W. A. Munford

W. A. Munford was an influential figure in the field of British library history, particularly of public libraries.

His preferred approach was through biography: in addition to several formal biographies, his Who Was Who in British Librarianship 1800-1985 (1987) is a remarkable and readable distillation of often fascinating information in an area not obviously destined for the limelight. (The preface cheerfully quotes a fellow library historian's words: "Munford much prefers dead librarians to live ones.") But he was also a librarian of significance in his own right and a well-known figure in the Library Association for half a century.

William Arthur Munford was born in Islington, London, in 1911 and educated at Hornsey County School. Inspired by Frank Seymour Smith while a junior assistant in Hornsey Public Library, he took the Library Association's examinations, but also studied at the London School of Economics, where he took a BSc (Econ) and later a PhD – neither degree at that time a necessary or indeed common qualification in his chosen field of public librarianship.

When he became chief of the new public library in Dover in 1934 he was still only 23 and had what he called "a more than acceptable share of arrogance". He had also met (and soon married) Hazel Wilmer, not a fellow librarian but a reader, for whose support and patience with his passion for "dead librarians" he often expressed deep gratitude.

That self-confidence stood him in good stead when establishing a municipal library in a town that had been slow in taking up this responsibility. He quickly built up an efficient service with an impressive book stock, the fruit of his wide reading and lifelong passion for books. Confirmation of his success came in December 1937 in a broadcast by E.M. Forster, commenting delightedly on a visit to Dover Public Library: "This place is run by someone who believes that books are alive, and wants to make them alive for other people."

Munford remained at Dover until 1945, doubling-up as Food Executive Officer during the Second World War (for which he was appointed MBE). He next spent eight fruitful years as Borough Librarian of Cambridge, and in 1954 became Director- General of the National Library for the Blind, which he served with élan until his retirement in 1982.

The NLB gave Munford new opportunities to spread his pleasure in books, encouraging articles on "Books We Have Enjoyed" in the Braille Library Bulletin and in 1966 introducing large-print books for the partially sighted (developed by the Ulverscroft Foundation). He also consolidated the London and Northern libraries on a single site in Manchester, a dramatic but logical move for a largely "mail-order" library.

Even before the war he had become a well-known figure in the Library Association; the columns of the professional press rang with his radical ideas, tempering controversy with his typical good-humour. He served as Honorary Secretary from 1952 to 1955. His A History of the Library Association, 1877-1977 (1976) makes too little of his own achievements, and the need for detail gave less scope for his wit and lightness of touch – his published reminiscences make up for this in good measure.

However, Munford's work in library history will be his main claim to fame. He helped establish the history of libraries, especially public libraries, as a legitimate field for research and one deserving wider public attention. He was the prime mover in the foundation of the Library Association's Library History Group in 1962; by then he was well recognised for his pioneering Penny Rate: aspects of British public library history, 1850-1950 (1951), the touchstone for later histories of British public libraries, and for William Ewart MP, 1798-1869: portrait of a radical (1960), his first biography, on the principal sponsor of the 1850 Public Libraries Act.

His life of Edward Edwards, Ewart's touchy librarian colleague on the road towards public library legislation, followed (Edward Edwards, 1812-1886: portrait of a librarian, 1963), and two influential public librarians of the early 20th century became the subject of his next books: Louis Stanley Jast: a biographical sketch (with W.G. Fry, 1966) and James Duff Brown, 1862-1914: portrait of a library pioneer (1968). Neither attracted wide publicity – professional biography rarely makes the best-seller lists and librarians are not always seen as colourful figures – but Munford found surprising riches in his subjects. His last biography, with Shane Godbolt, was The Incomparable Mac (1983), on Sir John MacAlister, librarian of the Leeds Library and first librarian of the Royal Society of Medicine. Munford clearly revelled in MacAlister's flamboyance in public and professional life and his important role in the development of the Library Association.

William Munford (he occasionally permitted the use of "Bill" but came to prefer a more formal address) continued his interest in the field he had made his own, and to encourage coming generations, through a long retirement. His geniality, his deep knowledge of literature, freely quoted in speech and print, and his great good-humour will not easily be forgotten.

Peter Hoare