Overview

Few scholars of library science, theology, or popular culture know that 27% of all the libraries in the U.S. and Canada have some form of religious affiliation. John Harvey, a noted international library consultant and former dean of the library school at Drexel, has spent years compiling an exhaustive analysis of these collections, an analysis that will provide the framework for further study of the religious library world as it exists in these two countries. Popular Religious Libraries contains the same data for parochial school libraries, congregational libraries, and libraries open to the public. This extraordinary range of statistics provides the tools to analyze these libraries and their collections relative to other types of libraries in the U.S. and Canada. The author compares geographic and demographic settings, and, in separate sections, presents statistics on library personnel, management, material, expenditures, and use. Each section also includes figures from the prior ten years for longitudinal analysis.

Full Product Details

9780810833425

Table of Contents

Reviews

...an invaluable refrence tool and provides clearly set out comparative data for colleges, universities, seminaries, convents and monastaries, religious archives, and the libraries of hundreds of denominational headquarters. The Australian Library Journal ...its contents should give rise to directions for future studies by library and information scientists, sociologists, religious studies scholars, and others whose interest in the often-neglected field of religious libraries will be awakened and advanced by Harvey's work. Library and Information Science Research ...an astounding amount of information for anyone interested in theological or religious libraries or the field of libraries itself. These volumes are highly recommended. Future generations of researchers will depend on these titles for a long time to come. Catholic Library World ...what makes the book more than simply an extensive piece of research is Harvey's clarity of approach and intelligent assessment which always gives a sense of his appreciation of religious librarianship. Bulletin Of Abtapl

...an invaluable refrence tool and provides clearly set out comparative data for colleges, universities, seminaries, convents and monastaries, religious archives, and the libraries of hundreds of denominational headquarters. Australian Library Journal ...its contents should give rise to directions for future studies by library and information scientists, sociologists, religious studies scholars, and others whose interest in the often-neglected field of religious libraries will be awakened and advanced by Harvey's work. Library and Information Science Research ...an astounding amount of information for anyone interested in theological or religious libraries or the field of libraries itself. These volumes are highly recommended. Future generations of researchers will depend on these titles for a long time to come. Catholic Library World ...what makes the book more than simply an extensive piece of research is Harvey's clarity of approach and intelligent assessment which always gives a sense of his appreciation of religious librarianship. Bulletin Of Abtapl

Author Information

John F. Harvey (Ph.D., University of Chicago) has had several careers in his fifty years of library and information service — academic library director, library school dean and professor, international consultant, writer and editor. He is a frequent book reviewer and a member of seven religious library associations. He has published ten books and contributed to many professional papers and book reviews.

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