College and Research Libraries


has written. He has written an intro-
duction for a technique of reading for the 
person who wants "to learn to read better, 
and then, by reading better, to learn more 
of what can be learned through reading." 
In the same book, however, M r . Adler 
has two other matters to present. He 
offers a critique of current educational 
practices and a list of "great books." His 
attack on the first of these and his defense 
of the second are sometimes inserted in the 
development of his major objective, a 
technique for reading, and the whole book 
is enlivened thereby. 

Of his technique for reading this may 
be said. He offers a pattern for approach-
ing a book and reading it that is complete 
and satisfactory, although the application 
of the pattern involves painstaking, hard 
work for the reader who seeks to employ 
it for the first time. While full of prac-
tical common sense, the book offers no 
short-cut to self-improvement. It may 
as well be stated frankly that the book 
will be of little help to a poor, inefficient, 
or unintelligent reader, or to any person 
unwilling to read patiently through the 
book with every attention. T h e author's 
careful beginning, his examination of as-
sumptions and his definitions are, in my 
opinion, too much for the average reader, 
but well worth the consideration of those 
of us who earn our bread by reading or 
by promoting reading. T h e gist of M r . 
Adler's remarks on a reading technique 
were once available in more succinct form 
and would probably be more generally 
useful than the present book. I am re-
ferring to his mimeographed address de-
livered to the Alumni School of the 
University of Chicago. 

M r . Adler's concern with present edu-
cational policies and practices is well 
known and needs no restatement here. 

His criticisms turn constructive as he 
speaks for a return to the reading of the 
"great books" of our culture. In the 
latter part of How to Read a Book these 
classics (substantially the same as those 
embraced in the curriculum of St. John's 
College) are listed and the publishers of 
available editions indicated. Throughout 
the development of his technique for read-
ing, M r . Adler always aims at the reading 
of these books. Consequently he says little 
about the reading of imaginative literature. 

While many of M r . Adler's arguments 
on education and his proposed remedy are 
open to debate, and have, indeed, been 
debated, his desire to be helpful is sincere 
and more than evident. T h e heart of 
the book is practical. Of his style of 
writing, the only adverse thing to be said 
concerns the occasional sharpness of his 
tongue. 

Readers advisers can recommend this 
book to intelligent readers who are ap-
parently sincere in their efforts to learn 
through reading. T h e author's extensive, 
almost excursive, treatment may prevent 
the average reader from finishing the book. 
—Robert A. Miller, University of Ne-
braska, Lincoln. 

A List of Books for College Libraries, 
1931-38. Charles B. Shaw, comp. 
American Library Association, 1940. 
2 8 4 P . $ 6 . 

" T H E SHAW L I S T , " published in 1 9 3 1 
for the Carnegie Corporation of N e w 
Y o r k to aid college libraries in rounding 
out their collections, is familiar to most 
American librarians. It was called the 
"Second Preliminary Edition;" but the 
1940 list is not a new edition but a sup-
plement to it. In fact, the use of this 
supplement will be crippled if the earlier 
list is not at hand, because the explana-

SEPT EMBER, 1940 369 



tions of the form of entry and of the 
symbols used are to be found only on 
page xii of the 1 9 3 1 list. 

Although the Carnegie Corporation 
made a grant for this task, M r . Shaw 
absolves it from any faults in the volume 
and assumes more responsibility for it than 
in the previous volume. W e find here no 
impressive advisory group. 

In only a few respects has the plan 
varied. ( 1 ) Whereas the 1 9 3 1 list might 
give a title in several locations, in the 
1940 list this is against the rules. ( 2 ) 
T h e 1940 list omits out-of-print books—an 
unfortunate practice. ( 3 ) " A new fea-
ture of this volume is the citation of 
reviews of most of the titles included"— 
a praiseworthy addition. But the rule to 
omit all comments need not have been 
obeyed so slavishly. F o r instance, on page 
95 could he not have indicated that Story 
began in Vienna in 1 9 3 1 and moved to 
N e w Y o r k , instead of leaving us with 
" N . Y . , Story magazine, inc., 1 9 3 - " ? And 
could not a comment have bridged the 
hiatus between the first two volumes of 
the Dictionary of American Biography 
mentioned in 1 9 3 1 (p. 280) and the Index 
now listed (p. 96) ? Volumes 3-20, 
though published, are not accounted for. 

In spite of these minor omissions, this 
supplementary volume has been prepared 
with fine judgment and is highly recom-
mended.—John G. Barrow, Berea Col-
lege, Berea, Ky. 

Manual on the Use of State Publications. 
Jerome K . Wilcox, ed. Sponsored by 
the Committee on Public Documents 
of the American Library Association. 
American Library Association, 1940. 
3 4 2 p . $ 6 . 

T H I S IS A BOOK for which there has 
been a long standing need. Those who 

370 

are concerned with the administration and 
use of collections of state documents have 
awaited its publication with interest ever 
since the inception of the editorial plan of 
the manual in 1 9 3 5 . A s evidence of the 
increasing size and complexity of the field 
of state publications and their bibliogra-
phy, it is interesting to note that, whereas 
these subjects received competent treat-
ment by a single individual in the pioneer 
contribution made by Ernest J . Reece in 
1 9 1 5 , it has been the editorial policy of 
the compiler of the new manual to make 
chapter assignments to specialists, among 
them political scientists as well as librar-
ians. Several of these contributions con-
sist of restatements and amplifications 
regarding the nature and use of material 
which has been in existence over a period 
of time, but others describe and define 
forms of state publications which have 
appeared during recent years. 

T h e manual is divided into five parts, 
representing a total of twenty-one chap-
ters. A n examination of the contents of 
the several chapters indicates that the plan 
and structure of the book have been main-
tained without unnecessary duplication 
and overlapping in its several parts. Part 
I deals with the importance, character and 
use of state publications. Part I I is de-
voted to an enumeration and description 
of bibliographical aids. Part I I I furnishes 
essential bibliographical and critical data 
for basic state publications. Part I V is a 
directory of national associations of state 
officers with an account of their publica-
tions. Part V gives information pertain-
ing to the printing and distribution of 
state documents with citations to the stat-
utes which govern these activities. A list 
of tables and a subject index containing 
many cross references and some catch-
word titles facilitate the use of the book. 

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES