The paper was originally given at a function arranged by the Australian Library Promotion Council, and held in the Galleries of the State Library of New South Wales on Wednesday November 13, 1985 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munn-Pitt Report. It reviews the circumstances surrounding the commissioning of the Report, and its consequences, and touches on developments since then, including the setting-up, in 1975 of a further inquiry into public library services in Australia, under the chairmanship of Allan Horton. It notes that the findings of that inquiry were shelved by the Fraser Government, and that the Hawke Government has not seen fit to reverse this decision. The Editor is grateful to the paper's distinguished author, and to the ALPC and its President, Mrs. Dulcie Stretton, CBE, for permission to republish it herein.