Louis Stanley jast (1868 – 1944) was one of the most progressive and respected public librarians of his day. As Chief Librarian of Croydon, and later of Manchester, and as a writer on the advantages of libraries, he exercised a considerable influence over his contemporaries.1 In 1908 he was invited by Luton Borough Council to examine and report on the state of their public library. Luton was hardly a go-ahead library authoritY, but the Council was willing to take advice and act upon it. Luton Library had a curious history. Established by the Council in 1877, with a new building opened in 1883, the Public Libraries Acts were not adopted until 1894, by which time only a resolution of the Council was necessary. The Library relied purely on money raised from wellwishers. As a consequence the stock was small and poor, and initially only subscribers could borrow books. The first librarian, David Wootton, had been hired as a caretaker, and ‘librarianship’ was exercised by its Committee. Jast's views are clear in this report and show him well in the vanguard of contemporary library thinking. He opposed the purchasing of newspapers and the provision of separate reading rooms for ladies, and favoured open access and card catalogues, all contentious topics in their time. Within days of receiving Jast's report the Committee had applied to Andrew Carnegie for funds for a new library. This was granted, the unqualified chief librarian was dispensed with, and, in a new building, Jast's recommendations could be implemented. Luton soon had a public library to be proud of.2 Jast's printed, but previously unpublished, report is a revealing source for the history of the Edwardian public library, both as it was in reality and as it ought to be,according to one of the leading practioners of the day.