Educating and training library practitioners: a comparative history with trends and recommendations - includes appendix on history of library education

Dewey also touched on another key issue during this era. His initial recommendation for training was a three-month course of instruction, followed by two years of practical experience, then a return for another three months of instruction. The proper balance of formal instruction and practical experience has been a debated issue in library education ever since.

Another significant influence from the Dewey school (which moved in 1889 from Columbia to the New York State Library in Albany) concerned the education of early Dewey students and their subsequent activities. Mary Plummer, at the Pratt Institute, and Katherine Sharp, at Armour, led institutes oriented toward library technical training (Nasri, 1972, p. 419). Despite the initial association with Columbia University, the emphasis of the various library institutes was of a technical sort throughout this era.

The close association between library professional organizations and library education, another issue critical to U.S. library schools, began developing during this period. Dewey managed to solicit a statement of approval from the Buffalo conference of the American Library Association, which he forwarded to the board at Columbia as they considered the establishment of the school (Bramley, 1969, p. 78). This connection continued with the formation in 1915 of the Association of American Library Schools, which set some early standards for library schools (Carroll, 1975, p. 8).

This period ended with the issuance of the Williamson reports in 1921 and 1923 (Williamson, 1971). These reports by Charles C. Williamson summarized the results of a Carnegie-commissioned survey of library schools done in 1920 and 1921. The report was of landmark significance for library education, as it established a number of principles which are still in practice today. The report described the failures of the schools in place to produce minimally uniform satisfactory levels of library education. Several important reforms resulted from the reports: (1) the profession was more clearly separated into clerical and professional work, with separate education recommended for each; (2) graduate library schools with advanced studies were established with the idea that professional leadership would come from the schools; (3) bachelor's degrees, preferably in broad liberal arts, were recommended as admission requirements; (4) professional library schools were to be affiliated with degree-granting institutions; (5) the Board of Education for Librarianship was established by the American Library Association; and (6) the American Library Association accepted responsibility for accrediting library schools via the board (Carroll, 1975, pp. 10-11). In 1925, the Board of Education for Librarianship set up minimum standards for accreditation.

1919 to 1939

This period saw the entrenchment of the association of professional education with graduate schools affiliated with universities. Theoretically based education took sway over Dewey-style vocationally based education. Accreditation began its emergence as the quality, standard for professional education.