by Kevin V. Brown
"The first circulating library in America was
organized in 1731 in Philadelphia. It had a
limited number of books, a limited number of
subscribers, and an unpaid librarian named Ben
jamin Franklin.
Libraries have come a long way since. There are
nearly 40,000 of them today, of about 20 different
kinds. The largest, the Library of Congress, has
more than 10 million volumes, and public libraries
alone circulate about a million books daily.
Impressive figures but even more impressive is the
fact that they're still growing. Keeping pace with
modern needs, libraries today have to be a great
many more things to a great many more people. Their
only limit, in fact, is the supply of librarians.
"We're in a wide-open field," the director of one
large library said recently. "There are thousands of
careers opening up for the right persons."
What's creating them? Expansion, mostly. Librar
ies by their nature must grow, continually accumu
lating new material while keeping the old.
There are other reasons. Libraries no longer are
mere distributors of books, as in Ben Franklin's day.
A major expansion has been in services, in the crea
tion of special departments from art to zoology. Most
larger libraries now include facilities for adult edu
cation, children, films, forums, music, and research.
The most significant expansion, however, has been
in the number of different kinds of libraries. Busi
ness and industry need their own specialized research
sources readily available, so the larger companies
have their own libraries. Special libraries also serve
hospitals, law offices, museums, agriculture, news
papers, movie studios, even Uncle Sam the armed
forces and the U.S. Information Agency have centers
throughout the country and in many foreign lands.
All of these regular and special libraries need qual
ified people to run them. Last year there were 10,000
more jobs available than there were librarians. Most
library schools had 100 percent placement and one
school had 12 jobs waiting for each graduate.
Why hasn't the supply kept up with the demand?
Because young people choosing careers aren't aware
of the new opportunities in the field and because of
old-fashioned ideas about libraries and librarians.
"Most people still think of a library as a gloomy
place run by an old maid who stamps books and
'shushes' people," said one a married woman.
What, then, are the opportunities and what's a
typical librarian like?
Libraries are divided roughly into three classes,
and each has openings. There are about 28,000 librar
ies in schools and colleges, 7,500 public library sys
tems, and 3,600 special libraries.
The best way to become a librarian is through col
lege and a year in one of some 3b library schools.
The "typical" librarian is harder to describe.
"Probably the two most common traits of a good
librarian are a lively curiosity and an eagerness to
help people," said one department head.
Rewards for such qualities are rich.
Librarians have a standing in a community com
parable to teachers and, unlike Ben Franklin, they
get comparable pay. The average starting salary for
graduate librarians is $4,000 and heads of large li
braries earn as much as $20,000.
The greatest reward, however, is the satisfaction
of being close to the things they like best knowledge
and people and of being able to bring the two to
gether. A librarian in a large midwestern city cited
two instances in her own career that probably sunv
it up, because they embrace both extremes of the
service librarians render.
When Gen. Douglas MacArthur was recalled from
Korea, he made his now-famous reference to the
ballad that goes "Old soldiers never die . . ." It threw
newspapers into a frenzy right at deadline.
The telephone at this library practically jumped off
the hook as a frantic reporter screamed, "What's the
song? Where'd he get it?. We've got to know fast!"
On a hunch, the librarian dug up a World War I
songbook and, sure enough, there it was an old
English marching song, sung to the tune, "Kind
Words Never Die."
Recently, the librarian was confronted by a high
school boy who was near tears.
"I'm going to flunk English," he blurted. "The
teacher gave me one more chance."
He had to find and describe the incident in Dickens
in which a character disguises himself as a deaf man
to test his girl friend's love. The librarian spent hours
scouring Dickens' works with the boy and finally
found it just before closing time. The character was
Edward Plummer in "Cricket on the Hearth."
A few days later, the youth returned and an
nounced happily, "I passed."
"If I had to choose which gave me the most satis
faction helping the big newspaper or the small
boy I'd have to say the boy," the librarian said. "He
was so young and needed help so badly."
(For more information about libraries and library
schools, write the American Library Association,
50 E. Huron St., Chicago 11, 111.)
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