Sharon Ladenson
Michigan State University
Gender and Academic Library Management: Historical and Social Perspectives
The historical and social issues surrounding the status of women in library management have been explored extensively in the library literature. The literature indicates that women entered the profession in increasing numbers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Women faced obstacles to entering management positions in libraries during the mid-twentieth century, but white women have increasingly entered management positions during the late twentieth century. Fewer women of color were represented in management positions, but they nevertheless have provided significant leadership in the profession. The increasing numbers of women in library management positions have provided the impetus for discussion and debate about differences in male and female management styles. Finally, the literature also explores the women library administrators' recommendations and strategies for success in management.
Women have worked in libraries since the middle of the nineteenth century, and have attended conferences of the American Library Association since 1876 (1). However, the numbers of women in the profession were small; only 43 women worked as librarians in
1870 (2). Women began to enter the profession in greater numbers as a result of new educational opportunities and encouragement from prominent male leaders in the field.
For example, Justin Winsor (superintendent of the Boston Public Library, 1868-1877;
Harvard University librarian; and a founder of the American Library Association) stated that women were desirable for the profession, for the library could pay them less. Winsor made the following statement in 1877: "They (women) soften our atmosphere, they

lighten our labour, they are equal to our work, and for the money they cost…they are infinitely better than equivalent salaries will produce by the other sex" (3).
Furthermore, in 1886, Melvil Dewey gave a lecture on "Librarianship as a Profession for College-Bred Women" (4). Women responded positively to Dewey's recruiting efforts, and, consequently, entered his "School of Library Economy" (at Columbia
College in New York City) in 1887 (5). By the turn of the century, the number of female librarians had increased to 3,122, and women comprised 75 percent of the field (6). By
1920, women occupied 90 percent of positions in the field, and "…held many of the top administrative positions in college libraries" (7).
During the early twentieth century, Ida Angeline Kidder played a significant leadership role as academic library administrator. In 1908, Kidder became the first professional librarian at Oregon Agricultural College, and made significant changes to the library during her twelve-year administration. (8). Kidder dramatically increased the size of the library collections; holdings increased from approximately 4,000 volumes to over 41,000. The number of staff members also increased during Kidder's administration
(from one to nine). Kidder made a significant accomplishment when she succeeded in lobbying for a new library building. She also developed a library skills class, which became a required course at the college shortly after her arrival. Kidder played an active role in the American Library Association (where she served a chair of the Agricultural
Libraries Section in 1915) and the Pacific Northwest Library Association (9).
According Hildebrand, "…women's representation in top positions in libraries reached a peak in the 1920s, but diminished drastically in ensuing decades (10). Other writers confirm her assertion, and argue that the recruitment of men into the profession affected

women's status in administrative positions. For example, O'Brien discusses the active recruitment of men into the library profession following World War II. She points out that in 1938, Ruth Savord, Librarian for the Council of Foreign Relations, wrote an editorial for Library Journal in which she expressed concern that qualified women were not being considered for administrative positions in libraries (11). O'Brien asserts that during the late 1930s, the library literature strongly emphasized the recruitment of male employees; she points out that Clara Herbert, author of Personnel Administration in
Public Libraries (1939), "…considered men to be the only ones capable of professionalism, and specifically recommended that married women or women with young children not be appointed to library positions" (12).
The active recruitment of men into the library profession continued through the middle of the twentieth century. Evidence of such recruitment is present in job advertisements published in Library Journal during the 1950s, which specifically targeted male applicants (13). In the 1960s, a draft recruitment brochure approved by the
American Library Association included the following statement: "The best evidence of increased advantages and financial opportunities in the library field is indicated by the number of men entering it" (14).
Despite such obstacles, women provided important leadership in the library field during the early to mid-twentieth century, including women of color. Dorothy Louise
Burnett Porter Wesley, an African-American librarian, worked tirelessly to develop collections of materials by and about African-Americans and others of African descent.
Wesley worked at Howard University from 1930-1973. During her years at Howard, the numbers of catalogued serials, pamphlets and books increased from 5,788 in 1932 to 70,

098 in 1973. Her numerous publications include Afro-Braziliana: A Working
Bibliography ; Early Negro Writings, 1760-1837 ; and A Catalogue of the African
Collection in the Moorland Foundation (15).
During the late twentieth century, white women gradually entered management positions in increasing numbers. While civil rights legislation of the 1960s (such as the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, and national origin) certainly provided an impetus for positive change, such progress did not occur instantaneously (16). In 1976, the Association of Research
Libraries (ARL) began collecting data on the numbers of female and male library administrators in participating institutions. At the time, although women comprised sixty-two percent professional positions, men held nearly ninety percent of directorships, and seventy percent of associate and assistant directorships (17). During the following decade, women's participation in the management of ARL libraries increased particularly at the associate and assistant director levels. In 1984, women occupied forty-nine percent of assistant and associate directorships, while men occupied eighty percent of the directorships (18).
During the 1990s, white women continued to enter library management positions in increasing numbers. Fisher published a 1997 study that investigated the numbers of women and men in library management. Data were collected by counting the male and female names of library directors and branch managers listed in the American Library
Directory and the Directory of Special Libraries and Information Centers (19). Fisher found that women dominated as directors and branch managers in "medium-small"

academic and public libraries, while men continued to outnumber women in top administrative positions in large academic and public libraries. (20).
The literature indicates that women of color are represented in fewer numbers in management positions. Hollis published a 1999 study investigating the numbers of men and women in top library management positions from eighty-six academic libraries within eight National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I conferences. Hollis also investigated the numbers of women of color that occupied top positions. Data were collected from editions of the American Library Directory, from the 1986-87 edition, through the 1997-98 edition. Hollis found that in 1986, sixteen of eighty-six libraries had female directors. In 1997, the number of female directors had increased to thirty-seven, although only two of the thirty-seven female directors were women of color.
Consequently, more aggressive recruitment of women of color is strongly needed (21).
Although women of color have occupied far fewer academic library management positions than have white women during the late twentieth century, women of diverse racial and ethic groups have provided important leadership in the profession. Ching-chih
Chen, an Asian-American librarian, worked as Head Science Librarian at McMaster
University, as the Head Librarian of the Engineering, Math and Science Library at the
University of Waterloo and as the Associate Head Science Librarian at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. During her four years at the University of Waterloo, the number of staff members of the Engineering, Math and Science Library increased from four to more than twenty. She also successfully lobbied for a new building. Chen joined the faculty at the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College, where she

became Associate Dean in 1979. She was also the first Asian American to receive a nomination to run for President of the American Library Association (22).
Women's increasing participation in administrative positions provides an impetus for discussion and debate about gender differences in management styles and strategies.
Moran reviewed the literature on this topic, and found that the early literature of the
1970s emphasized that women and men have different management styles due to biological sex differences (23). Literature published in response emphasized that women and men exhibit different styles due to socialization rather than biology, and that women could become more successful by learning to use a more "masculine" style (24). Moran also reviewed works from the popular literature, such as The Female Advantage , in which
Helgesen also describes gender difference in leadership styles, and argues that female styles and strategies produce more effective results in modern organizations. Conversely,
Moran also asserts that most social science research on the topic does not provide empirical evidence of such gender difference in management styles and strategies (25).
Furthermore, Kaufman also reviewed a variety of studies that found only "minimal" and "insignificant" differences between male and female leadership styles (26). For example, she discusses the conclusions of a study conducted by Rizzo and Mendez, which found that "…women use fundamentally the same personal influence strategies as male leaders to influence others in a work organization" (27). Kaufman argues that women have not necessarily performed an instrumental role in transforming organizations using new styles or strategies; rather, the structure and values of organizations are changing in response to technological change and increased competition. Kaufman asserts, "Old models…have changed not because women began to

play influential roles in organizations but instead because it was recognized that traditional bureaucracies, imbued with control and conformity…were ineffective in meeting the demands of our changing global society" (28).
Women interviewed in the literature provide diverse perspectives about gender differences in library management. Brandelhoff conducted interviews with six women library administrators, and asked the following questions: "Are women different types of administrators than men? What unique qualities do women bring to management? Will more women in high-level administrative posts affect the character of library administration?" Three administrators mentioned that women are more sensitive to issues of communication than men; for example, two of the administrators stated that women handle interpersonal conflict more effectively, while another manager asserted that women have a greater understanding of how people relate to one another. In addition, two of the administrators stated that women juggle multiple tasks and projects more effectively (29).
On the other hand, the female administrators expressed opposing views about whether women would change the character of administration in libraries. For example, one administrator stated that women use more practical approaches than men, and, consequently, would make library administration more "pragmatic" (30). Conversely, another administrator reinforced the message conveyed in Kaufman's article; she stated that recent organizational change has been caused not by the increasing numbers of women managers, but rather by new technologies, new theories of management, and societal changes (31).

Sager also interviewed two male and two female library administrators about gender differences in library management. Both male and female administrators emphasized that gender does not shape a management style. For example, a male library director asserted that past experiences shape the development of one's style of management. He described his own style as "collegial, " and explained that his past experience in the U.S. Air Force caused him to resist authoritarian styles. He also pointed out that his female assistant director prefers an "authoritarian" style (32).
The library literature also surveys women library administrator's recommendations and strategies for success in management. Women interviewed stress the importance of networking and mentoring (33). Women also emphasize that administrators should be able to handle conflict, be aggressive and direct, and be willing to fight for a worthwhile issue (34). The first female director of the Miami-Dade Public Library also stated that women should seek support from male colleagues (35).
Hence, after facing several decades of severe obstacles during the twentieth century, women have entered library management positions in increasing numbers. Women of color are represented in fewer numbers, but they have succeeded in providing important leadership in the profession. The increasing numbers of women that occupy library management positions has prompted an unresolved debate about gender differences in leadership styles and strategies. As women continue to progress towards equality in library management, we may find answers to questions about gender differences in management styles, and whether women are changing the character of library administration.
Endnotes

1. Mary Niles Maack, "Gender, Culture, and the Transformation of American
Librarianship, 1890-1920," Libraries and Culture 33 (1998): 51-61.
2. Clare Beck, "Reference Services: A Handmaid's Tale," Library Journal 116 (April
1991): 32-37.
3. Janice C. Fennell, "The Woman Academic Library Administrator: A Career Profile,"
in The Status of Women in Librarianship: Historical, Sociological and Economic
Issues (New York: Neal-Schuman, 1983): 207-242.
4. Fennell, "The Woman Academic Library Administrator," 207.
5. Maack, “Gender, Culture, and the Transformation of American Librarianship, 1890-
1920,” 51.
6.
Beck, “Reference Services,” 33.
7. Fennel, “The Woman Academic Library Adminstrator,” 207.
8. Georgia Higley, "College, Community and Librarianship: Women Librarians at the
Western Landgrant Colleges," in Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing
Women In (Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex, 1996): 53-98.
9.
Higley, "College, Community and Librarianship," 80-81.
10. Suzanne Hildenbrand, "Ambiguous Authority and Aborted Ambition: Gender,
Professionalism, and the Rise and Fall of the Welfare State," Library Trends 34
(Fall 1985): 185-198.
11. Patricia Nancy O'Brien, "The Recruitment of Men into Librarianship, Following
World War II," The Status of Women in Librarianship: Historical, Sociological and
Economic Issues , (New York: Neal-Schuman, 1983): 51-66.
12. O'Brien, "The Recruitment of Men into Librarianship," 53-54.
13.
Robert D. Stueart, and Barbara B. Moran, "Staffing," in Library and Information
Center Management , (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1998): 163-260.
14.
O'Brien, "The Recruitment of Men into Librarianship," 63.
15. Helen H. Britton, “Dorothy Porter Wesley: Bibliographer, Curator, and Scholar,” in
Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing Women In (Norwood, New Jersey:
Ablex, 1996): 163-186.
16.
Stueart and Moran, “Staffing,” 240.

17.
ARL Annual Salary Survey 1976-77 (Washington, D.C.: Association of Research
Libraries, 1976), 4-33, quoted in Betty Jo Irvine, Sex Segregation in Librarianship:
Demographic and Career Patterns of Academic Library Administrators , (Westport,
Conn: Greenwood Press, 1985): 19.
18.
ARL Annual Salary Survey 1983 (Washington, D.C.: Association of Research
Libraries, 1984), 4, 33, quoted in Betty Jo Irvine, Sex Segregation in Librarianship:
Demographic and Career Patterns of Academic Library Administrators , (Westport,
Conn: Greenwood Press, 1985): 20.
19. William Fisher, “The Question of Gender in Library Management,”
Library
Administration and Management , 11 (Fall 1997): 231-236.
20.
Fisher, “The Question of Gender in Library Management,” 234-235.
21. Deborah R. Hollis, “Affirmative Action or Increased Competition: a Look at
Women and Minority Library Deans,” Journal of Library Administration , 27, no. 1-2
(1999): 49-75.
22. Christina Allen, “Interview with Ching-chih Chen,” in Women of Color in
Librarianship: An Oral history, edited by Kathleen D. McCook.
(Chicago:
American Library Association, 1998): 135-48.
23. Barbara B. Moran, "Gender Differences in Leadership," Library Trends 40 (Winter
1992): 475-491.
24. Moran, "Gender Differences in Leadership," 480.
25. Moran, "Gender Differences in Leadership," 481.
26. Paula T. Kaufman, "Library Leadership: Does Gender Make a Difference?" Journal
of Library Administration 18 no. 3-4 (1993): 109-128.
27. Kaufman, "Library Leadership," 114.
28.
Kaufman, "Library Leadership," 119.
29. Susan Brandelhoff, "Spotlight on Women Managers." American Libraries 16
(January 1985): 20-26, 28, 45-48.
30.
Brandelhoff, "Spotlight on Women Managers," 22-23.
31.
Brandelhoff, "Spotlight on Women Managers," 22.
32. Don Sager, "Do Women and Men Manage Libraries Differently?" Public Libraries
(May/June1995): 137-142.

33.
Janice Kirkland, "The Missing Women Library Directors: Deprivation versus
Mentoring." College and Research Libraries 58 (July 1997): 376-384.
34.
Kirkland, "The Missing Women Library Directors," 380.
35.
Mary R. Somerville, "Yin Management in a Yang World," Wilson Library Bulletin
69 (April 1995): 30-32.
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(Chicago:
American Library Association, 1998): 135-48.
Beck, Clare. "Reference Services: A Handmaid's Tale." Library Journal 116 (April
1991): 33-37.
Brandelhoff, Susan. "Spotlight on Women Managers." American Libraries 16 (January
1985): 20-26, 28, 45-48.
Britton, Helen H. Britton, “Dorothy Porter Wesley: Bibliographer, Curator, and Scholar,” in Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing Women In , edited by Suzanne
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Fisher, William. "The Question of Gender in Library Management." Library
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Higley, Georgia. "College, Community and Librarianship: Women Librarians at the
Western Landgrant Colleges," in Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing
Women In, edited by Suzanne Hildenbrand. (Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex, 1996): 53-
98.
Hildenbrand, Suzanne. "Ambiguous Authority and Aborted Ambition: Gender,
Professionalism, and the Rise and Fall of the Welfare State." Library Trends 34 (Fall
1985): 185-198.
Hollis, Deborah R. “Affirmative Action or Increased Competition: a Look at Women and
Minority Library Deans,” Journal of Library Administration 27 no. 1-2 (1999): 49-75.

Irvine, Betty Jo. "Introduction: Defining the Problem." Chap. 1 in Sex Segregation in
Librarianship: Demographic and Career Patterns of Academic Library Administrators ,
(Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1985): 3-32.
Kaufman, Paula T. "Library Leadership: Does Gender Make a Difference?" Journal of
Library Administration 18 no. 3-4 (1993): 109-128.
Kirkland, Janice. "The Missing Women Library Directors: Deprivation versus
Mentoring." College and Research Libraries 58 (July 1997): 376-384.
Maack, Mary Niles. "Gender, Culture, and the Transformation of American
Librarianship, 1890-1920." Libraries and Culture 33 (1998): 51-61.
Moran, Barbara B. "Gender Differences in Leadership." Library Trends 40 (Winter
1992): 475-491.
O'Brien, Patricia Nancy. "The Recruitment of Men into Librarianship, Following World
War II." In The Status of Women in Librarianship: Historical, Sociological and
Economic Issues , edited by Kathleen M. Heim. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1983. 51-66.
Sager, Don. "Do Women and Men Manage Libraries Differently?" Public Libraries 34
(May/June1995): 137-142.
Somerville, Mary R. "Yin Management in a Yang World." Wilson Library Bulletin 69
(April1995): 30-32.
Stueart, Robert D., and Barbara B. Moran. "Staffing." In Library and Information Center
Management , edited by Robert D. Stueart and Barbara B. Moran. Englewood, CO:
Libraries Unlimited, 1998. 163-260.