When administrators looked at alumni donations and realized that traditional library programs returned little yield, and how could they with the profession's perpetually low salaries, it sparked a movement on some campuses to eliminate these programs. Now the deans boast of starting salaries for their graduates, not the library professionals, in the 50s and 60s.
Institutional development feels better.
Here we are now. Despite the cynical tone here, I think library schools have made all the right moves. As a library director I do worry that the emphasis on information science in library schools will leave folks like myself in a position where we will struggle to find new, talented professionals for our libraries. It involves issues as diverse as librarian's salaries and competitive business pressures on library schools. We must get past this debate and concentrate on developing solutions for finding and preparing new individuals with the right set of values for entry into this profession.