抄録
The Doncept of the school library is composed of two ones—those of the school and of the library. I will think over the latter first and the former, later.
1. The Concept of the Library
Laymen look on a library as a book-house where a number of arranged books are served to people. But library scientists regard it as more than that; the library is a social agency, it has non-book materials also, its materials are arganized, and it is a mediator of communication or information.
What on earth is a library? It is a number of books collected with some intention. This intention is a priori inherent in human being: his will to give eternity to certain valuable books—the kernel concept of the library.
2. The Types of Libraries
Some classify libraries by the social system and some by their functions. Much confusion in classifing them is in evidence. We can reconstruct the types of libraries by the notions of national libraries，research libraries，reference libraries, lending libraries, instructive libraries and preservative libraries. I propose that the investigated concept of all these libraries should be called the “meta-library”. School libraries have essentially the function of the instructive libraries, nevertheless other kinds of libraries such as university libraries, college libraries and public libraries have also the same function. Then we must investigate these libraries when we inquire into school libraries.
We can also classify libraries by their materials—“ur-libraries”(i.e. libraries that preserve only books), audio-visual libraries and archieves. School libraries have been transformed into instructional material centers that have not only books but audio-visual aids. Can these also be libraries?
