Standards of Public Library Service in England and Wales:Report of the Working Party appointed by the Minister of Education in March, 1961: A CRITICISM Available to Purchase

Consequent upon the publication of the Roberts Report (1959), the Minister of Education set up two working parties to look into the state of the public library service in the light of the recommendations of that Report. Both the Reports—the other is pertaining to library cooperation—were published in December of last year. The major criticisms of this Report fall into three groups: firstly, the inadequacy of the survey carried out; secondly, the mildness of the recommendations; and thirdly, the fact that the working party seems content to allow small libraries to exist and provide a poor service— poor, that is, even if the basic standards recommended in the Report are put into operation.