Selling Your Company's Library' G . H . McINTYRE Ferro Enamel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio
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F WHAT use is a company library if the personnel of the company does not make it an integral part of its daily work habits? A dynamic force is required to overcome mental inertia. How to provide this force by selling the library to the organization, by making the various individuals want to use it, by creating the habit of looking to the library first, is my interest in this discussion today. What I have to tell you comes from my own observation and experience in establishing a library and attempting to sell it to the organization. Our library was started about two years ago on a very meager basis with a young lady holding a master's degree in chemistry acting as librarian and as my secretary. Needless to say, the library suffered. About 10 months ago we decided that this situation was of no benefit to anyone. We then secured the services of a graduate librarian who had had several years' experience in the technical department of a large public library. Further, she had had some training in chemistry. A room, 20' X 301, was provided, and she was told to see what she could do to build up a really good library which would be useful to all departments and of general interest to all employees. My part of this discussion is not to dwell on library organization, but I give you this background to assist in understanding the problem and I dare say you appreciate its typical aspects. Our company is relatively small, with many divisions and departments of diverse interests. With due modesty, I might point out that porcelain enamels are our specialty and that we are recognized as authorities in this field of production. There are relatively few technical publications in this field, and our staff was well aware of its printed literature. However, as the interest of management and personnel widened the need of a librarian became manifest. My first selling problem was to interest management on the necessity of our company's having a library. Was the cost worth while? Was a library for us really essential? An interesting example of the attitude of management was the remark made by one of the executives when I was arguing for further library expansion: "Will the technical employees use the library sufficiently to make this expense worth while?" Upon my assurance that they would, came the very cautious reply. "Well, I'm not so sure I want the employees sitting around wasting their time reading." So, first, we must sell management. It is they who
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Presented before the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society, 107th meeting, Cleveland. Ohio. April 4, 1944.
appropriate the funds. It may not always be necessary to sell the idea that for technical people to read in the company library is distinctly not a waste of time. but certainly management must be sold on the advantage of a library to the corporation. Its continued financial and moral support demands that the management remain enthusiastic supporters of the library. Secondly, the library should not be operated for the exclusive use of the research staff. It should be of sufficient scope in detail and material to be of interest to the executives, the accounting, personnel, safety, sales, customer service, advertising, manufacturing, research, technical, and quality control departments, and last, but not least, labor. Factors affecting the sale of the library to this large and diversified group are materials, library staff, and direct fiublicity. It is axiomatic that the library material should be as complete as possible within the limits of the budget. It should cover adequately the fields of interest of the company with current literature, patents, and reference works. Also books, periodicals, and pamphlets of more popular nature should be included. But all this will not sell the library unless the library is managed in such a manner as to provide adequate cataloging and indexing and is maintained with good housekeeping. To hold continued interest and to attract readers, the physical arrangement is important. The library should be located centrally and be easily accessible. It should be light and comfortable. In all, it should be an attractive place, but one of efficient and business-like air. The library staff are its salesmen. Thus, in addition to being librarian, an efficiency expert, and scientist, the really good librarian who will sell the library to the personnel of the company must be on friendly terms with all and easily approachable. If she can call the company personnel by name so much the better. If the patrons of the library are given the feeling that the librarian is resentful, hurried, or of abrupt disposition, otherwise efficient work might be wasted because the patrons will hesitate to ask for assistance in the finding of material. If material cannot be found readily the library will fall into disuse. Adaptability and resourcefulness are two attributes with which your librarian should be blessed. The librarian must be ready and able to adapt herself to the needs of the organization. She must be resourceful in finding and providing literature on specific and often seeminxly unrelated subjects. New and sometimes obscure sources of materia must be known to her. Direct publicity throughout the organization is essential and the more this is used the better. Lucy 0.
Lewton,2 in an address delivered before the Science- vals. Bulletins telling of the library's activities, with Technology-Biology Group of the Special Libraries particular emphasis on the type of questions asked and Association in New York, asked two very appropriate answered, can be made readable, interesting, and of questions: "Why publicize a company library? Hasn't good advertising value. Bulletin boards should be it been established in answer to a definite need for its placed a t strategic locations about the factory and service?' She then answered these by "painting a sad offices and should be kept active and eye-catching with picture." She tells of the library that was established posters, book jackets of new books, and notices of the in a drug and cosmetics plant. It was staffed with a library facilities. The personal approach by the librarian is effective. true scholar, an organic chemist in her own right. While she built up beautifully catalogd files of ma- As already mentioned, if the librarian knows personally terial the door between the research laboratory and li- as many of the company's staff as possible the library brary was kept locked. Often the st& was seen in the can more easily be made an essential factor in their public library making their own abstracts and they affairs. Personal calls about new materials, including their hobbies as well as their technical interests, are painfully maintained their own abstract file. The "pay-off" came when the company was forced to helpful in selling the usefulness of the library. A perdestroy a large number of cartons which had been sonal note to new employees to come in and become acprinted with a new trade name on which a copyright quainted with the librarian and the library's facilities is bad been requested. This name had been copyrighted most effective. To summarize, the value of the library is proportionpreviously by a rival concern and so a copyright could not be obtained. The library had a record of this trade- ate to the extent of its use by all company personnel. mark in the trademark files which the librarian main- The library staff must have the qualities of scientist, tained, but no one had thought to refer to them. The efficiency expert, and salesman combined, being aplibrary had been considered as a routine storage place proachable, adaptable, and resourceful. Material must be adequate and accessible through good cataloging, of books and documents. All companies have some system for handling inter- good indexing, and good housekeeping. Publicity is essential and can be secured through the office mail. The librarian should use this for direct mail advertising. This can consist of notices of new circulation of printed and mimeographed material, inbooks, pamphlets, and abstracts issued a t regular inter- teroffice mail, strategic locations for bulletin boards containing posters, announcements, and exhibits, and by 2 "Publicity for the special library," Special Libraries, 34, 111 individual contact., (April, 1943).
