The rise and fall of the bookish librarian

Abstract

Deplores the apparent ignorance of English and other literatures displayed by many library staff. Early public librarians showed a great awareness of classical books and authors, but a century ago technical problems supplanted literary articles in the library press. In 1927 R.D. McLeod founded The Library Review. This, and other journals, prompted a reappearance of bookish librarians. But when library schools began to flourish, literary history disappeared from the Library Association syllabus and is no longer taught in the schools. This has led to the emergence of library science at the cost of literary knowledge. Claims it is time for a change.