The disappearing borrower: a review article

Abstract

Collated results of research into the methods used by general readers to select books from public library shelves are considered m the context of traditional public library attitudes to book display It is suggested that the current decline in library borrowing may be the result of changing social trends allied to a permanent reduction in the amount of resources available to public libraries, and that it may be timely to reconsider the long-term viability of general library practice, against the option of a positive move in the direction of specific, targeted services using resources at present devoted to the satisfaction of general demand