Review of The public librarian (With a section on the education of librarians by Robert D. Leigh)

Abstract

Reviews the book, "The public librarian," by Alice I. Bryan (see record 1952-06600-000 ). This volume completes the series of studies of public libraries made by the Public Library Inquiry of the Social Science Research Council and directed by Robert D. Leigh. It consists of Parts 1-3 which contain Dr. Bryan's survey of public library personnel and library personnel organizations and administration; Part 4, which is a survey of the education of librarians (Dr. Bryan designed the survey and determined its method, though the execution was undertaken by Dr. Leigh); and, Part 5 which is the summary and conclusions for both surveys. Dr. Bryan has done a workmanlike job in presenting and analyzing the information obtained from questionnaires and tests given to 3,706 librarians. In addition she has supplemented her data in some instances with other data. The data on personnel organization and administration were obtained by a fifty-six page questionnaire supplemented by personal visits to forty-three of the sixty libraries in the sample. To this reviewer Dr. Leigh's analyses and interpretations seem penetrating. The discussion of library education seems to to have much more warmth, much more care and thought and more evidence of insight. Both however maintain the same high standards of the six volumes of the Public Library Inquiry previously published and the volume as a whole is a valuable addition to library literature. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)