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Michael Madison passes on some great news:

Berkman Center Executive Director John Palfrey will become the new Director of the Harvard Law Library (the appointment is actually “Vice Dean of Library and Information Resources“).

Congrats to John for this position!

Michael asks whether this means that other folks without formal library training should be considered for such positions. He writes:

I’m guessing that John Palfrey persuaded Elena Kagan, the HLS Dean, that the substantive and methodological challenges that librarians confront these days are not significantly different than the substantive and methodological challenges that any manager of a complex information environment confronts. Not anyone can manage the Harvard Law Library, but there may no longer be anything distinctively “library-ish” about the position.

Frankly, almost all jobs in a university library demand the skills, knowledge, and networks that a good library school provides.

But director or dean may be the most obvious exception. Harvard University recently appointed historian Bob Darnton as its library dean. And Michigan has former provost Paul Courant -- an economist -- as its library dean. By all accounts both of them have leveraged their vast experience working with and in libraries to improve those already excellent systems. Of course, much of what they have to do is raise money. But they also have to set agendas, make policy, and lobby the administration for resources.

So being a trained librarian is nice, but not necessary.

I would, however, argue that only the exceptional non-librarian should do such a job. Loving libraries and valuing the professional skills of the staff is just as important as any status or knowledge one brings to such a position.

In the case of John Palfrey's new job, he is exceptional. So it's a great move. John has been in the trenches of the open-access movement as much as anyone. He provides energy, knowledge, experience, and contacts that few others could offer.

To turn the question around: Should law schools consider hiring librarians or other non-lawyer academics to be their deans, even if they lack the three-year degree? After all, it's just the management of a complex information and labor environment, right? :)