How Books, Reading and Subscription Libraries Defined Colonial Clubland in the British Empire.

A different structure for the book might have been preferable, with the third chapter more generatively integrated into (or, alternately, coming after) the later library chapters and the second chapter less consigned to a seemingly quarantined space of its own. Working as a library historian, Coleman examines the kind of sociability that libraries foster, which is quite distinct from the associational culture of clubland. Coleman's examination of the Penang most aligns with the promise of the book's title, which seemed not to suit the book in its entirety. [Extracted from the article]

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