College and Research Libraries


church, or school when viewed from the 
perspective of organizing support. The 
second part of this collection also has a dis-
turbingly diffuse quality. The essays deal 
with all kinds of libraries-from large 
academic to small-town public-and discuss 
a variety of topics, ranging from how to deal 
with problem personalities in a friends' 
group, to choosing print styles for library 
publications. In this case, comprehensive-
ness is a liability rather than an asset. The 
reader is left with a wealth of information 
on a variety of subjects and a longing for 
some more in-depth treatment of the over-
all problem of organizing support for librar-
ies. 

Fortunately, Paul Mosher's essay, 
"Friends Groups and Academic Libraries," 
satisfies this craving. In describing the Stan-
ford Library Associates, Mosher paints a 
picture that should inspire the envy and 
admiration of any library director. An imagi-
native program, the work of a full-time li-
brary development officer, and the support 
of the library staff have combined to make 
for a remarkably successful friends group. 
Yet, as Mosher sagely notes, this friends 
group has never been seen as an end in it-
self, but as a source and resource "for a 
range of short- and long-term developmen-
tal activities, having as their goal the larger 
financial benefit of the library." Mosher's 

·essay crystalizes the seminal thread in this 
book: carefully cultivated, a friends group 
can indeed be a valuable resource that can 
help libraries provide better service and 
better collections, even in the straitened 
environment of the eighties.-Leslie. Parker 
I-iume, Research Libraries Group, Stanford, 
California. 

Getz, Malcolm. Public Libraries: An Eco-
nomic View. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Pr., 
1980. 214p. $12.50. LC 80-10651. ISBN 
0-8018-2395-1. 
From time to time experts from other 

disciplines have applied their paradigms to 
libraries. The impact of their efforts has 
usually been negligible on thinking and 
practice within the profession. This book, 
written by an economist and intended for 
scholars '!()f local government as well as li-
brary and public administrators, may prove 
to be an exception. 

Recent Publications I 261 

Getz' outsider view of libraries as publicly 
financed institutions, and the resulting 
payoff of such support in terms of value to 
society and the efficiency of operations, is 
provocative and illuminating. Drawing upon 
data from thirty-one major libraries, the au-
thor has attempted to analyze "the strategic 
decisions that shape the provision of public 
library service in the United States" accord-
ing to economic and public administration 
theories. The conclusions-based on mac-
roeconomic data about the optimum mix of 
hours of operation, number of facilities, staff 
size, number of materials, and the impact of 
technological innovation in terms of cost re-
duction-are not definitive but certainly 
raise tough questions that public officials are 
likely to ask and library administrators 
should prepare to answer. 

Getz views libraries with scholarly dispas-
sion, but some of his statements are sure to 
raise hackles among librarian readers. He 
considers the public library as an industry 
and the "bundling" of labor, buildings, and 
materials a "production process" to be opti-
mized into a cost-efficient mix of services. 
Forty-seven of the fifty-nine branches of the 
New York Public Library are characterized 
as having benefits less than their annual 
cost of operation. He discusses the widely 
accepted public administration concepts of 
equity and redistribution of benefits-both 
are positive if benefits are larger for low-
income families. He concludes that public 
libraries do "not tend to redistribute well-
being from higher to lower income groups" 
because low-income groups do not us~ li-
braries much. 

He favors charging fees whenever the li-
brary incurs an· additional use. Further-
more, it's appropriate to charge in excess 
of cost. In fact, the author thinks fees re-
flecting the value of the service are perfect-
ly O.K. The problem is setting the basis for 
the fee. 

Academic librarians should not ignore this 
disturbing book. Many of the ideas pre-
sented and issues raised are pertinent for all 
libraries.-Ellen Altman, University of Ari-
zona, Tucson. 

Studies in Creative Partnership: Federal 
Aid to Public Libraries during the New 
Deal. Edited by Daniel F. Ring.