Handbook for Local LibrariansReview by: S. L. RyanThe Library Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Oct., 1964), pp. 401-402Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4305507 .

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REVIEWS 401

ing to his task an intimate knowledge of the state and the individual institutions involved, a highly successful teaching career, extensive graduate study at home and abroad, and an extraordinary ability to win friends and to in- fluence people. At the same time, he was fre- quently a controversial figure, because of his liberal views toward labor and race relations and his advocacy of academic freedom.

As summarized by Wilson, Graham was guided by four fundamental principles in car- rying out the mandate given him: duplication was to be eliminated in the consolidated uni- versity through the allocation of functions; available funds were to be made to yield as high educational values as possible; both fac- ulty and students were to be mobile, in order to make the best use possible of the curricu- lums in the three institutions in rounding out student programs; the three institutions were to be built up, in accord with their individual histories and traditions, into one great, com- prehensive university as the most effective in- strument North Carolina could devise for the development of its educational, agricultural, industrial, cultural, and spiritual well-being.

By 1936, after prolonged negotiations, the allocation of functions had been settled, and President Graham began to build upon the foundation which had been laid. The educa- tional structure was reorganized; new colleges, divisions, schools, departments, and institutes were added; and increased financial support was found for old and new programs.

Naturally, the path has been far from smooth for the consolidated university as it has evolved and grown during the past thirty years. Budgetary provisions, though increas- ing, have never been more than barely ade- quate; complicated administrative controls im- posed by the state have seriously hampered educational policy making and operations; the second World War forced the university to move in new directions and to sidetrack or postpone activities not directly related to the war effort; the question of the admission of Negroes threatened controversy, but was satis- factorily resolved by the acceptance of quali- fied applicants; and the postwar period brought with it the perplexities associated with rapidly rising enrolments. How these and similar is- sues and problems have been met by the uni- versity is the substance of Wilson's enlighten- ing account, written from the point of view of one thoroughly acquainted with the institu-

tions involved. University administrators else- where, searching for answers to hard ques- tions, should add this volume to their office reference bookshelves.

ROBERT B. DOWNS University of Illinois

Urbana

Handbook for Local Librarians. 3d ed. Perth: Library Board of Western Australia, 1964. Various pagings. ?1.0.0 (Australian). Western Australia represents possibly the

largest single library district in the world. It covers an area of one million square miles, with its population largely confined to the southwestern corner of the state. Most of it is and or semiarid country, and its population centers are small and sparse.

The problems of providing a library service to small communities of people with small re- sources and little chance of obtaining trained personnel are severe. The Library Board of Western Australia with the assistance of its capable lieutenant, F. Sharr, the state librar- ian, has planned its strategy of service accord- ingly. It is based on a headquarters centraliz- ing activities such as acquisitioning, catalog- ing, circulation of books, and administration plus a state library controlling a state-wide reference service in close rapport with a num- ber of small libraries scattered throughout the country.

Previously in Australia the attempts of in- stitutes and schools of art to respond within a similar structure of service have failed not only through lack of resources and proper standards, but more importantly, because of the poor administrative system which allowed a multitude of small libraries to live in pov- erty, their small collections having grown stale and worthless.

But in at least one instance death was not the result. Even when standards are poor, a system which allows small libraries to revive themselves at a fresh stream can exist for a long time. McColvin, when he visited Austra- lia in 1946, noted this fact and gave credit to the Institutes Association of South Australia for an organization which emphasized regular book exchanges from a large central supply. Little was done to adapt this system to free public libraries, except indirectly through the country extension activities of the various

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402 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

state libraries. Public library service, devel- oped in the eastern states after the second World War, was more traditional in structure, depending as it did upon independent libraries under the surveillance of a state library board.

Broadly speaking, in Tasmania, South Aus- tralia, and Western Australia, the boards of the respective state libraries and the state pub- lic library systems merged into single boards with the role of the state libraries becoming more decisive and their organization more centralized. In effect the library boards now control a federation of libraries receiving sup- port from state and local govenments.

In Western Australia the degree of central- ization was designed to infringe as little as possible upon the independence of local li- braries. This was the result of deliberate and careful thought about the most satisfactory method for providing library service with lim- ited financial support and few professional li- brarians. Since the majority of the staff in local libraries would be virtually untrained, they had to understand clearly those jobs which were easy to comprehend and adminis- ter. Professional skills affecting cataloging, classification, book selection, and ordering had to be used as advantageously as possible. They could be centralized well enough, but the busi- ness of insuring that independent libraries functioned smoothly had to depend quite def- initely upon efficiency of amateur librarians. In this context efficiency undoubtedly de- pended on careful attention to detail and a ju- dicious appreciation of the general pattern of service. Instructions had to be clear, well ar- ranged, and relevant.

These are supplied in the Library Board of Westem Australia's Handbook for Local Li- brarians. It is refreshingly free of jargon and humbug; technical terms are kept to a mini- mum and when used are explained clearly. Its style and arrangement are excellent. The format is simple and plain with strong white paper left blank on the verso page for each li- brary's amendments. The book is not pagi- nated, but the topics are arranged under deci- mals. This serves two purposes: first, it facili- tates the intercalation of new material in its logical sequence; and, second, it is a simple and practical way of reminding those who use the book how decimals are arranged. Princi- pally the book deals with matters such as the registration of readers, loan procedures (based on the Browne system), overdues, the care of

books and stock records, with related matters of policy clearly defined.

The importance of the book is not that it describes routine, which has been done often enough before, but that it places routine in a coherent pattern for the amateur and profes- sional within a sophisticated library system. Obviously there are references to matters such as forms and regulations applicable only to Western Australia. But there is little that would be irrelevant to a library administrator with the responsibility for establishing, say, a public library system in one of the world's un- developed countries. Maintaining a normal card catalog in small libraries, for example, is a real problem. But the compromise of using a printed subject index for all libraries in the system in conjunction with a file of stock cards, one of which attends each book, could be easily understood from the Handbook and copied. So also could the system of book ex- change between local libraries and headquar- ters, and the use of the Request and Informa- tion Service.

One of the hidden virtues of the Handbook is that it has been compiled under the direc- tion of F. A. Sharr, the state librarian. He has visited and examined very closely the libraries for which this Handbook is intended. Those responsible for organizing a public library sys- tem in a country of limited resources would find the Handbook useful, practical, pragmat- ic, and full of good sense. Both the book itself and the achievement it represents deserve con- siderable praise.

S. L. RYAN

Public Library of South Australia Adelaide

Book Catalogs. Edited by ROBERT E. KINGERY

and MAURiCE F. TAUBER. New York: Scare- crow Press, 1963. Pp. viii+330. $7.00.

"Well, then, what is a welkin?" Huck Finn challenged Tom in Tom Sawyer Abroad.

I see in a minute he was stuck. He raked and scraped around in his mind, but he couldn't find nothing, so he had to say:

"I don't know, and nobody don't know. It's just a word, and it's a mighty good word, too. ...

"Shucks I" I says. "But what does it mean?- that's the p'int."

"I don't know what it means, I tell you. It's a word that people uses for-for-well, it's orna-

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