A useful new volume in the Library Association Series is
Mr. John Minto's History of the Public Library Movement in Great Britain and Ireland (Allen and Unwin, 10s. 6d.). A few English towns had public libraries in the seventeenth century, but a Scottish minister, Kirkwood, in 1699, was the first to advocate a library system, and the General Assembly sup- ported the S.P.C.K. in giving effect to his idea. Parliament in 1708 passed an Act for the preservation of parish libraries, but omitted to make any financial provision. Not till 1850 did we have the first Public Libraries Act, which allowed local authorities to levy a halfpenny rate for free libraries but did not authorize them to buy books. A maximum rate of a penny was sanctioned in 1855. Two generations had to pass before, in 1919, Parliament abolished the limitation and set councils free to spend what they thought fit on libraries ; it could safely do so, for no elected council will devote a pound more than it
thinks necessary to this branch of national education. The author outlines the progress since made, gives a full account of the Library Association and its activities, and describes the various types of libraries, especially the invaluable county libraries, with their travelling vans, that have been organized in Essex and other enlightened counties. •
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