A Generalist in the Age of Specialists: A Profile of the One-Person Library Director

THISSTUDY FOCUSES on defining the role of the one-person library director in public, academic, and special libraries. Some literature exists on the management of one-person libraries, but little research exists on the directors themselves. A profile survey of sixty-seven such directors reveals the career paths which led these individuals to oneperson librarianship. Additional results provide data on education and training, staffing, issues of concern, job satisfaction, and demographic characteristics. INTRODUCTION Perhaps no term more aptly describes the one-person library director than the British acronym for such an individual-an OMB, the one-man band (St. Clair & Williamson, 1986, p. 2). The picture this brings to mind is an accurate reflection of a one-person library director-i. e., one individual who does it all. A one-person library is usually defined as one where all the work is performed by the librarian. A more specific definition, and one that more accurately fits the profile of this study, is that of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). SLA defines the solo librarian as “the isolated librarian or information provider. ..who has no professional peers within the immediate organization” (St. Clair & Berner, 1991, p. 4). However, the accepted terminology in library literature is one-person library. For the purposes of this study, the term one-person library director is interpreted as the one professional librarian within the Roberta L. Pitts, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University, P.O. Box 197, Kingsville, T X 78363 LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 43, No. 1, Summer 1994, pp. 121-35 Q 1994 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois 122 LIBRARY TRENDVSUMMER 1994 organization. There is a broad range of responsibilities within this scope. The work of the one-person librarian may be limited to professional duties with support staff, students, or volunteers available to handle clerical duties, or the individual may literally do a21 the work. The official title of the one-person librarian varies greatly. They may be called director, head librarian, university librarian, coordinator, or simply the librarian, but they all direct the work of the organization and are responsible for its operation. The libraries these individuals manage include all types with the majority, as might be expected, holding positions in special libraries and in school libraries. However, academic libraries and public libraries have their share of one-person library directors. The Federal State Cooperative System for Public Library Data in 1988 reported that only about 10 percent of U.S. libraries serve populations of 50,000 or more. Nearly half (45.6 percent) serve populations of less than 5,000 (Berry, 1990, p. 6). Texas, for example, has one-person library directors operating approximately 280 public libraries and twentyfive academic libraries (Texas Public Library Statistics, 1991; Texas State Library, 1992). T h e library training and educational backgrounds of the individuals who manage one-person libraries range from M.L.S. degree professionals to information providers with no formal training. Of the 280 public libraries mentioned, fifty-five of those have directors with an ALA-accredited M.L.S. degree. The remaining 225 one-person library professionals are identified as librarians as opposed to “other paid staff.” The profile study will shed more light on the educational background these individuals bring to their role as one-person library directors.