College and Research Libraries 260 I College & Research Libraries • May 1981 Winsor's quotation from Macaulay is man- gled and nonsense is printed. When the editors criticize Winsor's liter- ary style, asserting that it suffered because he "had no taste or feel for music," they may invite comparisons that they can ill afford. Their own style is remarkably grace- less and inept. Winsor did not repeatedly use what Fowler calls "the illiterate such." He would not have affronted his readers with "Yet building the institutional struc- tures of the library profession would prove more successful than maintaining the vital piety of the new dogma." He would not have written that he "was pushed to the sta- ture of a folk-hero," that he "vacillated some," or that he "prepared exhaustive and critical surveys of historical erudition on early Americana." Winsor may have failed to appreciate music, but his writings de- serve competent editors.-Edwin E. Wil- liams, Harvard University Library, Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. Organizing the Library's Support: Donors, Volunteers, Friends. Edited by D. W. Out of Stock? Back Orders? If your wholesaler has long delays in completing "out of stock" and "back orders" why not try the firm that spe - cializes in this area . . Current imprints -are easy to deliver but it takes a pers·on- alized, specialized attention to give you reliable service on back li st or other hard-to-get items. At Book House we call it "Concern- ed Service" and it works every day for a growing clientele including academic libraries just like yours. _ Call Toll Free 800-248- 1146 Michi~an Customers Call Collect the SAN 169-3859 BOOK HOUSE JOBBERS SERVING LIBRARIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT SINCE 1962 208 WEST CHICAGO STREET JONESVILLE . MICHIGAN 49250 Krummel. Allerton Park Institute, no.25. Urbana-Champaign, Ill.: University of Illi- nois Graduate School of Library Science, 1980. 119p. $10. LC 80-14772. ISBN 0-87845-054-8. Much has been written about the fiscal crisis plaguing libraries; indeed, journals are filled with articles reciting a litany of shrink- ing budgets and rising costs. Frequently the suggestion is made that technological in- novations and the organized sharing of re- sources can thwart those demons that make the task of managing a library a living night- mare. Surprisingly enough, however, the role that organized supporters-donors, volunteers, and friends-can play in helping libraries address the problems .of the 1980s has received little attention. Thus, D. W. Krummel's Organizing the Library's Sup- port: Donors, Volunte_ers, Friends is wel- come in that it suggests that librarians must "pass the hat" as well as purchase the com- puter terminal if they are to weather the eighties. The essays that Krummel has edited and compiled in this volume were originally given as papers at a conference devoted to the work auxiliary groups give to librar- ies-whether through the donation of books, time, money, or plain enthusiasm. The essays in the first part of this collection, "The Library Context," are very useful. Ed- ward G. Holley, for example, has written an amusing anecdotal account of his experience as director of the University of Houston Li- braries. Holley, while entertaining, has a clear message to deliver: librarians must come down from their ivory towers and be willing to take both the time and effort necessary "to interpret the library to those who have the resources to help." The li- brarian must be diplomat and administrator, strategist and workhorse, if he or she is to organize successful support for his/her li- brary. · Unfortunately, the second part of the col- lection, "Special Topics," is disappointing. The essays by Cynthia Weddel, Thomas G. Sanberg, and Jeanne Bohlen, although in- teresting in themselves, seem far removed from the library world. Their remarks seem applicable to any nonprofit organization, and I found myself wondering if the library was in fact different from a museum, church, or school when viewed from the perspective of organizing support. The second part of this collection also has a dis- turbingly diffuse quality. The essays deal with all kinds of libraries-from large academic to small-town public-and discuss a variety of topics, ranging from how to deal with problem personalities in a friends' group, to choosing print styles for library publications. In this case, comprehensive- ness is a liability rather than an asset. The reader is left with a wealth of information on a variety of subjects and a longing for some more in-depth treatment of the over- all problem of organizing support for librar- ies. Fortunately, Paul Mosher's essay, "Friends Groups and Academic Libraries," satisfies this craving. In describing the Stan- ford Library Associates, Mosher paints a picture that should inspire the envy and admiration of any library director. An imagi- native program, the work of a full-time li- brary development officer, and the support of the library staff have combined to make for a remarkably successful friends group. Yet, as Mosher sagely notes, this friends group has never been seen as an end in it- self, but as a source and resource "for a range of short- and long-term developmen- tal activities, having as their goal the larger financial benefit of the library." Mosher's ·essay crystalizes the seminal thread in this book: carefully cultivated, a friends group can indeed be a valuable resource that can help libraries provide better service and better collections, even in the straitened environment of the eighties.-Leslie. Parker I-iume, Research Libraries Group, Stanford, California. Getz, Malcolm. Public Libraries: An Eco- nomic View. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Pr., 1980. 214p. $12.50. LC 80-10651. ISBN 0-8018-2395-1. From time to time experts from other disciplines have applied their paradigms to libraries. The impact of their efforts has usually been negligible on thinking and practice within the profession. This book, written by an economist and intended for scholars '!()f local government as well as li- brary and public administrators, may prove to be an exception. Recent Publications I 261 Getz' outsider view of libraries as publicly financed institutions, and the resulting payoff of such support in terms of value to society and the efficiency of operations, is provocative and illuminating. Drawing upon data from thirty-one major libraries, the au- thor has attempted to analyze "the strategic decisions that shape the provision of public library service in the United States" accord- ing to economic and public administration theories. The conclusions-based on mac- roeconomic data about the optimum mix of hours of operation, number of facilities, staff size, number of materials, and the impact of technological innovation in terms of cost re- duction-are not definitive but certainly raise tough questions that public officials are likely to ask and library administrators should prepare to answer. Getz views libraries with scholarly dispas- sion, but some of his statements are sure to raise hackles among librarian readers. He considers the public library as an industry and the "bundling" of labor, buildings, and materials a "production process" to be opti- mized into a cost-efficient mix of services. Forty-seven of the fifty-nine branches of the New York Public Library are characterized as having benefits less than their annual cost of operation. He discusses the widely accepted public administration concepts of equity and redistribution of benefits-both are positive if benefits are larger for low- income families. He concludes that public libraries do "not tend to redistribute well- being from higher to lower income groups" because low-income groups do not us~ li- braries much. He favors charging fees whenever the li- brary incurs an· additional use. Further- more, it's appropriate to charge in excess of cost. In fact, the author thinks fees re- flecting the value of the service are perfect- ly O.K. The problem is setting the basis for the fee. Academic librarians should not ignore this disturbing book. Many of the ideas pre- sented and issues raised are pertinent for all libraries.-Ellen Altman, University of Ari- zona, Tucson. Studies in Creative Partnership: Federal Aid to Public Libraries during the New Deal. Edited by Daniel F. Ring.