The Library World Volume 58 Issue 7 Available to Purchase

THE country faces its most trying ordeals of recent years, everywhere with increased costs in most things: petrol shortage, limited transport at higher charges, a convulsive revision of the assessments of businesses which may affect all dwelling houses adversely, a threat of increased income tax, unquiet trade‐unions and the apotheosis of Nasser. Libraries of all kinds could be affected: the rates remitted must be raised from somewhere and public library estimates may suffer; nor, we suppose, would the libraries of industry be likely to benefit. Petrol shortage might give the lukewarm supporters of mobile libraries the chance to attack them as non‐essential; the action of the Library Association Council in approaching the Ministry of Housing and Local Government on this is justified. The refusal, by lack of agreement amongst themselves, of the N.J.C. to award reasonable payment for awkward hours and, more important, after two years of delay, to agree to the grading of public library posts above APT II level, will need more argument to alter in present circumstances.