UCLA

Despite the enormous efforts which preceded the founding of the School of Library service at UCLA, two critics in the August 1959 issue of Southern California Chapter of the Special Libraries Association Bulletin--Robert Lewis and Frank Bennett, the latter of which was the Bulletin’s editor--created a stir in the special libraries community when they adamantly went against the general consensus of enthusiasm for the School of Library Service, and rather, vehemently opposed it. In exploring the reasons for and responses to these criticisms, this thesis will present an argument as to why these early critics were erroneous in their assessment of library education in Southern California and why the School of Library Service’s legacy and history, especially the efforts of Regent Edward Augustus Dickson, are essential in understanding the importance of UCLA’s “School of the Library.” Using information which was known in 1959 as well as that which is now known in retrospect, this thesis will assert reasons why the University of California Regents made a commendable decision in approving the School of Library Service at UCLA.