Buck to Serve as University Library Director

Paul H. Buck will return to the University Administration in September as the Director of the Harvard Library.

Buck, Dean and Provost for 15 years until his resignation in 1953, has served as virtual president of the University twice: when former president James B. Conant '14 was absent for atom research during the war, and later when Conant resigned to serve as West Germany High Commissioner.

The University Library which Buck will head is second in size only to the Library of Congress. President Pusey has emphasized often the importance of the library at Harvard and had been seeking another top administrator to succeed the present librarian, Keyes D. Metcalf, who will retire this summer.

In announcing the new appointment, Pusey called Buck's willingness to accept the new administrative responsibilities "a cause for gratitude among Harvard" men and among scholars everywhere."

Pusey continued, "The Library is at the very heart of liberal education. It is the source of strength to faculty and students alike. . . .

Introduced Major Programs

"Paul Buck shares the high regard we all have felt for the imaginative library leadership of his friend, Keyes Metcalf. In his years as Provost and Dean of our central faculty, Mr. Buck introduced a series of major problems--ranging from General Education to Applied Science--which required the close cooperation of educator and librarian. . . .

"He knows the faculty and its needs for research and teaching, the students' needs for learning, and he knows the library intimately both as scholar-user and as administrator-friend. Paul Buck is in Harvard's great tradition of scholar-librarians."

Buck is the author of "The Road to Reunion," a study of reconstruction days in the South which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. He received an A.B. degree from Ohio State University in 1921 and has taught American history at Harvard since he received his Ph.D. degree here in 1926.

Metcalf Here 17 Years

Metcalf, who reaches the administrative retirement age of 66 this spring, has been at the University for 17 years. He came to Harvard from the New York Public Library, where he had been Chief of the Reference Department. He had received the diploma of that library's School in 1914, and had worked there 24 years.

Supervised Building

As Library Director, Metcalf devised "The Farmington Plan" for dividing responsibility for collecting new material among research libraries; he also supervised the building of Houghton Library in 1942 and Lamont in 1949.

Pusey praised Metcalf's achievements yesterday, saying, "he revitalized the library to make study more pleasant and more efficient for everyone from freshmen to senior scholars and to meet the constant demand for shelf-space to house the growing collections.

Bold Innovations

"This was done by a series of bold innovations in the keeping of our treasure of books."

Buck commenting last night about his appointment, said, "I subscribe whole-heartedly to what Mr. Pusey says about the library and share his great admiration for Mr. Metcalf.