Madam,

It was with much surprise that I learnt from letters appearing in your correspondence column of the decision of the executive team of the National Library of Wales to discontinue publication of the library’s journal.

The publication first appeared in 1939 and it is somewhat ironic that on its 80th birthday, rather than celebrating its undoubted achievements, Pedr ap Llwyd, the librarian, should announce its closure.

The reason given for that decision is also most unexpected and calls for further consideration.

It is claimed that few articles are now submitted for the consideration of the editor but as your correspondent of 5 September pointed out, this runs counter to the experience of the more locally based historical publications in Wales.

Indeed, when the broader picture is considered, the failings of the editorial team of the National Library of Wales Journal become exceedingly stark.

One of the Welsh historical journals, the Welsh History Review, compiles a list of articles relating to the history of Wales published during a specific year.

That list, which is reasonably comprehensive, reveals that approximately 150 such articles are published each year, yet in 2017 only one of those compositions was published in the National Library of Wales Journal.

For one of our four most prominent national journals to be able to publish only one of 150 articles produced, must surely be regarded as a dismal performance.

That failure is even more marked when placed in context.

Your readers should note that many of the 150 or so articles composed each year are produced by authors who conduct part or all of their research at the National Library.

As a consequence that institution is in a privileged position to secure the pick of those articles, yet it is evident that it fails miserably to attract an appropriate proportion of the work of our leading academics.

Part of the reason for that failure is that none of the steady stream of academics who conduct research at the library is ever invited to contribute articles to the journal.

The National Library of Wales Journal was established specifically to highlight to the academic community the wealth of archival resources held at the library and thus to draw academics from far and wide to research that material. Through the failure to sustain and develop the journal, that promotional opportunity is being missed with the consequence that the number of researchers visiting the library seems to me to be in decline.

Moreover, in the same general context in which the decision to discontinue the publication of the journal was made, a decision was also made to close the North Reading Room, one of the two main reading rooms at the library.

If the situation within our National Library is allowed to continue for much longer, it may well prove exceedingly difficult to remedy.

Yours etc, Dilwyn Jones, Cardiff.

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