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There have been many signs of a growing interest in the idea of a national lending library for the humanities. The manifestations of this interest include two articles, by D. J. Urquhart and D. J. Foskett, directly on the subject; an article by S. P. L. Filon on the new book‐buying policy of the National Central Library; and the review by I. P. Gibb of the report on the operation of the United States Farmington Plan.

AT the very outset of this paper it is necessary to make clear that it is not an attempt to compile an exhaustive bibliography of literature relating to special librarianship. Neither space nor time permit this. In fact, the references given can only claim to be a sample of the wealth of material on the subject and this paper is submitted in the hope that it will stimulate others to more scholarly efforts. Reference numbers throughout this paper refer to items in the ‘Select list of references to the literature of special librarianship’, section 2 onwards.

In this paper I propose first to describe very briefly the main types of library and their functions and then to consider in more detail what arrangements exist for facilitating interlibrary co‐operation and in particularly interlibrary lending in this country. The expression ‘organization of libraries’ is not meant to imply the existence of any centralized or official organization, such as exists for instance in Denmark. There are, however, certain voluntary arrangements for mutual aid among libraries which cover between them the great proportion of the more important libraries, and although these arrangements do not constitute an all‐embracing organization, they form the basis upon which an all‐inclusive system of co‐operation could be built.

Because of the concentration of inter/ending on the British Library Lending Division, union catalogues primarily play a supportive role in Britain. All union catalogues now held at the Lending Division have their origins in the National Central Library (NCL). The main one is the Union Catalogue of Books (UCB) which is an amalgamation of the NCL's Outlier Union Catalogue (OUC) and part of its National Union Catalogue (NUC). With the creation of the British Library Lending Division and its policy of acquiring all ‘worthwhile’ English language books it was decided that it would no longer be necessary to have a central author/title catalogue of recently published English language books. Only details of foreign language books and pre‐7972 English books are therefore now added to the catalogue. Other smaller catalogues used are: the combined regional ISBN list, the pre‐1801 Catalogue, the Conference Catalogue, the Government Publications Catalogue, and the Slavonic Union Catalogue. The Lending Division does not maintain a catalogue of serials, the British Union Catalogue of Periodicals (BUCOP) is used to locate titles or parts not in stock at the Division.

Library Association Record, published as this paper was going to press, contains an article by R. H. Hill and S. P. L. Filon entitled The Incorporation of Special Libraries in the National Interlending System, in which a number of proposals is put forward; if these recommendations are generally approved they will make still more necessary some consideration of the assumptions and difficulties I discuss.

OWING to the comparatively early date in the year of the Library Association Conference, this number of THE LIBRARY WORLD is published so that it may be in the hands of our readers before it begins. The official programme is not in the hands of members at the time we write, but the circumstances are such this year that delay has been inevitable. We have dwelt already on the good fortune we enjoy in going to the beautiful West‐Country Spa. At this time of year it is at its best, and, if the weather is more genial than this weather‐chequered year gives us reason to expect, the Conference should be memorable on that account alone. The Conference has always been the focus of library friendships, and this idea, now that the Association is so large, should be developed. To be a member is to be one of a freemasonry of librarians, pledged to help and forward the work of one another. It is not in the conference rooms alone, where we listen, not always completely awake, to papers not always eloquent or cleverly read, that we gain most, although no one would discount these; it is in the hotels and boarding houses and restaurants, over dinner tables and in the easy chairs of the lounges, that we draw out really useful business information. In short, shop is the subject‐matter of conference conversation, and only misanthropic curmudgeons think otherwise.

The Library Association of Ireland issued last month the first number of An Leabharlann, their new official journal. The title, for those of us who do not speak the language of Erin, means The Library. It is an extremely interesting venture which will be followed by librarians on the mainland with sympathetic curiosity. In particular our readers would be interested in the first of a series of articles by Father Stephen J. Brown, S.J., on Book Selection. The worthy Father lectures on this subject at University College, Dublin, in the Library School. It is mainly concerned with what should not be selected, and deals in vigorous fashion with the menace of much of current published stuff. No doubt Father Brown will follow with something more constructive. Mr. T. E. Gay, Chairman of the Association, discusses the need for a survey of Irish libraries and their resources. We agree that it is necessary. The Net Books Agreement, the Council, Notes from the Provinces, and an article in Erse—which we honestly believe that most of our Irish friends can read—and an excellent broadcast talk on the Library and the Student by Miss Christina Keogh, the accomplished Librarian of the Irish Central Library, make up a quite attractive first number. A list of broadcast talks given by members of the Association is included.

The NCL—the National Central Library—came into existence in 1930 and the main part was merged with the NLLST—The National Lending Library for Science and Technology—in 1973 to form BLLD—British Library Lending Division. S. P. H. Filon joined the staff of the NCL in 1931 and retired as the Chief Officer of the NCL in 1971,so he was in a special position to provide a history of the NCL from the inside; and he has provided a very readable account of it.

IF no completely novel contribution to librarianship came out of the Eastbourne Conference, it could be justified as having to some extent integrated libraries and literature; for, in the choice of a scholar to address it in Dr. R. W. Moore on the underlying connexion of books and therefore libraries with life; and of our own ex‐President, Dr. Esdaile, to recreate the poetry of the first years of the century, no mistake was made. The technical and administrative matters always seem Ezekiel's valley of dry bones in such a setting, but there were really good papers, practical ones like the very controversial contribution of Mr. Corbett, the excellent hospital library paper by Miss Southerden and Mr. Lamb's experienced treatment of Commercial and Technical Libraries. Most members there, too, were old enough to appreciate the chronicle of 1919–49 offered by Mr. Stewart, and all received stimulation from Mr. L. R. McColvin's forecast of our future. There were too many papers for any one librarian to absorb, but the Library Association serves many interests today. Some impressions have been given in other pages from the writer of Letters on Our Affairs.

LOUGHBOROUGH was the first of the post‐war schools to be established in 1946. This resulted from negotiations of representatives of the Library Association Council with technical and other colleges which followed their failure to secure facilities within the universities on the terms of the L.A. remaining the sole certificating body. The late Dr. Herbert Schofield accepted their terms and added a library school to already varied fields of training within his college.