Repository: UIHistories Project: UI Library School Alumni Newsletter - 37 [PAGE 2]

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University of Illinois Library School

Report to the Alumni

By ROBERT B. DOWNS, Director The Library School is starting this fall its first term for a long period when the country was not at war or threatened by war. During the past six years, of course, the second world war has raged, and library education, along with virtually every other type of professional education, has been vitally affected. A resumption of "normal" conditions cannot, for various reasons, be expected immediately. War veterans are returning to the campus in increasing numbers, and some of them are entering the Library School, but thousands of former University students, prospective students, and faculty members are still in military and governmental service. The date when all will return home is extremely uncertain. Enrollment in the Library School, which fell to a critically low I point under the impact of war, now shows signs of a quick revival. For the first-year group, figures for 1945-46 are double those of 1944-45. The total for the second-year class is smaller, though the number of full-time students is substantially larger than for the previous year. Even if this and other library schools reach capacity enrollments in the near future, however, the gap caused by the war will not be filled until 1950 or later. That fact emphasizes the desirability of an immediate campaign to recruit capable library school students, starting them on the training phase of their careers as promptly as is practicable. One result of the nation-wide shortage of library personnel is an extraordinary strain on the Library School's placement service. Employers from every part of the country, representing every kind of library, are requesting help from the School in finding suitable prospects for vacancies. Alumni available for positions are only a fraction of the number required for these openings. In such a competitive market, salary levels are naturally making substantial rises. New scales adopted by the Library of Congress and other federal libraries may be expected to have favorable repercussions on library salary trends in general. The new curriculum adopted by the Library School faculty in 19+* has now been in operation for one full year, and on the whole the experience with it has been highly satisfactory. The facult) believes, though, that curricular matters should be the subject of continuous study, never allowed to heroine too fixed and infl< able. A standing committee on the curriculum has therefore been established, having as its objectives the improvement of teaching methods, the enrichmenl of d course content, the consideration of new fields <>| instruction. »