Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

The annual costs associated with investment in bookstock and storage capacity, and with operating them, are weighed against the extra operating costs that would be incurred through reliance on inter-library loans instead of one's own stock. On these cost grounds, it seems to be worth acquiring, and providing storage for, books likely to be wanted more often than once in about 1·7 years over a long period. It also seems that it is cheaper to discard books already in stock, rather than building additional storage space of reader-access quality, if the books in question have a prospective frequency of use that has fallen below once in about 13 years. Storage space of quality lower than that required for reader-access can be provided at about half the cost per book estimated for reader-access storage, but it seems likely that for infre quently-used material (e.g. less than once in 20 years ), inter-library borrowing will be cheaper than even cheap storage. All these estimates, however, disregard in-library use of books, and the cost to readers of delays associated with inter-library borrowing; they are thus biased in favour of such borrowing to an unknown extent.

Arundell James Kennedy Esdaile (1880-1956) was a scholar librarian with several claims to distinction: as a well-known Secretary of the British Museum, as a notable biblio grapher and outstanding contributor to the literature of librarianship and as a dominant figure in the affairs of the Library Association during the period I920-I945, more particularly as editor of the Library Association Record and as a President of the Libraiy Association with an unusually long period of service.

A project for relegating bookstock of the Biological and Medical Sciences Division of Glasgow University Library. Possible criteria for relegation are examined and a formula involving publication date and circulation is selected. Procedures and information on cost are presented. Relegation is shown to be an expensive activity.

The survey described here was an attempt to discover what types of fiction are issued in public libraries, how novels are chosen by users, whether they are reserved and whether read, and also to record users' observations on other matters such as preferences in physical format, fiction buying and library booklists. The intention was to provide information of practical value for librarians concerned in the selection and promotion of fiction in public libraries.

The article wonders if the original aims and concepts of the Joint Fiction Reserve are still applicable and suggests a reappraisal by the member libraries. Some of the rules seem out dated and questionable and there seems to be a need to re-establish a common practice of administration. With an ever expanding collection the question of storage space is becoming acute. It is suggested that ideally a national centre for fiction be established to house the collection under one roof. If that is not possible under present economic conditions, major improvements could still be made to the scheme.