Special Libraries, Their Supporting Institutions, And Metropolitan Problems

ot long ago Ervin J. Gaines* took Ralph Blasingame^ to task \nover an implicit assumption in an article he had written, an assumption \nwhich made everything seem so simple: that reading is vital to \nlife, and if the idea were projected further, that libraries are vital \nto reading. Gaines went on, "True, it may be vital to the middle \nclass, but is it vital to a migrant farm worker?' \nMany persons and groups in our twentieth century society see \nlittle need for easy access to organized collections of books. Few \ncitizens, though, would argue against libraries unless they are compelled \nto place them in priority with other public services such as \nhighways, police protection, schools, or sewage treatment. Government \nofficials and school and college administrators, too, are unpredictable \nas to their reaction to libraries. \nWhat then of the Special Library, that poorly defined type of \nlibrary which came into being without the security of citizen education \nand service? It is heartening to hear of enlightened administrators \nin corporations, government agencies, hospitals, museums, \nand similar institutions who understand and appreciate what a library \ncan do for them, or why a library should be considered for \ntheir own organization. \nHow often, though, are there reports of special libraries passing \nout of existence and how rare an occurrence is this in the college, \nschool, and public library world? Not unusual is a letter such as \none dated Monday, July 26, 1965: "Last Friday . . . management informed \nme that the Research Library was immediately discontinued \nin connection with drastic reduction of all Research activities."