An Investigation of a Selected Number of Printed Materials Concerning the History, Development, and Progress of the Women\u27s Liberation as It Relates to the Field of Library Services in the United States

Most librarians are women, yet the library profession has devoted little attention to the unequal status of this society majority of its members. One of the professions that society expects women to end up in (if in any role other than that of wife and mother ) is librarianship. 1 Our profession is highly female but it is often administered by men. The all too obvious conclusion is that men are inherently better administrators, and that women cannot organize and lead because of their different mental, physical, or psychological makeup. 2 One of the factors which is associated with disadvantaged groups generally is low educational level. Women have been found to have less educational background than men. Thus women with the same amount of professional expereince and education as men are compensated at a lower rate, and the more experience they acquire, the greater their relative disadvantage. 3 One commonly used explanation for the low status of women is that women have divided loyalites between their professional goals and personal commitments. Women, it is claimed, leave their positions for marriage or family reasons. A somewhat similar problem, and one that may be less widespread but more difficult to overcome,is that of job mobility. Previous studies of academic librarians found that: the failure of women to be promoted to better paying positions or headships of libraries cannot be attributed to any general lack of personality qualifications among women as compared to men. 4 The general rule that it is harder for a woman to be appointed or promoted to a leadership position than it is for a man, certainly applies to library employment where men usually occupy the top positions and receive the greatest remuneration.5 It is the purpose of this study to investigate a selected number of printed materials concerning: (1) the history, and (2) the progress of the Women\u27s Liberation Movement as it relates to the field of library service in the United States. 1 Ellen Detlefsen and Patricia Schuman, Overdue-The Women\u27s Liberation Movement-I, Wilson Library Bulletin, XLIV (May 1970),962. 2 ibid. 3 A.R. Schiller, Widening the Gap, Library Journal, XCIV, (March 15,1969), 1098.4A.R. Schiller, Widening the Gap, Library Journal, XCIV,(March 15,1969),1098. 5J. Freedman, Liberated Librarian: A Look at the Second Sex in the Library Profession, Library Journal.XCV, (May 1,1970),1709