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2010–2011 Annual Report
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Letter from the Chairman
September 2011 marked the 55th birthday of the Council on Library Resources (CLR), CLIR's precursor organization. I recently read a fascinating account of the Council's founding written by former CLIR President Deanna Marcum.1 Much of her piece focuses on the forces that led to the Council's formation, and in particular, on the ideas of Louis Wright, a former director the Folger Shakespeare Theater and conceptual father of CLR. Wright's incisive observations, recorded in letters and presentations from the 1950s and revealed in the historical account, remain stunningly relevant.
Wright maintained that university libraries were competing with one another and, in the process, were spending large sums of money. He believed that "research libraries faced serious problems that required a new overarching organization built on intellect and conviction, not on pretentious notions about professionalism or representation of the various segments of the population."2
In 1954, Wright secured Ford Foundation funding for a meeting of 50 prominent librarians, administrative officers, and scholars to make "useful plans for solving some of the problems that perplex all libraries that have the complex problems of gathering, preserving, and disseminating research materials."3 The meeting yielded a formidable list of recommendations, all needing time and money to address. Wright then convened a second, smaller meeting to discuss creating an independent agency to tackle the problems directly. He proposed the idea to Ford, and in May 1956 the foundation announced its intent to award funds to establish the Council on Library Resources the following year.
The themes articulated by Wright continue to motivate CLIR's efforts, as Chuck Henry illustrates in his message from the president. Now, as then, CLIR's work at the nexus of libraries, scholarship, and technology acknowledges that solving "problems that perplex all libraries" requires working across disciplines, institutions, professions, and geographic boundaries.
CLIR's work would not be possible without the support of its sponsoring institutions and funding agencies. On behalf of the Board, I want to thank the foundations, government agencies, and sponsors that have placed their confidence in CLIR and have supported us so generously.
Stephen Nichols
November 2011
FOOTNOTES
1 Deanna B. Marcum. Reclaiming the Research Library: The Founding of the Council on Library Resources. Presentation at the Library History Seminar, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, March 31, 1995. Available at www.clir.org/about/CLRhistoryDM95.pdf.
2 Ibid, p. 2
3 Typescript of Wright's introductory remarks at the Folger Library, January 15, 1955, as quoted in Marcum 1995.