Int. Libr. Rev. (1970) 2, 399400

Editorial Commentary

GEORGE CHANDLER

A feature of international collaboration in recent years has been the formation of working parties of various kinds to consider international co-operation in specific fields. One example is the working group appointed by INTAMEL (International Association of Metropolitan City Libraries) to undertake a three year research programme on the objectives, standards and performance measures of metropolitan city libraries, and to prepare a code of practice for international co-opera- tion, with particular reference to the exchange of information, staff, books and exhibitions. In order to do this, meetings have been held in various countries, the latest having been held in Japan this year. At the request of Japanese librarians the meetings of the working party were spread over the towns on the railway from Kobe to Tokyo-Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama and culminating appropriately in Tokyo.

In order to ensure maximum utilization of the time available, all the general studies were forwarded at least one month prior to the meeting, thus permitting them to be translated if necessary, and considered in advance. In a number of cities, the Japanese librarians appointed local working parties to prepare papers or publications on the local services and plans for development, which were presented and discussed at the appropriate meeting, together with discussion of general papers.

The Japanese librarians organized the meetings with great care and efficiency, and excellent arrangements were made for visits to local libraries, and for receptions which gave opportunity to meet local civic leaders who would be influential in securing the implementation of development plans.

Most of the papers presented at the 1970 INTAMEL JAPAN MEETING are printed in this issue in a shortened form.

My impressions of Japanese city libraries were that energetic steps were being taken to bring their services up to a level appropriate to Japanese achievements in other fields, and that progress was being made at a faster rate than in other countries at a comparable stage of develop- ment.

400 GEORGE CHANDLER

Japanese city libraries are emerging quickly from the first phase of city library development, when resources tend to be concentrated on the provision of reference libraries and reading rooms and lending services are at a low level. One difference is, however, that Japanese city refer- ence libraries and reading rooms are more heavily used by students; only a small percentage of adults use them for self-educational and information purposes.

Japanese city libraries share certain characteristics common to urban libraries elsewhere, but at an earher stage of their development: they are administered by authorities appointed primarily for other purposes -in the case of Japan by school boards. This has had a restrictive effect on the services in Japan similar to that found in some countries before the establishment of governing bodies more appropriate to institutions serving people after they have left school, and which should attempt to act as part of the encouragement towards continuing life-long self- enlightenment through books, newspapers, radio, television and similar mass media in the formation of public opinion.

Another characteristic which reflects an earlier stage of development is the appointment of general administrators and scholars to the top city library posts-a practice which has almost died out in many countries. Some of the persons appointed recognize that professional training and long experience are necessary, and will, I think, use their influence to secure the appointment of professional librarians.

Naturally, a country with an ancient, rich and colourful civilization like Japan will, whilst adopting some standards from other countries, continue to experiment in certain unique ways. For instance, I was de- lighted to find that Japanese city libraries offer facilities for the Japanese tea ceremonial, as at Kobe and Nagoya. Advanced arrangements for research in local history and for local history publications are features in Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo and Yokohama.

The other contributions in this issue have been prepared as a result of widely different forms of international library co-operation. Donald C. Davidson writes about the British academic library from the point of view of one American who spent a year as a Fulbright research scholar in Great Britain. J. Gaerts submits an updated version of the paper on Belgian public libraries which he submitted to the Slovak International Symposium in Martin in 1969. Tze-Chung Li submits an updated version of his unpublished report to the Third Conference of the Joint Council on Sino-American Co-operation in Humanities and Social Sciences in 1969. In this he surveys the library resources for the teaching of American studies in Taiwan. Dr Aman contributes a personal survey of international librarianship in 1969.