This set, comprising out-of-print titles from The Library Association Series of Library Manuals and The Practical Library Handbooks, is a key guide to the early modernisation of librarianship. Systems set up then are still in use today, giving the books practical use today, as well as providing a valuable historical analysis of the discipline.

This book, first published in 1937, examines the principles and practicalities of inter-library loans of books – making available to readers elsewhere otherwise idle books. Initially done on an ad-hoc basis, modern ideas and developments have led to a modern generation of librarians whose first aim is to see that their readers get the books they need.