Search

Purpose This book review aims to draw attention to the often disregarded philosophical foundations of the library. Both the library as an institution and the science that studies its workings, are critically analyzed and put into an epistemological and even ideological perspective.Design/methodology/approach The original work by Vesa Suominen is explored in detail and its key findings subjected to criticism.Findings The book displays great originality and questions a number of long held beliefs regarding the library. Moving away from the more usual pragmatic and instrumentalist view of the library, the author proposes an approach that values the content of a library independant of its user. This approach, however, raises a number of questions.Originality/value Literature on the philosophical aspects of libraries and library science is scarce. Through this review we try to kindle a discussion that involves the basic mission statement of the modern library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A retired Virginia librarian compiles an annotated bibliography of high-quality nonfiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the book "Librarianship: An Introduction," by G. G. Chowdhury, Paul F. Burton, David McMenemy and Alan Poulter.

This article discusses the difficulties that librarians encounter when trying to help individual readers to choose books suitable for their interests. Suggestions are offered to help librarians overcome some of the awkwardness in dealing with a library patron about which little is known. The author suggests that librarians roam the book stacks looking for people to help. Librarians should ask readers the genre they are interested in reading.