The brains behind that move was Edward Miller, then executive editor of the Morning Call and now with the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Under Miller's leadership, the Morning Call was known for an innovative style of journalism that integrated design and graphics into the telling of stories in sometimes wildly imaginative ways.

One of the challenges facing the paper in 1976 was a shrinking Saturday paper.

"It was running about 20 broadsheet pages, and a third of that was classified," Circulation Director Don Belasco recalls.

Miller believed a stronger orientation toward entertainment and weekend activities would make the Saturday paper more popular with readers. The tab format seemed a perfect fit. From the beginning the Weekender was full of lists and useful information, said former Managing Editor Roy Heffelfinger, and from the beginning it was both loved and hated.

"In all my years at the Morning Call," said Heffelfinger, "I can't think of anything that caused such commotion."

Younger readers loved the new format, and older readers positively hated it.

At least that's what they said.

The circulation numbers told a different story, however. They soared almost immediately and never turned around.

Today the circulation of the Saturday paper - which gets as high as 160 to 180 pages in two sections at certain times of the year - is running 14,000 ahead of the Monday-through-Friday broadsheet.

We introduced a major redesign about a year ago, but the basic formula is still what Edward Miller envisioned: Heavy on lists, calendars and entertainment news. We believe that much of the book's success is attributable to its usefulness as a weekend guide.

The tab format still dismays some readers. I often hear that we should give up this silliness and start publishing a real newspaper on Saturday again. Back to a 20-page broadsheet? Fat chance.

Oglesby is editor of the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call.