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This page is created and maintained
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The author
states four aims for this history: (1) to show the public library as a natural
outgrowth of America in the making, (2) to tell the story of the public institution
in a straight-forward and balanced way, (3) to provide an overview of notable
events in public library development in this century, and (4) to identify trends
that have promoted and deterred the growth of the public library in the twentieth
century. After recapping the nineteenth century in a brief seven pages, the author
segments the twentieth century into six chapters, the foundation years (1900-1917),
the innovative years (1918-1929), the depression and war (1930-1945), recovery
and understanding (1946-1959), promise and disillusionment (1960-1979), and the
culminating years (1980-1999). Martin succeeds at illustrating the public library
as a natural outgrowth of America in the making by providing brief and interesting
overviews of the significant historical events occurring between 1900 and 1999
at the start of each chapter. He advances the view that services offered by public
libraries are prompted by this country's need for an informed citizenry and a
skilled and educated workforce, two components essential to the development of
democracy and capitalism in America, and then ties these components to the public
library's role in helping to fulfill the country's needs. He illustrates his points
citing examples from many libraries and quoting from a long list of resources.
He adds personal notes and opinions many of which he formed as a result of first
hand involvement with the issues and events.
Martin makes a well-intentioned
attempt to write this social cultural history from the sidelines in a straightforward
and balanced way; however, he can hardly do so. He admits to starting his career
in the Golden Age of Public Libraries during the innovative years and his spirit
of promise and enthusiasm for the public library as an institution prevails throughout
the book. He enumerates missed opportunities, identifies trends, and offers criticism
as well as praise for the systems and services provided by public libraries. But
his perspective is not one that comes from the sidelines.
Using dissertations,
journal articles, individual library archives, and his own experience, Martin
highlights events in each time segment pointing out the influences historical
events and this country's growth patterns have had on public library development.
He observes that throughout this century the trend has been to establish public
library agendas that exceed performance capabilities. He contends that the public
library has tried to be a multipurpose agency striving to be all things to all
people and views this tendency to spread our mission across many areas rather
than sharply concentrate it as one that limits the effectiveness of public libraries.
Milestones he notes include establishing not just organized collections
open to all, but also extending these collections to traveling libraries, branches,
and larger units for providing service over entire regions through systems and
networks. The public library is now an integral part of the community infrastructure,
reaching specialized populations such as youth and the elderly, providing specialized
reference services, and adapting to technological change. We have incorporated
libraries into the fabric of American life to the extent that we expect it to
be a tax supported local government function.
Martin observes that measurement
and evaluation of library services has not been a priority in this century and
comments that many libraries operate without a mission statement or any means
of knowing if services provided to users are meeting their needs; however, he
does not cite numbers to substantiate this claim. He traces the development and
history of standards, performance measures, and role setting, but leaves out performance
for results methods of planning and evaluating public library service. He questions
whether the public library has become as politically effective as it needs to
be to garner increases in public money. At the same time, however, he points out
that the driving force for development of the public library comes directly from
the local community, rather than from dictated national plans or requirements.
This vital characteristic, local control, makes the public library a people's
institution and provides a strong base for advocacy and local taxpayer support
that, in his view, can be further cultivated to benefit public libraries. This
reviewer agrees with his viewpoint.
At first glance, this work might appear
to be a personal essay reflective of the author's long and distinguished career,
but on closer examination this work offers thoughtful perspectives on the future.
It is fitting that this text appears in print just at this time when librarians
and library supporters are pausing to take note of the overall progress of the
institution over the past one hundred years. Martin reminds us of a very important
point in this book, that the social institution of the public library is one that
serves fundamental human needs. Martin recommends that the public library shift
focus to the role of being a source of knowledge for the interpretation of information
and a source of recreation. He describes the public library in the twenty-first
century as an institution existing not just to bring facts and information to
people, but to aid them in understanding, knowing, analyzing, and even feeling.
He predicts that the public library in the twenty-first century will provide a
place for imagination, fancy, and thinking in a busy and tense age and he calls
this role enrichment. He states: "The public library should have a place on the
Information Highway but it should also come off the big road and visit the green
countryside. It has had and will continue to have a significant role in providing
recreation, even for those who come back from cyberspace." (p. 194). He feels
that the printed page fulfills an essential role and will continue to do so in
the future. His view of the future is optimistic. "It is possible to make this
case, and to the extent that it can be made the best years for the public library
are ahead. This is not a future dependent on computers and the Internet. It is
based on a vision of a prosperous people still seeking to understand themselves
and the world around them." (p. 195).
This slim volume cannot capture all
milestones reached in this century; instead, the text is enriched with extensive
notes at the end of each chapter and a selected list of "landmark publications"
that describe the public library from a number of different viewpoints. The author
prefaces his selected bibliography with a note that thousands of items tell the
story of the public library in the twentieth-century. Included in his list are
various editions of library standards; texts on special areas of librarianship
such as service to young adults and children; and books describing the American
experience. Each reader of this book will want to add a favorite item to Martin's
selected list. This reviewer would add Carnegie Denied (Martin, Robert S., 1993)
and The Library in America: A Celebration in Words and Pictures (Dickson, Paul,
1986). Left out of the text are references to important agencies like OCLC and
innovative tools like the MARC bibliographic format.
This volume is indexed
and the paper meets ANSI standards for permanence. Only two figures are used and
no illustrations are provided. This reviewer's copy of the book was sadly mis-bound
rendering the chronology intended by the author impossible to follow and suffers
from cover defacement. Other copies, we hope, are bound correctly, and will last
over time because this volume will surely be required reading in graduate schools
of Library and Information Science for years to come.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, SUSAN K. SOY
| Return to Table of Contents |
This page is created and maintained
by Sue Soy ssoy@ischool.utexas.edu
Last Updated 3/06/99