College and Research Libraries


2. T h a t an exchange of senior personnel be 
effected between the schools and the practicing 
field of librarianship. 

3. T h a t a definite (and specified) system 
of training for the subprofessional and clerical 
workers in libraries be instituted, with all 
its implications for the profession generally. 

4. T h a t a research program in librarianship 
be planned, at least within each advanced 
school, for the most effective and economical 
development of knowledge in the field. 

5. T h a t library schools jointly develop a 
series of examinations to test the possession 
of a general education by the applicant for 
admission. 

6. T h a t library schools inaugurate a system 
of intensive (and specified) preparation for 
special librarianship. 

7. T h a t library schools reorganize their 
programs to take account of the concept of 
continuing education throughout the librarian's 
professional career. 

8. T h a t the basic specialized professional 
training of librarians working with the young 
(children's and young people's librarians in 
public libraries, school librarians, and teacher-
librarians) be the same. 

T h e series of annual conferences sponsored 
by the Graduate Library School has provided 
a significant vehicle for the focusing of at-
tention upon professional areas of major con-
cern. T h e report of this last conference 
upholds the tradition of provocative and in-
formed discussion of perhaps what is now the 
most critical area of the profession. T o the 
body of recent literature and to other con-
ferences on the subject, it provides perhaps the 
most complete general summary that has ap-
peared to date. If one is to find fault with 
the report of the conference at all, it might 
lie in a regret for the overlong interval be-
tween the conference itself, and the publication 
of the printed volume covering it.—Kenneth 
R. Shaffer, School of Library Science, Sim-
mons College. 

Librarianship: Essays on Applied Bibliogra-
phy. By Raymond Irwin. London, G r a f -
ton, 1949, 13 ip. 8s.6d. 

W e r e this reviewer not a regular reader 
of the British library journals he might have 
taken M r . Irwin seriously. For one might 
well get the impression from the initial chap-
ters that while American librarians are still 
naively asking questions about library training 

their British colleagues have expertly found 
the answers. Judging from the articles, edi-
torials and correspondence in the British 
journals it is evident that the pros and cons 
of library education are vigorously being de-
bated there. In the field of library training, 
both in the United States and in England, 
educators are raising questions, seeking an-
swers, and projecting further questions leading 
from the speculative answers. And so the 
unsuspecting reader of this book should not 
carry away the impression as cautioned above. 
M r . Irwin does make some harsh statements 
but then rallies with such expressions as 
"These words are perhaps unfairly hard . . ." 
M o r e of his likes and dislikes later, however. 

T h e author dissects the persistent American 
pursuit for a "philosophy" of librarianship 
and arrives at the conclusion that we are 
victims of some will-o'-the-wisp. For, as he 
sees it, there is no such thing. If there is no 
"philosophy" of librarianship, what are we 
seeking? Upon what foundation shall our 
programs of library education be based? M r . 
Irwin is of the opinion that we should seek 
the purposive directions in librarianship, the 
necessary underpinning, its locale, its limita-
tions. Evidently he holds a very pragmatic 
view, for the one question which dominates 
throughout is: W i l l it work? T h a t still begs 
the central question. Since we are an aca-
ademic profession and, to be sure, the cur-
riculum in library science is offered in an 
academic institution, there still remains the 
question: D o we know, at least, what shall 
be the corpus of knowledge which will provide 
the underpinning for prospective librarians? 
Quite simple. T h e answer is "applied bib-
liography." And, M r . Irwin proceeds to 
define applied bibliography so that it includes 
precisely those subjects which constitute the 
traditional curriculum in American library 
schools. It is not quite up to date, however, 
for there is no provision for subjects 
which deal with reading interests and abilities 
or mass media of communication. 

T h e author inflates his work in the very 
first sentence of the "Prologue," thus: "These 
essays grew out of a study of the writings of 
American librarians during the last 30 years 
on the subject of professional training for 
librarianship." T h i s "study" consists merely 
of a few snatches from the works of Danton 
and Wheeler. No mention is made of the 
contributions of Williamson, Howe, Reece, 

JULY, 1950 
25 7 



Hostetter, Wilson, White and others. T h e r e 
is but a sentence taken from the M e t c a l f -
Osborn-Russell volume on library education. 
It is, therefore, neither a summary, nor an 
overview, nor an analysis, nor a critique of 
American library eduction. It is merely a 
propounding by the author of his own thoughts 
on the substance of training courses for li-
brarians. 

M r . Irwin is pleased with several things: 
the relationship of education and librarian-
ship; the library's responsibility in the adult 
education movement; the potential values of 
subject departmentation in libraries; and, 
with his own educational program at the Uni-
versity of London School of Librarianship. 
M r . Irwin seems to find displeasure in other 
things relative to programs of library educa-
tion in the United States; psychological 
foundations; statistical investigations and 
measurement in libraries; public administra-
tion; and, evidently, the spirit of scientific 
inquiry so well advanced by the Graduate 
Library School of the University of Chicago. 

T h i s reviewer hopes that our British friends 
will not, through reading M r . Irwin's book, 

get the impression that all of the 34 library 
schools in the United States are engaged in 
soul-searching. Nothing could be farther 
from the truth. Unfortunately, we should 
have to admit to our British friends that 
there has been more band-wagon-jumping than 
soul-searching among the schools. 

One third of the volume is devoted to dis-
cussions on classification of books and the 
essential freedoms in which librarianship 
thrives. T h e y are commendable discussions 
but quite unrelated to the central theme of 
the book. T h e rationalized explanation in 
the "Epilogue" is unconvincing on this point. 

On the whole this is a pedestrian work, es-
pecially when placed beside Pierce Butler's 
book and the recent volume on Education for 
Librarianship under D r . Berelson's excellent 
editorship. It is a temperamental discourse, 
highly subjective, and lacking in depth. M r . 
Irwin is undoubtedly capable of a far better 
performance and let us hope that his rich 
experiences as director of the University of 
London School of Librarianship will find ex-
pression in a better book.—Nathaniel Stewart, 
Pratt Institute Library School. 

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