College and Research Libraries


Review Articles 

Social Function of Libraries 
Social Functions of Libraries. tByj Bcarthol-

omeusi L a n d h e e r . N e w York: Scarecrow 
Press, 1957. 287p. $6. 

I n m a n y respects this is o n e of the most 
a m a z i n g b o o k s this reviewer has read. It is 
r e p e t i t i o u s a n d l o n g w i n d e d . It is f u l l of 
misprints. It has statistical tables w h i c h were 
n e v e r filled in. It has u n f o r t u n a t e , if n o t 
bad, grammer. It is a curious c o m b i n a t i o n of 
p h i l o s o p h i c a l m u s i n g , sociological e x a m i n a -
tion, a n d statistical i n q u i r y i n t o cultures 
a n d libraries, w i t h o f t e n o n l y a m o d i c u m of 
organization. B u t p e r h a p s the m o s t unfor-
t u n a t e t h i n g of all is that u n d e r n e a t h is a 
great deal of i n f o r m a t i o n , careful t h o u g h t , 
a n d c o m p e t e n t insight o n the h i g h e s t p l a n e 
c o n c e r n i n g the role p l a y e d by libraries, that 
is w o r t h w h i l e b u t that requires an excess of 
p a t i e n c e to u n c o v e r . 

Dr. L a n d h e e r a t t e m p t s to answer f r o m a 
sociological s t a n d p o i n t t h e q u e s t i o n " W h y 
libraries?" H e asks: w h o reads a n d why, i n 
different types of cultures, his thesis b e i n g 
that r e a d i n g is an answer to i n d i v i d u a l 
needs, felt differently by i n d i v i d u a l s as the 
density, c o m p l e x i t y , pressure, a n d d e v e l o p -
m e n t of their society varies. W r i t i n g s to 
satisfy these n e e d s fall i n t o five categories: 
d e v o t i o n a l , cultural, a c h i e v e m e n t , c o m p e n -
satory, a n d i n f o r m a t i o n a l . Writers, at least of 
the truly creative sort, are likewise answer-
i n g a n e e d f e l t to c o m m u n i c a t e , to c o m m e n t 
o n a n d justify their p o s i t i o n a n d their so-
ciety. T h e artistic writer lives i n a w o r l d 
apart, a n d the s t i m u l u s t o write p r e s u p p o s e s 
a certain m a l a d j u s t m e n t . W r i t i n g p u t s h i m 
in the d y n a m i c , as o p p o s e d to the static, 
e l e m e n t of society, a n d it is h o p e d that his 
products, a l t h o u g h essentially personal, are 
likewise of m e a n i n g to others. 

T h e discussion o f — i n d e e d almost attack 
u p o n — t h e a c c e p t e d c o n c e p t of "efficient 
readership" or "maturity in r e a d i n g " is well 
d o n e . N o o n e v a l u e standard can be set 
u p o n r e a d i n g or material u n t i l o n e investi-
gates the i n d i v i d u a l r e a d i n g instance a n d 
analyses t h e reasons for it. G o o d r e a d i n g for 
o n e person b e c o m e s bad for another, a n d 

this is n o t in terms of p o l i t i c a l or religious 
d e n u n c i a t i o n but in terms of the sociological 
a n d psychological n e e d s of the i n d i v i d u a l . 

P r e d i c t i o n s o n the f u t u r e of libraries, as 
o n a n y t h i n g these days, are p e r h a p s ques-
t i o n a b l e , b u t Dr. L a n d h e e r can see their be-
c o m i n g ever m o r e necessary i n an increasing-
ly d i f f e r e n t i a t e d a n d faster culture. " T h e 
f u n c t i o n of a library is n o t the s p r e a d i n g of 
k n o w l e d g e , but t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of h u m a n 
personality. . . . R e a d i n g to be e n j o y e d re-
quires time a n d the ability to r e t h i n k the 
thought-processes of others. R e a d i n g does 
n o t m e a n 'to be t o l d s o m e t h i n g by s o m e o n e 
w h o k n o w s it better.' . . . R e a d i n g m e a n s to 
absorb w h a t is essential to one's m e n t a l 
structure, a n d this process has n o general 
rules of s p e e d or capability." G i v e n these 
needs, there can n e v e r be of m a k i n g m a n y 
books an e n d . — G . A. Harrer, Stanford Uni-
versity Libraries. 

American Fiction 
American Fiction 1851-1875, A Contribution 

Toward a Bibliography. By L y l e H . W r i g h t . 
San M a r i n o , Calif., T h e H u n t i n g t o n Li-
brary, 1957. x x , 413 p. $7.50. 

W i t h American Fiction, 1851-1875 Lyle H . 
W r i g h t brings his admirable b i b l i o g r a p h y of 
this field across the first full century of t h e 
n a t i o n a l l i f e of the U n i t e d States. T h i s vol-
u m e is a s u p p l e m e n t to Mr. Wright's Amer-
ican Fiction, 1774-1850, first p u b l i s h e d i n 1939 
a n d reissued in a revised e d i t i o n i n 1948. 
P u b l i c a t i o n of the s e c o n d v o l u m e marks the 
c o m p l e t i o n of a b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l project that 
can be verily described as m o n u m e n t a l . 

C o m b i n e d , the two v o l u m e s record a total 
of 5,604 titles, w i t h sixty m o r e titles listed 
for the last quarter century covered i n the 
s e c o n d v o l u m e t h a n for the w h o l e seventy-
seven years treated in the earlier c o m p i l a -
t i o n (2,832 titles against 2,772). E v e n this fig-
ure de-emphasizes the increased literary activ-
ity of the e x p a n d i n g country i n the mid-
n i n e t e e n t h century as Mr. Wright's criteria 
for listings in the n e w p u b l i c a t i o n were some-
what m o r e stringent than those for the earli-
er v o l u m e . 

MAY 1958 255