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Publication date: 1 January 1952

MARJORIE PLANT

Dr Plant's paper was based on the survey which she made for the University and Research Section of the Library Association, of which the report has already been published by the…

24

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Dr Plant's paper was based on the survey which she made for the University and Research Section of the Library Association, of which the report has already been published by the Library Association. Her main points were as follows:

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Aslib Proceedings, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

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Publication date: 1 March 1966

AFTER some unsuccessful negotiations during the period when the first full‐time schools of librarianship were being established, the Birmingham School was founded in the autumn of…

86

Abstract

AFTER some unsuccessful negotiations during the period when the first full‐time schools of librarianship were being established, the Birmingham School was founded in the autumn of 1950. Circumstances were not entirely favourable—the immediate post‐war generation of enthusiastic ex‐service students had already passed through other schools; the accommodation available was indifferent; the administrative support was bad; resources were weak, both in books and in equipment. There was, more importantly, a strong local tradition of part‐time classes in librarianship and little or no conviction that full‐time study was necessary or desirable.

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New Library World, vol. 67 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Publication date: 1 May 1961

The news that the Ministry of Education has set up two Working Parties in connection with the proposed new Public Libraries Bill is welcome and gives further hope that such a Bill…

38

Abstract

The news that the Ministry of Education has set up two Working Parties in connection with the proposed new Public Libraries Bill is welcome and gives further hope that such a Bill will appear in the not too distant future. From the constitutions of these Working Parties, which seem to us to be fairly representative of all interests, it would appear that the first is going to concern itself with the main aspects of the Roberts Report recommendations, while the second will be given the task of studying the problems of library co‐operation. On the first party, county libraries are represented by Miss Paulin and Mr. Budge, while Wales is represented by Mr. A. Edwards, librarian of the Cardiganshire and Aberystwyth Joint Library. Mr. D. I. Colley, the city librarian of Manchester, will be keeping a watching brief on behalf of the large libraries, but it should not be forgotten that he is also a member of the Libraries Committee of the Association of Municipal Corporations. Mr. Gardner is rightly there, perhaps not only as librarian of Luton but also as chairman of the Library Association's Executive Committee. The Smaller Libraries Group can surely have no complaints, for out of the ten members of Working Party No. I there are three librarians from smaller libraries, these being Mr. Helliwell of Winchester, Mr. Christopher of Penge and Mr. Parker of Ilkley. This Working Party is completed by two legal representatives in Mr. W. B. Murgatroyd, who is Town Clerk of Hornsey, and Mr. J. H. Oldham, who is Assistant County Solicitor for Kent.

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New Library World, vol. 62 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Publication date: 1 July 1925

We issue a double Souvenir number of The Library World in connection with the Library Association Conference at Birmingham, in which we have pleasure in including a special…

47

Abstract

We issue a double Souvenir number of The Library World in connection with the Library Association Conference at Birmingham, in which we have pleasure in including a special article, “Libraries in Birmingham,” by Mr. Walter Powell, Chief Librarian of Birmingham Public Libraries. He has endeavoured to combine in it the subject of Special Library collections, and libraries other than the Municipal Libraries in the City. Another article entitled “Some Memories of Birmingham” is by Mr. Richard W. Mould, Chief Librarian and Curator of Southwark Public Libraries and Cuming Museum. We understand that a very full programme has been arranged for the Conference, and we have already published such details as are now available in our July number.

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New Library World, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Publication date: 1 February 1950

MARJORIE PLANT

THE historian sometimes has a blissful dream that he has come across a mass of records previously unknown to exist but capable, in his hands, of forming the basis of an…

109

Abstract

THE historian sometimes has a blissful dream that he has come across a mass of records previously unknown to exist but capable, in his hands, of forming the basis of an epoch‐making study. In 1921 it came true with the thrilling discovery of the documents on which Professor George Unwin was to base his Samuel Oldknow and the Arkwrights, which might be called the first business history. Oldknow's cotton mill at Mellor was then a ruin, having been destroyed by fire in 1892; all that remained was a detached portion which, though dilapidated, was used for stabling and for other odd purposes. One day a Boy Scout aroused curiosity by offering to passers‐by a number of weavers' pay‐tickets dating from the eighteenth century. His explanation, on being questioned, was that he had found them in this small outhouse. The find was quickly reported to Unwin, and he joined eagerly in the search among the dust and debris of the upper floor, to be rewarded by the discovery of heaps of letters, account‐books, wages‐sheets, and other manuscripts. Then began an engrossing task of cleaning and sorting. By incredibly good fortune the documents were found to include the records of Oldknow's previous business as a muslin manufacturer at Stockport, of his bleach and print works at Heaton Mersey, and of the beginnings of his enterprise at Anderton, as well as those of the Mellor mill itself.

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Journal of Documentation, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

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Publication date: 1 October 1949

THE Library Association has begun the Centenary of the Public Libraries Acts' celebrations with an attractive booklet which, we suppose, is now in the hands of many, if not most…

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Abstract

THE Library Association has begun the Centenary of the Public Libraries Acts' celebrations with an attractive booklet which, we suppose, is now in the hands of many, if not most, of our readers. We are to have, we understand, an official, documented history which should be worthy of the occasion; that may come later. The booklet, however, A Century of Public Library Service, should be made available in every library. To be effective it should go into every household—a manifest impossibility on any means at the command of the Library Association, since the booklet itself puts the registered borrowers alone at twelve millions, and if there are five people to a household, nearly two and a half million copies would be required. If it goes to every service point that will involve 23,000. These figures illustrate the difficulties of our publicity. The machine is too vast for all its parts to be reached. We suppose it will go to every librarian and every member of a library committee—about 6,000 copies—and that may be a good plan, although that would be sending it to those who are, we hope, converted. As for the book itself, it follows the lines of the paper read by Mr. L. R. McColvin at Eastbourne last year; it tells our history; shows by graph and figure the vast increase in supply to meet demand; deals successively with the various parts of the service; and surveys the future. Its value is as an assessment of book stock, staff and relative success and failure and the relation of these to the resources, financial and otherwise, of libraries. In 1949 we are spending £1,650,000 on books, if our calculation at 2s. 9d. per borrower is correct. This, for the whole population—say 45 millions—is not lavish. These and many other useful points are indicated. The work is for domestic consumption, to serve as a basis for self‐examination. On the physical side it is attractive, is printed on plate paper, which brings out brightly the twenty‐five illustrations and a graph, which show pleasant samples of libraries and readers. As a curious point we find no sign in any of the pictures that there are men librarians in public libraries.

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New Library World, vol. 52 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Publication date: 1 September 1958

THERE is no argument more futile in the field of librarianship than that of whether it is preferable that librarians should be bookmen or administrators. Nonetheless, the…

30

Abstract

THERE is no argument more futile in the field of librarianship than that of whether it is preferable that librarians should be bookmen or administrators. Nonetheless, the President thought fit to make it one of the main points of his address to the Conference, painting in words two pictures—one of the “business executive” type librarian with his clear desk, telephone and secretary, and the other of a “scholar” type surrounded by books and dust, oblivious to the outside world. If it were possible to define the terms “bookman” and “administrator” in relation to library work there might be some point in a discussion on the subject. What is meant when a librarian is called a bookman? Is a bookman someone who comes to work like everyone else, but once arrived sits in an office and spends the rest of the day reading? If this is what a bookman does, does he read old books or new books? If old books, does he read them literally or bibliographically? Does he read purposefully in order to create some new work of his own, or without purpose? The question is an endless one, but then no librarian could possibly spend the whole of his working life so engaged.

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New Library World, vol. 60 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Publication date: 1 January 1950

1950, the centenary year of public libraries, now with us, must be a year of intense interest to all who read THE LIBRARY WORLD. Preparations have been made by the Library…

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Abstract

1950, the centenary year of public libraries, now with us, must be a year of intense interest to all who read THE LIBRARY WORLD. Preparations have been made by the Library Association on very generous lines for its celebration. We have our Royal Charter, and now we have the privilege of the Consort of the Heir to the Throne as our President. What is more, H.M. the King has become our Patron. Who shall think meanly of librarians and their work hereafter? No longer, too, shall librarians think meanly of themselves. The writer of this month's Letters on Our Affairs, with some of which we may not entirely agree, is surely right in his assertion that the profession “is arriving.”

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New Library World, vol. 52 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Publication date: 1 August 1960

ROYAL Alderman T. A. Abbott of Manchester, dealt with somewhat severely by Dr. Savage in his A Librarian's Memories, had at least enthusiasm for libraries. He was mightily…

34

Abstract

ROYAL Alderman T. A. Abbott of Manchester, dealt with somewhat severely by Dr. Savage in his A Librarian's Memories, had at least enthusiasm for libraries. He was mightily honoured when he became President at our Manchester Conference in 1921. “We are the Royal Library Association”, he declared and should call ourselves that; haven't we a Royal Charter? Our recognition comes direct from the Sovereign”. No doubt a vain wish, although the Library Association seemed to come near it in 1950 when George VI graciously became its Patron and the Duke of Edinburgh its President. Since that date the engineers have become “royal”, but we have slipped back. When Her Majesty came to the Throne, the patronage her father had bestowed was refused, no doubt on the direct counsel of her advisers who would not want so young a Sovereign to assume too many offices. On that view librarians could not murmur. There is a future, however, and in it there will be a new Library Association House next to, almost conjoined with, a new National Central Library. King George V with Queen Mary opened the second, as is well remembered especially by the King's speech, one of the best, most useful, in library history, in which he described the N.C.L. as “a university that all might join and none need ever leave”—words that we hope may somewhere be displayed in, or on, the new N.C.L. building. Royalty and its interest in libraries has been again manifested in the opening last month (July 13th to be precise) by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, of the new Central Public Library at Kensington. The Royal Family has close relations with Kensington of course. It is recalled, too, that the Manchester Central and that at Birkenhead were opened also by King George V and Queen Mary; and Queen Elizabeth II quite recently opened the Central Library of the re‐created city of Plymouth, the largest new town library since the Second World War. Kensington has now opened the first major London library since 1939. It is not modern in spirit externally and, as is known, is the work of the architect of the Manchester Reference Library, Mr. Vincent Harris, and there is no doubt about its dignity. Its interior methods are, however, quite modern; a few of them were broadcast to us for a few moments by the B.B.C. announcer, to the effect that there were 100,000 books, that returned books in the lending library were not discharged at the counter but slid down a chute to a room below where that was done, etc., with the remark that books not available in the public apartment could be requisitioned from other libraries but, with the large stocks on show and in the building, that did not seem to be very necessary. We sometimes wish that broadcasters, however well intentioned that may have been, knew something about libraries. Happening at about the same time was the removal of the Holborn Central Library stock to its new home in Theobald's Road, a complex process which Mr. Swift and his staff carried out in July without interrupting the public service. We hope that Mr. Swift will be able soon to tell us how he carried out this scheme. Thus has begun what we hope will be a process of replacing many other London libraries with modern buildings more worthy of the excellent work now being done in them.

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New Library World, vol. 62 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Publication date: 1 May 1954

CHARLES H. MORRIS

Shortly after you so kindly in‐vited me to speak to you I noticed on my bookshelves a scarce book published by the Oxford University Press in 1903 entitled A Chart of Oxford

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Abstract

Shortly after you so kindly in‐vited me to speak to you I noticed on my bookshelves a scarce book published by the Oxford University Press in 1903 entitled A Chart of Oxford Printing, ‘1468’‐1900. In this book Falconer Madan exhibited the fluctuations in the output of the Printing press at Oxford from its beginnings down to the time when popular education was just making its effect felt in a considerably increased demand for its books. In the chart which Madan prepared we see graphically the varying, but gradually increasing, number of books printed or published by Oxford alone over the centuries, from ones and twos annually in the 1480s to the rising volume of 40 or so in the 17th century (over 100 exceptionally in 1643) on to the two hundreds of Victorian times. Today, i.e., in 1952, we have the Oxford University Press publishing, or becoming agents for, 767 new books or reprints.

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Library Review, vol. 14 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0024-2535

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