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WHERE are we going? The aim is to double our standard of living in the next 25 years and, as Sir Alexander Fleck, K.B.E., Chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., so aptly staled recently, ‘The man who knows where he is going is the one who is most likely to arrive.’ One might venture to expand this statement by adding that he is still more likely to arrive if the cluttering debris of inefficient methods and movements are cleared away.

MANY and sundry are the worries which fall to the lot of the librarian, and the matter of book‐repair is not the least among them. The very limited book‐fund at the disposal of most public library authorities makes it imperative on the part of the librarian to keep the books in his charge in circulation as long as possible, and to do this at a comparatively small cost, in spite of poor paper, poor binding, careless repairing, and unqualified assistants. This presents a problem which to some extent can be solved by the establishment of a small bindery or repairing department, under the control of an assistant who understands the technique of bookbinding.

Protective clothing should ideally provide maximum comfort and protection for the wearer. The design and fit of a garment are factors which can affect both the protective aspects of a garment as well as its comfort. Proper garment fit depends on the relationship of the size of the garment compared with the size of the wearer. Garment ease (where the garment is larger than the wearer) should allow for comfort and mobility; both too much or too little ease can result in a garment that is uncomfortable and restrictive to movement. The purpose of this study was to explore a research technique to isolate the effects of garment ease in one area of a garment while ease in all other garment areas was controlled, and to determine a design that would maximize wearer mobility. Using five male subjects, protective overalls with differing amounts and garment location of crotch ease were evaluated for their effects on mobility and wearer acceptance. Range of motion measurements for selected joints were evaluated using a Leighton Flexometer. Subjects completed a subjective evaluation scale after performing an exercise protocol while wearing the overalls. Results indicated that a specific amount of ease in the crotch length of overalls may be appropriate. Additionally, an overall design that had all needed crotch ease in the back waist area of the garment may be desirable over the more conventional method of adding ease evenly between the front and back sections of the garment. The methodology used in this study provides a means of evaluating not only the potential for design variations in protective clothing, but provides a means to evaluate the dynamic aspects of fit of clothing.

Except that there is a more intense international situation the circumstances in which we open our twenty‐first volume differ but little from those in which we commenced the twentieth. The War, which has been the cause of so many hopes and fears for libraries and librarians, still drags its disastrous length across the world, thwarting and stifling all those activities for the advancement of mankind of which libraries are part, but the specific attacks upon educational institutions of all kinds have lost their original force; indeed there has been, as every reader of this magazine knows, a rejuvenesence of educational ideals and energy in spite of the baffling obstacles of the time. In almost every municipality libraries have regained much of their former position, and evidences of development have been many. These have been recorded in our pages regularly month by month, with such criticism from ourselves as the occasions seemed to demand; and in relation to suoh progress THE LIBRARY WORLD has endeavoured to pursue a catholic and progressive policy, examining every new idea frankly, and sympathetically whenever it has been possible to do so. Our pages have been open freely to the expression of all phases of library thought, even in cases where our own views did not coincide with the writers. That policy we shall endeavour to continue, welcoming contributions from all who feel that they have something to say to the profession, in the belief that even impracticable schemes and untenable theories have a value of their own if they cause librarians to think anew in contesting them. It is, at the best, a difficult time for professional journals, and for few more than it is for library journals. Cost of production, the obsession of librarians with definitely war‐work, and the absence of more than half of the permanent workers in libraries, are causes which need no elaboration. The mortality amongst our contributors in the great cause has been considerable, and most painful to us. The fact that in spite of all these difficulties our circulation has steadily increased gives us reason to believe, with all modesty, that THE LIBRARY WORLD plays a definite and useful part on behalf of librarians. In thanking those who have supported us, we can add the assurance that our best efforts shall be expended in promoting and sustaining the interests which the magazine was intended to serve.

[In view of the approaching Conference of the Library Association at Perth, the following note on the Leighton Library may not be inopportune. Dunblane is within an hour's railway journey from Perth and has a magnificent cathedral, founded in the twelfth century, which is well worthy of a visit.]

The history of an early Scottish library, founded on the collection of Bishop Robert Leighton, is outlined. Its decline and the subsequent efforts to restore it are explained; the cataloguing of the stock, conservation of books and restoration of the building are discussed and the work of the Appeal Fund described.

A NEW YEAR is a season of Stocktaking in normal times; this year it is especially so. The library journals of the world all fill their pages with discussions on libraries in a time of economic depression and financial stringency; and in America this note is even more Stressed than in any country, and we trust that some good may come of it seeing that America has proved more helpless in the face of world depression than any nation had thought possible. That, however, is by the way. The immediate problem of the New Year is how to ensure that in the general reductions of expenditure that are being made the expenditure on libraries is reduced as little as possible.

LIBRARY activity has been very great since the year opened. On all sides librarians report issues which are greatly in excess of any previously reached. This has been interpreted by ourselves and by others as a reflex of the general unemployment. It is also due no doubt to the lack of pence on the part of many people for amusements, who find that reading is a cheap form of diversion. There can be no cause for anything but satisfaction in the fact that in such unhappy times our people turn to books. It is a hopeful sign, for the nation that reads gathers a resilience and buoyancy which can be got from few other activities.