The San Francisco call., 1909-02-13
Letters From the People
LIBRARY SCHOOL ADVOCATED

Editor Call: May ask the courtesy
your readers why the California library
association is asking for the establish
ment of a library school in California?
The association includes in its mem
bership the librarians of all the large
libraries in the state and most of the
small ones. 1t has twice in annual con-
vention resolved that library school
was a prime necessity to library
progress in this state. Its committee
on this subject, appointed at the San
Jose conference OF February, 1908, is
made up of the librarians of the FIVE
largest libraries of central California,
namely. ]. l.. ellis of the California
state library, Joseph c. Rowell of the
University of California. George T.
| clark of Stanford university, William
f. Watson of the San Francisco public
library. and myself OF the Oakland free
library.
1t was no whim that caused the Sc
knowledge that, as men responsible for
the running of large libraries, they
were most keenly aware of the pressing
need need of some source of supply of trained
braries need them no less. but the large
libraries feel the demand in more con-
centrated form.
The trained library attendant aRd the
There are good library schools in sew
eral eastern states, though none west
OF the Mississippi. The best known is
that at Albany in connection with the
they demonstrate their great utility,
and their graduates are in demand all
over the country. A dozen or so of the
ployed in responsible positions in Cali
fornia libraries. This concrete success,
| submit, is worth much more as proof
| than any general reasoning.
To answer, however, the argument
that a college education is better than
a professional training for a librarian
| is easy. We have no quarrel with the
profession: we want more of it than we
! can get. But to try to induce college
graduates to take up libraries is vain.
II would be like recurring college grad
uaton for teachers in the primary and
] grammar grades-desirable,- perhaps
but impossible. California libraries do
not yet pay salaries that command such
attainments.
But as the normal school is the direct
road to so much of knowledge and pro-
| hciency as is essential in the conduct
grade, so training school for lihrar-
ians will turn out supply of attend
ants capable of doing good library
work in the small libraries and in the
lesser position in large ones. Indeed,
! there are some persons who maintain
| that the normal school graduates make
! better teachers than college graduat tes
through the course on Just the the one ne
/ thing. So library school gradua tes
have a grasp, of technique not attained
until l after i,u long service by the self
1t will be good policy to raise the
standards of general culture in the Ii
brary school just as fast as conditions
in the state warrant ii. In New York
a full college course is. requirement
| for entrance to the Albany school. The
| consequence of that is that when San
francisco sought a librarian recently
| an Albany graduate was chosen. and
! when the trustees of the state library
| had to fill the place made vacant by
Mr.. Watson's promotion we considered
| nobody but graduate of Albany, and
went to Oklahoma to get one.
But such positions are rare In Cali
| fOrnia, and the greatest present need Is
for competent young women to take
charge of the small libraries that are
springing up all over the state, score
or so a year. and to fill the desk and
catalogue positions in the larger IL
/ braries at salaries approaching those of
teachers in the graded schools. We
must have such school before we can
hope 10 establish a proficiency require-
as T the teachers proiciencv de'Iri,nSa is hy cerl
tificate. When that is done professions
standards can be set up and we can
| anybody can give out books over a
counter" so that charity and politics
are considered rather than ability to
render the intelligent service that the
public demands.
Library development has progressed
with marvellous celebrity in this country
! in the last few decades-the public IL
brary AS we have it was unknown till
| 1S4S-for two reasons. One is the in
herent merit of the idea, the ample re-
turn 1t makes the people for the money
they spend on ii. and the other is that
it has the analogy of the public school
to guide ii. Following In that path the
library school is our next requirement.
and I rejoice in the belief that the pres
ent legislature Is about to give it to us
Very truly yours.
CHARLES s. GREENE.