The Sydney Public Library began as the Australian Subscription Library and Reading Room which opened in Sydney on December 1, 1827, with 1,000 volumes. The Municipal Council of Sydney took possession of the library in 1909. The library evolved from a closed access, fixed shelf position library to an open access system in 1910. A complete…

Recounts events that led to the firing of Mary L. Jones, Director of Los Angeles Public Library (1905) and caught in public crossfire such figures as the mayor, city council, library board of directors, Charles Lummis (Jones's replacement), Susan B. Anthony, Anna Shaw, Herbert Putnam, and Melvil Dewey. (29 references) (EJS)

A brief history of the Dallas Public Library, which first opened in 1901, highlights new central library facilities erected in 1955 and 1982; the development of branch libraries; leadership of directors Rosa Leeper, Cleora Clanton, Jim Meeks, and Lillian Bradshaw; and library programs, publications, and community outreach efforts. (EJS)

Examines some of the issues that public libraries have had to deal with in delineating and pursuing as a specific organizational goal the provision of access to information. The perspective adopted is historical but not strictly chronological. Thirty-six references are listed. (Author/LLS)

Describes the impact of social and political reforms in Russia during the 1860s on the role of the Imperial Public Library. The discussion covers the changes in library organization and operations that reflected a willingness to adapt to changing social conditions, and the resulting perception of the library as a vital tool for progress. (80…

Special statistical reports on public, society, and school libraries have been published periodically by the United States Bureau of Education. Nine of these reports have appeared in the past 40 years, the last one, preceding the present 1913 report, presented the statistics of 1908. The earlier reports included the names of all libraries…

This study is limited strictly to a consideration of express legislation; and administrative regulations or practice have been excluded from its scope, except in a few cases where their inclusion as a note has been necessary for clarification of a point. Moreover, no attempt has been made to evaluate the laws affecting libraries, but to present…

Since the organization of the United States Bureau of Education in 1867 statistics of public libraries have appeared periodically in the annual reports. It has been the purpose to gather such statistics every five years, but it has not been possible to carry out the plan with perfect regularity. For forty years every annual report of the bureau…

Library development has followed much the same course as the development of the school. Beginning with institutions of higher learning for the rich and leisure class, the school came gradually to concern itself with the education of the children of the masses, rich and poor alike. Following the development of colleges and universities, the…

This publication brings together for the first time in a single volume the status of public library standards in the United States. Based on a master's thesis submitted to the Department of Library Science at The Catholic University of America by Mrs. Marian Magg, the study has been brought up to date and also expanded. This bulletin provides not…

During the last decade, research has become increasingly important to the profession of librarianship. Seven library schools now have doctoral programs, foundation grants have stimulated and supported scores of major projects, and the research method has been recognized as an accepted technique for solving library problems. The increasing volume…

This manuscript reports a study of the secondary-school library. The library, it is claimed, exists first to improve the curriculum, and second, to encourage reading as a leisure-time occupation. The purposes of this investigation are: (1) to list and describe activities and devices used in outstanding secondary-school libraries; (2) to present…