Nearly all major academic libraries constructed in Great Britain in the last fifteen years have been built on modular or flexible principles, as distinct from earlier fixed function libraries; and this is the result of a new ideology of academic librarianship which has developed in Britain over the last twenty years. Elements of this ideology, as indicnted in librarians' building briefs or programmes, include the recognition of the changing nature of library service, the virtual abandonment of the belief that readers at study need supervision, a desire to "mix" books and readers, and, with certain libraries, a strong commitment to a so-called "active" library service and to the concept of a learning resource centre. Another general reason for the success of the flexible library lies in the growth of a managerial ideology which stresses functional efficiency. All these beliefs have been shaped by the demands which have been put upon libraries and librarians as a result of the expansion of higher education.
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