A Long Shelf Life

The national Public Library Association calls him "the most influential public librarian of the last 30 years." Critics say he's dumbing down the library's role. But the only opinions that mean much to Charles Robinson '50 are those of his patrons at the libraries in Baltimore County, Md.
Robinson, who retired recently after 34 years as director of the Baltimore county library system, made a career of tweaking convention. He computerized card catalogs in the 1960s, years before the practice was widely accepted. He was one of the nation's first librarians to expand ancillary services--making available videos, records and tapes, and mainstream periodicals that now are commonplace but were once considered frivolous. His controversial philosophies about library management have energized debate about the role of public libraries and public librarians. "A lot of librarians see their job as providing books they think people should read rather than as an effective distributor of material that people want to read, "Robinson said. "People come to libraries to borrow books. If the books they want to borrow aren't there, they won't come. It seems obvious, but it's lost on too many librarians."
Robinson is unapologetic about his decision more than 30 years ago to "give 'em what they want," a slogan that in practice meant putting the public back in public libraries. At his library, Tom Clancy is as important as Charles Dickens; Danielle Steel gets the same respect as Jane Austen. Robinson loves the classics, but his literary preferences don't get in the way of providing what his users want. "There has always been a feeling that if you pander to popular tastes, you're providing garbage," he said. "People have better taste than they're given credit for. My deputy director (Jean-Barry Molz, who also is retiring after 33 years in the Baltimore system) and I have tried to make decisions from the point of view of the user rather than of the provider."
The success of Robinson's approach is unarguable. The Baltimore County library system is one of the busiest in the nation. Last year more than 11 million items were checked out of the system's 15 branches. More than 600,000 people hold library cards.
Robinson says he is a pragmatist, a quality perhaps left over from his days as an economics major at Colby. "Most librarians were English majors," Robinson said, which may contribute to the widespread belief that librarians should promote study of the established canon. "Public libraries are not academic libraries," he said. "Too many libraries are public monuments that look impressive but don't give the taxpayers what they should be getting--a library they want to use."
The credo "give 'em what they want" also is the title of a popular book co-written and updated several times by Robinson and members of his staff, whom he credits for much of his success: "I'm proudest of the staff I've built. They have covered up a lot of my weaknesses." And under his tutelage, several of Robinson's staffers have developed skills that resulted in directorships at city libraries throughout the country.
Although retired, Robinson will remain active in the field. He will serve as editor of the newsletter of the Public Library Association--a position he accepted on a volunteer basis to save the association money--and he continues to comment on the future challenges facing public libraries. He is concerned about funding for libraries and about the changes being brought about by technology. "We may see a day when people read electronic books on light, cheap laptop readers," he said. "If we reach a point when books are cheap and easy to store, what use is there for a library? Libraries should be thinking about how to respond to these changes."