0.5 Chapter three: professionalization and postwar expansion, 192  (Page 12/13)

In the 1954 annual report, Vail echoed Beekman's confidence in the Society's prospects. Vail wrote that the Society's "record of increased service to the world of scholarship is cause for congratulation but it is also a challenge to greater ser­vice in the years ahead, for as the need grows, we must grow with it." This spirit set the tone for the duration of Vail's tenure. The period was characterized by glowing annual reports documenting the many services the Society was able to provide and the many items the Society had acquired.

But what had really changed between the late 1940s and the late 1950s to engender such expansive thoughts in the minds of Society leadership? Actually, very little. For example, the Society had made little headway in processing its monstrous cataloging backlog. In his address, Beekman attempted to turn the backlog into an unusual kind of asset, saying that "the fact that the stacks con­tain a large amount of uncatalogued, original documents makes it a 'treasure-trove' and consequently a challenge to a research student."

Since investment income continued to grow for the rest of Vail's tenure, bal­ancing the annual budget was never a problem. In fact, the Society took the com­mendable step of beginning to save for the future by establishing three board-designated restricted funds: an accumulated surplus fund, a pension fund, and an accessions fund. By 1959, the balances in each of these funds were as follows: accumulated surplus, $221,000; pensions, $66,000; accessions, $8,000.

Still, even in the midst of this period of positive prospects for the Society, there was evidence that management was aware of the fundamental long-term issues and problems the institution faced (for example, how to pay for the education com­ponent of its mission and how to cope with the cataloging backlog). Beekman hinted that he was struggling with how best to resolve the education question in his Sesquicentennial address. His idea for a possible solution bordered on the clairvoyant, considering the options considered by the Society in the 1990s:

That is all very well, but is it enough? Should we not look ahead and plan for the future by expanding in this part of our endeavors through entering the field of higher education where the unique library material which we control may be employed to the greatest advantage? This, I believe (and it must be taken as a personal opinion), can be accomplished through the Society associating itself with some university, or universities. ... I say "associated" for it would not be judicious for the Society to lose any of its individuality or autonomy. This plan, if it might be carried out, would, I think, be of advantage to both parties. Such an association would result in common use of facilities, there would be less du­plication of library objects, and the introduction of rare items of source mater­ial for common use would be of inestimable value for all concerned. Most important for us, however, is that the Society would enter a university atmos­phere, with its stimulus and encouragement for original work, which no indi­vidual organization can alone attain.