JAST,+Louis+Stanley

JAST, Louis Stanley (1868-1944) Halifax 1887; 1CL Peterborough 1892; CL Croydon 1898; Manchester 1915-1931 (DL 1915, CL 1920) The son of a Polish immigrant, Jast (originally Jastrzebski) proved to be one of the outstanding public librarians of his generation. His period at CROYDON was probably most important as he made the system there one of the best and best known in Britain. His MANCHESTER period was specially notable for his basic design for the long overdue Central Library which was, however, only opened after his retirement. His period of office as LA Honorary Secretary (1904-1915) was crowned by the introduction of the professional register in 1909. He was made an Honorary Fellow in 1915 and was President in 1930. His //Library and the community// (1939) was a useful concise account of public library service aimed at the general reader; his //Libraries and living// (1932) reprints not only some of his librarianship essays and speeches but also a selection of his talks on BBC radio. W G Fry and W A Munford //Louis Stanley last: a biographical sketch// (1966).

b. Halifax chief assistant at Halifax for several years librarian of Akroyd Park branch 1888-1892 author of papers (YB 1897, 179-80)

K. A. Manley, ‘ Jast, Louis Stanley (1868–1944) ’, //Oxford Dictionary of National Biography//, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 8 Nov 2009