"Libraries of Light is a triumphant exploration of a time when a shared, forward-looking political discourse, an emergent architectural style and fast-changing aspirations and lifestyles found a common cause and even an object of desire"
Ken Worpole in The Journal of National and International Library and Information Issues
"A thoroughly grounded, beautifully illustrated, and superbly researched effort that connects the developments of the welfare state and civic architecture in post-World War II Great Britain within a discussion of the construction of Sixties public library buildings. Black identifies the conflicts and compromises (most were successful, some not) struck between proponents of management efficiency and advocates for physical attraction that 60s librarians, ironically, often resisted."
Wayne A. Wiegand, Florida State University, USA
"Libraries of Light is a work of impressive research and scholarship, as one would expect from the author concerned, and contributes immensely to our understanding of public libraries as social institutions. In re-presenting and reevaluating this important era in the development of public libraries in the United Kingdom, Black reminds us all how librarianship has continuously tried, and largely succeeded, in adapting to the challenges of the new worlds that progress presented to it."
David McMenemy, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
"Alistair Black's new work on British public library history, Libraries of Light, offers not only a rich treatment of the design revolution he sees manifested in these oft-maligned buildings but also a thoughtful engagement with larger cultural and interdisciplinary issues from which these designs emerged. Black, ranks among our most accomplished and prolific library historians. He has produced a work for knowledgeable professional librarians interested in library design and history as well as the institution's connection to larger cultural meanings."
Anthony Bernier, San Jose State University, USA
