The Library World Volume 42 Issue 4

SO indefinite has been the activity in the political and military spheres of the war that the realization of the tremendous nature of the event has not yet been felt generally, although before these lines appear in print things may have changed. The normal life of libraries has been conditioned in some by the loss of a few rooms which have been “seconded,” to quote the favourite word of the moment, for other purposes and by the black‐out. Certainly there have been cases where the local Caesars have commandeered rooms without any regard for their suitability or for the value of the work they normally do, but this has not been at all general. On the contrary, the libraries have been more used than ever, and closing at blacking‐out has been so much resented that a large number of libraries, we hope all, have determined to keep libraries open as fully as possible. This does not mean that it is for the moment necessary to keep lending departments open until 9 p.m. or later, as was the case in some towns. The one habit the British people learn from war is to retire earlier, but libraries should remain open until 7 o'clock or a little later. Many of the suggestions we made last month had been anticipated or have since been carried out, such as doubling the number of books the reader may borrow, going easy with the charging of fines, and so on. We repeat that to keep our methods flexible and adaptable is the great need of the moment.