The Public Library in Britain, 1914-2000

Contents: 1. Introduction: themes and sources -- The public library observed -- Museums of modernity -- The Victorian and Edwardian legacy -- The new library history -- Community, modernity and the self 2. Science and citizenship: 1914-1919 -- Reconstruction, education and the Revolutionary threat -- The role of government -- The work of the public library movement -- Support from business -- Citizenship, science and the self 3. Grids and Masons: 1919-1939 -- Class and community -- The library grid -- The unemployment threat -- Mass media, popular culture and Englishness -- The librarianship masonic circle -- Civilisation and the self 4. Bombs and blueprints: 1939-1945 -- Wartime damage and shortages -- Interest from government and the voluntary sector -- The reading boom -- Other responsibilities -- Nottinghamshire's war -- From crisis to renewal -- The McColvin blueprint -- A wartime retirement: W.B. Thorne, public service and the self 5. Welfarism and modernissation: 1945-1976 -- From austerity to affluence -- Size matters -- Modern times -- Popular culture -- Libraries in society -- The public library and the modern self 6. Cuts and computers: 1976-2000 -- Cuts -- Class -- Corporate culture -- Computers -- The public library and the postmodern self -- Conclusion: Rediscovering the public library self