College and Research Libraries


520 / College <Lr Research Libraries • November 1968 

house. It is already one of the most schol-
arly. 
In reading this excellent book, this review-
er was reminded again of Thomas Carlyle's 
observation: "The ordinary histories of 
Kings and Courtiers were well exchanged 
against a tenth part of one good History of 
Booksellers." In these first hundred years, 
the history of the Methodist Publishing 
House is closely interwoven with the his-
tory of this country, for the former was in-
fluenced by and, as a significant part of 
the religious movement, was an influence 
on the latter. Running through the fabric 
of the Methodist Publishing House's past 
are some of the warp threads in the 
whole fabric of American history: the in-
fluence of an expanding frontier; the op-
timism and sectionalism which its broad 
horizons generated; inflation, depression, 
war, and industrial growth. This work will 
be of interest to students of American cul-
tural history and the history of Christianity 
in America as well as of the history of 
American publishing and of Methodism. 

It is a sad fact that so few comparable 
studies, indeed so few studies at all, exist 
of American publishing houses which have 
played an important part in our country's 
cultural history. The potential use of an 
adequate corpus of such works to scholars 
in several fields can as yet be only partial-
ly comprehended. The wealth of informa-
tion found in this one work, however, sug-
gests something of that potential. 

The book is handsomely designed, well 
made, and copiously illustrated. Its price 
is remarkably modest.—Robert D. Harlan, 
University of California, Berkeley. 

Floors: Selection and Maintenance. By 
Bernard Berkeley. Library Technology 
Program, no. 13 [Chicago: ALA, 1968]. 
300p. $12.50 (68-23014). 

The book is organized in seven chapters as 
follows: (1) Selection Criteria; (2) Main-
tenance; (3) Resilient Floor Coverings; 
(4) Carpet; (5) Masonry Floors; (6) 
Wood Floors; and (7) Formed-in-place 
Floors. 

These chapter headings indicate the scope 
of this work. The first chapter discusses all 
types of floor coverings in general, the ad-
vantages and disadvantages of each gener-
al type, pricing comparisons, and mainten-
ance problems. After reading this chapter 
the librarian should be able to decide up-
on the general type of floor covering he 
will use. He can then select a specific type 
by further study of the appropriate chap-
ter covering the general type selected. 

The second chapter devotes forty-six pages 
to a comprehensive study of floor covering 
maintenance. It deals with maintenance 
supplies and equipment and their proper 
utilization. Although few librarians have 
control over maintenance practices, their 
understanding of the problems associated 
with them should improve their under-
standing of good and bad practices and 
should enable them to know what results 
to expect from any specific floor covering. 
This chapter, therefore, should not be 
passed over lightly. 

The remaining chapters analyze specific 
coverings. Their description, installation, 
maintenance, refinishing, the removal 
therefrom of stains and burns, and other 
pertinent information pertaining to each is 
presented in excellent detail. 
The author uses few footnotes but provides 
an exhaustive listing of selected refer-
ences. An excellent index is also included. 
Twenty useful tables appear at appropriate 
places within the text. Some care should be 
exercised in using the tables, however, 
since they contain a few typographical er-
rors. Photographs are used to illustrate the 
text. 
This well-organized consolidation of im-
portant factors in the selection and main-
tenance of floor coverings is the only book 
of its kind. Every librarian responsible for 
the physical aspects of a library should be 
familiar with it. Moreover, although it is 
not a maintenance manual, persons re-
sponsible for custodial services will profit 
from it, as will architects, library building 
consultants, and planners.—Charles Schliec-
ker, University of North Carolina. • •