Reference Back: Herbert Woodbine, reference librarian and bibliographer Available to Purchase

WHEN I BEGAN MY LIBRARY CAREER in the Birmingham Public Libraries in 1930 I came directly under the instruction of two men: Herbert Woodbine, who worked there from 1911 to 1944, and Francis J. Thacker. These men were alternately in charge of the running of the main reference library counter. They controlled the business of handling the requests for books that poured in from nine in the morning to ten at night all week, and from two to nine p.m. on Sundays. With the older part of Birmingham University just across the road, the main users during most of the year were from the university community, but there were also many newspaper staff, theatrical people, teachers, stockbrokers, business men, and the general public.