The Engineers' Club of Memphis, Tenn., was the earliest supporter of the technical library and acts as sponsor and advisor. In addition, many other professional societies (through their local chapters) have furnished the Cossitt Library, Memphis' downtown branch, with copies of their various national publications: American Chemical Society, American Society of Tool Engineers, American Society for Quality Control, and the American Institute of Industrial Engineers.

The Technology Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, established in 1905 and the first of its kind in the United States, received a substantial gift in 1944. At that time, a technology library fund of $70,000 was raised by the Pittsburgh section of the American Chemical Society to improve the library's collection and services. Many special items were acquired, especially subscriptions to additional technical journals and English translations of important scientific and technical articles heretofore available only in foreign languages.

ORGANIZING FOR SERVICE

From the smallest to the largest, public libraries are noting increases in the use of their science and technology collections and in related reference services. Through interlibrary loan and other cooperative practices, local resources have been considerably extended and improved.

Collections used to meet these requests vary from a single shelf of technical materials in a small town or rural library, to one of well over 400,000 volumes in the science and technology division of the New York Public Library.

Services may be requested by students, scientists, research workers, technical writers, or just interested laymen. Resources consulted may include regular tradebooks as well as manuals, reports, Government publications, technical journals, trade catalogs, abstract services, patent and trademark publications, training films, and microfilm reproductions.

Several of the Nation's larger public libraries have provided extensive supplementary reference service to local industry, cooperating with the special libraries of the area. Notable examples of such services are those provided by the Enoch' Pratt Free Library to the Martin Co. in Baltimore, and Seattle Public Library's to the Boeing Airplane Co., Seattle Division.

Although the Martin Co., through its three special libraries, maintains a book collection of 10,000 volumes, over 100,000 reports, and subscribes to some 600 different scientific and technical journals, it still makes regular use of the Pratt collection and borrows over 200 scientific and technical publications every month. Twice weekly special messenger service is provided to meet the needs of Martin's engineering and research staff.

Boeing in Seattle maintains an engineering library at its plant with a small and current collection supervised by an engineer. All requests for material and reference questions are channeled through the Seattle Public Library where the staff of the technical department attempts to anticipate plant needs and have materials cataloged and ready for use before items are actually requested. In recognition of the library's 30 years of service to the plant, a Boeing Co. official stated, "It is impossible to estimate the great value derived from the mass of material borrowed, but you may be sure that it has played an important part in the technical program which has made Boeing airplanes outstanding in their field."

An unusual branch library was established October 1960 on the drilling platform of the Freeport Sulphur Co., 7 miles offshore from Grand Isle, La. Part of the newly organized Plaquemines Parish Library, the branch serves some 200 men who live in a modern office-hotel building while on their 5-day work shift. Over 3,000 books were circulated in the first 3 months of service on such subjects as air conditioning, auto repair, house construction, gardening, and fishing. Books and library personnel are picked up by amphibious airplane and flown to Grand Isle and there, by helicopter, to the drilling platform. Not all public library systems can provide such a dramatic branch setting or method of transportation.

REFERENCE AND READERS ADVISORY SERVICES

The requests vary from a reference question on engineering specifications and standards to meet contract requirements, to assistance on checking patent records, to the market price of zinc or how to build a model rocket.

Where and how are the answers found? In Indianapolis, to help meet reference needs, the science and technology division of the public library works with 27 area libraries to maintain the "Union List of Magazines and Special Reference Materials," a project of the Indiana Chapter of the Special Libraries Association.

The February 1961 issue of the Bookmark (published by the New York State Library) includes as "List of Russian Periodicals in English Translation" currently received in the periodical reference section of the State library. Most of the titles are in the areas of science and technology. Listed are Russian Engineering Journal, Soviet Soil Science, and various journals of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences.

For the man on the street, the nonspecialist interested in keeping up with the newer fields of knowledge, public libraries will soon be able to provide a series of reading guides including several in the sciences. Financed by a grant from the Carnegie Corp. of New York, the Adult Services Division of ALA has undertaken the "Reading for an Age of Change" project. Each of the guides will contain introductory text and suggested readings especially selected for clarity of style, ability to stimulate and hold interest, and the quality and authenticity of content. Significantly, one of the series will be on space science. At Western Reserve's School of Library Science, a number of courses on machine literature searching, information processing on computers, and specialized information centers are now part of the regular course of library school instruction.

The University of Washington's School of Librarianship has announced a summer short course on "Electronic Information Systems for Libraries." This is in recognition of the growing need for mechanical aids to information retrieval particularly as an adjunct to scientific research.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

An informed citizenry has long been an important objective of the Nation's public libraries. Evidence of this is the number of film, discussion, and lecture programs offered by libraries throughout the country. The 1960-61 adult education series of the New York Public Library includes several programs in the area of science and technology, including a 16-session series titled "Modern Science and Modern Men" offered at the 42d Street Library as well as two of New York Public Library's branches. In Cleveland, a weekly program "The Wonderful World of Knowledge" is available to an afternoon as well as an evening group. Planned to help contribute to a deeper understanding of the interrelationships between man and his universe, discussion group assignments included readings in The New Astronomy and Of Stars and Men, both available in paper-back editions.

At the Public Library of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, N.C., a new biweekly film and discussion series was initiated last year. Topics included "Frontiers in Space," "Changing Earth," and "Medical Discoveries."

The

In honor of National Library Week, the Freeport (N.Y.) Memorial Library presented a program based on "The Universe," a film on outer space. Speaker for the evening was a well-known photographer whose works have appeared in national publications and have been shown in the Hayden Planetarium. Courtesy of the Queens Borough Public Library, residents of Jamaica and environs took an "interplanetary flight" during National Library Week. panel lecture included speakers on various aspects of space and a special exhibit of pictures, maps, model rockets, and spaceships on "Exploring the Moon." Several recent library associations meetings have featured scientists as keynote speakers. Dr. Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize winner and professor of chemistry at California Institute of Technology, presented a provocative address at the 1960 California Library Association Conference on "The Molecular Theory of Civilization." In St. Louis, Carl Kisslinger, professor of geophysics at St. Louis University, spoke at the joint Missouri-Illinois Library Associations Conference on "Bridging the Gap Between Science and the Public.”

At Stamford, Conn., the Ferguson Library presented a program in honor of "The International Geophysical Year-What It Is and What It Means to You." In Greenville, S.C., under the auspices of the newly organized Friends of the Library Group, Capt. William R. Anderson spoke of the historic transpolar voyage of the atomic submarine Nautilus. An audience, estimated at over 3,000 persons, heard Captain Anderson stress the importance of a strong educational

system, including public libraries, to the defense and survival of our Nation. He pointed out that untrained minds cannot build the machines required to maintain peace, conquer outer space or solve practical problems.

Cosponsored by the Polytechnic Institute, the Brooklyn Public Library presented a series of five lectures titled "Science and You." Intended for the layman, the series included such topics as "Modern Medical Discoveries," "Explosion of Science," "Modern Plastics," and "Science and Crime Detection."

On the assumption that "knowledge dispels fear," the Fort Worth Public Library, cooperating with the city's adult education department, presented a series of three panel discussions on the atom. Representatives of industry, higher education, civil defense, and the armed services discussed fission, fusion, and fallout.

SCIENCE TALENT AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Although a considerable number of libraries mention that science fair and science talent winners are often regular public library users, Mary Gaver (in LJ Feb. 15, 1961) suggests that the public library is not quite the important source of help and inspiration it might be.

Be that as it may, in 1960 the Brooklyn Public Library chalked up its third winner in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search as a regular borrower, particularly of the Science and Industry Division of the Central Library.

In rural Nebraska, three teenagers received inspiration, encouragement, and assistance in their science projects from the staff of the bookmobile of the South Central Regional Library in Holdrege. The boys used books borrowed from the mobile unit, their only source of technical materials, to set up home laboratories: one for radio and television repair, a second for chemistry experiments, and the third for radio communication and short wave. The regional library, originally a Library Services Act demonstration project, provided the necessary materials, reference services, and reading guidance, and provided proof that living in rural America was no handicap to access to the wonderful world of books.

TELLING THE LIBRARY STORY

Booklists, displays, exhibits, newspaper stories, and newsletters all contribute to a better informed public on the library's varied resources and services.

Many libraries took advantage of radio or television programs and prepared booklists relating to national programs. The Columbus (Ohio) Public Library issued an adult and juvenile listing of titles in the fields of astronomy, space travel, rockets, jets, and missiles as a tie-in with the TV series "Man in Space." At the South Bend (Ind.) Public Library, the TV series "The Unchained Goddess" resulted in an effective booklist about weather in cooperation with the Indiana Bell Telephone Co.

Periodically, the Denver Public Library publishes "New Additions" to its science and engineering department. Several funds are used to buy titles for the department: Colorado State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, a special Ross endowment fund for books on aeronautics and photography, and regular book funds of the library.

Indianapolis (Ind.) Public Library releases a monthly "New Books" from the science and technology division. Recent listings have covered such areas as mathematics, radio, television, and hi-fi.

As a means of encouraging and expediting interlibrary loans, the Oregon State Library publishes a number of selected booklists. "Tall Timber" included books and periodicals on forestry, timber identification, the lumber industry, and the structure of wood.

The East Chicago (Ind.) Public Library publishes regular revisions of two booklists, one on "Iron and Steel" and the other on "Oil" as an aid to the many steel and petroleum industries located in the Calumet area.

It is interesting to see that ALA's "Notable Books of 1960" included several titles in science and technology: Isaac Asimov's "The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science" and Charles P. Snow's "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution."

Among the many periodic newsletters or news bulletins providing suggested reading, current titles in science and technology, as well as news of the field are "Business and Technology Sources," a bulletin of the business and technology department of the Cleveland Public Library; "Service to Business and Industry," published by the Business Reference Library and the Science and Industry

Division of the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library; "Behind the Blue Louvers,” a bimonthly periodical of the Cossit Library, the business, technology, reference, and downtown branch of the Memphis Public Library; Dayton and Montgomery County (Ohio) Public Library's "Bits" covering new acquisitions in the fields of business, industry, and technology; and the "Technical Reader" of the Free Public Library of Trenton (N.J.).

Frequently a public library's general newsletter will feature aspects of science and technology as did the "Milwaukee Reader." One 1961 issue headlined the "Age of Space" and another was a salute to "National Engineers Week."

DISPLAYS AND EXHIBITS

A traditional and accepted publicity and informational media, library displays and exhibits have proved to be especially adaptive to the age of science. The Evansville (Ind.) Public Library was one of many libraries across the Nation which cooperated with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in exhibiting the Commission's graphic and informative displays explaining atomic energy and peaceful uses of the atom.

The St. Louis (Mo.) Public Library exhibited a model of the first sputnik, along with photographs and other items originally made for the local science fair. At the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Public Library, a local amateur astronomer displayed his Foucault pendulum in the library lobby to show visitors that the earth is constantly turning on its axis. For the 1961 celebration of Engineers Week, the Rochester (N.Y.) Public Library prepared a special display in its science and technology division. In Baltimore, one of Enoch Pratt's famous window displays featured the book "Scientists Who Changed the World." Authors Lynn and Gray Poole are also producers of several television shows including the "Johns Hopkins Science Review."

Minneapolis' new public library provides continuous displays through its science museum, a regular library department. One of its unique features is a planetarium which can seat 200 under a 40-foot manmade sky. Special exhibits, nature workshops, and film programs are offered regularly.

An interesting experiment was conducted in 1958 by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County when it took one of the library's regular bookmobiles (1,500 volume capacity) and for several Saturdays turned the unit into a mobile science showcase. The bookmobile's regular collection was removed and replaced with science materials and displays for junior and senior high school students. Planned to stimulate interest in science and motivate students to more active participation in school and personal projects, the bookmobile was parked near the busier branches from 10 to 4 on Saturdays during May. Information letters regarding the exhibit were sent to school principals and, as an added attraction, the film "Man in Space" was shown at the branch on the day the unit was scheduled.

The newly organized Groton (Conn.) Public Library has started a monthly series of scientific demonstrations for younger children, sponsored jointly by the library and the Groton Education Association. Designed to develop an early interest in science and technology among children, the first demonstration and lecture on pets was attended by over 60 children.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

As

Although the above accounts certainly indicate some public library interest in the sciences, the actual impact of the space age as well as the considerable unmet library needs in science and technology are difficult to determine. long as over 50 million persons in the United States have inadequate public library service and as long as an additional 25 million persons are still without access to any local public library, then the gap, not only in science and technology, but in all subject areas, is of considerable significance to the entire Nation. For, as was stated by F. Cyril James, in his keynote address at the Joint ALA-CLA Conference in Montreal:

"The discoveries of science and technology are so radically changing our environment that any barrier to knowledge may prove to be a barrier to human progress and, in the last tragic finale, a barrier to the continuance of human life upon this planet."

MEETING THE NEW SCHOOL LIBRARY STANDARDS

By Mary Helen Mahar, school and children's library specialist, Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

All over the country representatives of educational and lay organizations are taking part in Sate, regional, and national conferences on the new school library standards published by the American Library Association in the spring of 1960. "Standards for School Library Programs"1 was prepared by a committee appointed by the American Association of School Librarians (a division of the ALA and now also a department of the National Education Association) and composed of leaders in the school library field and representatives of 20 educational and lay organizations.

The new standards are both qualitative and quantitative.

The qualitative standards are based on the cooperative planning of educators concerned not only with providing good school library service, but also with the effects such service will have on our system of education. A basic tenet of the philosophy of the standards is that "the most important part of the library program is the work with students and teachers, those activities and services that make the library an educational force in the school. The objectives of very good schools require that the library program be in full operation, which can be done only when the school meets standards for the personnel, materials, funds, and quarters of the school library."

The quantitative standards are based on research in schools over the country, both in schools having good libraries and in those reporting they could use to advantage the staff and resources recommended in the standards. The committee agreed on the soundness of the quantitative standards as a basis on which to build quality.

The standards apply to elementary, secondary, and combined elementarysecondary schools-to schools of any type of school-grade organization and to both public and nonpublic schools. The revised standards include special provisions for new schools and for schools with less than 200 students. Not only do they state the principles of school library services and make specifications for staff, resources, and quarters, but they include recommendations on the functions of State and local boards and departments of education, school administrators, school library supervisors, curriculum coordinators, and teachers in planning and developing school library programs. At all times they underline the philosophy that all elementary and secondary school educators should share the responsibility for school libraries.

MANY SCHOOL LIBRARIES HAVE FAR TO GO

Many school libraries have far to go before they meet the new national standards set by the American Association of School Librarians. How far is indicated by a comparison of some average conditions in school districts enrolling at least 150 pupils with ALA standards of quantity (current average conditions are from Public School Library Statistics, 1958-59, by Mary Helen Mahar and Doris C. Holladay, recently published by the Library Services Branch of the Office of Education):

NOTE.-On page 25 of this issue, in Statistic of the Month, are other highlights from Public School Library Statistics, 1958-59.

1 Available from the publishing department of the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago 11, Ill., 1960, $2.50.