![](https://assets.cambridge.org/97811080/21494/cover/9781108021494.jpg)
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Online publication date:
- March 2012
- Print publication year:
- 2010
- First published in:
- 1886
- Online ISBN:
- 9780511719776
12th August 2024: digital purchasing is currently unavailable on Cambridge Core. Due to recent technical disruption affecting our publishing operation, we are experiencing some delays to publication. We are working hard to restore services as soon as possible and apologise for the inconvenience. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/technical-incident
Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838–1917) was a prolific writer on bibliography, literature and the arts. As founder of the Index Society, and editor of The Bibliographer, he was also involved in the foundation of the Library Association. In that context he wrote several works on library topics. How to Form a Library was published in 1886, when libraries were spreading rapidly throughout England. The book provides advice on the selection of material for different kinds of libraries and audiences, and suggests a list of core works. Although the choices reflect the period in which it was written - a point Wheatley makes about earlier lists - it nonetheless has a value in giving insight into the intellectual interests of the day. He was firmly against librarians acting as moral censors, and although his list of required reading is unlikely to be followed today, the book contains much valuable information on library history.
* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.
Usage data cannot currently be displayed.