Kamal Butros Oral History

Kamal Butros worked as a librarian at AUC from 1926 to 1966. His interview outlines the development of AUC’s library, which had a limited collection of around 4,000 volumes at the start of his service, and no professionally trained staff (Butros had no previous library training or experience). He recalls the changes introduced in 1928 by AUC’s first professional librarian, Helen Flinn, including reclassification of the collection and the development of a card catalog. From the late 1930s through the end of the 1940s faculty members supervised the library, and by the 1950s the staff had increased in size (including long-serving staff members Nicola George and Karim Helmy), and professional librarians hired (Helen Fair, Florence Ljungren, Mahmud Sheniti) and student assistants employed. The library received increased attention, budget, and staff (up to around 30) under President Raymond McLain, and was moved from the Main Building to Hill House in 1957. Attempts to improve student behavior in the library (excessive noise, socializing between men and women) are also mentioned. This interview is documented through notes taken by interviewer Lawrence Murphy rather than a verbatim transcript; there is no audio for this interview