FOREIGN BOOK PROCUREMENT

Abstract

The Farmington Plan, despite much varied criticism, has, as Robert L. Talmadge has written, ‘repeatedly been cited as one of the most important, most enlightened, and hopeful instances of library co‐operation in the history of American libraries’. The history of its establishment and development, together with the details of its operation, is set out in the Farmington Plan handbook by Edwin E. Williams. It is not necessary to repeat that information here, but it is perhaps useful to quote the opening paragraph of Chapter 1 which distils the spirit of the plan very succinctly: ‘The Farmington Plan is an experiment in specialization by voluntary agreement among American research libraries. Its objective is to make sure that at least one copy of each new foreign book and pamphlet that might reasonably be expected to interest a research worker in the United States will be acquired by an American library, promptly listed in the Union Catalogue at the Library of Congress, and made available by interlibrary loan or photographic reproduction.’ The first acquisitions were of books published in 1948; in 1957 it was decided by the Association of Research Libraries that the purposes, scope, and results of the plan should be re‐examined in the light of the experience of the first ten years. The resultant survey was presented at the Midwinter Annual Meeting of ARL in January 1959, where its main conclusions were adopted. These involve, briefly, the continuing responsibility of ARL for the Farmington Plan, the extension of the Farmington Plan on a world‐wide basis—the Farmington Plan Committee to be responsible for this in co‐ordination with area committees—provision of funds for an office and research assistance for the Farmington Plan, the overhaul of procurement methods, a survey of the adequacy of periodical holdings, more duplication of imports, and propaganda to stress the national importance of the Farmington Plan. It has been described by its co‐author, Robert Vosper, in his paper at the 1959 Aslib Conference, and it is not proposed to repeat what he said then on the organization of the survey.