Summer schools in library service at Aberystwyth (1917-1928)

2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the College of Librarianship Wales, (which has evolved into the Department of Information Studies at Aberystwyth University). However, the roots of this educational establishment can be traced back nearly fifty years earlier to the University’s Summer Schools in Library Service. This paper investigates the courses in library service jointly developed and run by the University and the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth between 1917 and 1928. An historical approach is adopted, and use has been made of extant primary sources held in the National Library, as well as various notices and reports of the courses published in the journals of the time. Unfortunately it has not been possible to trace a complete set of Directors’ Reports although personal accounts of the courses have been found. Strong similarities between the Summer Schools in Library Service of one hundred years ago and the degree programmes currently offered via distance learning by the Department of Information Studies have been indicated.