When Reference Librarianship Died: It Began in Detroit.

Abstract

If some of the discussions that started during the 1977 summer meeting of the American Library Association were indi cators of things to come, then Samuel Rothstein, that affable muse of reference history, must sharpen his pencil for yet another level of reference librarianship? the final one. While the end of the nineteenth century can be viewed histori cally as the halcyon time of reference li brarianship, then the finale of the twentieth century will surely be recognized as the time when reference service declined. The fact that this began in Detroit is more symbolic than causal. Authors enjoy being melodramatic to at tract attention, and this one is no excep tion, but the characterization of reference service in the process of disintegration is not chosen for its hyperbole. This Toyn beean view springs from at least two causes: reference librarianship being di rectly equated with cost effectiveness and the increased use of nonprofessional li brary assistants to provide for the library's reference function. As a colleague recently pointed out to me, owing to the fact that one doesn't have to meet a five million dollar budget, it's easier to consider library in a de tached, theoretical sense. While this cir cumstance is obviously accurate, it doesn't preclude the opportunity to ob serve the fatalistic course at which librar ians are aiming, when, at present, budget balancing seems to be what is driving the nature of library service. This observer has probably reacted too vigorously to things that were said in De troit and have been said subsequently. The following discussion is meant to illustrate my concerns, and it is hoped that the reader will not find them phantomlike. The first view, coming from a respected librar ian and administrator during summer ALA, was a first instance of this trend. The context of the commentary was in a presentation dealing with the of pro viding library resources. So it shouldn't be surprising that how much it costs was the theme of things. But a significant view surfaced during the traditional question and-answer period, when one presenter was attempting to illustrate ways in which library monies might be saved or at least stretched. This speaker viewed the com puter's role as a cost-saving device in such a favorable light because, it seems, what had been accomplished by him was the elimination of some dozen or so persons (employees) from his library. Although there was some later backtracking to cover what could obviously be seen as a decided slip, there could be no hiding of the excitement with which this cost saving was announced. And while it would not be the first time this observer has con fused things, there could be little doubt that this speaker was talking about cost savings aimed at eliminating people and not necessarily repetitive or unnecessary job routines. Presumably the whole rationale was to improve service and cut at the same time. Undoubtedly this would have been further clarified if this author had taken the effort to pursue things with the source. Out of context, i.e., without considering

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