F22 FURTHER RESEARCH NEEDED

public library really used as a major source of political and so-
cial enlightenment? Again, the best hypothesis is that the adult
borrowers of political materials from the public library are
reading books deliberately selected to reinforce and buttress
their already existing opinions and prejudices.

The role of the public library as a factor in political and so-
cial change deserves study. Does it really serve as a vehicle for
the circulation of “new” ideas? Or does it contribute to politi-
cal apathy and conservatism indirectly through its easy provi-
sion of “light,” “escape” fiction? How effective is the public
library as a contributor to occupational mobility or adjust-
ment? Is it an agency through which the opportunity for oc-
cupational advancement is realized? Which of its users use it
successfully for that end? Questions of this kind, relating the
public library as an operating institution to the social currents
of the time, are relevant and proper. In the end, the library’s
contribution to American society must be measured in terms
of its effects and influence upon that society, in terms of its
contribution to the gradual transformation of the “great so-
ciety” into the “good society.”

These are only a few of the research developments sug-
gested by a review of the present literature. Other gaps in our
knowledge will be equally apparent to other students in the
field. Interested persons with different points of view may dis-
agree upon what the next research step ought to be. What will
be generally agreed upon is the central matter: scientific in-
vestigation concerning the use of the public library has made
a good start, and it should be extended and intensified as well
as improved.