Through the biography of a remarkable man, this work traces the development of New Zealand's national library system - from the intervention of the Carnegie Corporation in the 1930s to the establishment of the National Library of New Zealand in the 1960s. The life of Geoffrey Alley, New Zealand's first national librarian, is fully explored - from his early rugby career to important material on the Alley family.

A major work of public history, this record shows how the present library networks in New Zealand evolved and places such evolution in social and political contexts.