum is more focused on
process, employs more critical thinking
and problem-solving skills, and requires
more exploratory learning. According to
the findings of Kathleen Carver, oa library
offers a natural setting to employ critical
thinking skills with students� and oserves
as an excellent lab for applying various
methods and techniques of critical think-
ing instruction.� 16 The past indicates that
we have not fulfilled our role in the in-
structional process. If we are to expect a
positive outcome from the present, we
must be prepared to assist teachers in imple-
menting this new curriculum. David
LoertscherTs Taxonomies of a School Media
Programisa helpful tool for accomplishing
this task. Knowing and understanding his
eleven levels of instructional involvement
should be on the priority list of every
library media coordinator; and, function-
ing at the interactive level should be a
major goal.17
Knowledge of the curriculum and di-
rect involvement in instruction must be
teamed with the establishment of strong
partnerships in order to develop an effec-
tive library media program. The lack of
strong partnerships has led to misunder-
standing about our role within the school
and has lessened the support needed from
teachers and administration. Michael Bell
and Herman Totten conclude that
Library media professionals must
take steps to understand better
how the characteristics of teach-
ers, library media specialist, and
the organization itself interact to
facilitate or hinder cooperation
between the library media center
and the classroom. A better
12 " Special Edition 1992
understanding of these factors
should result in library media
specialists who work with other
school staff to make a richer
contribution to the instructional
program of the school.18
Have we studied our organizational struc-
ture and the characteristics of the staff well
enough to determine how we can best
establish and develop strong working rela-
tionships with teachers? What conditions
do we establish that encourage teachers to
form partnerships with us? What positive
results can teachers recognize as a result of
their partnership with us? Research indi-
cates that more cooperation, less isola-
tion, more intellectual sharing and colle-
gial work arrangements are common ele-
ments in effective schools.!9 Would our
programs be rated effective if evaluated on
these criteria?
Tewel and Kroll also found that there
exists
a series of common institution
impediments to improved relation-
ships between media specialists
and others in the school. These
include the media specialistsT lack
of awareness of the schoolTs educa-
tional program and of their role as
curriculum specialists, their infre-
quent contact with classroom
teachers, and their defensiveness
about the importance of the
library media program.?0
Are we willing to accept the challenge of
demonstrating the importance of our pro-
gram rather than talking about it? Miller
believes that oThe school library media
center program that moves into the main-
stream of the instructional program in the
coming years will focus on knowledge of
how learners learn and the development
of teaching partnerships with classroom
teachers.�21 How strong and productive
are our partnerships with teachers? Can
successful teaching occur without us?
A strong planning and assessment
component is missing from many of our
programs. We cannot respond to account-
ability issues without this component.
Learning Connections: Guidelines for Media
and Technology Programs stresses the im-
portance of planning and assessment and
provides direction for the development of
this component. It states that
Although assessment is an impor-
tant means of measuring effective-
ness, it also provides the impetus
for planning the services and
functions necessary for media and
technology programs to strengthen
the overall program of the school.
To cope with the climate of
change related to school reform, a
systematic means of program
design and evaluation is needed.
Planning and assessment are
essential to school improvement
because they provide the frame-
work for translating the mission of
the school into desired outcomes.22
Are systematic planning and evaluation
part of our yearly routine? Have we iden-
tified the best model to use for our pro-
gram planning and assessment? A mis-
sion statement, combined with the goals
and objectives that drive our program, is
an essential prevention against operating
on a whatever-comes-our-way basis. Our
plans should be substantive and relate
directly to the school and system-level
plans. We, along with our administrators,
should use our plan and assessment infor-
mation as a legitimate evaluation instru-
ment and make future plans based on the
results. We must be truly accountable for
our program within the context of our
school mission.
Many of us experience difficulty in
articulating a direct identity with national,
state, and local school goals and reform
initiatives. In an article entitled oThe
National Goals Revisited� Daniel Barron
encourages us to odevelop strategies and
activities to show how we fit into the
national goals and how schools cannot
meet them without us.�23 Barron includes
a copy of the position paper prepared by
the American Association of School Li-
brarians on how the national goals can be
implemented through school library me-
dia programs and he encourages each state,
district, and school to formulate a similar
statement.
Specific requirements come with all
educational reform models. Have you
identified how you and your library media
program can support your school and
school system in meeting the requirements
of School Improvement/Senate Bill 2? Are
you aware of opportunities and responsi-
bilities in reaching the goals of the school
and school system? We must not only be
able to identify, but also articulate how
and demonstrate what we do daily, weekly,
and yearly in support of these goals and
requirements. Perhaps a standard ques-
tion to ask before undertaking a task is,
oHow does this relate to the school goals?�
Whatever we do in support of school and
system-level goals will be a positive move
toward ensuring that the outcome of our
crisis is positive.
School-based management is areform
agenda item that cannot be ignored by
library media professionals. An ERIC search
conducted by Daniel Barron found five
hundred citations on school-based man-
North Carolina Libraries
Sets do ee ke ere ee eat
agement and not one included reference
to school libraries with the exception of
one article that he had written.24 Barron
encourages us to investigate
what school-based management
means in terms of how we can
be more effective participants,
what some of the potential benefits
and dangers to our programs are,
what the challenges may be, and
some resources to help us and our
school begin the process of
school-based management.25
Why do the references not mention li-
brary media centers and coordinators?
Perhaps the developers and researchers
were influenced by our long-standing im-
age or perhaps we were too passive during
the development. Whatever the answer,
we must be active participants in the pro-
cess by becoming informed, by providing
resources to the administration and fac-
ulty, and by ensuring that our program is
perceived as an essential element of the
school. A true school-based management
model gives a school the right to make
personnel decisions. When your school
reaches that degree of management, will it
elect to maintain the library media coordi-
nator position?
Most schools are embracing resource-
based teaching as a means to meet goals
dealing with increased student achieve-
ment. Teachers are encouraged to teach
the curriculum, not the textbook, using a
variety of resources and multiple instruc-
tional methods. According to Loertscher,
requirements for successful resource-based
teaching are
a teacher who is willing to use
a wide variety of media, a well-
stocked library media center, and
a professional library media
specialist who is willing to be a
partner with the teacher in lesson/
unit/research planning. The
library media specialist serves as
the materials and technology
expert, the teacher serves as the
content expert, and both draw upon
the resources of the center to execute
a joint teaching plan.26
This implies that there is an available col-
lection of various media formats directly
related to the curriculum.
Collection development is an area of
our responsibility with which we should
be very comfortable. We learned about it
in our professional training and it still
remainsa top priority, basically unchanged
by developments in education reform. Yet,
many of our collections cannot support
true resource-based instruction. If there
were no textbooks, how much of the cur-
North Carolina Libraries
riculum could be taught with our present
collections? Lack of funds is not an accept-
able excuse. We must examine how well
we expend the funds we do receive and
what level of impact we have on the total
school budget. Do we keep teachers and
administrators informed; do we prepare
lesson or unit resource bibliographies for
teachers; do we prepare lists of evaluated
materials that support the curriculum to
share with faculty as possible purchases?
More importantly, we need to understand
the concept of resource-based instruction
and assist and support teachers as they
adapt. Do our professional shelves have
books and articles on the topic? Do we
share information and offer support to
teachers and the administration? Success-
ful resource-based teaching depends on
quality resources and strong support from
the library media program.
These and other causes contribute to
the present status of school librarianship;
but we can no longer use them as excuses.
We must be willing to accept our position,
overcome the fear of doing the unfamiliar,
and commit to a different agenda. The
1990s is the decade of change in educa-
tion. The components of change and re-
structuring provide library media coor-
dinators with a window of opportunity to
restructure our roles and our image. At no
other time in education have we had so
much power to change and influence.
Whether we do may not only affect our
position within the educational process,
but our very existence. The power and
choice to restructure are ours.
Change is not easy. It requires total
commitment, hard work, time, and an
acceptance that what we have always done
may not be what we need to do in the
future. You donTt have to be sick to get
better is a phrase we hear frequently in
discussions about change. An exemplary
library media program in the 1980s will
not be appropriate for the 1990s. Whether
our programs have been rated excellent,
fair, or poor, we all need to re-examine
what we are doing and prepare for change.
Following the publication of Informa-
tion Power in 1988 and the headline-mak-
ing emphasis on educational structure and
reform, there have been many articles and
books have been written on what and how
library media coordinators can and should
do. And yet this emphasis has not pro-
duced an overall change in library media
programs. According to Barbara Stripling
this will not occur until each of us decides
to make a commitment to
change a functioning library media
program ... We can be encouraged
by the fact that none of us is respon-
sible for changing any program but
our own. The summed effect of
individual changes will engender
change on the (local, state) and
national level.27
Each library media coordinatorTs actions
make a difference in the profession as a
whole. We cannot depend on other coor-
dinators to attack our individual crisis.
Each of us must make a total commitment
to accept the challenge of change and
restructure our individual image and our
roles if we are to expect a positive future for
the school library media program and
school library media coordinator.
Just as school-based management ex-
tends the right and responsibility for im-
provement to an individual school, the
right and responsibility for program im-
provement lie with the individual library
media coordinator. An individual school
is held accountable to the school system
and to the state. We are held accountable
to the school and to our profession.
How we approach restructuring is an
individual decision. However, the follow-
ing are offered as suggestions for all of us to
consider as a beginning:
e Reread and internalize Information
Power
e Identify and read research on the
school media program and use the
information to guide practices
e Be informed about and involved in
school improvement initiatives
¢ Prepare for and accept change.
e Read and study the following:
Curriculum Initiative: An Agenda and
Strategy for Library Media Program,
by Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert
E. Berkowitz (Ablex Publishing,
1988)
Helping Teachers Teach, by Philip
Turner (Libraries Unlimited, 1988)
The School Library Program in the
Curriculum, by Kenneth Haycock
(Libraries Unlimited, 1990)
Taxonomies of the School Library
Media Program, by David Loertscher
(Libraries Unlimited, 1988)
e Prepare meaningful plans that are
undeniably linked to student
learning following the guidelines in
Learning Connections
¢ Write a Professional Development
Plan that reflects efforts for sub-
stantial change
e Act quickly but thoughtfully
e Reach out to others for assistance
e Approach the process with a smile,
knowing that you are doing some-
thing for your profession, but more
importantly that you are contribut-
ing to the mission and goals of your
school and school system and in
turn making a difference for boys
and girls.
Special Edition 1992 " 13
In oRethinking the School Library: A
PractitionerTs Perspective� Barbara Strip-
ling states that the omandate for change is
from society. The power for change is in
the individual.�28 As school library media
coordinators, we possess the power to re-
structure our image, our role, and our
program. Whether or not we choose to be
a valuable part of the change process in
our school is up to us. Ralph L. Peterson in
A Place for Caring and Celebration: The School
Media Center tells us that the omedia center
and what happens in it and how it hap-
pens is a reflection of you. You are the
person in charge and what results is repre-
sentative of your spirit, imagination, and
ability.�29 Others will not solve the crisis
issues in school librarianship; only we can
determine if the outcomes will be negative
or positive. The power to change is ours.
Will we accept the challenge? Will I soon
add an item to my oMedia Profession "
Thoughts On� file that reads oNorth Caro-
lina Media Coordinators in Jeopardy?� or
will I add a headline that reads oNorth
Carolina Media Coordinators Are Making
a Difference!�?
References
1Burton H. Brooks, oMedia Specialists in
Jeopardy?,� DSMS Update (May 1992):1.
2Daniel Barron, oSchool-Based Manage-
ment and School Library Media Specialists,�
School Library Media Activities Monthly 8 (Febru-
ary 1992): 49.
3Handouts from a workshop presented by
Frank Winstead in which he quotes Kenneth
Haycock in Emergency Librarian. Quote taken
from The Instructional Consultant Role of the School
Library Media Specialist: A Research Study by Patricia
White Pickard, p.73.
4Michael Bell and Herman L. Totten, oCo-
operation in Instruction Between Classroom
Teachers and School Library Media Specialists,�
School Library Media Quarterly 20 (Winter 1992):
80.
SWebstersTs New Collegiate Dictionary (Spring-
field, Massachusetts: G.&C. Merriam Company,
1979), 267.
6Kenneth J. Tewel and Carol Kroll, oEm-
powerment for the School Library Media Spe-
cialist: Moving from Reactive to Proactive,� School
Library Media Quarterly (Summer 1988): 245.
7Daniel Barron, oResearch and the National
Goals,� School Library Media Activities Monthly 8
(October 1991): 49.
8Ibid., 48.
9%American Association of School Librar-
ians and Association for Educational Communi-
cations and Technology, Information Power:
Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (Chi-
cago: American Library Association, 1988),1.
10]bid.
11Linda Waddle, oSchool Media Matters,�
Wilson Library Bulletin (October 1988): 66.
12Tewel and Kroll, 246.
13Daniel Barron, oCommunicating What
School Library Media Specialists Do: The Evalu-
14 " Special Edition 1992
ation Process,� School Library Journal (March
1987): 97.
14Tewel and Kroll, 245.
1SMarilyn Miller, oThe Birth of the Elec-
tronically Smart Media Center,� Media and Meth-
ods (November/December 1991): 77.
l6Barron, oResearch and the National
Goals,� 49.
17David Loertscher, Taxonomies of the School
Library Media Program (Littleton, Colorado: Li-
braries Unlimited, 1988).
18Bell and Totten, 84.
19]bid., 80.
20Tewel and Kroll, 246.
21Miller, 77.
22L earning Connections: Guidelines for Media
and Technology Programs, Division of Media and
Technology Services, (Raleigh, North Carolina:
Department of Public Instruction, 1992), 27.
23Daniel Barron, oThe National Goals Re-
visited,� School Library Media Activities Monthly 8
(September 1991): 47.
24Barron, oSchool-Based Management and
School Library Media Specialists,� 47.
25Tbid.
26Loertscher, 60.
27Barbara K. Stripling, oRethinking the
School Library: A PractitionerTs Perspective,�
School Library Media Quarterly (Spring 1989): 139.
28Ibid.
29Ralph L. Peterson, A Place for Caring and
Celebration: The School Media Center (Chicago:
American Library Association, 1979), 31.
Suggested Readings
America 2000: An Education Strategy. Washing-
ton, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education,
1M,
Barron, Daniel. oInformation Power: The Re-
structured School Library for the Nineties.�
Phi Delta Kappan 73 (March 1992): 521-25.
Barron, Daniel. oKeeping Current.� School Li-
brary Media Activities Monthly (May 1991):
48-51; (September 1991): 47-50; (October
1991): 48-50; (December 1991): 48-50; (Feb-
ruary 1992): 47-50.
Bennett, Jack and Frank Brocato. oThe Budget-
ary Role of the Media Specialist in the
Restructured School.� Tech Trends 36 (June
1991): 39-42.
Brown, Jean. oChanging Teaching Practice to
Meet Current Expectations: Implications
for Teacher-Librarians.� Emergency Librar-
ian 16 (November-December 1988): 9-14.
Brown, Jean. oNavigating the T90s"The Teacher-
Librarian as Change Agent.� Emergency Li-
brarian 18 (September-October 1990): 19-28.
Educational Research Service. Site-Based Man-
agement. ERS Information Aid, 1991. Arling-
ton, VA: Education Research Service, 1991.
Eisenberg, Michael B. oCurrent Themes Regard-
ing Library and Information Skills Instruc-
tion: Research Supporting and Research
Lacking.� School Library Media Quarterly 20
(Winter 1992): 103-109.
Eisenberg, Michael B. and Robert E. Berkowitz.
Curriculum Initiative: An Agenda and Strategy
for Library Media Programs. Norwood, New
Jersey: Ablex, 1988.
Eisenberg, Michael B. and Robert E. Berkowitz.
Information Problem-Solving: The Big Six Skills
Approach to Library and Information Skills
Instruction. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1990.
Haycock, Kenneth, ed. The School Library Pro-
gram in the Curriculum. Englewood, Colo-
rado: Libraries Unlimited, 1990.
Hord, Shirley M., William L. Rutherford, Leslie
Huling-Austin, and Gene E. Hall. Taking
Charge of Change. Alexandria, Virginia:
Association for Supervision and Curricu-
lum Development, 1987.
Krimmelbein, Cindy J. The Choice to Change:
Establishing an Integrated School Media Pro-
gram. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlim-
ited, 1989.
Kulleseid, Eleanor R. Beyond Survival to Power for
School Library Media Professionals. Hamden,
Connecticut: Shoe String Press, 1985.
Loertscher, David V. Taxonomies of the School
Library Media Program. Littleton, Colorado:
Libraries Unlimited, 1988.
MacDonald, Frances. The Emerging School Li-
brary Media Program: Readings. Littleton,
Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1988.
Mancall, Jacqueline C., Shirley L. Aaron, and
Sue A. Walker. oEducating Students to
Think: The Role of the School Library Me-
dia Program.� School Library Media Quar-
terly (Fall 1986): 18-27.
Montgomery, Paula Kay. oIntegrating Library,
Media, Research, and Information Skills.�
Phi Delta Kappan 73 (March 1992): 529-32.
Office of Library Programs. Rethinking the Li-
brary in the 1990Ts. Washington D.C.: U.S.
Department of Education, 1990.
Stripling, Barbara K. oRethinking the School
Library: A PractitionerTs Perspective.� School
Library Media Quarterly (Spring 1989): 136-39.
Stripling, Barbara K. and Judy M. Pitts. Brain-
storms and Blueprints: Teaching Library Re-
search as a Thinking Process. Littleton,
Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1988.
Toor, Ruth and Hilda K. Weisburg. Reasons,
Roles and Realities: A Hands-On Seminar in
Resource Based Instruction. Berkeley Heights,
New Jersey: Library Learning Resources,
Inc., 1989.
Turner, Philip E. Helping Teachers Teach. Little-
ton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1985.
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science and American Asso-
ciation of School Librarians. Information
Literacy and Education for the 21st Century:
Toward an Agenda for Action. Chicago:
American Association of School Librarians,
1989.
Urbanik, Mary Kay. Curriculum Planning and
Teaching: Using the Library Media Center.
Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press,
1989.
Woolls, Blanche, ed. The Research of School
Library Media Centers: Papers of the Treasure
Mountain Research Retreat, Park City, Utah,
October 17-18, 1989. Englewood, Colorado:
Hi Willow Research and Publishing, 1990.
North Carolina Libraries
Encountering the Twenty-First Century:
Libraries, Reference Departments, Reference Librarians
by Kenneth W. Berger, B. Ilene Nelson, and Johannah Sherrer
[Focus on the future: the library, the refer-
ence department, and yourself, the refer-
ence librarian. Ken Berger gives a glimpse
of the environment in which we will be
working. Johannah Sherrer offers practi-
cal suggestions for moving a reference
department from the status quo to status
quo ante. Ilene Nelson describes the quali-
ties that will enable individual librarians
to make the transition.]
It is the year 2010. After attending
classes, our typical college student
returns to her room. She turns on
her computer. The first thing she
checks is her e-mail, finding that
someone in her Psychology 102
study group has called a meeting for
the next morning. She replies that
she will be there. Next she calls up
the list of assignments and updates
it with new ones she has just been
given that day. Then she gets to
work, starting with her reserve
readings. She calls them up, one by
one; marks and saves important
passages; and prints out a compli-
cated item for later review.
One of her assignments is to write a
paper on the history of computers
in education. Not knowing much
about the topic, she calls up an
encyclopedia article for background,
while using an online dictionary for
help with unknown terms. At the
same time she uses an outline
program to sketch out her paper.
Having decided on the focus of her
paper, she searches for books on the
topic, and, after narrowing down to
a few likely titles, scans them for
relevant passages. She inserts these
into her paper, with the program
automatically including appropriate
footnotes. (Two books were not
available online, so she checks for
and reserves the copy in her college
library and requests that interlibrary
loan get the other one for her.) In
order to make sure her information
North Carolina Libraries
is up-to-date, she also finds maga-
zine and newspaper articles, again
selecting the passages she will use.
After fleshing out her paper, she sees
that there is still some information
she is unable to locate. Online help
is not satisfactory, so she sends a
message to the Reference Depart-
ment describing her need. She
receives an acknowledgment and a
promise to get back to her with
further information; also a sugges-
tion that it might be necessary for
her to meet with a librarian for
additional assistance.
Another assignment is to work on
one of Anne TylerTs books. She
needs to see the original manu-
script, which she locates in the
library. She decides to go to the
library to use the materials before
dinner.
After dinner she begins her final
assignment, viewing the movie
oCitizen Kane.� She watches the
movie on two thirds of her com-
puter screen, while scanning a
written commentary on the bottom
third. Before going to bed she
checks for electronic messages; finds
a response from the library; checks
her bank balance; and (finding her
funds low) sends a short note to her
parents. Finally, she orders a
birthday gift for her sister, and
schedules a flight home for the
holidays.
She turns out the lights. The
computer plays a soft sonata as they
both drift off to sleep.
The preceding scenario paints a pic-
ture of an information environment very
different from the one in which we oper-
ate today. It is characterized by an infor-
mation user acting largely on her own,
independent of library staff, independent
of the library building, for most of her
olibrary� needs. Yet, even in this environ-
ment, the librarian has a role.
And lest someone be left with the
impression that we have almost twenty
years to prepare for these changes, con-
sider the following scenario, which is al-
ready being played out daily:
It is Tuesday, and once again Mr.
Johnson is not going into the office,
but he is not taking the day off from
work. After breakfast with his family,
he goes to his computer and checks
his mail. He has received messages
from his office, from his broker,
from two clients (one in another
country), and his daughter, a college
student. Since his daughter men-
tions that she is low on funds, he
checks his bank balance, makes a
transfer to her account, and sends
her a message telling about the
transaction. His broker has suggested
that he sell one security and buy
another; he calls up market quotes
and recent articles about the two
companies. Then, deciding the
brokerTs advice is sound, he sends a
message to her authorizing the
trades.
Next he directs his attention to the
customer communications. One is
oconcerned that recent federal
legislation might affect a contract
between the two companies. He
checks for reports about the legisla-
tion, even retrieves a copy of the
law, and then sends a message to
the company legal staff to look into
the matter. Another asks that their
scheduled meeting in Paris next
month be moved up a week, so,
after checking his online appoint-
ment calendar, he connects to an
airline scheduling service and makes
the change.
He updates his calendar with the
changes his office has sent him. The
most pressing matter at the com-
Special Edition 1992 " 15
pany is a marketing report, which
he immediately gets to work on. In
the process of writing the report, he
is able to have software check his
spelling and grammar, verify
definitions of words, and locate
appropriate quotations to accentu-
ate his prose. When he needs
market information, statistics,
illustrative charts or tables, relevant
articles or background information,
he either checks through one of his
data-base services or his CD-ROM
collection. And when he does run
into an information roadblock, he
sends the question to his company
librarian.
It is reasonable to expect that in only
a decade or two users will seldom come
into the library building. If they do, it will
be for assistance with special problems;
use of casual/recreational reading (prima-
rily in paper format) and audio-visual/
multi-media materials and equipment;
access for those who lack appropriate equip-
ment and/or expertise; contact with
people; and instruction, group and indi-
vidual (though some will be done via re-
mote access or off-site visits). There are
four developments which are creating thisT
reality: availability of full-text books and
articles in digital format; powerful and
inexpensive computer equipment; reliable
and cost-effective communications net-
works; and simple and intuitive searching
and retrieval software.
First, publishers are beginning to see
an environment where electronic access is
financially beneficial. The increasingly
high cost of publishing, as well as dimin-
ishing library (and personal!) acquisitions
budgets are making alternative forms of
distribution very attractive. Many book
and journal publishers are already request-
ing that authors submit their manuscripts
on floppy disk.
Second, faster computers with more
memory, and with better monitors are
becoming available at a rate that measures
obsolescence in months rather than years.
Within a decade or two the quality of the
equipment will be such that a user will
have no qualms about doing the majority
of his or her reading with one. Lowered
costs are also making the improving equip-
ment available to more and more end
users. While there will always be some
who are not able make the purchases (but
who will still need library services), the
statistics on the proliferation of personal
computers speak for themselves.
Third, communications systems ca-
pable of delivering the data to the end user
reliably and inexpensively are already in
place. Many universities, colleges, and
16 " Special Edition 1992
companies have or are installing dedi-
cated networks which allow both internal
and external communications. INTERNET
provides international communications
between users and access to databases.
Librarians are, of course, familiar with the
access we have to vendors like Dialog and
BRS, but end users also have other options
for acquiring various kinds of useful infor-
mation. A literal world of information and
services " weather reports, stock market
data, home shopping, encyclopedia,
games, electronic mail, magazine articles,
computer software, etc. " is available
through systems like Compuserve, Prodigy,
Genie, and America Online. These sys-
tems are aimed at the unsophisticated
searcher, and their millions of subscribers
point to the success of marketing and
service. The widespread use of these ser-
vices (recognized even by Dialog and BRS)
clearly demonstrates that end users are
capable of searching for themselves, and
that they are also willing to pay directly for
the convenience. The library is being ef-
fectively cut out of the information access
process. Searching costs will become even
more attractive as the number of users
increases, and as assessments are more
directly tied to the information user. (Once
again, however, there will always be those
who cannot afford to take on these costs,
and their needs will probably have to be
met by libraries.)
Fourth, we can see the creation of
simple and intuitive (i.e., user friendly)
searching and retrieval software, impera-
tive if users are to be able to obtain most of
their information electronically. Having
the data at your fingertips is of no use if
you donTt know which keys to press or
(mouse!) buttons to push to get at that
data. And, once again, Compuserve,
Prodigy, Genie and America Online are
showing that we can provide this capabil-
ity. Advanced technologies and techniques
(e.g., cluster and vector analysis) will be
used to index materials, making it possible
to search efficiently and successfully
through the large databases which will be
available.
And here we come to the crux of the
issue for librarians. What will the impact
be of easy access, all from the comfort of
oneTs home, to much more information
and many more publications than any
library could ever dream of owning? If
users are able to successfully identify and
retrieve the information they want, what
is the role of the librarian?
Is it time to circle the wagons? Should
we prepare to protect our jobs from the
slings and arrows of outrageous computer-
ization? Hardly. Yet, to assume that our
role as information providers is going to
remain the same is delusional. Access to
information is changing dramatically and
private for-profit companies are market-
ing these changes to an eager public. Even
the smallest of libraries will find it neces-
sary to re-envision reference services.
Librarians speculate about future roles
and functions, often not realizing that the
time is now. As has already been sug-
gested, there are several fundamental
trends that seem destined to impact the
delivery of information:
e An increase in remote users
e An increase in end user databases
e An increasing demand for docu-
ment delivery.
It is imperative that reference depart-
ments begin to alter both the structures
and the mechanisms used to provide in-
formation. We cannot wait for a grand
plan to run its course through ALA com-
mittees nor can we wait for the appropri-
ate time and money to be allocated through
local channels. As we hope for guidance
that may never come, the challenge of
keeping pace with change becomes in-
creasingly difficult.
There are several excuses one hears
repeatedly about why progress or creative
change cannot go forward. These excuses,
or myths, are often the reasons that librar-
ians feel the profession is in crisis.
MYTH:
We are too over-committed to institute
new Services.
Do not accept the excuse that the
current workload is so overwhelming that
there is neither time nor energy to try
something new. That line could well be a
swan song. Department heads who find
themselves consistently using this excuse
should seriously consider resigning their
management positions.
New projects or activities, even small
ones, must be implemented. Talk and dis-
cussion are good only if they lead to con-
crete results and ultimately to the comple-
tion of those projects. Adherence to a
schedule is also critical. Projects that mis-
fire are not necessarily wastes of time or
money but rather experiences from which
the most is learned. There are several rules
of thumb for getting projects off the
ground:
e DonTt talk an idea to death; give it a
chance to evolve in the actual
practice of the concept or project.
e Be prepared to make modifications
as you go along. Appoint a project
manager to oversee progress and be
responsible for point of need
decisions.
e Let actual circumstances determine
the outcome rather than trying to
achieve perfection.
e Accomplishing even the smallest of
North Carolina Libraries
ee eke eee ea ea ee ees
new tasks will be invigorating and
prepare the way for new directions
in reference services.
MYTH:
New services require additional funding.
Do not wait for special funding to
begin projects. Reallocate funding from
within traditional budget lines. Change
and new approaches are so much a part of
what libraries are about that it is counter-
productive to put new ideas on hold while
waiting for ideal budgetary conditions. It
is important to lobby local administrators
continually for funding to effect changes
in reference service. That may well mean
sacrificing accepted funding patterns for
new ones. In many libraries, it means hard
lobbying for new budgeting practices or at
the very least contriving creative defini-
tions that ease square pegs into the more
traditional round budgeting holes. We
cannot allow ourselves to willingly accept
budgeting conditions that restrict progress.
If all a department head does is continu-
ally remind administrators that the exist-
ing budget structure must be modified, an
important initial step will have been taken.
A lesson in rhetorical technique can be
taken from the great Roman
orator Cato, who never missed
an opportunity to drive home
his point that Rome was in dan-
ger from neighboring Carthage.
Regardless of the subject of his
speeches, he ended them all
with oAnd furthermore it is my
opinion that Carthage must be
destroyed.� Eventually, and
within CatoTs lifetime, Rome
destroyed Carthage.
In the Reference Depart-
ment at Perkins Library we be-
lieve that if we were to wait for
additional funding to material-
ize we would be waiting a very
long time. So, we regularly en-
ter into bargaining sessions with
library administrators. In past years, we
have used up to twenty-five percent of the
budget slated for print reference sources
for electronic sources. In other years, we
have traded travel money for equipment
purchases. More importantly we have
found that in many cases money isnTt the
issue and simple solutions with minor
costs can result from creative brainstorm-
ing sessions. For example, rather than
waiting for the campus network to be in
place before addressing the issue of serv-
ing remote users, we purchased a shareware
bulletin board software called RBBS-PC to
institute a twenty-four-hour electronic ref-
erence and interlibrary loan service. It was
neither fancy nor sophisticated, but it al-
lowed us an opportunity to begin interact-
North Carolina Libraries
ing with patrons in a new medium.
Two years ago we determined that an
additional online searching station was
needed at the reference desk. The most
expensive part of this new station was an
additional phone line which was not ap-
proved by the library administration. In
place at that time were two incoming
lines and one outgoing line. After a brief
investigation we learned that for less than
fifty dollars we could transfer the outside
line to a phone jack and thereby establish
a second searching station. This was not
an easy decision. In order to continue to
accommodate reference queries via phone
we implemented voice mail to handle
calls when the remaining phone lines
were in use.
MYTH:
We know what our users want or need.
While dazzling to users, the speed,
ease, and glitziness of modern informa-
tion access is often perplexing and chal-
lenging to traditional information provid-
ers. This dichotomy can prompt a variety
of responses by librarians. Phrases such as
opatrons will use the tools wrong� or ous-
ers are not technically literate enough to
... there is no place in our pro-
fession for any but courageous,
creative librarians who are not
only willing to embrace change
but to anticipate it.
use expensive tools to their full advan-
tage� are often heard. In this information
age people are able to be more indepen-
dent in obtaining information to solve
problems. For many librarians, this poses
a concern that can, unintentionally, lead
to a form of censorship. While ostensibly
attempting to justify the cost of new non-
print sources with a review of the product,
librarians often look for reasons not to
purchase rather than focusing on a unique
or innovative feature of the product which
makes it worth its price. It is also at this
point that the subject of user needs is
interjected, sometimes without actual user
input. It is even more worrisome when
patron input is requested, received, and
then rejected.
The ultimate decision to accept, re-
ject, or, indeed, place any kind of value on
information has always been in the hands
of the user. We do not want to deny
patrons the option of consulting a librar-
ian, but it should not be a requirement.
Our point of intervention or involvement
in the information-seeking process is
changing. Attempting to define this new
role in isolation from users will doom our
efforts. We must allow users more free-
dom, and we must be careful in our pre-
sumptions concerning user needs and user
behavior.
MYTH:
Established staffing patterns and staff
skill levels prohibit the implementation
of new services.
Now is the time to take a long hard
look at existing job descriptions. Job de-
scriptions can and should be changed to
adapt to new job requirements. Often
through staff training or simple staff de-
velopment sessions new experts can be
found within the existing staff. All that is
needed is patience and the willingness to
allow the individuals involved the free-
dom to make mistakes. This process also
provides an opportunity for re-
assessing existing activities in
terms of reducing, streamlining,
or perhaps entirely eliminating
established functions.
The evolution of truly
user friendly information systems
is going to impact staffing deci-
sions. Many general products such
as InfoTrac actually serve, in a
sense, as additional staff mem-
bers. They offer broadly based
reference service along the same
lines as student assistants or less
precisely trained staff, plus they
are available more than forty
hours a week and have less down
time than their human counter-
parts. It seems very likely that
technology is going to allow users to be
better and more quickly served in the
future and with fewer human resources.
Now is the time to objectively investi-
gate reference positions. Department heads
should seize opportunities as they arise
through normal staffing attrition. In the
Perkins reference department we have two
programs in place that utilize short-term
employment positions creatively. For
many years the Reference Department has
had an internship program that brings in
two library science graduate students for
twenty hours a week each for a period of
one year. The pay back for all the training
and supervision a program of this caliber
requires includes a direct connection to
library education and curriculum, an op-
Special Edition 1992 " 17
portunity to work extensively with indi-
viduals new to the profession, and the
challenge of rethinking local practices
when inconsistencies are brought to our
attention by new staff members. Yet, the
nature of this program still clearly puts us
in the driverTs seat. We are the teachers. So
the question remains as to how to chal-
lenge a stable, extremely talented, opin-
ionated, and somewhat independent group
of professionals.
An initial opportunity presented itself
when one our staff members requested
and was granted a leave of absence for one
year. Rather than filling the position lo-
cally, we decided to seek a visiting librar-
ian, currently employed elsewhere, to work
with us for a nine month period. We
wanted the person to secure a leave of
absence from his home institution and to
have no reason to wish to ingratiate him-
self into the Duke structure. For this first
visiting position we sought an individual
willing to work with each member of the
department on upgrading individual basic
microcomputer and searching skills. We
also identified several projects involving a
technological application that we wished
to explore.
This concept was so successful that
when normal staff attrition made it pos-
sible to keep the visiting position we did so
rather than seek another long term em-
ployee. The advantages of bringing in an
experienced, creative individual, willing
to challenge existing local practices can be
exhausting and exhilarating at the same
time. It provides an opportunity to change
group dynamics in a way that the intern-
ship program cannot and, in tandem with
that program, it provides our group with a
wide range of talents and abilities that
change yearly. The overall effects of the
visiting position are many. Each visiting
librarian has brought a new point of view
and has provided us with an opportunity
to refocus our thinking on reference ser-
vices. In addition to their professional
expertise, they interject a new personality,
a fresh perspective, and provide an oppor-
tunity for new collegial collaboration.
For 1992/93 we are seeking a faculty
member from a Library School to work
with us. Our job advertisement states: oWe
are seeking a colleague who wants to chal-
lenge the traditional roles and functions
of reference services and work with us in
envisioning and creating reference service
for the research library of the twenty-first
century. We want a person eager to inves-
tigate rapid document delivery, electronic
journals, full text sources, online search-
ing, and the use of a burgeoning array of
other technological resources. We seek a
risk-taker, a person who chooses to ac-
tively participate in a changing profession
18 " Special Edition 1992
... we offer an opportunity to put theory
into practice while challenging traditional
assumptions.� In fact, this is a statement
of what each department member strives
to attain. We are progressing at our own
individual rates, but we are progressing!
The key to successfully meeting the
future rests in each staff memberTs attitude
or approach to his/her career. All other
considerations aside, the ultimate success
of the library and its departments in meet-
ing organizational goals, and in meeting
the present and future challenge, depends
upon the quality of the contribution of
each staff member. A creative, self-directed,
approach to job performance will eventu-
ally determine the success of the indi-
vidual, the department and the library
itself.
In his book entitled The Courage to
Create, Rollo May describes ocreative courage�:
This brings us to the most
important kind of courage of all.
Whereas moral courage is the
righting of wrongs, creative
courage, in contrast, is the
discovering of new forms, new
symbols, new patterns on which
a new society can be built. Every
profession can and does require
some creative courage. In our day
scores of [professions] are in the
midst of radical change and
require courageous persons to
appreciate and direct this change.
The need for creative courage is
in direct proportion to the degree
of change the profession is
undergoing.1!
At this juncture there is no place in
our profession for any but courageous,
creative librarians who are not only will-
ing to embrace change but to anticipate it.
As the old sixtiesT slogan goes, oYou're
either part of the solution or part of the
problem.�2
But what is a creative librarian? We
generally think about creativity as a qual-
ity manifested by visual artists, musicians,
scientists, and inventors. However, the
essence of creativity as defined by Rollo
May and others is this ability to see and
establish new patterns. Far from being
limited to an association with a oproduct,�
creativity can be viewed easily in terms of
problem-solving. So, everyone who works,
everyone who is involved in problem-
solving activity operates within the con-
text of creative potential.
How creatively each of us solves prob-
lems depends upon the manner in which
we use the information available in a par-
ticular situation. According to Edward de
Bono we process information both verti-
cally and laterally. Vertical thinking, the
more common of the two, is high prob-
ability thought. oVertical thinking follows
the most obvious line, proceeding straight
up or down.�3 (oITve heard this question
before�; oThis is the way weTve always
done it.�) In contrast, lateral thinking ex-
plores oall the different ways of looking at
something, rather than accepting the most
promising and proceeding from that.�4
(oWhat if ...�; oLetTs pretend. ...�) Lateral
and vertical thought are complementary.
oLateral thinking generates the ideas, and
vertical thinking develops them.�5 We all
have the ability to think both vertically
and laterally. However, most of us have to
train ourselves to think laterally. It is es-
sential that we do so because the key to
releasing creative potential seems to be in
giving lateral thought initial precedence
in problem-solving.
Creative problem-solving reflects the
action of imagination, a fluency of ideas,
curiosity, originality, flexibility, indepen-
dence, persistence, drive and courage, sen-
sitivity, a feeling of being challenged (rather
than confused) by disorder, and an ability
to both synthesize and abstract. These
qualities have always distinguished out-
standing librarians; these qualities must
typify librarians as we approach the twenty-
first century. Dale Shaffer has applied the
characteristics of creativity specifically to
librarianship, and I have further adapted
them to reference librarians.
Imaginative thinking goes beyond the
obvious boundaries of a problem and per-
mits a fresh examination of what may
initially seem to be an all too familiar
situation.6 When viewed imaginatively, a
problem or question ceases to be a wall
which must be surmounted and becomes
a maze through which to pass, a puzzle
containing the key to its own solution.
Imaginative thinking drives creative li-
brarians to reallign the libraryTs depart-
mental functions to more effectively par-
allel new patterns of ownership, access,
and use. Imaginative thinking frees librar-
ians to reassign funds traditionally spent
for print sources in order to purchase online
searching time.
oIdea fluency is the ability to gener-
ate a large number of ideas and alterna-
tive solutions rapidly. Fluency also refers
to the ability to take continuous advan-
tage of a developing situation; to use each
completed step as a fresh vantage point
from which to plan the next move.�7
Every reference librarian demonstrates
this skill while answering questions. As
we approach the year 2010, it is idea
fluency that will also permit us to assume
a larger role as facilitators, helping pa-
trons navigate through newly created
channels of information.
North Carolina Libraries
Questioning ability goes beyond oget-
ting the facts� or negotiating the reference
question. This quality refers to an insa-
tiable curiosity; a willingness to answer a
question just because itTs there.8 Taking a
broader view, this questioning ability is
what motivates creative librarians to re-
evaluate continuously their own effective-
ness; the quality of the resources they use;
and the validity of the policies under which
they are operating. We must model our-
selves after George Bernard Shaw who said,
oTt is an instinct with me personally to
attack every idea which has been full-
grown for ten years, especially if it claims
to be the foundation of all human soci-
ety.�? We should probably question every
idea which has been full-grown for more
than three years, particularly if it claims to
be an essential premise of our profession.
If we are to have a professional role in the
year 2010, we must question our narrow
definition of reference service and expand
our purview to encompass activities such
as negotiating access fees for users and
designing information databases.
Originality describes the ability to
answer questions or solve problems in a
unique or unusual manner.!0_ The cre-
ative librarian sees questions initially in
terms of the desired outcome rather than
the manner in which the out-come will be
achieved. This is a subtle yet significant
point: the focus must be on the goal and
not on any limitations that might prevent
reaching it. We are more likely to find
ways of adding new services in the face of
stagnant or decreasing budgets if we are
committed to the necessity of the services
and not intimidated by the lack of money.
The ability to synthesize1! refers to
recognition of potential; bringing dispar-
ate elements together in harmony. When
we are solving problems creatively, all of
the available pieces of information sort
themselves out in the subconscious into
new patterns. The more connections we
can make, the more potential solutions we
will have. For the librarian of 2010, syn-
thesis will be essential to assembling and
maintaining the ever expanding atlas of
the information world.
Related to synthesis is the ability to
abstract. oThis trait is one of proficiency
at breaking down a problem or project
into its component parts and compre-
hending the specific relationships among
them.�12 Abstraction enables the creative
librarian to examine the elements of a
problem separately rather than as a single
opaque mass. The librarian of 2010 will
use abstract thought in the process of
repackaging information for users.
Flexibility, in the context of
librarianship, is the o[recognition] that
there are many ways of interpreting the
North Carolina Libraries
Cee ee meee
same situation. It means being willing to
consider a wide variety of approaches to a
problem...Creative flexibility is largely a
matter of attitude.13 oIn the year 2010 the
reference librarian will be operating at a
much higher level of information com-
mand and will of necessity be technologi-
cally and computer literate, ready to travel,
physically or through electronic commu-
nications. Flexibility will underlie every
consideration of information acquisition
and distribution.
Research indicates that there is a rela-
tionship between independence of judg-
ment and originality.14 As technological
developments generate new means of ac-
cessing and displaying information, cre-
ative librarians are willing to be first in
exploring applications and products. The
pace of change is so rapid that we cannot
afford to wait for standards to be written or
for the experience of others to be reported
in the literature. We must assume a
proactive role, anticipating both the needs
of our constituents and the means of sat-
isfying them. We must end professional
apartheid and attend the conferences and
meetings our constituents sponsor or that
are held by organizations which influence
our libraries. We must also redefine profes-
sional reading to include journals that
keep us abreast of broader societal trends
relating to information delivery.
Finally, in order to solve problems cre-
atively we must be able to feel challenged
rather than confused by disorder.15 Ours is
a profession which pursues order in a cha-
otic world. Reference librarians particularly
are more likely to offer valuable assistance
and achieve personal fulfillment by em-
bracing disorder rather than trying to ban-
ish or ignore it. It is virtually impossible to
create new patterns without first unravel-
ing the old ones. When the qualities we
have been discussing are in play, this fol-
lows quite naturally. In the year 2010, de-
spite technological advances, it will still be
difficult for many individuals to manage
the constantly shifting base of information
available to them. Professionals whose spe-
cialty is change will be welcome in this
environment.
Creativity is an attitude, a habit of
mind. It is independent of place or type of
library or size of staff or budget. It is an
approach to problem-solving to which we
must re-commit ourselves daily. It is verti-
cal thought with its logical pattern-recog-
nition that comes naturally. We have to
choose creativity. A creative approach to
problem-solving energizes, brings freedom
from an assortment of fears and worries
and presents change as a condition to
welcome rather than a crisis to be endured.
PogoTs well-known statement oWe has met
the enemy, and it is us�!6 is very wise. We
are information professionals in an infor-
mation age. There are unlimited possibili-
ties available to us if we but have the
courage to be creative. If we cling to a
traditional definition of our profession,
we are doomed to extinction. If we seek a
professional role attuned to a changing
society, we will find opportunity.
References
1 Rollo May, The Courage to Create
(New York: Norton, 1975), 22.
2 Attributed to Eldridge Cleaver
[c1968].
3 Edward de Bono, New Think; the Use
of Lateral Thinking in the Generation of New
Ideas (New York: Basic Books, Inc., Pub-
lishers, C1967), 4.
4 Tbid., 12.
S Tbid., 6.
6 Dale E. Shaffer, Creativity for Librar-
ians (Salem, Oregon: Dale E. Shaffer), 16.
ATI 17:
8 Ibid.
9Elbert Hubbard, comp., Elbert
HubbardTs Scrap Book Containing the In-
spired and Inspiring Selections Gathered Dur-
ing a Life Time of Discriminating Reading for
His Own Use (New York: Wm. H. Wise &
Cor C1923)50:
10 Shaffer, 18.
11 Tbid., 19.
12 Tbid.
13 Tbid., 18.
14 [bid., 19.
1S Jbid., 20.
16 Walt Kelly, Pogo.
Would
you
call
Huck
Finn
a
racist?
BANNED BOOKS WEEK '92
SEPTEMBER 26 - OCTOBER 3
Special Edition 1992 " 19
Libraries: No Longer Free of Fee
historic myth has pervaded
American public librarian-
ship during the twentieth
century. The myth is that
any member of U.S. society
should have free and equal
access to the library and, by
definition, the resources that have been
assembled. Although this has been the
premise espoused most often by public
librarians, it has also found considerable
support among academic librarians and
school librarians. Any discussion of the
issue of fees for library services and collec-
tions inevitably focuses on the pros and
cons of the debate. This article will briefly
identify some of the arguments on each
side. Of more importance from a pragmatic
point of view, the question of how to deter-
mine the amount of the charge will be
addressed.
This philosophical commitment to
free access to information became the
focus of a substantial debate beginning in
the 1970s with the advent of online data-
base searching. While there were earlier
incidents (the widespread introduction
of the photocopy machine) that raised
the question of ofree� access, online data-
base searching became the battleground.
Over the years, libraries imposed charges
and fees in a variety of circumstances,
including fines, book rental charges, room
rental fees, film rentals, and interlibrary
loan charges. These levies elicited little
opposition and were accepted by the user
population.
The sudden availability of online da-
tabases with their alleged advantages over
the traditional means of accessing infor-
mation presented libraries with a new set
of challenges. The principle challenge was
how to finance this new service without
compromising existing library services. The
typical reaction among libraries of all types
was to institute a schedule of charges that
would be applied to any person wishing to
utilize the new technology.
Reactions among librarians from ev-
ery type of library were swift in surfacing
and persist to this day. There has, in fact,
20 " Special Edition 1992
by Kenneth Marks
been no resolution of the philosophical
differences identified by the protagonists
in this debate. The literature is replete with
exhaustive discussions of both sides of the
issue. oCareful scrutiny of the literature on
the fees issue reveals a recurrence of argu-
ments or points scored on either side.�
According to Harry M. Kibirige, oSome are
significant and others facile.�1
Arguments Against Charging Fees for
Information
Some of the significant points advanced
include the following:
1. The American tradition of free
library services is damaged by charg-
ing fees.
2. Users are double charged, first by
taxes for running public services
and then by charges for special
services.
3. Before one can charge one must
have a sound basis for charging. It is
argued that methods of evaluating
information are still primitive.
4. Charging fees causes inequalities
vis-a-vis the users, for only those
who can pay may use special ser-
vices. This negates the equal access
to education ethic.
5. Acquisition of materials will begin
to be geared to those who can pay.
Arguments for Charging Fees for
Information
Equally justifiable points have been pre-
sented for fees as follows:
1. The tradition of selling services to
those who can pay is part of the
American culture.
2. Subscription libraries as well as rental
collections are well known features
in American library history.
3. Users pay for other public utilities
like bridges, highways, museums,
and parks.
4. Fees will allow development of spe-
cial services which would not
otherwise be provided, like online
bibliographic searches.
5. Users do not seriously object to
charges for services which are vital
to them.
6. If fees are not collected, some of the
costly services would be abused and
thus become a drain on the budget.
Additional justifications for instituting fees
for service have been identified by Barbara
Smith.2 They include:
e Fees encourage efficient use of
public resources.
e Fees limit waste and over-consump-
tion.
e Fees promote service levels based on
. need and demand.
e Fees control growth of and lower
demand for service.
e Fees encourage management
improvements.
e The tradition of charging for services
is part of the American culture.
The following arguments for fees are re-
lated to funding issues.
e Escalating service costs make user
fees a necessity.
e Without fees, public and academic
libraries could not serve the larger
community or nonresidents.
e Fees cover only a small portion of
the total costs of service provision.
e Fees encourage a better understand-
ing of the financial limitations of
the local government.
e In the face of funding cuts and
escalating expenses, particularly tele-
communications, the costs of pro-
viding online services impose a seri-
ous burden on an already strained
library budget.
One or two of the arguments for and
against deserve further exploration. There
is the issue of ofree� library service and
determining exactly what it means. Does
ofree� mean without cost, or is the term a
replacement for the word oequal�? Even
before the advent of online database search-
ing, many libraries had begun to levy charges
for a variety of services or situations. Had
overdue fines or room rentals made library
service less free? Many library clients would
North Carolina Libraries
have said ono.� An essential question that
many librarians choose to ignore con-
sciously or subconsciously relates to the
matter of what library service is supposed to
be. Does library service include the acquisi-
tion of books and journals, their storage
and circulation? What about additional
non-traditional materials, videotapes, au-
dio tapes, laser disks, CDs, computer pro-
grams being included in library service? If
reference assistance is part of library service,
isit the traditional assistance that uses print
sources, or does it include the newer tech-
nologically based resources? Until there is
an accepted description of obasic� library
service, itis difficult to address in a coherent
fashion the issue of what should be ofree�
and what should be available for a fee.
The contention is presented that li-
brary fees result in a double charging for
some library clients. As a person who pays
taxes regularly for these community ser-
vices, how can I legitimately be charged
again for an activity that is an integral part
ofa libraryTs functions? Is it not reasonable
to think othat tax support obliges the
public library to provide all of its services
on an equal basis, free of charge? A failure
to fund its total operation from tax rev-
enues will, in the long run, have the effect
of weakening public support for librar-
ies.�3 A quandary exists, however, when
public support will not fund even a mini-
mally acceptable level of library service. At
this point, is it appropriate to charge for
selected library services, or should the ser-
vices be abandoned so that no one can
have access or use?
The side favoring fees may suggest
that throughout American history services
have been sold. This has enabled new and
expensive services to enter the market-
place where they can be tested by user
demand. If there is sufficient demand,
then prices will fall and alternatives will be
developed that will permit the extension
of the service at ever-diminishing rates.
Fees will minimize the tendency for cli-
ents to abuse the availability of new and
attractive services. Rather than work
through the process of delimiting an online
search, many patrons will opt for a surfeit
of citations or other data. The fact that a
large percentage of the results are irrel-
evant to their specific needs or only mini-
mally useful is discounted in the light of
being able to use a hitherto unavailable
resource.
Ignoring the legitimacy of both sides
of the debate over fees, librarians have had
to address the pragmatic needs of their
organizations. The result has been a persis-
tent and widespread move to utilize fees to
augment the financial resources available
to libraries. Type of library is an irrelevant
factor in determining whether fees will be
North Carolina Libraries
levied. According to Alice Sizer Warner,
oAn increasing number of libraries in not-
for-profit institutions are charging fees�:
e At least 75% of association libraries
now have fee schedules in response
to persistent requests by nonmem-
bers for information service. Some
charge members as well.
e At least one library school has con-
tracted with a government agency
to manage, for a fee, the agencyTs
regional library.
e Increasing numbers of public librar-
ies do research fora fee as an alterna-
tive to regular reference service.
Minneapolis Public Library has done
this for years, with its goal to recover
the salaries of staffers in the fee-
based service plus 35% to pay for
their benefits. Cost of space is not
recovered.
e Among university fee-based services,
the University of Wisconsin/Madison
libraryTs is one of the oldest. In 1964
" long before online searching ex-
isted " the library got 539 requests
forinformation; in 1986, UW/Madison
got 20,000 requests and the number
continues to rise. Purdue University
Libraries offers a two-tier fee struc-
ture. Indiana residents pay $40 an
hour (billable in 15-minute incre-
ments) plus librariansT out-of-pocket
costs. Non-Indiana clients pay $80
an hour plus out-of-pocket expenses.
Robinson reports that oin a 1987 sur-
vey done by the American Library Associa-
tion it was found that forty-one percent of
public libraries charged for rental of books
and thirty percent charged for videos. Of
course, there are scores of other charges
made for different services or classes of
materials. In any event, it seems very, very
clear that the tradition of charging small
fees for some materials or services is both
historically honored and widespread in
public libraries in this country.�5
The overriding pragmatic reality for
librarians, however, is not whether it is
philosophically appropriate to charge, but
whether it is legal for them to levy fees.
Special librarians may have the easiest
time in resolving this question. Being part
of a profit-making organization results in
only one solution: fees will be levied or
charges passed on. It is increasingly com-
mon for special libraries to be expected to
recover a significant portion or all of their
operating costs.
Libraries in the not-for-profit sector
may face a different set of circumstances.
Before proceeding to institute a fee struc-
ture, there is a need to ascertain whether
charges can be legally adopted. There may
be existing state statutes or municipal or-
dinances that dictate what a public library
may or may not be able to do. The unfor-
tunate reality is that many of these laws
are so ambiguous that an unequivocal
answer cannot be found. The only option
may be to ask an appropriately empow-
ered attorney at the city or state level to
provide an interpretation. What will be
delivered is an opinion, nothing more. A
definitive assessment can only be deliv-
ered through a judicial opinion or, more
unlikely, through a clarification by the
relevant legislative body. Academic librar-
ies should consult their institutional attor-
ney to determine if instituting fees will
compromise the non-profit status of the
college or university. There may be no
threat to the non-profit status if it can be
clearly demonstrated that only costs are
being recovered through the charges.
At the risk of stereotyping the profes-
sion, it can be asserted that librarians as a
group tend to be uncomfortable when it
comes to dealing with money. Personal
finances are not in question at this point;
rather the discomfort is associated with
attaching a value to the work we do and
the services that we deliver to our clien-
tele. Perhaps one of the reasons that librar-
ies are not valued is due to our inability to
establish a value for our own activities.
The reason librarians may find setting
values for their work and/or service diffi-
cult is due to a lack of training and prepa-
ration for engaging in that type of activity.
There seems to be a mind set supporting
the concept that, because we are depen-
dent upon the public largess, we should be
silent and satisfied with the allotted por-
tion of resources, regardless of how small,
that is doled to us. Librarians must acquire
the skills that permit them to analyze the
costs of their various activities, services,
and programs. Librarians must acquire the
The overriding pragmatic
reality for librarians is
not whether it is
philosophically appropriate
to charge, but whether it is
legal for them to levy fees.
capacity to make the very difficult deci-
sions about ending programs, services,
subscriptions, and units if new ones are to
be initiated when there are limited re-
sources. Librarians must stop believing
they can be all things to all peoples or that
Special Edition 1992 " 21
they have a moral obligation to make the
effort. In the process of attempting to be
all things and deliver all services, too often
the result is second-rate service that de-
prives the libraryTs clientele of real quality.
If it has been determined that there is
no legislative prohibition regarding fees,
the question becomes how to proceed.
Librarians are advised to proceed cautiously
to introduce fees for any services that are
offered. It seems apparent that librarians
have failed, too often, to consider fully the
implications of what they want to do. A
simple checklist may help clarify some of
the uncertainty.
1. What is the libraryTs mission and
will it encompass the proposed action?
2. What are the libraryTs goals and
objectives and will they encompass the
proposed action?
3. What client groups will be affected
by the proposed action?
4, What are the labor costs associated
with the proposed action?
5. What are the equipment costs asso-
ciated with the proposed action?
6. What are the miscellaneous costs
associated with the proposed action?
7. What new systems will be required
by the proposed action?
8. What productivity gains will be
realized among library personnel by the
proposed action?
9. What is the basis for concluding
that the proposed action cannot be funded
from existing budgetary resources?
10. What existing service or function
is being used so little that it can be replaced
by the proposed action?
The first two questions may be the
easiest to answer. If there are no legal
prohibitions, the answer is dependent on
the libraryTs interpretation of its mission,
goals, and objectives. The third question is
more complex because it requires a careful
delineation of the libraryTs client popula-
tion. Most libraries havea core client popu-
lation that can be identified with mini-
mum difficulty. The problems arise with
the clients at the margin, such as those
who do not live within the legal jurisdic-
tion of the public library but who work
within the jurisdiction or those who are
alumnae of a college or university but are
no longer enrolled or employed by the
institution. The library administration may
believe in one response, but the parent
institution may dictate another relation-
ship. Once all of the possible client groups
have been identified, how will charges be
levied? Do some clients receive preferen-
tial treatment, or is everyone charged the
same rate?
Questions 4, 5, 6, and 7 require a
variety of information that many libraries
22 " Special Edition 1992
are unable to provide. Does the library
have the hourly cost for every staff mem-
ber readily at hand? Does that cost include
all of the benefits or should that be fac-
tored into the equation? The non-profit
nature of most libraries prevents them
from amortizing the cost of equipment. As
aresult, libraries have tended to ignore the
cost implications of equipment and sup-
plies as the effort is made to determine the
true cost of an activity. Finally, what is the
cost of the technological services that we
receive from outside vendors? Can it be
demonstrated that all the alternatives in
the marketplace have been fully explored
so that the library is receiv-
ing the most competitively
priced option?
Librarians typically have
had little training to enable
them to determine the cost
of existing library services.
Librarians should assume
they will be called upon to
explain how much it costs to
buy a book or catalog a jour-
nal (generally, they can), and how much it
costs to answer a reference question, circu-
late a book, or house a volume annually in
the library (generally, they can not). As the
costing of library services and functions is
established, then librarians can move to the
next project. Establishing performance
measures and applying them is as crucial as
determining costs. Librarians seem to be
reluctant to establish performance mea-
sures for fear that the measures would indi-
cate that there are more effective ways to
accomplish a goal. Until there are measures
of performance, however, it is nearly im-
possible to predict the impact that new
technologies or services will have on the
library.
Questions 8 and 9 raise troublesome
issues, for these are topics that most librar-
ians are ill-equipped to answer. Can it be
demonstrated that the addition of a new
service or technology will change the way
in which work or client assistance is pro-
vided, with a subsequent improvement in
the amount of work done or the number of
patrons assisted? Can it be demonstrated
that the proposed service or technology
cannot be funded from within existing
budgetary resources? How often have each
of us heard the refrain that a particular
item cannot be funded from a budget, but
the next day another item, piece of equip-
ment, or service suddenly can be sup-
ported? Did the library unexpectedly ac-
quire additional funding, or did the item
originally requested fall outside the estab-
lished view of what is acceptable
budgetarily?
Itis intriguing that libraries have been
willing to commit enormous sums of
money to installing and utilizing new tech-
nologies and services in the o back rooms�
of technical services, but less eager to put
them into public areas. It may be that the
traditional technical services have been
more amenable to cost-benefit analysis
than the public services areas, but the
advent of electronic technologies facili-
tates the collection of data related to im-
proved or enhanced job performance. Ifa
similar investment in the public services
segment of the library had occurred, would
the question of fees for database searching
or video rental even have been raised? As
interesting as it might be to speculate, the
Perhaps one of the reasons that
libraries are not valued is due to
our inability to establish a value
for our own activities.
answer is essentially irrelevant today. It is
clear that librarians must analyze their
own libraryTs operation, especially the
public services, so they will have the infor-
mation necessary for making effective de-
cisions regarding fees.
If there is a fault with many libraries,
it is an overwhelming conservatism when
it comes to experimenting with new ser-
vices or new technologies that might di-
rectly enhance service to the public. Li-
brarians are reluctant to take the lead in
testing promising or intriguing new tech-
nologies. They have demonstrated by con-
scious action or inaction that exploration
and experimentation is the province of
the private sector, not the public sector;
and as a result, library clients have been
systematically short-changed when it
comes to realizing the full benefits of new
technologies .
Question 10 is the most potentially
damaging because libraries never aban-
don any service once it has been offered.
What library regularly conducts any type
of market survey to determine whether its
existing services are being used by an ac-
ceptable number of patrons? What library
regularly surveys its clientele to identify
services they would find helpful? What is
common practice among members of the
for-profit sector is uncommon practice
among libraries. In all fairness, it can be
alleged that librarians are not trained to
perform these types of analyses and ques-
tioning. The response might appropriately
be, why not?
Librarians are instilled with the belief
they are public servants prepared to re-
spond to the needs of their clientele. Train-
North Carolina Libraries
ing to be a librarian tends to prepare indi-
viduals to be reactive rather than proactive
in responding to established clientele. There
is little, if any, education, training, or other
preparation that prepares librarians to ad-
dress the challenges of being in what is
essentially and fundamentally a service
business. The emphasis in the previous
sentence is on both oservice� and obusi-
ness. o Until there is appropriate training
and education, librarians will be unpre-
pared to face the task of identifying the
changes in patronsT needs for information.
When the appropriate analyses have
been conducted and the critical decisions
made, how is the calculation made so that
fees can be fixed? Sometimes other libraries
are contacted to learn what their fee struc-
tures are. Another approach is to examine
some of the relevant bills related to the
service that the library has received. There
is often a suspicion that figures have been
picked out of the air and have no relevance
to the actual costs being incurred. If the
imposition of fees is to be successful, this
suspicion must be avoided at all costs. The
impression can be avoided if librarians can
demonstrate that they know in a fiscal
sense the cost of the service or resource and
its comparative value within the larger li-
brary environment.
Once the data are collected in answer
to the checklist, then four critical ques-
tions can be addressed.®
1. Will there be a charge?
2. Who will be charged?
a. Equal
b. Some groups lower
c. Some groups higher
3. What costs will be covered by the
charges?
a. Labor/staff time
b. Computer services: connect
time and print charges
c. Other costs: equipment,
supplies, etc.
4. How can an efficient charging
system be operated?
a. Communications
b. Collection
The answer to the first critical ques-
tion will be dependent upon an under-
standing of the legal environment, an
objective assessment of client needs, and
an evaluation of the costs that the library
is currently incurring and potentially could
incur with the new service. The answer to
this question must be based upon a dispas-
sionate consideration of all factors from
the checklist presented earlier. Becoming
emotionally involved to the point that the
final decision is swayed by personal prefer-
ence is the worst thing that can be done.
If the answer to question one is oyes,
there should be a fee imposed,� the next
North Carolina Libraries
critical issue is owho will pay?� Will all
library patrons be susceptible to the levy?
Will only those patrons who are not within
the libraryTs legal jurisdiction be charged ?
Will only those patrons with exceptional
needs or demands, however defined, be
liable for the fee? Careful delineation of
the patrons to whom the fees apply must
occur. Seek outside counsel from a variety
of perspectives who will challenge the
assumptions that are being used to make
this decision. Too often, librarians are re-
luctant to confront the hidden biases as
they wrestle with this issue.
The resolution of the third critical
question requires at least a minimal un-
derstanding of the idea of cost recovery
and the variations that are possible. There
are three variations to cost recovery that
can be considered: o full cost pricing; vari-
able cost pricing; and ~freeT pricing. Full
cost pricing involves charging the user a
price that reflects all of the costs associated
with the provision of the service. These
costs include the variable costs of labor,
materials and specific user-chargeable fees
(such as photocopy charges, postage,
online search costs, and so on), as well as
some pre-determined amount in fixed costs
(management costs, depreciation, heat,
lighting, and so on).... Variable cost pric-
ing involves setting a price solely on the
variable costs of labor, materials and spe-
cific user-chargeable fees such as photo-
copy charges, postage, online search costs,
and so on....�7 ~FreeT pricing means that
no charge is passed on to the client, the
library absorbs all the related costs.
Whichever variation is adopted, be
absolutely certain that all concerned in
the decision making process clearly un-
derstand the cost components on which
the fee will be based. The worst situation
that could develop is one in which there is
the perception that the fee is omaking
money� for the library. Be prepared to
detail the specific costs that have been
identified as attributable to the activity or
service. Each of us may have our own
opinion of obean-counters,� but this is
one place where their involvement may be
essential in preventing recriminations at a
later date.
If, after answering the first three ques-
tions, there is still a positive decision to
levy fees, there are a series of issues that
focus on how the system will collect those
charges in order to operate. How will the
decision to impose fees be publicized?
Who will be responsible for the publicity?
How much lead-time will be required be-
fore the fees can be applied? Who will
handle the collection of moneys? Where
will be charges be levied, and where will
payment be received? Will the fee have to
be paid at the time the work is done or is
billing permitted? If billing is allowed,
what will happen to recover funds owed
when bills are unpaid? Who will balance
the funds received against the charges
made to the library? What equipment will
be necessary to provide some security for
the funds received? Will cash registers be
needed, a safe purchased? It is conceivable
that the cost of operating the charging
system will be large enough to make the
service unworkable. Many of these issues
and questions may be dismissed as unnec-
essary trivia or bureaucratic nit-picking. If
these details are not resolved before fees
are imposed, however, it can be extremely
embarrassing to all involved to have to
answer then extemporaneously during the
course of providing service to the public.
As much as we may prefer that the
debate over fees for service disappear from
librarianship, it is unlikely that any of us
will be so fortunate. Librarians are faced
with intractable problems revolving
around the increased cost of providing
library and information collections and
services at a time when the pool of avail-
able resources is shrinking. Solving the
continued demand for expanded and en-
hanced services is going to be increasingly
traumatic for most librarians. Being pre-
pared to conduct the necessary analyses
and evaluations is a prerequisite to insur-
ing that the ocorrect� decision can be
made. If there is a goal that should be held
before all of us, it is to seek every possible
way to avoid imposing fees even if it means
abandoning activities that have tradition-
ally been considered part of the core of
librarianship.
References
1 Harry M. Kibirige, The Information
Dilemma: A Critical Analysis of Information
Pricing and the Fees Controversy (Greenwood
Press: Westport, Connecticut, 1983), 86.
2 Barbara Smith, oA Strategic Ap-
proach to Online User Fees in Public Li-
braries,� Library Journal. 114 (February 1,
1989): 34-35.
3 Verna L. Pungitore, oFees in Public
Libraries,� in Public Librarianship: An Issues-
Oriented Approach (Greenwood Press: New
York, 1989),141.
4 Alice Sizer Warner, oLibrarians as
Money Makers: The Bottom Line.� Ameri-
can Libraries. 21, (November 1990): 947.
5 Charles W. Robinson, oFree or Fee
Based Library in the Year 2000,� Journal of
Library Administration 11, (1-2) (1989): 113.
6 Kathleen J. Voigt, oComputer Search
Services and Information Brokering in Aca-
demic Libraries,� The Reference Librarian 22
(1988): 20.
7 James A. Talaga, oConcept of Price in
a Library Context.� Journal of Library Admin-
istration 14, 4 (1991): 91.
Special Edition 1992 " 23
The For-Profit Syndrome:
Will Libraries Be Next?
oHow many rabid raccoons have you
caught?� An eye-catching advertisement
in the business section (page 10C) of the
Raleigh News & Observer for Saturday,
June 13, 1992 goes on to answer the
question and to offer information ser-
vices. oIn 1991, there were eight rabid
raccoons captured in North Carolina. How
do we know? With thousands of sources
at our disposal, we can get you the facts
and information youneed.� This sounds
like an aggressive, savvy, modern public
library, marketing the skills ofits trained,
experienced reference staff. On the con-
trary, acall to the number given reveals
that I have reached PISYS (pronounced
opie-sis�) Information Quest, a division
of the News & Observer Publishing Com-
pany, housed in the News & Observer build-
ing and making use of Raleigh the News
& Observer News Research Department,
formerly known as the News & Observer
Library.
The name PISYS is an acronym de-
rived from personal information system.
PISYS IQ manager, Denise Henry, was hired
in the fall of 1991 to head this new fee-
based information service which began
operations in November. Because busi-
ness is still growing, Denise spends a
portion of her time marketing the service,
preparing brochures, and targeting po-
tential customers " law firms, businesses,
lobbyists, political campaigns, or anyone
who finds the service valuable enough to
pay the sixty-five dollars per hour fee (plus
costs). Minimum fee is one hour. Denise,
a trained librarian with an MLS, related a
brief history of the Library/News Research
Department. Originally established as a
resource for journalists on the staff, the
department would occasionally provide
copies of The News & Observer articles for
five dollars. Added to a staff of two profes-
sional librarians and approximately fif-
teen full-time and part-time staff mem-
bers, Denise was recruited to exploit the
24 " Special Edition 1992
by Alice Wilkins
libraryTs resources for profit. As she states,
oManagementTs concept was, we have all
these resources here " letTs see if we can
take advantage of them.�
oSounds like LockheedTs DIALOG
story!� I rejoindered. Denise agreed.
In-house libraries of corporate firms
have come to be viewed as part of the
overhead cost of operation, and if these
departments can make their services cost-
effective by marketing them, all the better
for the economic health of the organiza-
tion. Denise spends a lot of her time online,
and she does not synthesize the material
or write reports: oThatTs the work of my
clients. My job is to find the information
and turn it over to them.�
The trend to for-profit information,
however, is not all fun and games. Librar-
ians who have heard the term oinforma-
tion brokers� are not always sure who
these people are, what they do, or if their
existence is good or bad for the library
profession.
Our social institutions are experienc-
ing a trend toward privatization. In the
foreword to Marketplace Medicine: the Rise
of the For-Profit Hospital Chains, Dave
Lindorff states
As the social experiments of the
1960s and 1970s and even the
limited government provision of
human services have been assailed
by the conservative critics of the
1980s and 1990s, many sectors of
American society have turned to
privatization. Today we see
prisons run under contract to
public authorities by the private
sector, sanitation work increas-
ingly performed by private
companies, private security
services supplementing or replac-
ing police protection, and even
adoption services, once the
virtual monopoly of public and
voluntary social agencies, now
facilitated on a profit-making
basis by physicians and lawyers.
It is therefore not surprising
that hospital care should also
be increasingly dominated by the
private, profit-making sector.!
What about libraries? In recent years,
book and equipment budget cuts, staff
reductions, and curtailment of hours and
services have shaken the foundations of
libraries. Faced with an uncertain future,
library personnel experience frustration,
fear, and anger as part of the regular chal-
lenge of problem solving. Professional
organizations respond with conferences
and workshops on supportive themes.
With no sarcasm intended, I wonder to
what extent sitting around and talking
about our financial woes is like the slogan,
oWhen the going gets tough, the tough
send out for pizza!� What are libraries
doing about making money as well as
spending it?
A search through Library Literature re-
veals that the subject heading oFees for
library service� appears for the first time in
the 1972-73 volume. The prior, broader
heading oFines, fees, etc.� hadnTt appeared
until the 1952-54 volume. Most of the
articles from 1952 to 1972 on charging
fines for overdue materials leaned toward
the negative under the guiding principle
that libraries should be free. Librarians
also agonized over whether or not re-
search libraries should charge usage fees to
outsiders. The advent of fees for services
unleashed a new rash of articles decrying
the trend: oThe end of free library service
is at hand!�2 Having made its debut in the
early seventies (concurrent with the ad-
vent of online computer searches), the
issue of charging for library expertise has
subsequently received the same type of
discussion and concern as the library fines
issue. Though struggling to keep the prin-
ciple of free libraries intact, librarians have
North Carolina Libraries
gradually acknowledged that, as the infor-
mation system changes, libraries have to
change with it, and accept the fact that
some services, if offered, will have to be
paid for by the patron. The alternative is
not to offer those services, and to become
an anachronism in the fast-changing in-
formation profession.
The term oInformation brokers� first
appears in Library Literature in 1981, nat-
rowed from oInformation services� and
related terms. IsnTt this simply a new term
for someone paid to provide information?
The profession of librarian has always been
closely related to that of researcher, but
somehow the term oresearcher� has a less
avaricious connotation than oinformation
broker.�
Can the library profession accept infor-
mation brokers as colleagues who work
with us and beside us? Who are they? What
are they doing? Are they ohorning in� on
our territory? Can we look at their business
tactics in a positive way to see what we can
borrow for our own organizations?
In the yellow pages of the Raleigh
telephone book, I found two listings under
oInformation Processing & Retrieval Sys-
tems & Services.� I called the first one
listed:
InfoAmerica, Inc. "- Business
Intelligence Gathering, Informa-
tion Retrieval & Enhancement,
Research, Indexing, Consulting,
Database Design, Data Entry,
Competitive Information Market/
Consumer Data, Database
Search, Publications Search,
Abstracts, Facts and Statistics,
Lists.
The cordial voice of Karen King answered
the telephone, and she was very willing to
answer my questions and discuss her work.
KarenTs varied background includes teach-
ing high school, serving as an elementary
school librarian (ounder duress� " she
does not hold an MLS), and as a director
of marketing for several companies.
Karen explained that InfoAmerica has
been in existence for eighteen months, that
she is salaried and works up to seventy
hours per week, that sixty percent of her
work is related to surveys contracted by
corporations, and that she depends heavily
on libraries and librarians. Fees for services
are forty-two dollars an hour plus costs.
Karen prefers to call herself an infor-
mation specialist rather than an informa-
tion broker, comparing the latter to the
term ohead hunter� as opposed to ore-
cruiter.� Did she think library training
would enhance her skills? oNo, my work
is more related to my training in market-
ing and inmy writing skills.� However,
she is considering taking a course taught
by Dr. Evelyn Daniel at UNC-Chapel Hill
North Carolina Libraries
on the Marketing of Information and
Library Services.
In a later conversation, Dr. Daniel
herself was very reassuring that librarians
should not feel uncomfortable about in-
formation brokering, noting that The
News & ObserverTs information provision
service is oanother example of collabora-
tive effort in our community.� She com-
mented that the trend to networking is
replacing the isolation of libraries, that the
primary clients of libraries are other librar-
ies seeking information, that information
sources are no longer hierarchical but
horizontal, and that any opportunities
for direct access to information should be
extended and enhanced. The marketing
of such services as CompuServe directly to
home customers or Lonesome Doc directly
to health professionals should not be re-
garded as depriving librarians of their
livelihood, but as an opportunity for
consumers of information to have
greater access. oThese people will come
to the librarians when they need help.�
Dr. Daniel further commented that
information brokering is another skill
and even a potential career opportu-
nity for persons with library training.
Karen does not see her work as
conflicting with libraries as so much
of it is oenhancing and synthesizing�
the information she obtains from li-
braries, making use of her writing and
interpretation skills rather than the
information retrieval skills of librar-
ians. When appropriate, KarenTs firm
employs research assistants who have
library training and expertise. oI would
never think of asking a librarian to
do my work for me, or imposing on
their time,� she stated emphatically.
Denise Henry also does not con-
sider her work to be in competition
with libraries. oMost people cannot
afford our service, and I refer people all
day long to other libraries who have
the same databases. We know where to
look; businesses come out ahead by hiring
an expert who can save time rather than
sending someone who will stumble around
the library.�
How can we translate this trend to-
wards for-profit information to our tradi-
tional organizations? To what extent
would we want to set up competing ser-
vices within our own walls? In what ways
are we already subsidizing our operations
with usage fees, fines, photocopy charges,
and book sales? In what ways can we
increase such income to offset future ad-
ministrative budget cuts?
According to Sue Rugge and Alfred
Glossbrenner in their new book The Infor-
mation BrokerTs Handbook,
The breadth and scope of the
information that exists on
virtually any topic, person, or
place today is simply stagger-
ing.... This, then, is the Informa-
tion Age: an incredible amount
of information on an infinite
variety of topics readily avail-
able to virtually everyone. This
is the realm in which every
prospective information broker
must make a living. It is a realm
that needs an information
brokerTs services because, while
all of this information is indeed
available, in reality, considerable
skill and expertise is required to
retrieve it.3
Rugge, who charted new territory when
she founded her firm, Information on
Demand, dislikes the term oinformation
"Most people cannot
afford our service, and |
refer people all day long
to other libraries who
have the same databases.
We know where to look;
businesses come out
ahead by hiring an expert
who can save time rather
than sending someone
who will stumble around
the library."
broker� (oone of the great misnomers of
the age�4), but accepts it on the basis that
this is the term the public has come to
associate with the activity of fee-based
information services. Rugge and
Glossbrenner have again charted new ter-
ritory by presenting a textbook in a field
which has no acknowledged formal train-
ing other than the one-day seminars which
Rugge has been offering for the past de-
cade at locations throughout the United
States.5 The Information BrokerTs Handbook
reads like a cross between a text fora
library school reference course and a
marketing textbook in a business school.
It warns the reader that information
brokering as an occupation is very hard
work, financially risky, and it requires a
curious, aggressive, and entrepreneuring
Special Edition 1992 " 25
personality. It strongly advises the pro-
spective broker to team up with someone
else " one member of the team to do the
information work, the other to market the
service. Working alone, an information
broker would have to spend at least half a
day searching for potential customers.
Although the book is aimed at any-
one who is interested in the field and
stresses the fact that anyone who _ is
willing to learn can do it, the authors
acknowledge that omost successful practi-
tioners today havea library background.�6
In answer to the question, oAre librarians
competition for information brokers?�,
the authors answer oyes and no.� They
encourage the information broker to
establish a positive relationship with
otheir colleagues on the other side of the
reference desk� and even to use libraries
who offer fee-based services as subcon-
tractors:
As budgets tighten, all libraries are
looking for sources of additional
funds. Accordingly, some librar-
ies have begun to charge more for
research services than simple pass-
through database expenses. This
could be considered a change for
the better from an information
brokerTs standpoint. For, if the
library is making a profit on a
search, it is difficult to see how
anyone can complain if you
employ these services in your own
work. By entering the profit-making
arena, the library and the librarians
become, in effect, subcontrac-
tors.�7 (italics mine)
The authors regularly refer to the
breadth and scope of information that
exists on virtually any topic as the "Infor-
mation Dragon.� They point out that it is
the skilled, seasoned information profes-
sional who will be the one who is chosen
to slay this fire-breathing dragon! In the
chapter entitled oThe Market for Informa-
tion,� they state that the potential market
for information and _ the services of an
information consultant is huge. The cat-
egories of potential customers noted in
this chapter are many and varied, includ-
ing advertising firms, public relations
firms, investors, job applicants, insurance
agents, small companies which cannot
afford in-house libraries, researchers, con-
sultants, and stock brokers. The authors
stress that the major difference between
librarians and information brokers is that
librarians do not market their skills and
services: oNo research librarian with a
steady paycheck, benefits, and all the rest
will ever have the motivation of an infor-
mation broker who must make a sale to
make the rent each month.�8
Why not take that statement as a
26 " Special Edition 1992
challenge? If the potential market for
information brokerage is huge, why not
establish a fee-based information depart-
ment within the library? If part of the
financial risk for an information broker is
establishing an office containing expen-
sive equipment (telephones with answer-
ing machines, fax machines, computers
with modems) plus investing in informa-
tion retrieval training, and these facilities
already exist within libraries, why not give
librarians an equipped office and let them
work on the basis that their salary will be
paid on a cost-recovery basis from the fees
for information services? If the fact is that
most information brokers are already
trained librarians, let the trained librar-
ians already working in libraries acquire
marketing skills and promote their ser-
vices via the library to the community. If
an oInformation Services Department� is
able to generate income for the library,
then this can help to build the libraryTs
resources, increase services, and enhance
the libraryTs status and viability within
its service area. (Interestingly, Rugge and
Glossbrenner exhort the prospective in-
formation broker to avoid the word librar-
ian: oA word to the wise. You want the
word ~librarianT to stay as far away from
this profession as possible " even if you
happen to be one. ItTs nothing personal "
some of our best friends and clients are
librarians, and most successful informa-
tion brokers are or once were card-carry-
ing librarians. It is strictly a matter of
image.�9) Perhaps, just as sales clerks be-
came sales associates and garbage collec-
tors become sanitary engineers, it is time
for librarians to call themselves informa-
tion specialists!
The Information BrokerTs Handbook
should be read by every reference librar-
ian and every library director. It is a
trailblazing guidebook to modernizing a
profession that has become too depen-
dent on subsidy, whether institutional or
governmental. Libraries can pay their own
way to a greater extent, and still remain
free in many capacities. A fee-based infor-
mation service department within the li-
brary would not interfere with the free
services of lending books, providing refer-
ence resources, or the childrenTs story
hour that our patrons expect.
Rugge and Glossbrenner point out
that ninety percent of their work is online
and on the phone, and only ten percent is
library research. Furthermore, they ex-
press surprise that more libraries are not
already offering information brokering
services. I believe that libraries must dip
their toes into the waters of free enter-
prise. Agonizing over whether to charge
a fine or increase fines sounds like the
articles I noted in the 1950s volumes of
Library Literature, but some of us are still
doing it. oThere is definitely money to be
made. And there is a growing demand for
professional information services.�10 If
there is money to be made, letTs make it
ourselves!
We will all be watching with great
interest as for-profit experiments progress
to public schools, prisons, the welfare
system, and (can we escape?) libraries.
LetTs learn what the for-profit libraries and
information brokers are doing and see
what we can apply from their marketplace
methodology to our own operations. To
become more profit-oriented and cost-
effective, we will need administrators or
governing boards who are willing to ac-
cept innovative funding concepts, willing
to let librarians handle money, and will-
ing to change some policies.
I once knew a professor who, each
year, proudly justified his own salary by
itemizing all of the cost-cutting ideas he
thought of and recommended to the
administration. I realized where the li-
brary figured in his estimation of our ser-
vices when I found that he had calculated
how much money the school could save
if we stopped the publication of our
monthly new books list. Fortunately, I
was able to persuade the administration
that our publication was sufficiently ap-
preciated by students, faculty, and staff
to warrant the cost of paper and prepara-
tion time. Today I might be tempted to
respond by redesigning its appearance to a
slick, attractive, desirable publication, and
charging a subscription fee!
References
1 Dave Lindorff, Marketplace Medicine:
the Rise of the For-Profit Hospital Chains
(New York: Bantam Books, 1992), xi.
2oThe End of Free Library Service Is At
Hand,� Sci-Tech News 29 (October 1975):
98-99,
3 Sue Rugge and Alfred Glossbrenner,
The Information BrokerTs Handbook (Blue
Ridge Summit, PA: Windcrest/McGraw
Hill, 1992), 4, 6.
4 bid, 15.
5 Details on the seminars or on an
Information BrokerTs Resource Kit can be
obtained from: The Rugge Group, 2670
Mountain Gate Way, Oakland, CA 94611.
(510) 530-3635 (voice) (510) 530-3325 (fax)
6 Ibid, xviii.
7 Ibid, 42.
8 Ibid, 42.
9 Ibid, 26.
10 [bid, xxiii.
North Carolina Libraries
The Crisis in Youth Services
here is, indeed, a crisis in
librarianship, and, those of
us providing library services
to children and youth have
seen it coming for years! One
need not be a futurist to rec-
ognize the deteriorating status of an al-
ready obottom of the heap� area of the
library: childrenTs service. And yet we hold
the keys that can save libraries in the
future!
Is Image the Problem?
On one hand, some of us see the crisis in
terms of image. ChildrenTs librarians have
traditionally had a poor image in the larger
framework of library service. In 1956,
Frances Clarke Sayers noted, oThere is a
certain condescension toward... childrenTs
librarians in the profession.�! This is still
true in 1990: oToo often librarians work-
ing with children have been taken less
seriously than those working in other ar-
eas of public libraries.�2 Stuck away in the
basement, we timidly attend to our
storyhours and bulletin boards. DonTt ask
us to learn the business of libraries " we
are too busy arguing the merits of the
latest Caldecott winner. We donTt need to
justify our budgets because olibrary service
to youth is as American as mom and
apple pie.�3 Yet recent developments
are alarming even to the most san-
guine childrenTs professionals.
More and more paraprofession-
als are orunning� public library pro-
grams, schools are not-so-quietly up-
grading reading specialists and dis-
carding media coordinators, and
youth services curricula are decreas-
ing in availability in our remaining
professional library schools. oMany
children in this country simply do not
have the services of a librarian available
to them.�4 oIn one (California school)
district a solitary school librarian serves
8,511 students.�5
Linda Hyde, a childrenTs professional
and middle manager at Forsyth County
North Carolina Libraries
by Satia Orange and Cal Shepard
Public Library, sees the image controversy
in another way. She asks how we see our-
selves. Assuming that the power to move
libraries into the 21st century remains
with administration, Hyde cites the over-
whelming numbers of North Carolina li-
brarians in childrenTs and youth services,
and yet questions our strength. oWe can
no longer afford to be perceived as the
~extraT in library services, the ~frivolousT
part.�
If, indeed, image is our problem, what
can we do to improve it? We need to get
out of the basement and involve ourselves
in the total library picture. oSuccessful
childrenTs librarians are skilled in organi-
zation, handling funds, and time manage-
ment,� states Hyde. oWe must put our
skills to work to fight for our needs. We
must represent ourselves professionally to
all (library) departments and participate
in all aspects of planning.� Capitalizing on
the skills we already have and targeting
what is within the realm of possibility for
us to learn, we must expand our capabili-
ties toward effective action for the sake of
the total library profession. We need anew
attitude toward reevaluation, re-education,
and continued activism.
Rebecca Taylor, Youth Services Coor-
dinator at the New Hanover County Pub-
"We can no longer afford
to be perceived as the
extraT in library services,
the ~'frivolous' part."
lic Library, documents statistics, accom-
plishments, needs, and observations in a
detailed monthly report. She presents in-
formation in a manner that is usable by
the library director and sends a powerful
message at the same time. Taylor has
learned odirector-ese,� impacting her staffTs
ability to solicit informed, targeted sup-
port from her administration.
Olga Coneen, ChildrenTs Librarian at
the Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) Public Li-
brary, educated herself about management
issues and then utilized output measures
and statistics (graphically demonstrating
the high level of childrenTs usage in her
library) to get herself appointed a member
of the library management team. As such,
she has the power to be an advocate for her
patrons in discussions of library policies
and budgets. She is in a position to chart the
course of her department and library rather
than just going along for the ride.
Libraries are at a crossroads and
childrenTs and youth services are at the tail
end of the train. Although how we as pro-
fessionals are perceived, and how we per-
ceive ourselves can dramatically affect our
service delivery style, image is still not the
real key.
What is Our Service Philosophy?
Many within the profession, along with
directors and trustees, see two opposing
philosophies of library services to children
and youth. Some want us to keep our feet
on solid ground and retain our book orien-
tation, while others exhort us to cast away
our buns and horn-rimmed glasses and
take off on the flight to automated
service delivery.
We are in the middle of an auto-
mation revolution surrounded by com-
puters, on-line services, and CD-ROMs.
Many of our library schools have added
the phrase oand Information Services�
to their names. Resources and materials
for all ages are increasingly available in
non-traditional formats. How does this
revolution affect toddler and preschool
storyhours? What does it have to do with
the newest Caldecott winner? Where does
juvenile fiction fall in the lineup of priori-
ties? What impact does automation have
on the traditional library needs of the
young? Do we, in fact, have opposing teams
of childrenTs and youth professionals "
Special Edition 1992 " 27
-"-
book oriented versus the onew stuff?�
Some of us see the key to solving the crisis as an automated
~Joyride.� The lure of technology is powerful. Libraries are
automating at a rapid pace, and we donTt want to be left behind.
Youth service professionals are dazzled and fighting for their
share of the megabytes. On-line cata-
logs and public access computers are
in place in some childrenTs areas, with
some libraries featuring their own com-
puter room. Some public libraries in-
clude CD-ROMs for their childrenTs
departments, and youth have access
to on-line services. More and more
schools are using on-line services, with
middle and high schools accessing
more curriculum databases.
On the other hand, there are the
contemporary traditionalists who pro-
vide on-line catalogs of library holdings, are literate in
wordprocessing and desk top publishing, but donTt consider
automated resources to be in their realm of possibility. The print
resources are the old tried-and-true way; they work well, and stay
well within budgetary constraints.
Which philosophy is correct? The answer is neither. Both are
needed if we are to make sure that the children and youth
themselves are not the forgotten factor in the 2lst century
equation. Yes, the automation blitz is affecting our budgets and
our missions. oRather than depend on sizeable new sums of
money and legions of new staff, we must redirect precious
resources. Library management will have to make delicate deci-
sions regarding purchases, and library personnel will have to be
channeled into new responsibilities.� oEven the most reasoned
Blindly adhering to either
books or technology is a
no-win proposition both
for librarians and the
public we serve.
arguments must confront these dual realities: budgeting involves
making choices; and choices reflect the chooserTs values.�7 But
there are success stories.
The gymnasium-size Youth Services area at the Columbus
Metropolitan Library is the result of the Board of Trustees
determining new building allocations
based on circulation figures. The area
features a wide range of traditional as
well as state of the art service delivery
areas for children and youth, with the
latest technologies partnered with print
materials. Deputy Director Rubye Kyles
reports the same quality of services and
programs to individual young patrons,
with the addition of automated re-
sources.
Cathy Collicutt, the media coordi-
nator at Philo Middle School in Winston-
Salem, finds that her students use the media center more often and
more effectively now that she has an automated catalog AND
online services.
Where Can We Go from Here?
It is possible to combine traditional service with the latest technol-
ogy thus providing the best possible service to youth. Blindly
adhering to either books or technology is a no-win proposition
both for librarians and the public we serve. No single format will
serve all the needs of todayTs library patrons. We must learn the
skills necessary to manage the new technologies and integrate
them with our traditional service approach.
We need to educate ourselves. We must become familiar,
comfortable, and,
where possible, linked
into the technologies
often already avail-
able in adult service
areas in our libraries,
so that we can expand
Our service expertise,
resources, and capa-
bilities in the youth
areas.
We must em-
power ourselves
through effective
coalitions with other
library professionals,
our professional or-
ganizations and sup-
port groups, other
agencies in our com-
munities, and our
government officials
who control our dol-
lars. This is especially
true in the wake of
the 1991 White
House Conference
on Library and Infor-
mation Services,
where the Youth
Omnibus Bill was se-
New technology creates excitement in the children's computer room at the Public Library of Charlotte and
Mecklenburg County. Photo by Jean Johnson.
28 " Special Edition 1992
lected as the chief
priority by the del-
egates. We need to
North Carolina Libraries
ES sana OM Vaan aaa re ena eS SIE ie RNID Cin yh Om aa aly eM ee
work together on the local, state, and national level to fight for
the childrenTs right to the highest quality library services.
What are the Keys to Solving our Crisis?
The keys to solving our true crisis in librarianship are the children
and youth we serve today and those yet unborn. In transmitting
both informational and cultural resources, we must make library
resources available for every child in every school and public
library. We must make sure the library environment for our
young people is easily accessible, understandable, and relevant.
We must use the best tools, from books to on-line services, to
meet the needs of our constituents. ChildrenTs librarians must be
informed of not only good mysteries or adventure books, but also
of on-line networks or government documents if these will solve
a childTs informational need.
Children and youth are our number one priority and serving
them is what childrenTs librarians do best. We must remember
this as we expand and enhance our skills to embrace the changing
technology. We cannot forget books in our headlong rush into
the next century, but neither can we ignore the automation
revolution.
oThe future is not ~out thereT in the sense in which America
was out there before Columbus went to discover it. The future is
not predetermined, nor does it have prescribed boundaries and
forms.�8 It is up to us to help shape the future, for ourselves, our
patrons, and our libraries.
References
1 Frances Clarke Sayers, Summoned by Books (New York:
Viking, 1965), 43.
2 Jane Gardner Connor, ChildrenTs Library Services Handbook
(Phoenix: Oryx, 1990), 101.
3 Regina Minudri, quoted in Mary Somerville oSlaying Drag-
ons: Overcoming Obstacles to Excellence in Youth Services,�
School Library Journal 35 (May 1989): 33.
4 GraceAnne A. DeCandido and Alan P. Mahony oOver-
worked and Underbudgeted: Staff and Funds for School Library
Media Centers 1992, o School Library Journal 38 (June 1992): 25.
S Ibid.
6 Maurice C. Mitchell, Jr.and Laverna M. Sanders, oLibraries
and Telecommunications,� in The Evolution of Library Automa-
tion: Management Issues and Future Perspectives, ed. Gary M. Pitkin
(Westport: Meckler, 1991), 128.
7 Robert C. Dickeson, oReactions from a University Presi-
dent,� in The Evolution of Library Automation: Management Issues
and Future Perspectives, ed. Gary M. Pitkin (Westport: Meckler,
ISTE mar Sysy.
8 Pierette Kim Jamison, oAdopting a Critical Stance Toward
Technology,� in Information Literacies for the Twenty-First Century,
ed. Virgil L.P. Blake and Renee Tjoumas (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1990),
364-365.
Bibliography
Benne, Mae. Principles of ChildrenTs Services in Public Libraries.
Chicago: American Library Association, 1991.
Ivy, Barbara A. oDeveloping Managerial Skills in ChildrenTs
Libraries.� Library Trends 35 (Winter 1987): 449-461.
Sayers, Frances Clarke. Summoned by Books. New York: Viking,
HO Gss
Somerville, Mary. oSlaying Dragons: Overcoming Obstacles to
Excellence in Youth Services.� School Library Journal 35 (May
1989): 32-35.
Ward-Callaghan, Linda. oThe Effect of Emerging Technologies
on ChildrenTs Library Service.� Library Trends 35 (Winter
1987): 437447.
North Carolina Libraries
Instructions for the Preparation of Manuscripts
for North Carolina Libraries
1. North Carolina Libraries seeks to publish articles,
materials reviews, and bibliographies of professional
interest to librarians in North Carolina. Articles need not
be necessarily of a scholarly nature, but they should
address professional concerns of the library community
in the state.
2. Manuscripts should be directed to Frances B. Bradburn,
Editor, North Carolina Libraries, Joyner Library, East
Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353.
3. Manuscripts should be submitted in triplicate on plain
white paper measuring 8 1/2" x 11" and on computer
disk.
4. Manuscripts must be double-spaced (text, references,
and footnotes). Macintosh computer is the computer
used by North Carolina Libraries. Computer disks
formatted for other computers must contain a file of the
document in original format and a file in ASCII. Please
consult editor for further information.
5. The name, position, and professional address of the
author should appear in the bottom left-hand corner of a
separate title page. The authorTs name should not
appear anywhere else on the document.
6. Each page should be numbered consecutively at the top
right-hand corner and carry the title (abbreviated if
necessary) at the upper left-hand corner.
7. Footnotes should appear at the end of the manuscript.
The editors will refer to The Chicago Manual of Style,
13th edition. The basic forms for books and journals are
as follows:
Keyes Metcalf, Planning Academic and Research Library
Buildings (New York: McGraw, 1965), 416.
Susan K. Martin, oThe Care and Feeding of the MARC
Format,� American Libraries 10 (September 1970): 498.
8. Photographs will be accepted for consideration but
cannot be returned.
9. Upon receipt, a manuscript will be acknowledged by the
editor. Following review of the manuscript by the editor
and at least two jurors, a decision will be communicated
to the writer. A definite publication date cannot be given
since any incoming manuscript will be added to a
manuscript bank from which articles are selected for
each issue.
10. North Carolina Libraries holds the copyright for all
accepted manuscripts. The journal is available both in
print and electronically over the North Carolina
Information Network.
11. Issue deadlines are February 10, May 10, August 10,
and November 10. Manuscripts for a particular issue
must be submitted at least 2 months before the issue
deadline.
Special Edition 1992 " 29
PoInt
Librarians as Cultural Guardians and
as Information Professionals
by Rose Simon
here is concern in library circles that despite our role as the oinformation professionals� in
American society " a role we have claimed for well over a century " information vendors have
succeeded in establishing for-profit entities that appear to compete with library reference services.
oOur own� clients actually pay these entrepreneurs for information that we would provide for free.
Worse yet, the transaction sometimes involves the sale of information that was originally given to the
vendor by a library.
On a larger scale, the problem is even more serious: parent agencies are hiring groups of ocomputer
people� to manage sizeable information systems without even considering that their own librarians might
be the appropriate people to use.
How is it possible that the library profession, after decades of information service to American
communities and educational institutions, could find itself so underestimated and overlooked? More
importantly, what can be done about it?
Part of the problem is the old oimage thing� and the ways in which we perpetuate it. Except for special
librarians working for businesses, librarians work in the non-profit sector. Along with teachers and museum
curators, librarians serve as the guardians of culture. As in the nineteenth century, we are committed to the
notion that literacy and reading lead to enhanced knowledge, the basis of a good quality of life for the
individual, and a rich and vital culture for society. We provide information in a variety of formats, and we
fiercely protect the rights of access to that information on behalf of our fellow citizens. This is the basis of
our professional definition, and it has not changed in over a century. Nor should it. But somehow we have
remained Cultural Guardians while the computer people have, in the public view, become the Information
Professionals.
Having established ourselves in a time when information transfer took place only through direct speech
and the written or printed word, we still retain the trappings of our predecessors in ways that permit the
computer people to look new and exciting to information seekers. Look at our library facilities and our job
descriptions. Despite the fact that many catalogs are automated and that libraries offer numerous online
services, libraries are basically perceived as buildings that house thousands of books, videos, and records and
that offer places for learning activities ranging from story hours to simple sitting and reading or writing.
Libraries are public buildings associated with books, with learning, and with general social good. Librarians
are pleased to be generalists who carry out a wide variety of tasks in a given day. The same librarian who
performs a DIALOG search in the morning may teach a BI class or select a number of books for purchase
that afternoon. We have different areas of expertise, but few librarians profess to be specialists. Moreover,
regardless of the job title, everyone is called a librarian.
Computer people are not encumbered by decades of tradition and thousands of books. Most of their
resources are available online and their work place was designed for these specialized functions; they are
specialists in a world that believes in the expertise of specialists; and as specialists in an area of intense
demand, they command high (certainly better) salaries. If someone wants detailed information from a
complex computer search, will he go to the computer person, or to the one who just finished reading Bambi
to a group of third graders?
So how do we Cultural Guardians, who believe it is important that society continue to have us, manage
also to be recognized as the Information Professionals?
Either kings must become philosophers, or philosophers must become kings. We worry that computer
people lack the librariansT professional commitment to information confidentiality and information access
forall citizens. Butitis likely that solutions to those problems can be found by people other than professional
librarians. It seems to me thatif librarians believe that it is essential for us to retain our role as the Information
Professionals, then we are going to have to learn a great deal more about computers and online systems,
and we are going to have to demonstrate that we can deliver the product as effectively as the computer
people. That means better and more thorough training, and it means emphasizing on an unprecedented
scale how much the library is or can be the oinformation place.� Parent agencies will have to be convinced
that the library is where to find the right people for the job.
Librarians who are unwilling to learn the necessary technical skills and who are unable to create a new image
of libraries at least as effective as the old one will remain Cultural Guardians, but they will be only that.
30 " Special Edition 1992 North Carolina Libraries
So, What's Wrong
With A Little Culture?
by Harry Tuchmayer, Column Editor
he only crisis ITm aware of is the one in our own minds! We are, as a profession, basically
uncomfortable with admitting who we really are. Insecure, and unsure of whether or not we
will be respected for what we do, librarians are continually trying to convince each other that
what we do really matters anymore. In a society obsessed with labels and buzzwords, I canTt
help but think that we somehow feel left out of the new lexicon. While garbage collectors have become
sanitation engineers, and typists, data entry specialists, librarians canTt seem
to convince anybody that we should be called oinformation specialists.� Yet,
the basic fact remains that we do provide people with the information they
need and are considered by many to be the best source of information i
ee Part of the problem is
So whatTs the big deal? Rose, you defined the problem beautifully when the O ld " image th i ng "
you said, o...the problem is the old image thing,� but youTve missed the point
completely when you continue to insist that we are unwilling to learn the and the ways in which
technical skills necessary to create a new image. We donTt need to learn new Z
skills (because most of us already have them), and we most certainly donTt need we per petua te It.
a new image (because we have a damned good one). What we really need is
assertiveness training! The problem is not in how we perpetuate the image of " Simon
librarians, but rather that we are ashamed of it! People like, need, and yes, even
respect, librarians for what they do; we just canTt see it.
Admittedly, we could be better schooled in information retrieval tech-
niques and computer programming, but ask any reference librarian in a public
library and theyTll tell you how often we are called upon to find critical
information for a struggling entrepreneur, produce and retrieve scientific
citations for a small manufacturing firm, or even print out the latest demo- We have succumbed to
graphic data for local government, in between helping a olittle old lady� find
a less risque romance or discussing the latest Diana biography with a regular the mM i sguided belief
patron. We donTt need new skills; we just need to be a little bit more confident ;
in our considerable abilities to manage the information explosion. t. ha t moder, APS better
No doubt, librarians have been largely bypassed by big firms and large ae
businesses whose need for information is so great (or so specialized) that than traditional ....
theyTve created their own departments to handle it. And no doubt we can do
better in educating these people about the benefits of hiring librarians to " Tuchmayer
manage their information needs. But what about the vast majority of informa-
tion seekers, average citizens whose information needs are no less important
than business; those who find in the library all the information they need to understand their illnesses,
repair their roofs, evaluate their hidden treasures, or find jobs? These are the people we serve, and we
serve them well. And you know what? They donTt have any problem asking a librarian to help them
find the information they need!
LetTs stop making excuses for who we are and instead take the iniative in leading the information
explosion. We must continue to remind business and government leaders that librarians are the ones
who have been organizing, indexing, and disseminating information for decades and are precisely the
professionals we want deciding the direction to take for the information future. Just because we arenTt
paid what weTre worth doesnTt mean our services arenTt valued (and valuable).
The crisis, if there is one, is one largely of our own making. We have succumbed to the misguided
belief that modern is better than traditional, and glitzy is better than commonplace. We have somehow
come to believe that because we as a profession have not ospiced-up� our image and adopted a new,
slick nomenclature, we have lost our competitive edge. This is pure poppycock! We have lost nothing
but our own respect. We have successfully moved into the twenty-first century without abandoning
our cultural heritage. Rather than vilify, we should applaud a profession that has been able to move
ahead without selling out. I for one am proud of our dual role as ocultural guardians� and oinformation
professionals,� both existing under the heading of librarian.
North Carolina Libraries Special Edition 1992 " 31
North Carolina Library Networks:
A Bibliography on Library Cooperation Involving the Old North State
I. STATE:
A. North Carolina
Information Network
(NCIN)
32 " Special Edition 1992
compiled by Plummer Alston Jones, Jr.
Advances in telecommunications and the widespread use of microcomputers in libraries of all types
and sizes have together revolutionized access to library resources and the delivery of library services.
The most obvious effect of this technological revolution is that decentralized, electronic access to
information has begun to supplant centralized, on-site maintenance of library materials.
Another, more personal, effect of this revolution is that library users, having been introduced to
more sophisticated methods of obtaining information, now have great expectations of libraries and
librarians to fulfill and even anticipate their information needs. Paradoxically, libraries are simulta-
neously experiencing financial hard times. How will libraries cope with the dilemma of great expec-
tations during hard times?
The antidote to this Dickensian dilemma also has a literary allusion. As no man is an island, to
paraphrase Donne, no library is self-sufficient. Since the late 1960s, libraries have in ever increasing
numbers realized that at least one solution to the dilemma is cooperation. Beginning with arguably
the most successful cooperative venture in the library world to date, the Online Computer Library
Center (OCLC), libraries have created other networks for the electronic exchange of information.
This phenomenon of library networking to solve a multitude of dilemmas has been most prevalent
and conspicuous in North Carolina beginning in the late 1970s and continuing into the 1990s.
The following bibliography on networks involving North Carolina libraries includes articles
published since 1986 in no less than ten library periodicals reaching state, regional, and national
audiences. For convenience, these articles have been classified according to the geographical areas
and political arenas in which the networking activities described have had the greatest impact, for
example, statewide networks, county networks, consortia crossing county boundaries, and regional
consortia crossing state boundaries. Within each of these categories, citations to periodical articles
are listed alphabetically by author. Citations to two or more articles by the same author are listed
chronologically.
A lagniappe of this bibliography is that it serves as a preliminary or working directory of library
networks throughout the Old North State, including, in addition to the statewide umbrella network,
the North Carolina Information Network (NCIN), no less than thirty-seven academic libraries, six
public libraries, twelve school libraries, and three special libraries. The challenge for these libraries is
to keep the library community of North Carolina and the nation abreast of changes and develop-
ments in their respective networks. North Carolina libraries involved in networks which do not
appear in this bibliography should publish or otherwise disseminate descriptions of their networking
activities in order that the library community may benefit from the richness and variety of coopera-
tive experiences involving the Old North State.
Gilster, Paul. oNew Network Connects Businesses with State.� North Carolina Libraries 45
(Fall 1987): 148-49.
GilsterTs article on the business-related information resources and services available through
the North Carolina Information Network (NCIN) was reprinted with permission from the
July 13-20, 1987 issue of Triangle Business. Gilster points out the State LibraryTs decision oto
be acontractor of services rather than a creator of them,� and quotes then State Librarian Jane
Williams, oThe important thing [about the NCIN] is that weTre contracting with OCLC and
Western Union rather than putting millions into a mainframe here [in Raleigh] anda big staff
and programming.�
McClure, Charles R., Joe Ryan, Diana Lauterbach, and William E. Moen. oSite Visit:
North Carolina Information Network (NCIN).� In Public Libraries and the
INTERNET/NREN: New Challenges, New Opportunities, 9-18. Syracuse, NY: School
of Information Studies, Syracuse University, 1992.
This recently published report on the role of public libraries in emerging and developing
national networks includes a chapter based on a site visit to analyze and evaluate the NCIN.
The NCIN was chosen because it is oa large-scale networking development effort that
included a number of different types of libraries� and oan innovative leader in the
application of networking services to public libraries.�
North Carolina Libraries
B. Other Statewide Efforts
North Carolina Libraries
McGinn, Howard F. oThe North Carolina Information Network"A Vital Cog in
Economic Development.� North Carolina Libraries 44 (Fall 1986): 175-80.
In this article, the first in his series of articles on the NCIN, McGinn, in his capacity as
Coordinator of Network Development for the State Library of North Carolina, calls for the
establishment of a partnership between libraries and the business community. The NCIN will
be at the heart of this cooperative enterprise. McGinn describes five ongoing projects of the
NCIN: (1) North Carolina Online Union Catalog; (2) North Carolina Union List of Serials; (3)
business, technical, and educational databases; (4) electronic mail/bulletin board service; and
(5) document delivery services. In the development and nurture of the NCIN, the State Library
is pledged (1) to work with other state agencies; (2) to work with statewide business
organizations; (3) to conduct regional marketing surveys; (4) to develop business expert and
consultation services; and (5) to coordinate planning.
. oInformation Networking and Economic Development.� Wilson Library Bulletin
62 (Nov. 1987): 28-32.
McGinn, in his capacity as Assistant State Librarian and Director of the North Carolina
Information Network, uses this national periodical forum to promote the NCIN.
. oElectronic Services for Rural Libraries: Meeting the Challenge in North
Carolina.� RQ 29 (Summer 1990): 492-96.
Focusing on the needs of rural libraries for timely access to information, McGinn, in his
current position as State Librarian of North Carolina, urges participation in the NCIN for the
benefits to be derived not only in terms of cost containment and cost sharing, but also in
terms of the enhancement of the professional image of the local librarian. McGinn argues
convincingly that othe library that prospers will be the one that carves out a place for itself
in the vital daily operations of the rural community.�
. oInformation and the Development of Rural North Carolina.� Southeastern
Librarian 40 (Summer 1990): 75-79.
State Librarian McGinn discusses the business- and consumer-oriented electronic bulletin
board services available on NCIN, specifically, NCBTECH, from the North Carolina Biotech-
nology Center, NCDATA, from the State Data Center of North Carolina, and NCSTRC, from
the North Carolina Department of CommerceTs Science and Technology Research Center.
Electronic bulletin boards associated with the Automated Purchase Directory present timely
information on business contract opportunities with the State Government. Through online
access to these services, McGinn asserts that orural areas can now participate in the global
economy.�
Miller, Marilyn E. oInterlibrary Loan in the North Carolina Information Network: The
Impact of oSelective Users� on a Net-Lender University Library.� North Carolina
Libraries 45 (Winter 1987): 210-15.
Miller presents a case study of East Carolina UniversityTs experience in filling interlibrary
loan (ILL) requests from selective users of the North Carolina Online Union Catalog and the
OCLCILL Subsystem via NCINTs dial access service. East Carolina University, the third largest
university in the University of North Carolina system, is a net-lender.
oNew State Library Network Starts Up in North Carolina.� Library Journal 112 (1 Feb.
1987): 24.
This brief news release describing what will later be called the NCIN is perhaps the first
official announcement to reach a national and international audience. The release an-
nounces that the North Carolina network ocombines highly centralized data management
with highly decentralized access.�
Young, Diana. oNorth CarolinaTs Information Network and Youth Services.� Public
Libraries 27 (Spring 1988): 39-40.
. oNorth Carolina Information Network.� Tar Heel Libraries 14 (May/June 1991): 3-4.
YoungTs articles provide a description of several components of the NCIN, including (1) the
North Carolina Online Unicn Catalog and the OCLC ILL subsystem; (2) North Carolina
Union List of Serials; (3) electronic mail, (4) electronic bulletin board, (S) access to databases,
and (6) information delivery by telefacsimile and courier. The former, more expansive article
is geared to librarians serving children and young adults; the latter, a brief reference list for
the general library community.
Lithgo, Sue Wanchock. oPublic Libraries/Agricultural Extension Agencies: Potential for
Cooperation.� Rural Libraries 7 (1) (1987): 7-42.
LithgoTs study encourages ongoing cooperation between public libraries, with coordination
Special Edition 1992 " 33
provided by the State Library of North Carolina, and county agricultural extension agencies,
with coordination provided by the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service. Cooperative
planning would benefit North Carolina citizens needing agricultural information and services.
oMUGLNC [Microcomputer Users Group for Libraries in North Carolina].� Tar Heel
Libraries 15 (May/June 1992): 14.
Celebrating the tenth anniversary of its founding in 1982, MUGLNC is a non-profit organiza-
tion dedicated to basic computer education. With the explosion of computer networks
throughout North Carolina, the nation, and the world, MUGLNC will begin to explore ways
for libraries to collaborate and cooperate in the hi-tech environment of the 1990s.
Welch, Jeanie M., and Lorraine W. Penninger. oHanging Together: Local Cooperation
and Role Expectations Among Different Types of North Carolina Libraries.� North
Carolina Libraries 46 (Winter 1988): 237-44.
Welch and Penninger surveyed 126 libraries of different types throughout North Carolina to
determine the amount and types of local cooperation and role expectations. Of the ninety-two
responses received, thirty-five were from academic libraries; seventeen from public libraries;
twenty-six from secondary school libraries; and fourteen from special libraries. The responses
showed that North Carolina libraries are cooperating, particularly academic and public libraries
with the encouragement of the State Library of North Carolina, and that libraries of all types
for social and economic reasons are open to creative means of cooperation.
II. COUNTY Bileckyj, Peter A. oThe Wilson County Networking Project.� North Carolina Libraries 44
(Fall 1986): 146-54.
The Wilson County Libraries Networking Project grew out of a ZOC (Zone of Cooperation)
grant awarded in 1984 by the Steering Committee of the State Library of North CarolinaTs
Networking Committee. Institutional members of the network are Wilson County Public
Library, Wilson County Technical College, Barton College, Wilson Memorial Hospital, Eastern
North Carolina School for the Deaf, Beddingfield High School, Fike High School, and Hunt
High School. The network has two purposes: (1) to exchange information via an electronic
bulletin board system; and (2) to build bibliographical products, including union lists of
periodicals and audiovisuals.
Jones, John. oElectronic Network Project.� Tar Heel Libraries 14 (May/June 1991): 5.
Using Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) Title III funds, the Neuse Regional Library
implemented the Electronic Network Project in the fall of 1990. The Electronic Network Project
links the reference department of the Neuse Regional Library, a public library, to three high
school libraries in Lenoir County, Kinston High School, North Lenoir High School, and South
Lenoir High School. The project exposes high school students to telefacsimile and CD-ROM
technologies. The administrations of the high schools involved have agreed to assume costs for
continuing the project. A private high school in Lenoir County and a public high school in
neighboring Green County have recently joined the network.
Kester, Diane D. oAccess to Information"Can Schools Provide It?� North Carolina
Libraries 44 (Fall 1986): 135-38.
Kester presents a review of the literature on school library cooperation with discussions of local
and state networks involving school libraries in New York City, New York State, Alaska, New
Jersey, Connecticut, and Colorado. School library participation in OCLC at the national level
and in various state and regional cooperative networks is noted, including SOLINET (southeast-
ern states), ILLINET (Illinois), INCOLSA (Indiana), OHIONET (Ohio), PACNET (six systems in
the Pacific Network of OCLC), and MILO (Montgomery County, Maryland). Discussions of the
Cleve-net project and the Wilson County Libraries Network project, two North Carolina
networks involving school libraries, round out the review.
Perry, Douglas. oThe Cleve-net Library Project: An Electronic Mail and Shared Data
Network.� North Carolina Libraries 44 (Fall 1986): 140-44.
Created with funds received froma 1984 ZOC grant from the Steering Committee of the State Library
of North CarolinaTs Networking Committee, Cleve-net is an online electronic mail and shared data
network serving the multi-type libraries of the Broad River Library/Media Association, located in
Cleveland County and neighboring counties. Institutional participants in Cleve-net, since it became
operational in September 1985, are Cleveland County Memorial Library, Cleveland County
Technical College, Gardner-Webb College, Mauney Memorial Library, Burns High School, Crest high
School, Kings Mountain High School, and Shelby High School. }
Ritter, Phil. oThe Information Network.� Tar Heel Libraries 14 (May/June 1991): 3.
The Gaston County Public Library (GCPL) has established the oInformation Network,�
34 " Special Edition 1992 North Carolina Libraries
eae aang ae ie ce ee ER a ee ee a eee em a
Ill. CONSORTIA
A. Mid-Carolina Academic
Library Network
(Mid-CAL)
B. Mountain College
Library Network
(MCLN)
C. Piedmont Independent
College Association
(PICA)
D. Triangle Research
Libraries Network
(TRLN)
North Carolina Libraries
which provides county businesses with access to current information in print and electronic
formats. The GCPL also taps the information resources available through the NCIN and
from the Gaston County Chamber of Commerce, Gaston College, and local business firms.
Sermons, Penny G. oDEAN: Down East Area Network.� Tar Heel Libraries 14 (May/June
1991): 4-5.
. oBeaufort County Community College Library Establishes Down East Area
Network.� North Carolina Libraries 49 (Summer 1991): 85.
In January 1991, the Beaufort County Community College Library (BCCCL) implemented the
first phase of the Down East Area Network (DEAN) to provide access to its resources and
services from two Beaufort County public high schools, Aurora High School and Northside
High School, and the Beaufort-Hyde-Martin (BHM) Regional Public Library. During phase
two, the BCCCL plans to include other public and school libraries in its four-county service
area in eastern North Carolina.
Shannon, Donna. oCooperation Between School and Public Libraries: A Study of One
North Carolina County.� North Carolina Libraries 49 (summer 1991): 67-70.
The purpose of ShannonTs study was to determine the nature and extent of cooperation
among school and public library programs in an unidentified county with seventeen middle
school libraries, thirteen high school libraries, and seventeen public libraries. Shannon
confirmed the assumption that school libraries are unable to meet all the information needs
of their students. As a corollary, it was important to know exactly when and for what kinds
of information students turn to public libraries. Shannon asserts that commitment and
communication are two essentials in developing and sustaining cooperative relationships
among school and public libraries.
Smith, Marti. oMid-CAL: The Mid-Carolina Academic Library Network.� Tar Heel Libraries
1S (Mar./Apr. 1992): 2-3.
The Mid-Carolina Academic Library Network (Mid- CAL) was formed in 1987 to promote
library automation and networking among eleven institutions of which ten are still active
participants. These ten institutions are Barton College, Campbell University, Louisburg
College, Meredith College, Methodist College, North Carolina Wesleyan College, Peace
College, Saint MaryTs College, Shaw University, and St. Andrews Presbyterian College. In
October 1990, Mid-CAL received a United States Department of Education (USDE) Title II
Combination Grant of $164,000 to be used to connect the libraries of the participating
institutions with the Local and Intercampus North Carolina Network (LincNet) installed by
the University of North Carolina Educational Computing Service (UNCECS).
Hutton, Jean. oMountain College Library Network.� Tar Heel Libraries 15 (Mar./Apr. 1992): 2.
The original member libraries of the Mountain College Library Network (MCLN), established
in 1990, were Montreat Anderson College, Mars Hill College, Asheville-Buncombe Technical
Community College, and Warren Wilson College. Since then six libraries have joined the
MCILN: Brevard College, Lees- McRae College, McDowell Technical Community College, Blue
Ridge Technical Community College, Lenoir Rhyne College, and the Mountain Area Health
Education Center. The MCLN participants share information from periodicals via a telefacsimile
service and extend borrowing privileges on site to individuals from any of the participating
institutions. Future plans include cooperative collection development and automated circu-
lation of materials.
Jones, Plummer Alston, Jr. oPiedmont Independent College Association.� Tar Heel Libraries
15 (Mar./Apr. 1992): 2.
The Piedmont Independent College Association (PICA) consortium includes the following six
private colleges: Bennett College, Elon College, Greensboro College, Guilford College, High
Point University, and Salem College. Using a 1989/90 USDE Title III-A grant of 2.5 million
dollars over a five-year period, the PICA libraries will create an online union catalog and
automated circulation systems. The central processing unit (CPU) for the network is located
at Guilford College. The union catalog will be accessible not only to consortium members, but
also to all North Carolina libraries via the LincNet installed and maintained by the UNCECS.
Owen, Willy. oThe Triangle Research Libraries Network: A History and Philosophy.� North
Carolina Libraries 47 (Spring 1989): 43-51.
The Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) was created by a consortium of three research
Special Edition 1992 " 35
E. Western North Carolina
Library Network
(WNCLN)
IV. REGIONAL AND
INTRASTATE
A. North Carolina/Nebraska
Information Partnership
B. Southeastern Library
Network (SOLINET)
36 " Special Edition 1992
universities in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. The TRLN consortium is
unusual in that it is comprised of two public universities, the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, and one private university, Duke
University. OwenTs article gives not only an in-depth retrospective review of the long history
of cooperation among these universities from as early as 1933, but also an introspective look
at the day-to-day problems faced by the consortium that resulted from this cooperation. The
purpose of TRLN is the creation, development, and maintenance of a computerized network
which provides online access to the library collections of three major research universities.
Ulmschneider, John, and Patrick Mullin. oPerformance Measures for Online Systems.�
North Carolina Libraries 48 (Fall 1990): 197-204.
Ulmschneider and Mullin discuss how to evaluate the system performance of an online
library system using three parameters: response time, application efficiency, and capacity.
Their article concludes with a case study involving performances measures applied and
results obtained at the TRLN.
Babel, Deborah B. oThe Western North Carolina Library Network: ~Well Begun is Half
Done.T� North Carolina Libraries 44 (Fall 1986): 155-58.
. oArchival Tape Processing: Considerations for a Network.� Technical Services
Quarterly 4 (Fall 1986): 11- 18.
BabelTs articles document the history of the Western North Carolina Library Network
(WNCLN) formed in 1983 to enable the libraries of the three western campuses of the
University of North Carolina system to have an online union catalog and automated
circulation systems. The WNCLN member institutions are Appalachian State University, the
University of North Carolina at Asheville, and Western Carolina University. The CPU for the
network is located at Appalachian State University. All libraries in the consortium are
connected via telecommunications lines to each other and to other North Carolina libraries
on the LincNet.
Dean, Nita. oNebraska and North Carolina Become Information Partners.� OCLC
Newsletter no. 194 (Nov./Dec. 1991): 14.
oNE and NC State Libraries Team Up; Sharing People and Resources to Support State
Economic Development.� Library Journal 116 (Dec. 1991): 28+.
These brief news releases announce that in October 1991, Nebraska and North Carolina joined in a
partnership to improve library and information services in the two states. Electronic exchange of
information via the INTERNET will be the most immediate benefit of cooperation. Staff exchange
programs involving Nebraska and North Carolina librarians are being discussed. Economic develop-
ment in both states will be enhanced in the long term.
Grisham, Frank P. oThe Role of the Regional Network in Assisting the Development of
Local Networks.� Southeastern Librarian 38 (Summer 1988): 57-58.
Grisham, Executive Director of SOLINET, discusses principles in library cooperation, net-
working among academic libraries, and the role of SOLINET to promote and facilitate
internetwork cooperation among emerging local networks. He alludes specifically to the
successes of NCIN and TRLN in North Carolina.
McGinn, Howard F. oInformation, Economic Development, and Competitiveness in South-
eastern United States.� Southeastern Librarian 38 (Fall 1988): 96-100.
McGinnTs article is based on his address to the Georgia Library Association at its biennial
conference in October 1987. He reports on the progress of North Carolina and other southern
states to transform their economies from manufacturing-based to service-and-information-
based. Using the NCIN as an example of how libraries can help in this transformational process,
McGinn urges librarians to apply networking to the solution of community problems as well
as library problems. The library will thus be at the heart of the information infrastructure. Along
with airports, highways, water and sewer systems, libraries will then be seen oas prime
candidates for the investment of scarce public funds.�
oNorth Carolina and SOLINET.� Tarheel Libraries 14 (May/June 1991): 5.
As of June 1991, North Carolina had eighty-one members of SOLINET and 247 Selective Users
with Group Access Capability (GAC). North Carolina libraries of all types cataloged a total of
506,412 items during fiscal year 1989/90, loaned 108,381 items, with 56.7 percent going to
other North Carolina libraries, and borrowed 92,209 items, with 69 percent coming from
other North Carolina libraries.
North Carolina Libraries
The Lessons of Locust Gap:
he Appalachian Mountains of
Northeastern Pennsylvania are
forest covered now. The pine
trees, oaks, and maples that
have grown over the past decades give a
lush texture to the ridges. Wildlife is
abundant. Bears, mountain lions, deer,
and other animals have proliferated. The
appearance is that of virgin forests. But
if you were to walk through the forests
you would soon discover beneath the
trees the scars of the past. The trees
cover the remnants of the beginnings of
the industrialization of the United States
because out of these hills came the coal
that powered electrical plants, fueled
steamships and steam engines, and
heated homes and factories across the
country. Abandoned mine shafts litter
the forest floor. Every now and then the
foundations of long-abandoned houses
or factory buildings appear in the form
of mounds overgrown with vines. The
trees themselves are anchored in the
ostrippings� of earth, shale, and coal
that were brought up out of the mines
and piled almost as high as some of the
hills. And if you had been in the forests
when the mines were working, and the
sounds of warning sirens and dynamite,
shift whistles and church bells filled
mountain sides and valleys, you would
find the present silence frightening.
These mountains and their com-
pany towns were also the first homes for
thousands of European immigrants
seeking the fulfillment of all immigrants
" a better life. The people arrived from
Poland and Ireland, from Croatia,
Bohemia, Germany, and all of those
long-forgotten countries that are now
finding resurrection in the destruction
of the Soviet Union. In the migration
process to these mountains, family
members were divided. Those with the
most skills remained in Philadelphia or
New York; the least skilled were tured by
the coal companies and the railroads
North Carolina Libraries
An Allegory
by Howard F. McGinn
into the mountains by the promise of
cheap housing and jobs. Most eventu-
ally discovered that the housing and
jobs meant a lifetime indenture to the
Reading Railroad or the United States
Steel Corporation.
My grandfather was the son of
immigrants whose parents had migrated
from Ireland to the coal fields. He was
born in the Northumberland County
town of Locust Gap, Pennsylvania, in
the 1880s. His parents had been among
the earliest immigrants to be hired by
the Reading Railroad. The railroad
owned Locust Gap. In fact, the Locust
Gap that he first knew disappeared in a
massive mine explosion when he was an
infant. The railroad company simply
selected a new site, rebuilt the houses
and mine buildings, and called the new
settlement Locust Gap. Life went on.
My grandfatherTs life as a miner
began at the age of seven. His two years
of elementary education were consid-
ered to be sufficient by the railroad so he
was sent into the mines as a child, as a
muleskinner. His job was to drive the
mules that pulled the loaded coal cars
out of the mines, empty the cars, then
drive the empty cars back into the mine.
One day, whether through fatigue or
carelessness, he never said, he caught his
right arm between two cars loaded with
coal. Instead of trying to separate the
cars, the company doctor simply
amputated his arm at the elbow. He lost
his arm at the age of ten. He returned to
his job once the wound healed and he
never left the mines until the day of his
retirement.
My grandfather and grandmother
had four sons. My father was the oldest.
When he was born in 1910, the condi-
tions in Locust Gap had begun to
improve. The market for coal was
growing, the influence of the unions
was beginning to be felt, and the town
had entered into a sleepy, if dangerous,
adulthood. A few of my grandfatherTs
uncles had been members of the
infamous Molly Maguires, an Irish
terrorist organization that fought the
coal companies in the towns around
Locust Gap in the 1870s. This aspect of
family history was not openly discussed
in those days. Town life was improving.
The Reading Railroad, of course, still
owned most of the homes and leased
them to families. Most of the leases were
for ninety-nine years. But privately
owned homes had begun to be built.
These were usually owned by retired
company officials, physicians, or
attorneys. The company did allow the
Catholic Parish to own its own church,
school, convent, rectory, and cemetery.
The Lutheran Church was afforded the
same privilege.
It might be well here to describe the
topography of Locust Gap since the
location of the churches defined the
town. Locust Gap was built on two
hillsides enclosing a valley. The Catholic
Church was on the northern hillside;
the Protestant Church was on the
southern hillside. The Railroad ran
through the center of the valley. Most of
the Catholic families lived on the
northern hillside and, of course, the
Protestant families lived on the southern
hillside. The Protestant families lived on
the southern hill because the mining
company officials were Protestant and
the companyTs offices, in fact the entire
mine complex, was on the southern side
of Locust Gap. Denominational inter-
mingling rarely occurred outside the
mine. Most of the bar rooms, and there
were many, were on the northern
hillside.
As I noted, though, Locust Gap was
changing. A new public school was built
in the 1920s for grades K-12. It attracted
few students because most of the
children were Catholic and went to the
parochial school and were taught by
Special Edition 1992 " 37
"_"_""n en
nuns. State child labor and education
laws had sharply decreased the school
dropout rate and in the 1920s most
students were achieving at least an
eighth grade education. The Great
Depression of the 1930s wrought its
severe effect on Locust Gap as it did in
every country in the world and a few
families left to find work in Philadelphia
or Scranton. Locust GapTs salvation
arrived through the bombing of Pearl
Harbor.
The war transformed Locust Gap in
ways not experienced during World War
I or other wars. The demand for coal
grew enormously. The company, in
order to keep laborers, kept improving
wages and living conditions, and the
population grew as people moved back
to Locust Gap to work in the mines to
ohelp the war effort.� My father, though,
decided he would fare better in the army
and became a tank commander. He
never returned to the town.
When the war ended Locust Gap
began to enter its ogolden age.� Com-
pared to prewar conditions, the postwar
life was prosperous. New civic buildings
were constructed. Funded by the GI Bill,
those men and women who did serve in
the armed forces bought homes and
continued their education. The great
dance bands of Tommy and Jimmy
Dorsey, both born and raised in a nearby
town, performed regularly in Locust
Gap. More sons and a few daughters
went to college at Penn State or nearby
Bloomsburg State College and returned
to Locust Gap as teachers, nurses,
librarians, and businessmen. The first
television sets appeared and there was
even a rumor that a new invention
called the coaxial cable system, invented
in a nearby city, would be installed to
bring a better television signal to the
town. There were annual Memorial Day
and Fourth of July Parades, the mine was
operating twenty-four hours a day,
seven days a week, more people bought
automobiles, life was becoming good.
Life was good because the trains
kept hauling tons of coal to eastern
cities and ports. Every day, several times
a day, trains of one hundred cars or
more would pass through Locust Gap
transporting the mineral to homes,
power plants, and ships. The demand for
coal seemed insatiable to the citizens of
the town and to the officials of the
Reading Railroad. The future seemed
secure as Locust Gap dreamed through
the early years of the Eisenhower
Administration. Nobody noticed that
the first signs of the townTs death
process had begun.
38 " Special Edition 1992
The end started quietly. In Philadel-
phia, New York, Baltimore, Boston, and
cities throughout Northeastern United
States, families had started switching
from coal to cheaper, cleaner forms of
energy to heat their homes. Natural gas,
oil, even electric furnaces slowly began
to replace coal-burning furnaces in old
homes and in newly constructed homes.
The first stirring of the environmental
movement began across the state in
Pittsburgh when the city, disgusted with
its image of smoke and dirt caused by
the steel mills, began a massive crack-
down on air pollution. Even the vener-
able Reading Railroad began to show
financial strains caused by the shift of
freight from the railroads to trucks as
the new interstate highway system
began to be built. Technology, change,
and shifting consumer habits were
combining to slowly kill the hard coal
industry and Locust Gap.
The death of Locust Gap was
gradual. It was hard to discern a pattern
of destruction. The first signs came
when the mining company began to cut
back on the work shifts. The people were
told that the slowdown was temporary,
that market demand for coal would
increase, that people would always use
coal. The cutback on production slowed
the number of trains passing through
the town. One day an announcement
was made that the Reading Railroad
would stop passenger service. Jobs
started to be lost and a few families
began to move to the cities in search of
work. The townTs college students
stopped returning to Locust Gap after
graduation. Better jobs and money were
in the cities. Still, the town officials and
representatives of the mining company
assured the people that all was well; that
they should not worry. After all, hadnTt
the town been in existence for over a
century? HadnTt the town survived the
great explosion, the Great Depression,
and many mining accidents? Those
leaving or not returning were just
alarmists.
Then the public school was closed.
The school board said it was part of a
county-wide consolidation designed to
reduce class size and improve the
curriculum. Students would now be
transported by school bus to various
central school buildings in the area. The
city officials and the mine owners
praised the school boardTs action. It was
a sign of progress, they said. During this
time, business at the bar rooms and
churches increased.
Soon another new technology
arrived. A mine in a town down the road
closed and the mining company im-
ported a massive mechanized shovel
that stripped the coal out of the ground
in enormous bites and dumped the coal
in trucks. The railroadTs freight volume
suffered severely; the environmental
impact was terrible; the loss in jobs was
enormous. The mayor of Locust Gap
assured the people that their mine
would not close because it was the
largest in the Pennsylvania coal fields.
But other unsettling events began to
occur. Because of the apathy, neglect,
and lack of investment by the mining
companies, frequent mine shaft col-
lapses began. Roadways started to
buckle; houses started to fall into the
mines; my grandparentsT graves started
to sink into the collapsing mine shafts.
A fire started in an underground vein of
coal in nearby Danville. It eventually
caused the federal government to move
part of the city. And then the Locust
Gap mine was closed.
The resultant rapid depopulation of
the town forced the Catholic Church to
close the school. The Protestant Church
closed completely when the mining
officials moved. The older people,
caught with ninety-nine year leases that
the railroad would not renegotiate,
remained. Soon the Reading Railroad
itself ceased existence and was absorbed
into Conrail. The mine was sealed.
Three years ago I returned to Locust
Gap after a fifteen year absence. I
wanted to check on my grandparentsT
graves. It took a while to find the town
because the Pennsylvania Department of
Highways had built a road around the
few remaining buildings. Locust Gap
had become irrelevant. The Catholic
Church still remained but was served by
a priest only on weekends. Many of the
homes on the north side had been
burned or had collapsed. A few re-
mained. All of the houses on the
southern hillside were gone. My grand-
parentsT graves had not settled into the
earth any further but many of the roads
in the town were impassable. And like a
surrealistic symbol of the past, the sole
remnant of the mine was the rusted steel
tower containing the giant wheels that
had held the cable that had lowered the
cars into the mine shaft. Nothing else
remained. I was struck by the silence
and the beauty of the forests that were
repairing the earthen scars. I was
haunted by the ghosts of those buried in
graves and mine shafts and by the
ghostlike figures still sitting in front of
the last houses in Locust Gap.
North Carolina Libraries
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Kenneth W. Berger
Education:
Position:
Lynda B. Fowler
Education:
Position:
Plummer Alston Jones, Jr.
Education:
Position:
Kenneth Marks
Education:
Position:
Howard F. McGinn
Education:
Position:
B. Ilene Nelson
Education:
Position:
Satia Orange
Education:
Position:
Cal Shepard
Education:
Position:
Johannah Sherrer
Education:
Position:
Rose Simon
Education:
Position:
Duncan Smith
Education:
Position:
Alice Wilkins
Education:
Position:
North Carolina Libraries
EE a
B.A., Eckerd College; M.A., Florida State University; M.S.L.S., Florida State University
Reference Librarian and Bibliographer, Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham
B.S., Appalachian State University; M.S., Western Carolina University
Coordinator for Media and Technology for the Pitt County Schools, Greenville
B.M., East Carolina University; M.S., Drexel University;
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Head Librarian/Director of Learning Resources, Elon College
B.S., lowa State University; M.L.S., University of California Berkley;
PhD., Iowa State University
Director of Academic Library Services, East Carolina University, Greenville
B.A. Villanova University; M.S.L.S. Drexel University; M.B.A. Campbell University
Director, North Carolina Division of State Library, Raleigh
B.A., University of South Carolina; M.S.L.S., University of Kentucky
Reference Librarian and Bibliographer, Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham
B.S., University of Illinois; M.L.S., Atlanta University
Head of ChildrenTs Services, Forsyth County Public Library, Winston-Salem
B.A., University of Colorado; M.L.S., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Youth Services/General Consultant North Carolina Division of State Library, Raleigh
B.A., University of Portland; M.S.L.S., University of Kentucky; M.A., University
of Dayton
Head of Reference, Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham
B.A., PhD., University of Rochester; M.A., University of Virginia; M.S. in L.S.,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Director of Libraries, Salem College, Winston-Salem
B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; M.S.L.S., University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
Continuing Education Coordinator, North Carolina Central University, Durham
B.A., Houghton College; M.S.M.L.S., Columbia University
Position: Head Librarian, Boyd Library, Sand Hills Community College, Pinehurst
Special Edition 1992 " 39
NortTuH CAROLINA LiprArY ASSOCIATION 1991-1993 EXECUTIVE BOARD
PRESIDENT
Janet L. Freeman
College Librarian
Carlyle Campbell Library
Meredith College
3800 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27607-5298
Telephone: 919/829-8531
Fax: 919/829-2830
VICE PRESIDENT/
PRESIDENT ELECT
Gwen Jackson
Instructional Specialist
Southeast Technical Assistance Ctr.
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Telephone: 919/577-8920
Fax: 919/577-1427
SECRETARY
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Head, Public Services Division
F. D. Bluford Library
Documents Department
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Head of Cataloging
PO Box 7777 Reynolda Station
Wake Forest University Library
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DIRECTORS
Edward (Ed) T. Shearin, Jr.
Director of Library/Learning
Resources Learning Resources Ctr.
Carteret Community College
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Telephone: 919/247-3134
Fax: 919/247-2514
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Coordinator of Media Services
Guilford County Schools
120 Franklin Blvd.
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ALA COUNCILOR
Patricia A. Langelier
Librarian, Institute of
Government
CB 3330 - Knapp Building
UNC at Chapel Hill
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919/966-4139
Fax: 919/966-4762
40 " Special Edition 1992
SELA REPRESENTATIVE
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Assistant Director
Headquarters Forsyth Co. Pub. Lib.
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Frances Bradburn
Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
Telephone: 919/757-6076
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Barbara Baker
Associate Dean for Educational
Resources
Durham Technical
Community College
1637 Lawson St.
Durham, NC 27703
Telephone: 919/598-9218
Fax: 919/598-9412
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Martha Fonville
North Carolina Library Association
c/o State Library of North Carolina
Rm. 27 109 E. Jones St.
Raleigh, NC 27601-1023
Telephone: 919/839-6252
Fax: 919/839-6252
SECTION CHAIRS
CHILDRENTS SERVICES SECTION
Benjie Hester
ChildrenTs Librarian
Cameron Village Regional Library
1930 Clark Ave.
Raleigh, NC 27605
Telephone: 919/856-6723
Fax: 919/856-6722
COLLEGE anp UNIVERSITY SECTION
Susan M. Squires
Reference Librarian
Carlyle Campbell Library
Meredith College
3800 Hillsborough St.
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Telephone: 919/829-8382
Fax: 919/829-2830
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COLLEGE LIBRARIES SECTION
Alice Wilkins
Head Librarian
Boyd Library
Sandhills Community College
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Telephone: 919/692-6185
ext, SS
Fax: 919/692-2756
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Araby Greene
Documents Librarian
D. Hiden Ramsey Library
UNC at Asheville
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Telephone: 704/251-6639
Fax: 704/251-6012
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MANAGEMENT SECTION
Larry Alford
Associate University Librarian
for Administrative Services
CB 3900 - Walter R. Davis Library
UNC at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3900
Telephone: 919/962-1301
Fax: 919/962-0484
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OF SCHOOL LIBRARIANS
Nona Pryor
Media Specialist
Archdale-Trinity Middle School
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Telephone: 919/431-4452
Fax: 919/431-1809
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LIBRARY TRUSTEES ASSOCIATION
John Childers
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Telephone: 919/757-6280
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James Govern
Director Stanly Co. Pub. Library
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Telephone: 704/983-7321
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REFERENCE anp ADULT SERVICES
Allen Antone
Head of Reference Belk Library
Appalachian State University
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Telephone: 704/262-2822
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SERVICES SECTION
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Smith Library
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NEW MEMBERS ROUND TABLE
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County Public Library
Bordeaux Branch
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PARAPROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION
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COLLECTIONS
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OF WOMEN IN LIBRARIANSHIP
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ee cual
ZT
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rn
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Special Edition 1992 " 41
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
Upcoming Issues
Fall 1992 Telecommunications
Bill Stahl, Guest Editor
Winter 1992 Popular Culture and Libraries
Alice Cotten and Eileen McGrath,Guest Editors
Spring 1993 Ethics in Librarianship
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Unsolicited articles dealing with the above themes or any issue of interest to North Carolina librarians
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