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BY February most of the parties, which are a gracious feature of modern libraries, are over. They arise from Staff Guilds, which now in most libraries associate the workers, and some of them are on a large scale. We have been represented at only a few of these but there seems to be a great fund of friendliness upon which the modern librarian can draw nowadays. An interesting one was that of the National Central Library Staff which, by a neighbourly arrangement, was held at Chaucer House. A reunion has been held of old and new members of the Croydon Staff Guild and no doubt there were many others. One New Year party was a small but notable dinner at Charing Cross Hotel where the 100th issue of The Library Review was toasted eloquently by the President of the Library Association and amongst the guests were Mr. C. O. G. Douie who was secretary of the Kenyon Committee of the 1927 Library Report and well‐known librarians and journalists. To us it was notable for the assertion by Mr. R. D. Macleod that amongst the young writers were too many who wrote glibly but without that research which good professional writing demanded; but he was sure that where intelligent industry was shown any article resulting would find a place in library journals.

THE Fifty‐First Conference of the Library Association takes place in the most modern type of British town. Blackpool is a typical growth of the past fifty years or so, rising from the greater value placed upon the recreations of the people in recent decades. It has the name of the pleasure city of the north, a huge caravansary into which the large industrial cities empty themselves at the holiday seasons. But Blackpool is more than that; it is a town with a vibrating local life of its own; it has its intellectual side even if the casual visitor does not always see it as readily as he does the attractions of the front. A week can be spent profitably there even by the mere intellectualist.

Twenty‐five years have passed since the publication of the Kenyon Report on public libraries, and it is time to put on record the story of the Committee which drafted the report, for soon it will be too late.

IPSWICH gave an interesting lead to the libraries of this country in its Book Week, which occurred last month. By a wise co‐operation between the National Book Council, the Local Booksellers and the Public Library, two book exhibitions—one of new publications in the local Y.M.C.A., and the other of book‐making processes at the Public Library—were held, and lectures at the Library by Sir Ernest Benn, representing publishers; Mr. Maurice Marston, booksellers; Messrs. G. A. Stephen and Berwick Sayers, librarians; and Mr. Michael Sadleir, authors, attracted good audiences. Posters of a most original kind “declared war” on the ignorance of the value of books in the town. The affair must have stimulated reading to some extant in Ipswich; and we hope it may find imitators elsewhere.

IN this issue we conclude our symposium on Modern Library Planning, and although it is not as complete as we could wish, it has certainly proved to be one of the most interesting subjects we have been able to deal with in recent years. We regret that lack of space has prevented us from including some interesting details about new libraries, and that we have laid ourselves open to the criticism of over‐crowding. We hope, however, that we shall be able, from time to time, to add further material as the occasion warrants. We had hoped to obtain a description of the Central Library Extension of the Hull Public Libraries, but this has, unfortunately, proved impossible. Lancashire County Library, too, is constructing four new branch libraries, an account of which we should have liked to include. Plymouth may be mentioned as still another library of which the material was not ready in time for our symposium. Also, we are sorry to have had to omit some of the illustrations which librarians have been kind enough to offer us for reproduction. In spite of these omissions, however, we have been able to gather together much that is new and interesting in modern planning, and one of the points that is well worth notice is the willingness of librarians to experiment in new ideas, even if conservatively.

We learn with interest and pleasure that, by the unanimous vote of the Council, the position of Executive Officer to the Library Association has been given to Mr. Guy Keeling, B.A. We understand that over one hundred applicants were considered for the post, and that it was felt that by education and experience Mr. Keeling was eminently qualified for the work which lies ahead of the Association. Mr. Keeling is a Cambridge man, Still on the sunny side of forty, whose pleasing personality is known to many librarians who have met him at conferences of “Aslib” or at meetings of the London and Home Counties Branch. As for his work as secretary of Aslib, it has proved him to be a man of most efficient organizing capacity. We offer him a welcome to the larger sphere of librarianship and we feel sure that all our readers will do the same, and, what is better, will support him in all his efforts in it.

We have from time to time suggested that librarians should pool experiences in regard to annual estimates, but there seems to be no enthusiasm for the suggestion. If library work is to develop it must be by gently progressive finance, and nothing helps one librarian more than to be able to point to another who is progressing. We all tend to wait upon one another. In such a matter as salaries, a librarian circulates his colleagues to learn what they are getting; and library authorities almost invariably ask, “What is paid at So and So ?” This is a vicious circle which cannot be broken unless librarians in consultation can reach a Standard. Perhaps the active London and Home Counties Branch of the L.A. will give a lead since the L.A. itself is too busy to do so.

The fly on the wheel said, “Lord, what a dust do I raise!” As Secretary of the B.M. I was the fly on the wheel, and conscious that the dust was none of my raising. Dust there was in plenty. A place of such national—and international—standing is constantly straining not only its own resources but also those of its friends to make vital and correspondingly costly acquisitions. Such was the purchase, with the generous help of John Pierpont Morgan, junior, who would have liked them for the Morgan Library, of the Bedford Hours and the Luttrell Psalter; the latter being one of the chief sources of our knowledge of English farm life in the Middle Ages. But during my fourteen years in the Office the Museum was faced with four great opportunities, quite out of the ordinary; and in all four it was successful.

NO doubt the Tighe Report, which is condensed in The L.A. Record for July, will have the scrutiny of all librarians. It is concerned with working conditions as they affect working hours, welfare and training and reads as if it were a series of excerpts from Brown's Manual. The “Scheme of Conditions of Service” under which public librarians work—the Report is confined to these; a further report on non‐public libraries is contemplated—makes no allowance for the late hours in comparison with those worked by other Council employees. “Some other” would be a more appropriate phrase as in many towns committee clerks, solicitors and accountancy officers have regular evening duties which are far later than 8 p.m. The report asks the framers of the “Scheme” to provide special pay for hours beyond normal office hours. Hours worked should, as far as possible, be continuous, and not “split,” and if they must by split have, between the shifts, a five‐hour interval. It is not explained how this excellent suggestion can be implemented on a day extending from, say, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Is 9–12, 5–8 contemplated? In any case the problem is to get two meals digestibly into the interval. Welfare provisions should include a staff room, where meals can be prepared and eaten, with the proper equipment, furniture and a clock; separate lavatory accommodation for each sex and again the necessary equipment of towels, etc.; first aid supplies; and protective overalls or dust jackets. “The wearing of uniform overalls on public duty”—where we suggest they would be most indicative and useful—“should not be compulsory.” We are not sure if this means that overalls need not be worn or that they need not be uniform in materials and pattern. Educational suggestions include the recognition of hours spent in attending professional meetings and week‐end and summer schools, an adequate staff library of books and periodicals; and every basic text‐book in a “sufficient number of copies to meet the full demands of the staff.” The Report does not indicate if this also means the class text‐book which the assistant uses throughout his course. Staff guilds or committees, on the familiar plan which has been usual in some libraries for forty years, should be encouraged. There is nothing in these recommendations which is new, but they are worth while, as their author implies, as a check which may be used to suggest minimum improvements.

OUR theme in general this month is the personality of the librarian. One may say that librarians have a habit of discussing the recruitment of the profession, its pay and other factors in the personnel. And it is natural that they should have, because after all it is their life. The librarian as a man rarely figures at any length or in any detail in the books or magazines that we usually read. Lately, it is true, Mr. L. Stanley Jast has been contributing to a contemporary, The Library Review, some admirable all‐too‐brief articles on his memories of personalities and doings mainly in connection with the Library Association thirty or more years since. It is a pity that Mr. Jast cannot be persuaded to give these reminiscences at much greater length, and although it is possible that their main appeal is to the born librarian, yet for those who read as they run, they possess many things of quite living interest. In short, the librarian is bound to be interested in the librarian himself; that is human nature.