The American Public Library

Citation

Freeman, M. (2012), "The American Public Library", New Library World, Vol. 113 No. 11/12, pp. 622-622. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801211282984

One of the informal hallmarks of a true profession is the existence of a solid, well organised handbook of professional knowledge and practice – the “vade mecum”, – meant to be carried “in the hand” and referred to constantly. This fine production from the world's oldest professional body for librarians amply passes the test for a good handbook: it is up to date, comprehensive, portable and well organised internally for the swift retrieval of information.

The well experienced and authoritative author has put together a clearly structured handbook centred around an alphabetical arrangement of topics, with good explanations of terminology used, handy reference lists attached to each topic and broad sweeping coverage of modern LIS topics, ranging from “Dewey, Melville” to “Zearing Public Library“ in Indiana. There are interesting and full articles on such topics as “Philosophy of Public Librarianship” and “Readers' Advisory Services”.

So this is a well written, well produced professional's handbook that any LIS practitioner would find useful on his desk. There are good clear Indexes and the book is easy to use and carry. The big drawback is – as the title proclaims – the overwhelmingly American bias and coverage of the book: nearly every American public library gets an entry, no matter how small it is – e.g. La Veta Public Library, Colorado, founded 1974, population served 1,391, holdings 10,992. Another drawback is that coverage is solely American public libraries; it is a pity that academic and special libraries could not be covered in the same tome.

Not to carp, however, it “does what it says on the tin” and the coverage is remarkable – it even manages to cover the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita upon public libraries! In summation, a useful, well‐produced handbook aimed squarely at the American LIS practitioner.