Library and Information Science

One of the current issues in public libraries is the scale of individual libraries. The word “scale” means not only size of book collection but also implies number of staff. The author first examines Alfred Marshall's theory of “economics of scale” as revealed in his Principles of economics. To the ‘economics of scale’ contribute economics of labor, technology, market, and management. This ‘scale’ concept was found applicable to public libraries, but to make the discussion clear, applications to retailers in general, and to book shops in particular are examined carefully.

As a consequence the theory of ‘economics of scale’ was found to hold also good in the scale of public libraries. Therefore, public libraries should be aware of the scale merit and today's pitiful situations be improved rather drastically to cope with overwhelming tendency of clients to better library service and deeper satisfaction as a temporary target.