12 MARCH 1927, Page 35

Many a serious reader, dimly conscious that England, and especially

London, abounds in great collections of books, and yet uncertain how to approach them, will be grateful to Dr. E. A. Baker for the series of lectures which he has edited under the title of The Uses of Libraries (University of London Press. 10s. (Id.). Dr. Baker, the Director of the School of Librarianship at University College, is as unlike the typical Dryasdust as a man could well be, and his contributors are all entertaining. Incidentally, Professor Richardson, of Prince- ton, says that the world's libraries contain 230 million books, and that half of these belong to the English-speaking peoples.