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It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.

Recounts the origins of Birmingham University in Mason College, and the early development of its library under William Henry Cope. The growth of collections, particularly by donations from Thomas Pretious Heslop and the services based on them into the early twentieth century are discussed. The importance of the appointment of Charles Grant Robertson as Vice‐Principal is examined and the growth of the collections described, as is the further service development under Fenwick Mills and Wilfred Bonser. The continuing development of the collections and opening of a new library building in 1960 are discussed in a review of the history of the library and its services into the modern period.

The paper by Miss Exley on ‘Replanning Libraries’, given at our Annual Conference this year, was intended to be on the theoretical side of the subject, while this symposium is intended to tackle the same subject on the more practical side.

The long controversy that has waxed furiously around the implementation of the EEC Directives on the inspection of poultry meat and hygiene standards to be observed in poultry slaughterhouses, cutting‐up premises, &c, appears to be resolved at last. (The Prayer lodged against the Regulations when they were formally laid before Parliament just before the summer recess, which meant they would have to be debated when the House reassembled, could have resulted in some delay to the early operative dates, but little chance of the main proposals being changed.) The controversy began as soon as the EEC draft directive was published and has continued from the Directive of 1971 with 1975 amendments. There has been long and painstaking study of problems by the Ministry with all interested parties; enforcement was not the least of these. The expansion and growth of the poultry meat industry in the past decade has been tremendous and the constitution of what is virtually a new service, within the framework of general food inspection, was inevitable. None will question the need for efficient inspection or improved and higher standards of hygiene, but the extent of the organization in the first and the enormous cost of structural and other alterations to premises in the second, were seen as formidable tasks, and costly. The execution and enforcement of the new Regulations is assigned to local authorities (District, Metropolitan and London Borough Councils), who are empowered to make charges for inspection, licences, etc., to recoup the full costs of administration. The Government had previously promised that the cost of this new service, which when fully operative, will be significant, would not fall upon the already over‐burdened economies of local authorities. The figure of a penny per bird is given; in those areas with very large poultry processing plants, with annual outputs counted in millions of birds, this levy should adequately cover costs of enforcing the Regulations, but there are many areas with only one of a few small concerns with annual killings of perhaps no more than 200,000 birds—this much we know from perusing annual health reports received at the offices of this Journal—and the returns from charges will certainly be inadequate to cover the cost of extra staff. The Regulations require the appointment of “official veterinary surgeons” and “poultry meat inspectors”, both new to local government.

In the period between the two wars, Oxford and Cambridge and most of our provincial universities and colleges have either built new libraries or large additions to existing ones. But the library of Birmingham University has remained—as has the university itself—in two sections which are 2½ miles apart. The main library, including the books of the Faculty of Arts, remain in the Edmund Street building (of 1880) in the City Centre, and are housed in a number of classrooms. The science and commerce books are at Edgbaston, and in premises which, when built in the first decade of this century, were quite inadequate both in design and in the accommodation provided.

The formation, in May, 1949, of the new Aslib, incorporating the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux and the British Society for International Bibliography, led to a change in the dating of Aslib's financial year, which will now run from January to December instead of from July to June. This report, therefore, extends over eighteen months and links the activities of the old organization with those of its successor.

Criticisms of the Library Association have no value which do not take account of all the circumstances. We are told that for some years past nothing constructive for librarianship or for its technique has been done. Our correspondent Callimachus makes this assertion by implication on another page. It must be remembered, however, that until quite recently the Library Association was a very small body which exercised an influence out of all proportion to its size and income. It has grown by direct membership and by affiliation in an extraordinary manner in the past year, a result which is due to goodwill on the part of librarians, but more immediately to the wise direction of Messrs. Jast and Savage and the untiring patience and tacful activity of Mr. Guy Keeling. Our readers know that Mr. Keeling has actually had to rest owing to the effects of overwork. This being so, it is quite clear that the demand for more must be tempered by a willingness to work on the part of the critics. The Association is only an embodiment of the membership; what the members want of the Association they must give to it.

The papers in this issue were given at the 25th Annual Conference, held at Bristol University from 22nd to 25th September, 1950. Some 230 delegates from the British Isles, the Commonwealth and Europe were welcomed to dinner on Friday evening by Sir Philip Morris, C.B.E., M.A., Vice‐Chancellor of the University, and Lady Morris. No papers were given on Friday evening, Mr. J. E. Wright arranging an informal dance after dinner.

IN devoting this number of The Library World in the main to county libraries, we shall not, we think, be guilty of producing what the journalists call “stale matter.” There was a time when county libraries appeared to dominate all small meetings of librarians and even appeared to obsess conferences; a new thing always creates in its advocates and workers an enthusiasm which, to some, appears to be out of proportion. We say “appears to be” because many town librarians felt that their own work was being by‐passed and occasionally belittled. Cooler minds, however, realised from the beginning that the first stages of county library development were as acorns from which oaks would inevitably grow. Few movements have the social importance that the county libraries undoubtedly have. Speaking from the librarianship point of view, it can now be said that the county libraries have proved themselves. The service as yet is uneven, as is inevitable; the movement began and grew in times of great stringency; and even those who advocated it, and it may be those who financed it, did not see its full possibilities. Growth will continue and in time the county library movement will be as fully organised as that of the great city libraries.

The Library Association of Ireland issued last month the first number of An Leabharlann, their new official journal. The title, for those of us who do not speak the language of Erin, means The Library. It is an extremely interesting venture which will be followed by librarians on the mainland with sympathetic curiosity. In particular our readers would be interested in the first of a series of articles by Father Stephen J. Brown, S.J., on Book Selection. The worthy Father lectures on this subject at University College, Dublin, in the Library School. It is mainly concerned with what should not be selected, and deals in vigorous fashion with the menace of much of current published stuff. No doubt Father Brown will follow with something more constructive. Mr. T. E. Gay, Chairman of the Association, discusses the need for a survey of Irish libraries and their resources. We agree that it is necessary. The Net Books Agreement, the Council, Notes from the Provinces, and an article in Erse—which we honestly believe that most of our Irish friends can read—and an excellent broadcast talk on the Library and the Student by Miss Christina Keogh, the accomplished Librarian of the Irish Central Library, make up a quite attractive first number. A list of broadcast talks given by members of the Association is included.