College Libraries and International Understanding

Hirsch, Felix E.

doi:10.5860/crl_07_02_138

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…56 To Felix Hirsch, libraries had an active role to play in fostering international understanding, which would help ensure peace: "Every effort made in each individual library for a better appreciation of the culture of other peoples, every formal attempt at international cooperation, every personal gesture of friendship, counts in the great cause of freedom.… College librarians have the inescapable duty to do their bit in order that the young people who are now engaged in academic studies may live and study in real peace." 57 Reviewing the Harvard report General Education in a Free Society, Louis R. Wilson concluded that it would convey to librarians "one of the major goals of present-day American education.… [to contribute to] the perfection of American democracy." 58 Luther Evans (together with Adrienne Koch) credits bibliography with an important role in fostering international understanding, and thus, peace.…”

Section: Education As a Route To Peace And Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

From Storehouse to Laboratory: Trends and Ideals in Academic Librarianship Reflected in C&RL, 1946–1968

Nichols

2020

C&RL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Garrison's classic history of American public libraries, Apostles of Culture, vividly describes the idealism that drove and shaped the work of American public libraries through the turn of the 20th century. 1 The book seems to lead naturally to questions of what ideals have shaped American libraries in more recent periods. Specifically, as an academic librarian, I have long wondered what happened to our profession's ideals in the midst of the social and political transformations that followed World War II. A careful survey of C&RL from 1946 to 1968 identified about 89 articles that reflect such ideals, either implicitly or explicitly. These articles also convey a vivid sense of the changing environment and rising trends that provided the context for those ideals. I chose 1968 as a stopping point because it marked a turning point in the nation's history, politically and culturally, and because Mary Lee Bundy and Paul Wasserman's article "Professionalism Reconsidered" (January 1968), with its sweeping critique of the current state of academic librarianship, seemed to mark the end of an era. Ideals-whether explicit or, especially, implicit-are elusive things, of course, and this study does not pretend to be scientific; nor does it range beyond C&RL. But I hope that will not prevent it from being useful as a glimpse of the engine that propelled our profession not too many years ago. The discussion raises some intriguing questions: How realistic were the library leaders of the time in their vision of what they were working for? Were their ideals based on a clear-eyed view of their situation, or were those ideals partly grounded in wishful thinking or a desire for greater importance? I hope that examining the assumptions and aspirations of the postwar period will shed some light on our own situation today.

show abstract

Section: Education As a Route To Peace And Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

From Storehouse to Laboratory: Trends and Ideals in Academic Librarianship Reflected in C&RL, 1946–1968

Nichols

2020

C&RL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

College Libraries and International Understanding

Cited by 1 publication

References 0 publications

From Storehouse to Laboratory: Trends and Ideals in Academic Librarianship Reflected in C&RL, 1946–1968

From Storehouse to Laboratory: Trends and Ideals in Academic Librarianship Reflected in C&RL, 1946–1968

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About