If the demise is not unexpected, part of the reason involves the changing
world of libraries. Some of us will remember ALA Council meetings from the
early 1960s, with a "press box" inhabited by Library Journal, Wilson
Library Bulletin, and the Malkins. We also remember getting new AB issues
routed to us, since it was the best source for our own "current awareness"
-- conferences written up honestly and passionately, new addresses for
booksellers (yes, they were important then), obits not only of prominent
booksellers but also of authors, publishers, even librarians, plus the
overtones of the good gossip we wanted to know about. (In those days, the
booksellers were among the very best sources for what was really going on
in the library world.) Articles too: I'm still waiting for an update of
Paul Koda's on "The Language of the Book" (in the 1980 Yearbook, p. 129).
The times they may be a-changing, but thanks to AB it sure was a lot of
fun back then.
D.W.Krummel University of Illinois Urbana
donkay@uiuc.edu 217/344-6311