Chapter 30. Dr. Boorstin Reorganizes Again, Creates the Research Services Department and I Continue as its Special Assistant

The Research Department and the Reader Services Department as organized by Dr. Boorstin in 1976 were short lived. By the spring of 1978 another reorganization was in process. This time Dr. Boorstin created what became known as the Research Services Department which brought back together again virtually all the divisions that had been a part of the old Reference Department, under new sub-structures known as directorates thus adding a new layer of administrators. We now had a Director for Area Studies who had oversight of the work of the African and Middle Eastern Division, the Asian Division, the European Division, and the Hispanic Division, each of which had its own Chief as its immediate administrative officer.

We had a Director for General Reference overseeing the services of the Collections Management Division, Federal Research Division, General Reading Rooms Division, Loan Division, Science and Technology Division, and Serial Division, each of which had its own Chief, as its immediate administrative officer.

We also had a Director for Special Collections who was charged with the general supervision of the Geography and Map Division, Manuscript Division, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, Music Division, the Prints and Photographs Division and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, each of which had its own Chief as its immediate administrative officer. Dr. Alan Fern who had been the Director of the Research Department became Director of the Special Collections directorate. Elizabeth Stroup from the Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped was appointed Director of General Reference directorate, and Frank McGowan from the Processing Department became Acting Director of the Area Studies directorate. He served in that capacity until Dr. Warren Tsuneishi who had been Chief of the Asian Division replaced him in 1979.

There was one addition to the new department. That was the Preservation Office which had a Chief as its immediate administrative officer.

I recall that when this new department was being put in place, I was called to the office of the Librarian and informed by Mr. Donald Curran who was Associate Librarian at the time that I was to continue as Special Assistant for Planning Management in the new Research Services Department, that he was being detailed as the Acting Assistant Librarian for Research Services until such time as the Librarian appointed a permanent Assistant Librarian for Research Services to head the new department. He also advised me that the Librarian had appointed a search committee chaired by Dr. John Broderick, Chief of the Manuscript Division, which had been charged to find a qualified person to fill the position of Assistant Librarian for Research Services. Mr. Curran assumed the duties of Acting Librarian for Research Services on June 5, 1978, and continued in
that capacity for the rest of the year. It was during this period that as the department’s space planner I was faced with some of the most intense competition for each square foot of space available in the Library’s buildings for the collections and reading rooms, and for making what was available used more efficiently. It was during this period that the Rare Book and Special Collections Reading Room rearrangement and refurbishment was completed, the Science Reading Room reorganization was finished, the improved room for viewing motion pictures was finally constructed, and the Music Reading Room rearrangement and refurbishment was completed.

By January of 1979, when Dr. Broderick’s search committee had not been successful in finding a qualified candidate for the position of Assistant Librarian for Research Services, the Librarian appointed Dr. Broderick to that position. I was pleased to serve as his Special Assistant for Planning Management from the time he assumed the leadership of the new department almost continuously until his retirement with the exception of a period of time when I was detailed to the Library Environment Resources Office. I shall have more to say about that period later in this narrative.

During the forepart of 1979, as Dr. Broderick’s Special Assistant for Planning Management I was challenged by and completed several long-range projects that he considered urgent, namely revisions of the Library of Congress Regulations made necessary by the reorganization of the department. Among these projects were the reestablishment of the department’s duty officer system, and the expansion of the department’s quick-copying service.

On May 22, 1979, upon Dr. Broderick’s recommendation, I was awarded a Meritorious Service Award by Dr. Boorstin for the work I had done in connection with the physical rearrangement and refurbishment of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. It was also during this year that along with other tasks, I had the pleasure of developing the logistics and plans for moving those divisions of the department that were scheduled to move into the Madison Building from the two older buildings in the following year, and I helped in the planning and establishment of the Performing Arts Library as an extension Library Service unit of the Library of Congress in the Kennedy Center Building.

The year 1980 saw the beginning of the moves of the first library units into the James Madison Memorial Building. The divisions of the Research Services Department were the first Library units to move in. Among the earliest was the Geography and Map Division. Its move began February 23 and was completed in a little over three weeks. It became an example of smooth, efficient library moving and was due to the cooperative efforts of the division’s staff and the staff of the Collections Management Division.

As I write about this period, I can’t help recalling the challenges that were faced in the moves of the various divisions of the department from the Thomas Jefferson Building and the John Adams Buildings into the mammoth James Madison Memorial Building. It was reported by the Architect of the Capitol at the time that the Madison Building was large enough to place both the Thomas Jefferson and the John Adams buildings inside it! The moving of th divisions and their large collections into the new building tested the logistical skills as well as the mental and physical energy of the department’s move team!

1981 saw the separation of the National Referral Center from the Science and Technology Division to take its place as a separate entity of the Research Services Department thus expanding the department by one more unit. That was also the last year that the Librarian’s Annual Report lists Dr. Alan M. Fern as Director of Special Collections.