Picking a favorite State Librarian from World War II and later is more challenging for me, because I am just starting to become familiar with later periods. Still, I think I can make a strong case for Ernest E. Doerschuk, Jr. (served 1964-1978). Whether or not he was "the best," he was certainly one of the most impactful.
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| Ernest E. Doerschuk, Jr. at a 1967 meeting of PaLA's Northeast Chapter. Image courtesy of the University of Scranton and DPLA, https://archives.scranton.edu/digital/collection/p9000coll6/id/3784. |
Born in 1914, Doerschuk wasn't a Pennsylvania native -- he was raised in Ohio. However, in time he became well-prepared to lead public libraries in the Keystone State. After graduating from college, he worked at New York Public Library, served as a cryptographer during World War II, and returned to NYPL. He then moved to Pennsylvania to become the Director of the Lancaster Public Library, where he served from 1946 to 1957. At LPL, he oversaw construction of a new building to replace a donated residence that the library had occupied (and been constrained by) for decades. Through these experiences, he certainly gained insights on large municipal library operations, as well as community relations and library advocacy in smaller cities.
Doerschuk was also active within PaLA, which doubtlessly informed his understanding of libraries beyond Lancaster. In the early 1950s, for example, he chaired a Survey Committee which examined data that had been collected for the Public Library Inquiry (a national study). The result was How Good Are Pennsylvania's Public Libraries, a "preliminary" report which found that our libraries were struggling and justified the need for more intensive examinations and planning that came later.
In 1956, Doerschuk was elected President of PaLA, which happened to be a crucial time. First of all, there was a significant leadership gap at SLP: from the retirement of Alfred Decker Keator in 1951 through the appointment of Ralph Blasingame in 1957, the position of State Librarian was essentially vacant (staff were acting in an interim capacity). In those years, the Department of Public Instruction (now the Department of Education) sometimes turned to Doerschuk and others on PaLA's Executive Committee when the department had library-related concerns that required professional authority and statewide perspective. Secondly, in 1956, the U.S. Congress passed the Library Services Act, which provided federal funds to develop libraries in rural areas. Since dollars were distributed proportionally according to each state's population, Pennsylvania's program had the potential to be one of the largest in the country. Oversight of LSA grants was delegated to state libraries, though, and at the time, SLP did not have the legal authorization to handle federal grants. LSA also required matching funds from the states, and Pennsylvania did not have a state aid program that supported municipal libraries. So, there was a need for substantial changes to existing state codes and regulations.
PaLA proved to be up to the task of securing a new Library Code -- largely through the association's advocacy efforts, Act 188 of 1961 was passed, which expanded SLP's mandate as needed, provided funds to enable the state to pursue LSA grants, and provided annual support to libraries that met state standards. PaLA's leaders, including Doerschuk, had significant influence in DPI's hiring of State Librarian Blasingame as well. Yet, while Blasingame had been born in State College and educated at Penn State, he was academically-oriented and his previous post had been at California's state library. In other words, he did not have a record of service within PaLA, nor any experience working in public libraries. Fortunately for all concerned, though, one of the first people Blasingame hired was Ernest E. "Ernie" Doerschuk. He started as Director of Extension, then became Director of Library Development in 1962. Following Blasingame's departure for a faculty position at Rutgers, Doerschuk was appointed State Librarian.
As Director of Extension, Director of Library Development, and State Librarian during the late 1950s-late 1970s, Doerschuk played a crucial part in creating and overseeing the bureaucratic machinery that implemented the 1961 Library Code and any other state and federal funding opportunities that were channeled through the State Library. As a Library Journal article by John N. Berry reveals, SLP's staff swelled in the early years of Doerschuk's tenure, particularly as LSA/LSCA expanded to include all types of public libraries (not just rural), and various titles offered funding for innovative programs, building construction/renovation, interlibrary cooperation, and other efforts. Thus Doerschuk wielded substantial power. For example, by selecting district library centers and holding them accountable for how they spent state funds, his office ultimately positioned 30 particular libraries to receive thousands of extra dollars per year, as well as state-purchased technologies, that other institutions did not receive. Also, because there was never enough federal grant dollars to approve every LSA/LSCA application, Doerschuk and his team determined which institutions could proceed with pilot projects, which libraries could use federal funds to enhance their buildings, and the like.
I can't speak fully to Doerschuk's prerogatives or to his style of leadership at SLP because I haven't finished reading all his writings or used SLP's archival records. But based on what I've seen so far, I would say that Doerschuk was intellectually rigorous, a believer in studying context and data prior to formulating an action plan. It isn't clear to me whether he or Blasingame initiated the landmark 1958 study by Lowell A. Martin that set us on the path toward the public library system that we have today. But according to David C. Palmer, who was on Martin's research team, Doershuk was a key member and his "well-founded reputation in Pennsylvania helped close the credibility gap" between researchers and those who "saw the portents of change as a threat." A cache of 1970s documents concerning the creation of state standards for district library centers, found within the Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library's historical files, similarly demonstrates Doerschuk's data-centric approach. Among other things, he sent the Governor's Advisory Committee a 30-page, single-spaced report which included each of the proposed standards, checklists showing which DLCs currently met them, and the DLCs' estimated costs for rectifying areas where they fell short -- a document Doerschuk developed through surveys, meetings, and conversations with staff at Norristown and other centers.
Given Pennsylvania's large population, its geographic diversity, and the sorry condition of many of its public libraries, Doerschuk faced logistical and political challenges that I'm only just beginning to comprehend. One problem that particularly seemed to vex him -- and, a battle he ultimately lost -- was an effort to regionalize and consolidate library services. As early as 1959, when he wrote about the Library Services Act for PaLA's Bulletin, he noted that LSA's focus on populations of 10,000 or less was a "serious obstacle to system building" and that rural communities were better served when connected with stronger libraries that were typically located in urban areas. The network of 25-30 district library centers that he helped establish in the early 1960s was an attempt to address this need, but it seems he wanted coordination over even larger geographic areas. Interestingly, he also hoped the service regions could encompass research, school, and special libraries as well. Writing for Wilson Library Bulletin in 1968, he noted that:
Our state's biggest problem was "the entrenchment of institutions and governments in patterns that don't fit the new scene. The larger unit of library service, like the larger unit of government, is a goal whose value seems almost self-evident, but the existence of small libraries, historically supported by small municipal units stands in the way. The desirability, even the necessity, of library networks that embrace all resources can be demonstrated, but the integrity of the institutions that own the resources cannot be violated. School and public services, the litany repeats, must be coordinated; but each institution has its own history and inertia.
A Master Plan promoted by the Governor's Advisory Committee and SLP in the mid-1970s would have essentially replaced the existing district library centers with regional libraries, but political opposition from DLC librarians, their constituents, and from the school library community defeated it.
Despite any frustrations Doerschuk's regionalization efforts might have caused, hundreds of his colleagues gathered at the Penn-Harris hotel in March 1978 to honor him as he headed toward retirement. A celebratory citation from PaLA noted the collaboration he encouraged between the association and SLP, as well as his ability to foster cooperation between SLP, the Department of Education, the state legislature, and the Governor's Office. After he left SLP, he remained in Pennsylvania for a time. Then, in 1982, when his first wife, Helen "Sandy" (Monks) Doerschuk passed away, he moved to North Carolina, remarried, and lived there until his own passing in 2006. According to Doerschuk's obituary, he was buried in Millersville -- not too far from the Lancaster institution where he got started in serving Pennsylvania's library community.
I would have a very long way to go if I were to write a full-length article about Ernest E. Doerschuk, Jr. -- including using records at the Lancaster Public Library, the State Library of Pennsylvania, and any family resources that exist. But as one of our most "dedicated" and "durable" public servants, he'd definitely be worth it!
Some articles by and about Ernest E. Doerschuk, Jr.:
- Berry, John. "A Day at a State Library," Library Journal, vol. 90 (October 1, 1965), 40123-4018.
- Doerschuk, Ernest E., Jr., "After Six Years!" [about the construction of the Lancaster Public Library], Library Journal, vol. 78 (May 15, 1953), 799.
- Doerschuk, Ernest E., Jr., "Certification Comes of Age," PLA Bulletin, vol. 5, no. 4 (September 1970), 265-268.
- Doerschuk, Ernest E., Jr., "Facing Realities: The Pennsylvania Library Manpower Survey," PLA Bulletin, vol. 27, no. 1 (January 1972), 21-24.
- Doerschuk, Ernest E., Jr., "Finding the Mix of Services," Wilson Library Bulletin, vol. 42 (April 1968), 801-804.
- Doerschuk, Ernest E., Jr., "Library Services Act in Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Library Association Bulletin, vol. 15, no. 1 (Summer 1959), 142-145.
- Doerschuk, Ernest E., Jr., Memo to Barbara Bruno, Chairperson, DLC Standards Committee, and Members of the Governor's Advisory Council, re. Survey of District Library Centers' Status with Regard to Proposed DLC Standards, n.d. [1976]. Copy available in Administrative Office Files, Montgomery County - Norristown Public Library, folder "Minimum Standards for DLC."
- Doerschuk, Ernest E., Jr.,"Pennsylvania's Standings in the Public Library League," PLA Bulletin, vol. 26, no. 3 (May 1971), 151-154.
- Doerschuk, Ernest E., Jr., and David C. Palmer, "Current Concepts in State Aid to Public Libraries," Library Trends, vol. 9 (1960), 35-51.
- "Leaders Honor State Librarian," PLA Bulletin, vol. 33, no. 2 (March 1978), 5.
- Pennsylvania Library Association, How Good Are Pennsylvania's Public Libraries: A Preliminary Report, 1951.
- Raber, Douglas. Librarianship and Legitimacy: The Ideology of the Public Library Inquiry. Greenwood Press, 1997.
- "Ralph Blasingame Appointed to Position of State Librarian in Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Library Association Bulletin, issue no. 3, pg. 1.
