A Very Fruitful Career

John Berry retires; will remain Library Journal’s editor-at-large

Brian Kenney -- School Library Journal, 4/1/2006

John Berry, editor-in-chief of Library Journal (LJ) officially retired on January 31, capping more than 40 years at the magazine. Under Berry’s leadership, School Library Journal became independent from LJ in 1971 and was headed by Editor Lillian Gerhardt. Berry will continue to serve as editor-at-large for LJ and Library Hotline, providing insight and editorial direction, in addition to writing his regular column, “Blatant Berry.”

Tell us about your involvement in SLJ?

When I took over as editor in chief from Eric Moon in 1964, I asked “What’s the problem here?,” and he didn’t hesitate to say, “SLJ.”

Eric was in charge of both LJ and SLJ, and indeed, in SLJ’s early life it had been a physical part of Library Journal, as well as an organizational part. Both of the magazines in those days had a schizophrenic kind of quality because the book review and the editorial departments had constructed a wall, and the editors in chief of [both departments] really had little or no connection.

When I came in, Lillian Gerhardt had already become a tremendous influence in the field of children’s book reviewing. Ultimately, it became clear to me that I had to put someone in charge of the whole thing. And after very careful thought, I decided that Lillian showed the most managerial prowess and more skills and talent in that area. Also, she had shown a tremendous ability to build an editorial staff, some of whom are still here editing book reviews. It was on that basis—because she had built a staff of loyal, talented people who shared a point of view about standards of editing and standards of reviewing—that I thought she would be a better choice for the top spot.

How was your relationship with Lillian?

My relationship with Lillian was one of—I wouldn’t say mutual respect—but certainly I respected her. I think that finally we grew to be very, very close colleagues and friends professionally. But for most of the time that she was editor reporting to me, she saw no reason why School Library Journal shouldn’t be independent of Library Journal, and I didn’t see any reason why that shouldn’t be so either.

But being a manager in a corporate environment, I didn’t want to let go of any chips that I had in my bank, so I tried to hold on to it for a long time. Ultimately, I got the call from our publisher who said, “Lillian wants to report directly to me, what do you think?” And I said, “Absolutely. Do it. Why not?” And our relationship got much better after that.

Has the profession changed much since those days?

There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s radically different. First and foremost, it seems to me that the dominance of the book, print on paper bound in a book format, is much diminished. And many of its original purposes are no longer served by that format. That makes a tremendous difference, for example, in the areas of reference and information services.

What’s one of the biggest problem in library education today?

Every librarian worth his or her salt ought to know something about the way children function in library settings and how they work and how they approach literature. We don’t know enough about that, and yet it’s 30 percent of our service in all kinds of libraries.

One of the unique roles you play in the library world is as a critic. Will you continue in that role?

At LJ, there were times that I’ve thought back on what we’ve done and thought we’ve been a little tough on the American Library Association (ALA). But without that critique, ALA would not be where it is today. We have advocated things that have made ALA a much more effective association than many other professional associations in the world. Its positions on intellectual freedom are widely supported by everybody now.

I’ve been proud to be part of an association that understands that the larger issues before the society are as important to libraries as the issues that affect libraries very directly, like federal aid, in which ALA has played a substantial role.

You will continue to write for LJ?

I will write “Blatant Berry,” my column. And I will continue to cover events and write reports. I will probably write several features a year, some of the ones I write now and others.

I am now Berry Associates. I am a company now, not a person. There is a Web site in development. I may even jump into the blogosphere to bring fairness and balance.