Public Library Directors of the Past and Present 1

Running head: PUBLIC LIBRARY DIRECTORS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT

Public Library Directors of the Past and Present:

An Overview of the Historical Contributions of Ralph A. Ulveling and the

Present Contributions of Nancy Colpaert to the Library Profession

Wayne State University

Schroeder/LIS 6010

July 17, 2006

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Abstract

Ralph A. Ulveling, director of the Detroit Public Library system was a

prominent and active leader in the role of the public library during the

McCarthy Era. Ulveling’s controversial views on intellectual freedom were a

catalyst to the modern views held by the leaders of the library profession

today. Nancy Colpaert, director of the Monroe County Library System, relates

to the same library objectives of the of the library of the 1940s and 1950s

but the community values have shifted and her focus is different than that of

libraries before.
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Public Library Directors of the Past and Present: An Overview of the

Historical Contributions of Ralph A. Ulveling and the Present

Contributions of Nancy Colpaert to the Library Profession

If you were to take the word of two very different library leaders, the

objectives of the American library have not changed much in over sixty

years. Ralph A. Ulveling, director of the Detroit Public Library (DPL) from the

years of 1941 to 1967, quotes the objectives of the library during his time as

encompassing education, information, aesthetic appreciation, research, and

recreation (Ulveling, 1944, p. 24). Similarly, Nancy Colpaert, current library

director of the Monroe County Library System (MCLS) in Monroe, Michigan,

wholeheartedly directs her library system under the library’s mission

statement by serving “all residents of the county by providing free access to

information, education, and recreation” (MCLS Website). However, despite

the similarities in objectives sought by these two library directors, there is

very little in common with them. Ulveling was a prolific figure in the public

library during his time; he spent most of his career surrounded in national

controversy and intellectual freedom discussions that greatly shaped the

future of the profession. On the other hand, Colpaert prefers to be more

involved on a community level and less politically charged as Ulveling, her

contributions to the profession, however, are equally notable.

Ralph A. Ulveling, Detroit Public Library

Ralph Adrian Ulveling was an immediate success in librarianship upon

entering the profession. Soon after graduation from Columbia University

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with his library degree in 1928, he was given the position of Chief of

Branches at the Detroit Public Library, a remarkably high position for a recent

graduate. Shortly thereafter, Ulveling was promoted to Associate Director in

1934 where he had the opportunity to “hone his political skills” (Ring, 1990,

p. 139). It did not take Ulveling much longer to be appointed to the Director

position of the Detroit Public Library; he was awarded the position in 1941

with no internal competition (Ring, 1990, p. 140).

Daniel Ring describes Ulveling’s accomplishments on two levels: “his

achievements for the library profession and his accomplishments for the

DPL.” (1990, p. 140) While Ulveling was often viewed as impatient, aloof,

distant, or stiff by his staff, he also had a certain charm about him that many

people admired. “Ulveling sought the advice of the staff, but did not believe

that a large organization could be run on the basis of staff resolutions lest

the library become ‘headless’.” (Ring, 1990, p. 143) Ring also describes

Ulveling as having “one of the most successful careers of any twentieth-

century public librarian.” (1990, p. 140)

As a leader on social issues, Ulveling was viewed both liberally and

conservatively by his peers and library historians. Ulveling “had a social

vision of what a public library should be.” One of his greatest

accomplishments in the Detroit Public Library was his visions of the library as

an adult educator; “Ulveling believed that the chief purpose of the public

library was to serve the educational needs of individuals, and to lead them to

a higher level of education attainment.” On the liberal side of his

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accomplishments he strongly felt that the library should take a positive role

in race relations, a very important issue in the wake of the Detroit Race Riot

of 1943. “He believed that intolerance was the result of misunderstanding

and must be combated.” (Ring, 1990, p. 140)

Ulveling brought positive change to the library system and many other

libraries across the country, by redesigning the library to suit the adult user’s

educational needs. “Physically, the reorganization entailed a novel

cataloging scheme that would ‘bring together in one place all material which

links itself together to form one subject interest for readers’.” This

classification restructuring, called Readers’ Interest Classification, replaced

the Dewey Decimal Classification beginning in 1949 (Ring, 1990, p. 141).

Readers’ Interest Classification is still used in many different forms today,

however less so in the Detroit Public Library. “Common to all who reorganize

their collection using a reader-interest classification plan is a desire to

improve service for their patrons. By placing the reader at the center,

reader-interest classification encourages self-service and promotes

accessibility to the collection.” (Spine, 1995, p. 143)

While Ulveling had a tremendous amount of accomplishments in

regards to the services of the Detroit Public Library, his involvement with the

library profession on the national level is what he is most noted for.

Ulveling’s controversial stance on intellectual freedom and a response to a

statement on labeling from the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) in 1951

was a catalyst to improvements that were forced through the committee for
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many years to come. Louise Robbins describes the mood of the country

during the time of Ulveling’s directorship:

As World War II ended, the United States found itself facing a

world in which the Soviet Union had expanded its sphere of
influence and over which the mushroom cloud of atomic
weaponry hung ominously. The Cold War, with all its fears and
suspicions, had begun. (Segregating, 1993, p. 144)

In a time when censorship was increasing, librarians and libraries were

constantly being scrutinized for carrying materials that could potentially be

seen as communist propaganda, the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the

American Library Association (ALA) was forced to make some hard decisions

concerning the Library Bill of Rights and the sanctity of intellectual freedom

in the profession and the country. One such decision was to publish a

statement to support the Library Bill of Rights that the practice of labeling

during this time was considered censorship.

Given Ulveling’s belief that librarians were meant to guide their

patron’s into “right thinking,” he came out with his own policy on book

selection entitled, “Book Selection Policies in This Time of Crisis,” which

revealed that he was felt that it was appropriate to favor a more rigid policy

on book selection, a policy that did keep certain materials out of the hands of

the general public (Censorship, 1996, p. 52.). Ulveling was publicly critical of

the Library Bill of Rights, stating that “in an ‘ideological war’ in which

propaganda ‘is second only to military strategy,’ librarians’ ‘usual

interpretation’ of the Library Bill of rights kept channels for enemy

propaganda open.” (Censorship, 1996, p. 54) While Ulveling did not ban
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everything that was considered communist propaganda from the Detroit

Public Library, he did restrict their use to the reference section of the library

and out of the hands of general patrons. The IFC had determined that this

was also considered censorship, and the debate between the IFC and

Ulveling continued; the IFC finally stood their ground on many of the issues

discussed and formed what is now the strong intellectual freedom policy that

has since been adopted by the ALA. Ulveling’s desired outcome was not met

in the end, however his persistence on the issue made the committee look

very hard at the Library Bill of Rights and how intellectual freedom was

carried out through the profession. (Censorship, 1996)

Nancy Colpaert, Monroe County Library System

The Cold War and the McCarthy Era now have their place in history and

the modern public library has a new appearance. An interview with Nancy

Colpaert of the Monroe County Library System reveals that librarians of today

have different concerns than those during the Cold War. Compared to

Ulveling, Colpaert is more engaged in her community and less engaged in

the committees of the ALA or the profession. Technology has changed the

face of the profession and concerns have shifted to the sustainability of

libraries in a world that is more equipped to get information without the help

of the local library. The modern library is a more recreational place than

Ulveling’s library was, and patrons are engaged in more programs considered

fun, as well as educational.

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The objectives of the public library have not changed much in sixty

years; Colpaert still feels that a library is a place where people of many ages

and abilities can come to get the information they need. A general public

perception that recreation aids in learning has found refuge in the modern

library. Many libraries, including Monroe County, are engaging their younger

populations through teen programs and story times for young kids to foster

an everlasting relationship through those patrons through the library.

Colpaert has been working MCLS for over thirty years and has been the

library director for about seven of those years. She worked for MCLS while

going to library school, then progressively worked up to the position of library

director with the library system. Colpaert recalls how technology has shaped

the career of librarianship and is eager to embrace that technology in her

library system and with her staff.

Unlike Ulveling’s time, the internet has given the general public access

to a wealth of information without ever having to visit a library or talk to a

librarian. Colpaert is less concerned with guiding patrons into “right

thinking” like Ulveling, but does understand the need for the library to be a

quality information source, whether through programming, library staff, or

the library website. Her concern is that the library can be there as a

community leader and an information source, no matter what information

they are seeking. Colpaert feels that the library should be available for

patrons to gather information that is unbiased and balanced so that patrons

can make their own qualified decisions on the issues they face in their lives.
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While the public library is a quieter place that the one of the 1940 and

1950s, the library, especially the Monroe County Library System, is not

completely free of controversy. The Library Bill of Rights and the IFC have

survived as tools and guidelines for librarians, even today, to use when faced

with challenging issues. The Monroe County Library System was involved in

a controversy involving the selection of the sex book published by Madonna.

The community did not feel that this book offered much to the community

and lashed out at the library system. Colpaert admits that the impression

that this controversy left on the community may have left a scar, but it did

not change how she felt about the importance of intellectual freedom, if

anything it supported her belief that the public library needs to be a place

where the community should be able to go to get the information they need

and want.

Conclusion

The modern public library is still a place where patrons can gain access

to information, education, and recreation. The focus of each of these

objectives has shifted, however. Information is more free-flowing in the

modern society than during the Cold War Era, many patrons today view the

library as just another place to gain information, not the only place. The

value of a library as an educational source has not changed, but the focus on

education and technology has made the modern library a vital part of many

communities, especially for computer resources. A shift in views of the place

of recreation in society has given the modern library an opportunity to

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attract a much younger patron base. We are much more open to recreation

as a learning tool than before and libraries have embraced that through

games and programming that cater to a younger crowd than before.

Today’s library is still vital to protecting the civil liberties and

intellectual freedom of the American society, however our more globalized

society has changed how many people obtain information in their daily lives.

The library of today is concerned more with offering a balanced collection,

making sure that every point of view is accessible without barriers. The

same tools are still in place to protect libraries from barriers, including the

Library Bill of Rights, and the efforts of the Intellectual Freedom Committee.

The guidelines provided by the IFC have survived a very rigorous history, has

aided librarians of today in their decisions, and will continue to guide the

thoughts of future librarians as well.

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References

Monroe County Library System. Retrieved July 17, 2006, from

http://monroe.lib.mi.us/

Ring, D. (1990). Ulveling, Ralph Adrian (1902-1980). In W. A. Wiegand (Ed.),

Supplement to the Dictionary of American library biography (pp. 138-

144). Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited.

Robbins, L. S. (1993). Segregating Propaganda in American Libraries: Ralph

Ulveling Confronts the Intellectual Freedom Committee. The Library

Quarterly, 63(2), 143-165.

Robbins, L. S. (1996). Censorship and the American library the American

Library Association's response to threats to intellectual freedom, 1939-

1969. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.

Spine, J. (1995). Reader interest classification: the user friendly schemes.

Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, 19(3/4), 143-155.

Ulveling, R. A. (1944). The public library in the large community. In L.

Carnovsky, & L. A. Martin (Eds.), The library in the community. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press.