Federal Aid and State Library Agencies

Shavit's book is an implementation analysis of the impact of federal aid on the organization and administration of state library agencies. He examines five state libraries in detail, supplemented by data from eight other states that have reported using federal funds for their libraries. Through the use of qualitative evaluation methods and unstructured interviews with the people involved, Shavit attempts to answer many of the questions surrounding his topic including implementation, the stimulus for institutional change, the extent of accomplishment with regard to legislatively mandated activities, how the agencies have been strengthened and improved, and the realistic expectations of the response to federal aid. Finally, he proposes recommendations for future policy regarding federal aid to public libraries and the role of state library agencies in relation to such aid.