It's the first anniversary of the Great Book Review Panic of 2007.

On May 3, a clutch of protesters -- estimates ranged from 22 to 50 -- picketed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the paper eliminated its book page editor along with other writers in its arts section. Julia Wallace, the newspaper's editor, later met with two representatives of the protest. She didn't change her mind.

Atlanta's reorganization was the most extreme in a trend that surfaced late last winter when daily newspapers around the country pushed more content from their print editions to the Internet as readership of the print edition declined.

When news of these reductions was reported, there were the expected expressions of dismay and alarm from the book world -- reviewers, authors and publishers. A year later, the panic is barely remembered even as the circumstances behind it haven't changed. Book reviewing goes on, but to a lesser degree at newspapers in major cities.

In smaller towns, newspapers have rarely paid much attention to reviewing books or much else, for that matter, using national press services when needed. That's not likely to change.

Suddenly, however, a white knight has emerged on the scene to fill that void of reviews at the hometown paper. I'm just not sure he's riding the right horse.

Sandford Thatcher, director of the Penn State University Press and current president of the Association of American University Presses, is now arranging book reviews for the Centre Daily Times, State College's newspaper.

What sparked Thatcher's involvement were staff cutbacks at the newspaper.

"Out of this grew the idea of having book reviews contributed by members of the local community ...," Thatcher wrote his fellow press directors in a message encouraging them to follow his lead.

His deal with the Times: Space for a 600-word review of a book by a writer, both selected by Thatcher. So far, most of the writers for the Times have been past and present employees of the Penn State Press, including its director. The newspaper also solicits reviews from its readers, approved by Thatcher.

How do you know these contributors are legitimate? I asked him in an e-mail exchange.

"Since I know the Penn State community quite well already, I doubt I'll encounter many such surprises from that sector, but I'll be on guard. I expect to be soliciting a goodly number of reviews from PSU faculty."

As for his qualifications, Thatcher feels his 40 years of working in publishing give him the knowledge to choose the right books and the people to write about them.

However, he down plays the obvious objection to his role -- conflict of interest. As head of the academic press association, he represents vested interests. "Might you be suspected of favoring those interests?" I asked him.

"Indeed, I might," he replied, "but is there anything wrong with that, as long as I'm not reviewing books by our own press?"

Does Knopf director Sonny Mehta review books published by other presses? No, because doing so would be a conflict.

Thatcher says, "University presses publish an enormous number of important books that hardly get reviewed at all in major media, and I'd like to gain some more exposure for those neglected gems. But I won't ignore the best coming out from the trade sector...."

He admits to promoting books by members of the organization he heads. Excuse my crassness, but it would be more honest if Thatcher encouraged those presses to gain "exposure" through advertising and promotion.

Honest, but not realistic because they don't have the budgets of trade publishers to afford that kind of effort. Thatcher is doing it for them.

I can be accused of a conflict as well because Thatcher is treading on my territory and, yes, I'm uncomfortable with it. I also pay my reviewers; he doesn't. I'm therefore more liable to assure that the reviewer has no personal issues with the book or author.

Yet, Thatcher's intentions are all together honorable, I believe. I'm willing to give his efforts time to work out the kinks. They can only work for the good in these straitened times.