University of Tennessee Library Lectures, 1982-1984 (no. 34-36)

The University of Tennessee Library Lecture Series was initiated by William H. Jesse, Director of Libraries from 1943 to 1970, as a means of providing a "fonnal treatment of major library problems." Since its inception in 1949, a distinguished librarian or scholar has been invited to address current problems as well as to identify future trends in libraries. In the thirtyfourth lecture, Kenneth G. Peterson cautions that the application of new technologies in academic libraries threatens to change traditional values in librarianship. He suggests methods for maintaining a balance between the traditional values and the new technology.

The prestigious Lecture Series was expanded in 1983 to become the University of Tennessee Library Day, and now includes the library lecturer, speakers from allied professions and area librarians in an exchange of ideas. The change was designed to encourage an in-depth examination of issues and challenges facing libraries. The theme of the first annual "Library Day" was "The Status of Library Automation in Tennessee and Surrounding States." The featured speaker, Frank P. Grisham, executive director of SOLINET, provides a regional broker's view on the implications of local library automation for statewide and regional cooperation. Mr. Grisham explains that the direction of library cooperation has been influenced by economic constraints, technological advances and user needs, although he predicts that the recent proliferation of local library automation systems will have the most dramatic impact on the nature of cooperation.

William J. Welsh, one of the most innovative leaders in the library profession, delivered the thirty-sixth lecture. Mr. Welsh describes the development and implementation of his two great conservation projects at the Library of Congress, the mass de-acidification treatment and the optical disk pilot program, designed to help conquer the intractable problems of time and space.