"The purpose of this study, then, is to determine whether or not the monthly selections of The Literary Guild of America are of good enough quality to enable the library staff to accept them as really good choices of current fiction. This paper includes a brief sketch of the history of the Literary Guild which outlines the club's background and selection and distribution policies. Next it presents an examination of each of the twelve titles distributed to Guild members in 1948, followed by a summary of the findings. An annotated bibliography of the titles selected by the Guild in 1947, arranged in order of issuance to members, is appended to this paper"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1953." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Mary Edna Anders, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-58).

In 1926 the Book-of-the-Month Club sent its first selection to 4,750 members. Twenty three years later the club had 4,000,000 members, had distributed over 100,000,000 books, and was one of sixty such clubs operating in the United States. Much discussion has taken place and many articles have been written during this period relative to the merits of these organizations. The attacks have been made largely on the following points: (1) the organization was foisting on the public in dictatorial fashion prescribed reading; (2) emphasis was placed on economy, rather than the excellence of the book; (3) the young or unknown author was unable to compete with authors of established reputations; (4) a few favored publishers were receiving club's business and would force smaller and newer firms out of business; (5) retail book stores were losing sales because club members were paying less than retail prices; and (6) the book clubs were lowering the public taste. Time has weakened many of these arguments and the fears have proved groundless. But the final charge relative to the lowering of public taste still remains current and debatable. The criticism on this point has been bitter and is one of great interest to the librarian. For this reason the purpose of this paper is to try to adjudge the validity of that contention by examining and analyzing the selections of one of the clubs for a limited period in order to see the quality of the selections as evidenced by the evaluations of critics, both at the time of the publications of the books and at the present time. / Typescript. / "August, 1950." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert G. Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-29).

The phenomenal rise in the number of book clubs in the United States in the past twenty-five years has resulted in much being written and said on the subject of their value. The success of these clubs has raised fears in the minds of some people that books may soon be tailored less to art than to the requirements of the clubs' mass audience. The success that the clubs have had in getting the American people to buy books when the booksellers and others have failed, can probably be attributed to one key word that is found in the publicity of all the clubs: "free." A controversy about the use of the word "free" has been raging for the last few years between the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Federal Trade Commission. The Commissioners were unable to agree with the Book-of-the-Month Club's contention that statements contained in the advertisements, disclosing those things which the customer must do in order to receive the so-called "free" books, "neutralize the probability or possibility of deception." The purpose of this paper is not, however, to discuss the controversy of the Book-of-the-Month Club versus the Federal Trade Commission, or to be concerned with the free or bonus aspect of any club's promotional endeavors. Its purpose is to consider whether or not books so obtained are worth having, be they "free," bonus, or priced, and whether or not they are creditable selections. In considering the question of dividend books it obviously would be desirable to evaluate the books distributed by all book clubs, but this would not be a project with a range of accomplishment within the scope of this paper. It was, therefore, decided to take as a specimen the divident books of one such club and to attempt to adjudge on the basis of critical opinion their merits. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert G. Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-47).

No description available.

This study has two purposes: (1) to provide a reference tool--a list of the best books, articles, and audiovisual materials about photojournalism, and (2) to make a general evaluation of available literature. In response to a mail survey, photojournalists and photojournalism educators recommended twenty-four sources of information about photojournalism in twenty subject categories. Respondents believe reading about photojournalism is important in helping professionals do their jobs well. But, they do not think there is enough up-to-date information available. Further, a majority think photojournalism literature is unrealistic, poorly written and designed, and ineffective in preparing students.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis is a qualitative study of six full day childcare centres. The purpose of this study was to identify the print literature resources that are present within a representative sample of urban childcare centres. Data were collected using field notes and manager interviews. A further analysis of the resources present allowed to the researcher to evaluate the quality of the resources and to discern whether the early childhood educators sampled have the resources to provide the foundation for a quality literature program. The books were analysed using five elements, including; literary merit, age and accuracy, physical condition, genre and developmental appropriateness, and quantity and accessibility. A total of 2774 resources were present in the six childcare centres. Overall the centres did not satisfy the elements for quality resources. Only 1% of the resources were found to have been judged worthy of recognition through nomination or award. The average age of the resources was 16 years, with an age span of 102 years, causing concern for accuracy, especially for information literature. The physical condition of the print literature resources did conform to quality guidelines, and it was discovered that physical condition was the only reason for discarding a book. There were a variety of genres present within the childcare centres, with the largest genre being information books. The second largest genre was surprising, as TV/Toy books represented 19.5% of the total collections. None of the centres met International Reading Association guidelines for quantity or accessibility for classroom libraries. It was clear that quantity and cost were the most important factors influencing the print literature collections in these childcare centres. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate