134 IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY

miscellaneous people with leisure and “nothing else to do.”
There are other publics.

The library’s problem is a problem of optimum allocation
of resources. Like the economy as a whole, the public library
is limited in facilities, time, money, and staff. Since it cannot
be all things to all men, it must decide what things it will be
to whom. The present distribution of resources may be as
much the result of traditional growth as of rational decision.
Professional integrity and responsibility require self-inquiry
and experimentation, against library objectives. Librarians
have the problem of designating the library’s publics to whom
more and less consideration will be given. It is a matter of rank-
ing the library’s actual and potential publics in a value hier-
archy.

In this connection, some historical perspective on the li-
brary’s role in the community is desirable. There are two
social trends which will affect the evolution of the public
library in the coming years which are relevant to any con-
sideration of library objectives and programs. One is often
termed “the communication revolution.”® Among other
things, this “revolution” has enormously extended audiences
for relatively standardized communication content. The
“revolution” is by no means over; technological advances are
rapidly being made in the field of print, radio, and motion
pictures. These developments will bring increased competi-
tion to the public library in the “recreational” area of com-
munication, but will probably do little to compete with the
public library in its provision of “serious” and permanent ma-
terials. There is also a second and in a sense a contrary trend
—the steady rise in the educational level of the population re-
sulting from the extended period of formal schooling. These

*The Commission on Freedom of the Press, in A Free and Responsible Press,
“The Communications Revolution,” University of Chicago Press, 1947, pp.

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