Keller and the library

According to his own recollections in interviews, Mark Keller learned to read by the age of five, found out from other kids about the library when he was seven, and started to borrow books, aiming to read them all in the library. At the young age of twelve, he was allowed to use the adult section of the local public library. Soon he was reading Shakespeare and using a dictionary.

CAAAL Manual (1953)

Organizing alcohol literature

Fast forwarding a few decades, along with Jellinek, Keller laid the framework for the development of the Alcohol Studies Library by establishing the Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature (CAAAL), the first and most extensive alcohol-themed collection at the time of its inception with an elaborate classification system of the alcohol literature. Co-authored by the two pivotal figures in alcohol studies and bibliographer Vera Efron from the original Carnegie-funded staff, the first edition of the CAAAL manual presented the very first taxonomy and classification in the field, based on their article published in QJSA in 1948.

Jellinek, E. M., Efron, V., & Keller, M. (1948). Abstract archive of the alcohol literature. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 8(4), 580–608.

Published in 1965 after Jellinek’s death, the updated, second edition offered a more complex system, building on the original concept.

CAAAL Manual (1965)

Keller, an advocate for special libraries

Amassing a huge amount of books on the shelves of his own office at Yale in the 1950s, Keller advocated for a proper library for a long time. Eventually, teaming up with Selden Bacon brought success, and a small, formal library was set up in 1958. Revealing his plans about the library in 1957, Bacon was instrumental in securing funding for the collection, while Keller donated books piling up in the QJSA offices to the library. Many of the books were purchased for the Summer School. Journals were received in exchange programs with other journals all over the world. Other faculty also donated books and journals, while staff started to collect the full text of every single article abstracted for Classified Abstract Archive of Alcohol Literature.

Bacon proudly reported on the first year of the CAS collection in the Summer School Alumni News, including the fact that three out of the six library staffers were Summer School graduates. A separate library was established only after the Center moved to Rutgers in 1962, which found its home in Smithers Hall in 1964, properly staffed by a librarian and support staff. The library moved to the new addition, the Adele and Brinkley Smithers Building, and operated on the third floor until its closure in 2016.

Cited by renowned scholars in information science, Mark Keller laid the foundations for libraries and information centers in alcohol studies and made Rutgers the leading authority in the topic for a long time. In his article A special library information center model for a societal problem field —based on a presentation at the 1971 International Conference on Information Science in Tel Aviv—Mark Keller argued that traditional libraries were no longer adequate for addressing complex societal issues. He proposed a new model: a specialized information center tailored to a specific field of study.

Applying this model to the field of alcohol studies, Keller was instrumental in transforming the Center of Alcohol Studies Library into a pioneering resource, which evolved beyond a repository of books into an active hub for information dissemination, classification, and research support. His work laid the foundation for the Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature (CAAAL), a system that organized and indexed alcohol-related research across disciplines.

Keller’s vision positioned the library not only as a support service but as a central component of scholarly inquiry into alcohol and its effects on society. His model influenced the development of other specialized information centers in fields such as public health, addiction studies, and behavioral science, where interdisciplinary research and rapid knowledge exchange are essential. By demonstrating how a focused, well-curated information system could accelerate research and policy development, Keller helped redefine the role of libraries in addressing urgent societal challenges.

Selden Bacon and Mark Keller

Two prominent scholars in alcohol studies instrumental in establishing the library at the Center of Alcohol Studies. As the world’s first library specialized in alcohol and other drugs, it served as a model for many other libraries and information centers in the United States and beyond.

CAS librarians preserving Keller’s legacy

Keller’s legacy as an information specialist is defined by his dedication to making alcohol research both accessible and systematically organized. Inspired by his example, librarians at the Center of Alcohol Studies have traditionally contributed scholarly publications about the Center itself, enriching the literature on special libraries and their collaboration with leading figures in alcohol studies.

Articles related to the CAS library

Page, P. B. (1988). The Origins of Alcohol Studies: E. M. Jellinek and the documentation of the alcohol research literature. British Journal of Addiction, 83(9), 1095–1103.

Page, P. B. (1997). E. M. Jellinek and the evolution of alcohol studies : a critical essay. Addiction, 92(12), 1619–1637.

Page, P. B. (2005).The Alcohol History Collection at the Center of Alcohol Studies: A Valuable Resource on American Temperance And Prohibition. The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries, 61.

Ward, J. H., Babor, T. F., Allred, N., & Bejarano, W. (2024). The Modern History of Alcohol Research: Introducing the Rutgers Digital Alcohol Studies Archives. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 85(3), 289–295.

Weglarz, C. (2012). Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies Library: A Brief History. The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries, 52(1), 7-16.

CAS Library in 2015

The circulation desk area in the library featuring a mini exhibit to commemorate E. M. Jellinek’s 125th birthday displayed Keller’s typewriter. The library was shut down in December 2016. The collection, including the archives, was transferred to Rutgers University Libraries.