American Library Directory 1997‐98 50th edition, Vols 1 and 2

Citation

Shaw, J. (1999), "American Library Directory 1997‐98 50th edition, Vols 1 and 2", New Library World, Vol. 100 No. 3, pp. 145-146. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.1999.100.3.145.4

Believe it or not , Bad Axe (Michigan, USA), Ear Falls (Ontario, Canada), and Villahermosa (Tabasco, Mexico) are not only real towns but all have libraries listed in the American Library Directory. Indeed anyone wanting information on libraries of any type or size in the USA, Canada or Mexico should regard this as an essential starting point.

The Directory is split into two weighty volumes and those familiar with Uhlrich’s International Periodicals Directory will see a lot of similarities in style and layout.

Volume 1 contains a geographical listing of libraries in the USA plus a library services and suppliers section.

Volume 2 contains the geographical listings for Canada and Mexico, sections on library networks, consortia and library schools as well as organization and personnel indexes.

The geographical listings form by far the major part of the directory and are simple to use. Each listing has a major heading for the state, region or province which is further subdivided into towns with entries for individual libraries following in alphabetical order. This arrangement is ideal for anyone researching library provision in a particular area or those who have a particular institution in mind and already have some idea of its general location. However, if you only know the name of an institution or even if you know the name of the town but, like myself, are geographically challenged and have no idea whether “Anchorage” is in Alaska or New Jersey, or “Wolfville” in Saskatchewan or Nova Scotia, you will always need to turn first to the organization index midway through the second volume.

Perhaps one of the most exciting features of this directory is the range of libraries included. They come in all types including: academic, public, government, hospital, military, commercial and religious. They come in all sizes too ranging from the Library of Congress with its list of book titles numbering 26,000,000 to Greenpeace USA Inc., which has an entry for 100 titles only. The subject specialisms of most of the libraries are also clearly listed but I feel that the lack of a subject index (perhaps along the lines of the ASLIB Directory) is very limiting.

Each of the library entries includes address, names of key personnel and holdings information. Useful, additional information is included for many of the entries, e.g. expenditures, income, special collections and subject interests as well as automation and publication details. In the main, the information is supplied by the libraries themselves and reviewed yearly ‐ information about new libraries is added as the publisher becomes aware of their existence. My only disappointment with regard to the content of information itself was the hit and miss nature of e‐mail addresses and URLs, e.g. I failed to find either for Columbia University Libraries (New York). Having said that, I feel that the amount of detail provided is fairly impressive and I particularly like the way the heading for each state, region and province opens with overall population statistics and details of public library provision.

Finally just a few words on some of the other sections contained in this Directory.

The Library Services and Suppliers Section at the end of Volume 1 does not claim to be a comprehensive list but rather represents organizations which have paid to advertise. Having said that, this section its clearly set out, well indexed and easy to use.

The personnel index provided at the end of volume 2 is not a directory of professional librarians in North America but rather it corresponds exactly to any staff (qualified or not) mentioned in the library entries.

This second volume also contains two sections primarily of interest to senior library managers, i.e. Networks, Consortia and Other Cooperative Library Organizations and Library Services; once again each of these is arranged by state and contains data on size and function.

The notable feature of the section on Library Schools and Training Courses is that as well as information about the courses and qualifications offered, in most cases, tuition fees are also included.

All in all, this Directory should be regarded as both authoritative and comprehensive ‐ indeed the mere fact that it is now in its 50th edition says a lot about its value and popularity. Nevertheless, its clear that those who will derive most use from it will chiefly comprise residents of the countries covered and those elsewhere with an ongoing, rather than occasional interest in the world of North American librarianship.