College and Research Libraries


Recent Publications 
BOOK REVIEWS 

Leighton, Phillip D., and David C. We-
ber. Planning Academic and Research Li-
brary Buildings. Chicago: American Li-
brary Assn., 1986. 2d ed. 630p. $60 
(ISBN 0-8389-3320-3). LC 85-11207. 
Anyone who has undertaken the plan-

ning of an academic research library dur-
ing the past twenty years would probably 
not have considered the task without a 
copy of Keyes Metcalf's Planning Academic 
and Research Library Buildings at hand. The 
widely accepted reputation and authority 
of this work in the field of library planning 
made Leighton and Weber's challenge in 
undertaking the writing of a second edi-
tion formidable. Leighton and Weber 
have organized this edition around the 
broad outlines of the planning process. 
Material on specific planning topics, to 
which Metcalf devoted the first two-thirds 
of his work, is folded into the planning 
process, with individual topics appearing 
whenever they are relevant to a particular 
planning stage. For the reader who is new 
to library planning, the broad range of 
specific planning topics that pop up at al-
most every step in the process may seem 
confusing and somewhat frustrating. On 
the other hand, it is this willingness to let 
the unavoidable complexity of library 
planning be visible that is one of the au-
thors' most significant contributions. 

Those familiar with Metcalf will proba-
bly still miss the convenience of the topical 
discussions about book stacks, traffic pat-
terns, reader accommodations, etc. The 
appendixes still offer a wealth of specific 
information organized topically. In addi-
tion, the thorough indexing greatly re-
duces the possibility of missing important 
pieces of topical information that appear 

in the broader planning discussions. This 
edition also includes a wealth of useful 
and informative illustrations. 

Planning an academic research library is 
intrinsically a complex and tangled mat-
ter. Leighton and Weber have done a com-
mendable job of discussing the planning 
process from start to finish, allowing the 
complexity to show while bringing an im-
pressive degree of order and clarity to 
their presentation. Anyone setting out on 
a first effort at planning the new construc-
tion or the renovation of an academic li-
brary building will be well served by this 
book. Those of us who have spent a few 
years engaged in library planning and are 
confident that we ''know Metcalf'' also 
owe it to ourselves to give this book a thor-
ough reading. 

The book will quickly establish its place 
in the working collections of library plan-
ners. Though this project may have begun 
as an effort to update Metcalf, what has re-
sulted is not only a major revision but also 
a significant addition to the literature of 
academic library planning. The degree to 
which this work advances the literature of 
library planning is understated by calling 
it a second edition. It is fully capable of 
standing on its own merits and should, in 
time, be known with equal respect as 
"Leighton and Weber."-Donald G. Kel-
sey, University of Minnesota Libraries, Min-
neapolis. 

Research Libraries: The Past 25 Years, the 
Next 25 Years. Papers for a Festschrift 
Honoring L. A. Anderson. Ed. by Taylor 
E. Hubbard. Boulder, Colo.: Colorado 
Associated Univ. Pr., 1986.$25 (ISBN 0-
87081-163-0). LC 86-2327. 

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