Manual of Library Economy - Third and Memorial Edition

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Title: Manual of Library Economy - Third and Memorial Edition
Author: Brown, James Duff, Sayers, W. C. Berwick
Language: English
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Transcriber’s Notes

Text printed in italics, in bold face type and underlined have been
transcribed as _text_, =text= and ~text~, respectively. Small capitals
have been transcribed as all capitals. [T] represents a T-shaped
symbol rather than the letter T.

More Transcriber’s Notes and a list of changes made may be found at
the end of this text.

MANUAL OF LIBRARY ECONOMY

[Illustration: JAMES DUFF BROWN]

=MANUAL OF
LIBRARY ECONOMY=

BY THE LATE

JAMES DUFF BROWN

CHIEF LIBRARIAN, ISLINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARIES
AUTHOR OF

‘SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION,’ ‘LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION AND CATALOGUING,’
‘A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MUSICIANS,’ ETC.

=THIRD AND MEMORIAL EDITION=

=REVISED AND REWRITTEN BY=

=W. C. BERWICK SAYERS=

CHIEF LIBRARIAN, CROYDON PUBLIC LIBRARIES
LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON SCHOOL OF LIBRARIANSHIP

AUTHOR OF
‘CANONS OF CLASSIFICATION,’ ‘AN INTRODUCTION TO CLASSIFICATION,’
‘THE CHILDREN’S LIBRARY,’ ETC.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, FORMS, AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES

GRAFTON & CO.
COPTIC HOUSE, LONDON, W.C.1

1920

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY
OF
JAMES DUFF BROWN
1862-1914

He lived and died, content to view
His labours making knowledge free;
He opened every book he knew
For other men to see.

PREFACE

This work was published by the late author in 1903, and a second, and
largely remodelled, edition appeared in 1907. For some years past it has
been out of print, to the loss of more recent students. The delay,
however, has not been without its compensations, as librarianship has
made several advances which have been generally accepted, and has made
many experiments, the issue of which is not yet decided, in the twelve
years since the publication of the second edition. The work has been
regarded with much justice as the most comprehensive complete treatise
on library economy, and is the standard to which most British libraries
conform in general; indeed, it is not too much to say that the whole
modern school of librarians here has been moulded by the work. When,
therefore, I was asked to prepare a new edition I was faced with the
question of how best to preserve its comprehensive character. I might
have revised it conservatively, merely touching up the statistics,
adding to the bibliographies, and correcting statements which have been
modified by later experience; but that would have left the book partial
and incomplete. Rightly or wrongly, I have rewritten almost every
chapter, have added sections on questions touched upon only lightly or
not at all in previous editions, and have omitted several statements in
which strong personal views were expressed; in fact, I have tried to
preserve everything that seemed to be of permanent value, to excise
everything merely controversial, and to avoid obtruding any
idiosyncrasies of my own. I cannot hope to have succeeded completely,
and any suggestions for the improvement of future editions will be
welcomed.

Both of the earlier editions retain their value for students, but the
criticism which may fairly be levelled at them is that Brown rarely
contemplated the needs of a library of more than 40,000 volumes, and,
therefore, omitted much that is necessary in the administration of such
libraries. I have tried to balance this. It is perhaps desirable to set
out the particulars in which the third edition differs from the second.
The following chapters have been rewritten in their entirety: IV., V.,
VI., XV., XVIII., XX. and XXVII. The following are new: all Divisions
I., XIII. and XIV.; and Chapters VII., XXVII., XXVIII., XXIX. and XXX.
Everything else has been retouched, except the chapter on museums and
art galleries; that I have left, because although the librarian ought to
have a knowledge of curatorship, that knowledge is not library economy;
and, within its limits, the chapter is good common sense. I have dealt
drastically with the bibliographies, which consisted in the main of
lists of articles in library periodicals. Every library student knows
that textbooks and treatises are supplemented by periodical literature,
and a reference to the indexes of library journals should be an obvious
thing for him to make on any subject; and seeing that we have Cannons’s
_Bibliography of Library Economy_, 1876-1909, for the years covered by
the title, and that the best articles are now indexed in the Library
Association Index, it seemed sufficient to make a general reference to
Cannons and otherwise restrict the lists with few exceptions to separate
publications. Appendix II, “The Librarian’s Library,” has been revised
by Mr Richard Wright, M.C., to whom my thanks are due. An important
omission is the Appendix of “Factors and Percentages,” which gave
figures for calculating the size, cost, output, etc., of libraries. This
has been deliberate; the conditions created by the War are so fluid that
factors which are likely to have a permanent value are impossible to
compile. Brown’s _Guide to Librarianship_ gives the pre-war factors, and
it is unnecessary to reprint them here.

The Memoir is based upon the obituary notices and appreciations which
were collected and edited by Mr L. Stanley Jast for _The Library
Association Record_, the biographical facts in particular being drawn
from the memoir by Brown’s nephew, Mr James Douglas Stewart, which is
included in those notices. Others will share my regret that his
preoccupation with his new work at Manchester prevented Mr Jast from
revising this _Manual_. I cannot but perceive, now that my work is
finished, how much better it would have been had he filled my place. A
few notes, prepared by Mr Jast for Chapters I.-II., have been included.

Usually, when one has written a book, one has to acknowledge much help
from other librarians, but, owing to the extraordinary circumstances in
which this revision has been made, I felt that I ought not to call for
help from others already overburdened. My own task has been completed
under great pressure, most of the work being done between 6.30 and 8.30
a.m. My wife has saved me from many blunders, and her experience as a
former member of Mr Brown’s staff has been most valuable to me.

W. C. BERWICK SAYERS

POSTSCRIPT.--As the final proofs are leaving my hands I learn that the
long-expected Government Bill to remove the penny rate limitation was
introduced into the House of Commons by Mr Herbert Lewis and read a
first time on the 28th of November. The second reading occurred on the
2nd of December, and the Bill became law on the 23rd of December 1919.

It is now practically certain that the powers in regard to Public
Libraries which were held by the Local Government Board now accrue to
the Ministry of Education, and, consequently, wherever the Local
Government Board is mentioned in the _Manual_, the Ministry of
Education should be understood.--W. C. B. S.

CROYDON, 1919

The Publishers desire to thank those who have kindly allowed them the
use of illustrations and have lent blocks, or have offered other
facilities for reproduction; especially the following:

The Librarians of Bristol, Bromley, Cardiff, Chelsea, Coventry,
Croydon, Fulham, Glasgow, Lambeth, Liverpool, Montrose, St Pancras,
and Southend; The Library Association; Messrs Cedric Chivers Ltd.,
Messrs Fordham & Co., Messrs Kenrick & Jefferson, Mr Arthur W. Lambert
of Croydon, Messrs Libraco Ltd., and Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons.

CONTENTS

PAGE

PREFACE v
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, FORMS, ETC. xii

DIVISION I.--INTRODUCTORY
MEMOIR 1
INTRODUCTION 11

DIVISION II.--FOUNDATION, COMMITTEES AND FINANCE
CHAP.
I. LEGISLATION 19
II. ADOPTION OF ACTS, FOUNDATION AND COMMITTEES 34
III. FINANCE, LOANS AND ACCOUNTS 43
IV. STATISTICS AND REPORTS 60

DIVISION III.--STAFF
V. THE LIBRARIAN 71
VI. ASSISTANTS 83
VII. LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS 99

DIVISION IV.--BUILDINGS
VIII. THEORY AND GENERAL REMARKS 106
IX. SITES AND PLANS 110

DIVISION V.--FITTINGS AND FURNITURE
X. MISCELLANEOUS FIXTURES AND FITTINGS 132
XI. SHELVING AND ACCESSORIES 141
XII. FURNITURE 154

DIVISION VI.--BOOK SELECTION AND ACCESSION
XIII. BOOK SELECTION 167
XIV. ACCESSION METHODS 189

DIVISION VII.--CLASSIFICATION AND SHELF ARRANGEMENT

XV. GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 206
XVI. SYSTEMATIC CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES 209
XVII. PRACTICAL APPLICATION 226

DIVISION VIII.--CATALOGUING, FILING AND INDEXING
XVIII. CATALOGUING METHODS, RULES AND CODES 241
XIX. MECHANICAL METHODS OF DISPLAYING CATALOGUES 259
XX. FILING AND INDEXING 281

DIVISION IX.--MAINTENANCE AND ROUTINE WORK
XXI. STATIONERY AND RECORDS 296
XXII. BOOKBINDING AND REPAIRING 303

DIVISION X.--RULES AND REGULATIONS
XXIII. RULES AND REGULATIONS 322

DIVISION XI.--THE LENDING, OR HOME READING, DEPARTMENT
XXIV. REGISTRATION OF BORROWERS 341
XXV. ISSUE METHODS 350
XXVI. BOOK DISTRIBUTION 366

DIVISION XII.--THE REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
XXVII. GENERAL REFERENCE LIBRARY METHOD 375
XXVIII. LOCAL COLLECTIONS 399
XXIX. LIBRARIES OF MUNICIPAL REFERENCE 415
XXX. THE COMMERCIAL LIBRARY; THE TECHNICAL LIBRARY 418
XXXI. READING ROOM METHODS 424

DIVISION XIII.--LIBRARY WORK WITH CHILDREN
XXXII. THE CHILDREN’S DEPARTMENT 439
XXXIII. THE LIBRARY AND THE SCHOOL 457

DIVISION XIV.--LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT
XXXIV. LECTURES, READINGS AND EXHIBITIONS 467
XXXV. RURAL LIBRARIES 477

DIVISION XV.--MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES
XXXVI. MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES 486

APPENDICES
I. THE NOMENCLATURE OF LIBRARY POSITIONS 495
II. THE LIBRARIAN’S LIBRARY 498

INDEX 511

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, FORMS, ETC.

FIG. PAGE
James Duff Brown _Frontispiece_
1. Form for Annual Estimates 46
2. Returns of Library Expenditure 47
3. Suggestion Slip 56
4. Rulings for Issue Record Books 62
5. Table of Librarians’ Salaries 77
6. Staff Time Sheet 89
7. Staff Work Book 92
8. Salaries paid in 1911 93
9. Sketch Plan for Small Town Library 116
10. North Islington Library--Reading Room 117
11. North Islington Library--Lending Department 118
12. Lambeth (Herne Hill) Open Access Lending Department 119
13. Montrose Lending Library 120
14. Bromley Lending Library 121
15. Islington Central Library--Ground Floor 122
16. Islington Central Library--First Floor 123
17. North Fulham Library 124
18. St Pancras Central Library 125
19. Glasgow (Woodside) Library 126
20. Glasgow (Townhead) Library 127
21. Wolverhampton Library 128
22. Southend-on-Sea Library 129
23. Back of Library Counter 133
24. West Islington Library 133
25. North Islington Barrier 134
26. Lambeth (Herne Hill) Barrier 135
27. Croydon Central Library 136
28. Triple Open Access Barrier 137
29. Treadle Latch for Wicket 138
30. Barrier for Dividing Rooms 138
31. Double Bay Standard Metal Book-Case 143
32. Wood Wall-Case 144
33. Tonks’ Fittings 145
34. Details of Adjustable Metal Shelving 146
35. Metal Shelving (Patent Office) 147
36. Rack for Bound Newspapers 148
37. Case for Large Folio Books 149
38. Lattice-work Steps 150
39. Short Steps 150
40. Continuous Wooden Step and Handles 151
41. Spring Step 152
42. Swinging Step, with Improved Handle 153
43. Desk-Topped Table 154
44. British Museum Reading Table 155
45. Reference Room Table 156
46. Table with Elevated Periodical Rack 157
47. Periodical Rack on Table 158
48. Reading Table with Partition for Titles 159
49. Periodical Rack 160
50. Rack for Odd Periodicals 161
51. Railway Time-Table Rack 162
52. Metal Reading Easel 163
53. Wooden Reading Easel 163
54. Chair with Anchorage 164
55. Arm Chair with Hat Rail 165
56. Chair with Folding Tray 165
57. Donation Acknowledgment 190
58. Donation Book Ruling 191
59. Proposition Book Ruling 191
60. Book-Order Sheet 193
61. Book-Order Tray 194
62. Accessions Number Book 195
62A. Accessions Routine Book 196
63. Manila Book Card 197
64. Board Label 198
65. Date Label 199
66. Warning Label 200
67. Map and Plate Label 200
68. Process Stamp 201
69. Stock Book--Left folio 202
70. Stock Book--Right folio 202
71. Abstract Sheet for Stock 203
72. Withdrawals Book 204
73. Lettering of Class Numbers 226
74. Colour Marking of Books 228
75. Tier Marking of Books 229
76. Shelf Front, with labels 230
77. Tier Guide 230
78. Tier Guide Lettering 231
79. Class Guide 232
80. Bookcase with Classification Guides 233
81. Shelf-Check Register 234
82. Shelf Dummy 235
83. Millboard Dummy 236
84. Xylonite Label-holder 237
85. Tongued Metal Book-rest 237
86. Flanged Metal Book-rest 237
87. Combined Book-rest and Shelf Guide 238
88. Yale Book-rest 238
89. Book-carrier in front of Book-case 239
90. Book-truck 239
91. Hand-printing Models 256
92. Catalogue Shelves, British Museum 260
93. Adjustable Screw Binder 261
94. Rudolph Indexer Book 262
95. Card Catalogue Cabinet, with extension runners 263
96. Cabinet of Card Trays 264
97. Sideless Card Catalogue Tray 265
98. Cards for Bonnange Catalogue Trays 267
99. Bonnange Card Catalogue Trays 268
100. Staderini Card Trays and Cards 269
101. Duplex Card Catalogue 270
102. Leyden Slip Holder 271
103. Volume of Staderini Sheaf Catalogue 271
104. Staderini Sheaf Catalogue 272
105. Sacconi Sheaf Catalogue 273
106. Adjustable Sheaf Catalogue 273
107. Adjustable Sheaf Catalogue 274
108. Adjustable Sheaf Catalogue, with Cradle and Key 274
109. Front of Sheaf Catalogue Author Slip 275
110. Reverse of Sheaf Author Slip 276
111. Sheaf Title Slip 276
112. Sheaf Subject Slip 277
113. Adjustable Placard Catalogue 278
114. Folder for Vertical File 282
115. A Drawer of a Correspondence Filing Cabinet 283
115A. Specimen of Jast Classification of Library Economy 284
116. Address, and Correspondence, Index Card 286
117. Pamphlet Box 287
118. Prints Box 289
119. Lantern-slide Index Card 290
120. Supplies Location Card 292
121. Withdrawals Card 293
122. Missing Books Index Card--front 294
123. Missing Books Index Card--back 294
124. Inventory Book 299
125. Inventory Slip--front 300
126. Inventory Slip--back 300
127. Class Lettering and Numbering 310-313
128. Class Lettering and Numbering 314
129. Binding Sheet 317
130. Binding Order Book 318
131. Binding Slip 319
132. Renewal Slip 337
133. Ratepayer’s Voucher 343
134. Non-Ratepayer’s Voucher--front 344
135. Non-Ratepayer’s Voucher--back 345
136. Non-Resident’s Voucher 345
137. Borrower’s Card 347
138. Borrowers’ Number Register 348
139. Book Issue Card 351
140. Book and Borrower’s Cards in Pocket 353
141. Book Pocket and Card 354
142. Borrower’s Card with Pocket 355
143. Borrower’s Card and Book Card conjoined 355
144. Elevation Plan of Card Charging Tray 356
145. Card-charging Trays in Position 357
146. Diagram of Elliot Indicator 359
147. A Library Indicator 360
148. Diagram of Periodicals Indicator 363
149. Quick Reference Collection, Glasgow 367
150. Branch Library Return 369
151. Mitchell Library, Glasgow 376
152. Plan of Islington Reference Library 377
153. Islington Reference Library 379
154. Reference Library Application Form 381
155. Picton Reading Room, Liverpool 384
156. Reading Room, Royal Society of Medicine 387
157. Reading Room, Reading Table, Chair, etc. 389
158. Clippings Index Slip 391
159. Application for Loan of Reference Book 393
160. Application for Loan of Reference Book--back 393
161. Application for Loan of Reference Book--Refusal
Form 394
162. Application for Loan of Reference Book--Refusal
Form, with reasons 394
163. Label of Photographic Survey 411
164. Print Index Slips 412
165. Double Newspaper Stand, Chelsea 427
166. Double Newspaper Stand 428
167. Wall Newspaper Stand 428
168. Simplex Newspaper Holder 430
169. Revolving Newspaper Holder, with Clips 430
170. Adjustable Periodicals List 433
171. Periodicals Check Card, Monthlies 435
172. Periodicals Check Card, Weeklies 435
173. Periodicals Check Card, Dailies 436
174. Periodicals File 437
175. Cathays Children’s Hall, Cardiff 442
176. Voucher for Children 444
177A. School Libraries Return Card--front 462
177B. School Libraries Return Card--back 463
178. Lecturer’s Memorandum 470
179. Privilege Issue Notice 471
180. Privilege Issue Notice, Information Slip 472
181. Rural Library Board Label 480
182. Rural Library Board Label, Charging Card 482
183. Rural Library Board Label, Charging Card--back 482

DIVISION I

INTRODUCTORY

MEMOIR

On Christmas Day 1878 a Scottish lad of seventeen, having realized a
cherished desire and obtained an appointment as junior library assistant
at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, presented himself before the then
unimposing portals of that institution at the north corner of Ingram
Street, and found them closed. He concluded characteristically that this
was because the librarian was an Englishman. The lad who endeavoured to
begin what was his real life-work on this unusual day was James Duff
Brown, who was to become in many ways the greatest practical influence
of his time in the British public library movement, who lived through
its most expansive period, codified and published its methods and
results, experimented boldly, faced and overcame a remarkable force of
opposition, and left behind him a memory which present librarians
revere, and works which will not easily be forgotten.

We have no record of his earliest years, other than that he was born at
Edinburgh on 6th November 1862, and during boyhood showed tenacity and
mental acquisitiveness. At thirteen he became an apprentice in the
publishing house of Edmonstone & Douglas in his native city, and in the
same year, when Mr Douglas left that firm at the establishment of that
of Douglas & Foulis, he remained with Mr Douglas. A year later found him
at Glasgow with the firm of W. R. McPhun & Sons. The work done for these
firms gave him an initiation of a kind into literature, but the earlier
Glasgow period was never a happy memory of his, and his true career
began at the Mitchell Library. Here he spent ten years, enlarging his
knowledge, specializing thoroughly in librarianship, devoting much of
his leisure to musical lore, and by ability and purposefulness working
his way to responsible positions on the library staff. When he was
twenty-one he began to collect material for his _Biographical Dictionary
of Musicians_, which appeared four years later in 1886; at twenty-three
was Glasgow correspondent to _The Musical Standard_; and he was the
editor and reviser of the six large quarto volumes of Chalmers’s
_Caledonia_ which appeared 1887-90. The industry thus shown was inherent
in his character. He told Mr T. A. Aldred that he acquired the
early-rising habit in youth, and that most of his work was done in the
mornings before he began his official day’s work at 9 a.m.; and the
Mitchell was at some distance from his home. This habit, which few of us
ever acquire, he retained through life. It is interesting to know that
he served from 1886 to about 1888 in the Third Lanark Volunteers; a
little booklet from his pen, _A Volunteer Reconnaissance_, records his
experiences.

A large library, however liberally administered, does not often offer
opportunities for a man’s larger initiative unless he occupies one of
the chief positions; and the exercise of his gifts did not come fully
until his appointment in 1888 to the newly-established Clerkenwell
Public Library in London. The building is a comparatively small edifice
occupying a triangular site, and hardly one in which experiments little
short of epoch-making might be expected; but Brown was a man of ideas
and courage who could make the most of such a building. Moreover, London
offered him openings which he did not hesitate to take. Retiring in
person as a rule, nervous in speech, and in appearance of no special
significance, he yet threw himself with quiet energy into the work of
the Library Association. It must be remembered that from about 1888 to
1898 the public library movement in England received its greatest
impetus, probably because in those years the full effects of the
Education Act of 1870 came into play. Few of the libraries founded in
that period are entirely without marks of his influence. In 1891 he
conceived the idea--very old in itself, but quite new in its application
to municipal libraries in this country--of throwing open the shelves to
the choice of readers; and he formulated a scheme, which he called by
the somewhat tautological name of “safe-guarded open access,” and
published it anonymously in _The Library_ in a paper entitled “A Plea
for Liberty to Readers to Help Themselves.” A visit to America in 1893,
where he attended the Chicago Conference of the American Library
Association as a delegate of the Library Association, confirmed him in
his opinion of the practical desirability of the system, although he
says, “There was no such thing as proper safe-guarded open access as now
understood anywhere in America when I was there”; but free access there
was, without the locking wickets and other safeguards which he
introduced at Clerkenwell. In brief, his method was to admit readers to
the shelves, but by way of a wicket at which their credentials were
checked unobtrusively, and to allow them to pass out at another wicket
at which the books chosen were charged. Thus the reader was locked in
the library while making his choice. The results of his experiment were
presented to the Belfast Conference in a paper he wrote in collaboration
with one of his Committee, Mr Henry W. Fincham, entitled “The
Clerkenwell Open Lending Library,” which was modest and restrained in
tone; but although the discussion that ensued was generous and
appreciative to an extent, it was the fiercest yet known amongst
librarians, and the question became the most contested one in our work.
So sharp were the divisions the simple suggestion created that the
municipal library profession went into two armed camps, and friendships
and good-feeling were frequently destroyed by it. It is difficult for
younger librarians to realize the courage and confidence that were
needed to champion open access twenty-five years ago against the active
antagonism of 90 per cent. of the profession. There were not wanting
men, however, who were drawn to the champion, amongst them Mr L. Stanley
Jast, then librarian of Peterborough, Mr T. Johnston, librarian of
Croydon, and Mr Brown’s own assistants, Mr Charles Riddle in particular,
who opened the first library outside London on this system at
Bournemouth in 1895. In 1896 Croydon adopted it, Hornsey followed in
1898, and although progress was slow at first, to-day it has so far won
the battle that the opening of a new library on any other system is a
matter for surprise, and many of the more conservative libraries, even
in the largest cities, have adopted it at least in some part of their
system; moreover, the question itself has become impersonal, and no
librarian to-day would criticize another for any views he might hold in
connexion with it. It was, as Sir J. Y. W. MacAlister declared in 1894,
“the dawn of a new epoch; a hundred years hence the authorities of the
greater municipal London, which will then be carrying on the work now
only attempted by the present congeries of village communities, will
pass a resolution ordering a tablet to be fixed to the wall of a quaint
three-cornered building in Clerkenwell, to commemorate the fact that
here, in 1894, the revolution had begun which in a few years had changed
the entire system of public libraries throughout the land.”

Although safe-guarded open access was the principal practical
contribution of Brown to library practice, he introduced other things of
great importance. His _Quarterly Guide_ was the first annotated library
bulletin published in England. He invented an indicator, more compact
and perhaps as effective as most others, as a challenge to another
similar inventor. He improved the sheaf catalogue, and indeed many of
the commonest appliances now in use were of his contriving. A
description of these, and others, he gave in his _Handbook of Library
Appliances_, 1892, published by the Library Association. As open access
abolished the need for alphabetical indicator-keys, he was at liberty to
consider the question of catalogues radically; and he advocated the
classified catalogue and class-lists as fulfilling the needs of students
and readers better than other forms. In this advocacy he secured the
vigorous co-operation of Mr Jast; and in this matter also a great
controversy ran for some years, dignified amongst librarians as “the
battle of the catalogues.” The issue is still in doubt as to the entire
desirability of the classified catalogue for all purposes and places,
but to-day the classified catalogue is certainly as common as any other
form.

His brain and pen were active throughout life. In 1897 he published, in
conjunction with Stephen Stratton, a _British Musical Biography_,
another valuable biographical dictionary. In 1898 he founded, and for
many years was to edit, _The Library World_, an independent and radical
journal of library methodology and politics, which has held its own to
this day. Opinions of all kinds were expressed in its pages; Brown wrote
innumerable articles for it; and many librarians of present distinction
first saw themselves in print in its pages. Especially did Brown
encourage through its pages the struggles of young and unknown men at a
time when encouragement was of priceless value to them. A list of his
works is given at the end of this chapter, and will be sufficient to
show his energy; but the appearance of his _Manual of Library
Classification and Shelf Arrangement_, 1898, which contained his
Adjustable Classification, was a real event, because it was the first
comprehensive treatment of a till then little understood and much abused
subject; as was that of his greatest work, the _Manual of Library
Economy_, which first appeared in 1903, and has influenced all library
methodology.

Quiet as he was in many ways, he was of a social disposition, a trait
which found an outlet to some extent at the Library Association, of
which he was a councillor from 1890 to 1911; but for closer purposes of
_camaraderie_ he founded, with Mr Jast, the well-known Pseudonyms, a
dining-club of librarians and their friends, which had its origin in the
‘nineties, and flourished for many years. The meetings were held in
various Bohemian restaurants in Soho, professional and literary topics
were debated, and Brown reported them in _The Library World_. The
reports had little relation to the actual proceedings, and few people
were more entertained, and, incidentally, astonished at their own
wittiness (as reported) than the Pseudonyms themselves. This is but one
instance of his humorous way of regarding all things. In conversation,
and in writing of even the most dryasdust subjects, it seemed impossible
for him to talk or write without humour.

Brown’s sixteen years at Clerkenwell made the library perhaps the most
reputed in the country. Mr Jast may be quoted upon this: “Mr Brown’s
influence and reputation extended far beyond his own country. Foreign
librarians visiting London almost invariably made for two places; one
was the large and handsome room overlooking a stately west-end square,
which Mr J. Y. W. MacAlister occupied for so many years; and the other
was a small room, high up in a rather dingy-looking triangular building,
overlooking a dingier street in Clerkenwell, which was so hidden away
that one rather stumbled upon it than found it, where Mr J. D. Brown
worked in his official capacity as Librarian, before he was called to a
sphere more worthy of his labours, in Islington. How many librarians,
how many members of library committees, how many workers in the Library
movement have been charmed, interested, and instructed in these two
rooms?” Not only was he required to give advice in his own country; at
different times he was called upon to lecture on “free public libraries”
in the United States, in Holland and in Belgium. “A Bruxelles,” writes
M. Paul Otlet, “il parla devant l’auditore du Musée du Livre et son
succès fut très grand.” I cannot help thinking that his success depended
more upon his subject and his clear writing than upon his speaking; he
was on the whole an indifferent speaker, his nervousness was painful to
himself and others, and his ineradicable Glasgow accent was a real
obstacle. He told my wife that the only place in which he enjoyed
speaking was the meetings of the Islington Staff Club; he confessed to a
horror and nervousness in public speech.

In 1904 he was appointed the first Borough Librarian of Islington. Here
the public libraries scheme had its very beginnings under his care, and
he was responsible for the interior design of the fine central library
and the north and west branches; probably also for the south-east
branch, but of that I am not sure. These libraries, I dare affirm,
represented the highest achievement in library-planning in this country,
with their handsome, adequate and practical rooms, economy in working,
and general suitableness for their purpose. Here he brought into
practice two of his principal innovations. The first was the Subject
Classification, a huge, minute scheme, which we describe in more detail
in the later pages of this book, which challenged comparison with the
great and more popular American schemes in its completeness, logical
arrangement, and admirable notation. Its focus upon British requirements
made it specially attractive to British librarians, and although it may
never supersede the more universal Decimal System of Melvil Dewey, it is
nevertheless a work of the greatest value to all librarians. The second
and more revolutionary innovation was the exclusion of the newsroom as
usually understood from the libraries. In his account of his visit to
America, he mentioned with something approaching disapproval the absence
of this department from American libraries and the sense of desertion
which resulted there; but at Islington he adopted the American plan. I
am told that the Islington public did not approve the omission quite as
much as did its author, but the arguments he used for it were
common-sense ones, although he has had few, if any, British imitators.

To give in detail all his work for Islington would be to occupy a
disproportionate space in a memoir of this compass. Suffice it to say
that he provided this not entirely grateful Borough with a system which
is the admiration of our profession. He gathered round him an
accomplished staff, published a model select catalogue, encouraged the
formation of an excellent staff guild for his assistants, and did many
other invaluable things. He had long been a teacher of young librarians.
When the Library Association courses were inaugurated at the London
School of Economics he became the lecturer in library organization and
routine, and served in that capacity for many years. As one of his
students, I can vouch for his conscientious, painstaking teaching, his
care in clearing up difficulties, the encouraging and friendly way in
which he answered our questions, marked our exercises, and generally
made our work of interest and value. No librarian who turned to him for
advice ever went unhelped, whatever his age or school of thought. He
wrote hundreds of letters to such purpose in his beautiful minute
handwriting, and a collection of these would form, I believe, an
excellent journal of contemporary librarianship. He seemed, in
particular, to have a minute knowledge of all librarians and library
assistants, their capacities and work accomplished. His obvious sympathy
with young assistants first drew many of us to him. From the day I met
him in 1896 at Bournemouth to his death he showed me by constant signs
his regard for younger men and women who had a real interest in the work
that he himself loved. He treated us with equal consideration in his
correspondence, and the youngest correspondent received the same
courtesy as his elders. He drafted the constitution of the Library
Assistants’ Association, which with slight modifications has proved most
wise and successful; and he frequently, especially in his last years,
attended the meetings of this Association, taking part in the
discussions when invited to do so, but seldom intruding his opinions
unasked upon his young listeners, who, be it remarked, were always eager
to hear him.

It is a difficult task to sketch “the man in his habit as he lived,” but
a few words may be written. The portrait which forms our frontispiece
is almost life-like, with its thoughtful, quiet, and, if one looks
carefully enough, intent and humorous face. In person he was small, but
not too obviously so; fragile-looking, but yet compact and vital in
appearance and movement; he had brown hair and beard, delicate features,
deft and supple hands; he thought calmly, was a rapid, consistent, and
persevering worker; what he began he finished. His writings have been
pronounced by Dr E. A. Baker to possess unmistakable quality, although
“he scoffed at the word ‘style’ as denoting some futile kind of verbal
legerdemain” (I think he must have done so jokingly, as his own personal
library showed that he was by no means blind to the qualities of
literary expression). “Shrewd, practical common sense, rough on cranks
and sentimentalists, unmerciful to muddlers, impervious to a good many
ideas, but a steady assertor of those he had tried and approved--this
was the stuff of Brown’s writing,” is Dr Baker’s estimate, and in the
main it coincides with my own. His personal tastes may be inferred from
his work. “He once told me,” writes Mr Aldred, “he knew three subjects
only, viz., library economy, music, and Scotland. I forget the order in
which he placed them. Being a Scotsman, probably Scotland came first. In
many respects, however, J. D. B.’s knowledge was of the encyclopædic
order--he appeared to know a little of any subject named.”

In early life he was pronounced to be consumptive, but he told me, “I
have lived to see the doctors who condemned me in their graves,” by
careful living, and probably by sheer will power. But in his later years
he had to meet many difficulties at Islington, where the libraries
became the sport of a political party and he had a committee which was
unable to assess his powers. It is useless to revive this now, but it
probably helped to bring about his early death. He first became
seriously ill in 1911, and with a few intervals, when we believed him to
be practically himself again, he gradually weakened. In the last few
months of his life a stay at Bournemouth was tried as a final resource,
and here he read musical biography assiduously and maintained the
keenest outlook upon all things; but no improvement ensued in his
health, and he returned to London a dying man. The end came at his
house, 15, Canonbury Park South, Islington, on 26th February 1914; and
he was buried, amid every sign of regret and affection, at New
Southgate Cemetery. His only memorial to the present are his works; I
believe they will be an enduring one.

To sum up: Brown entered upon his library career at a time when the
library movement received its greatest impetus, and brought the whole
force of a fertile and inventive mind and a ready pen into its service.
He wrote the first text-books actually intended for English public
librarians, collected and systematized all available methodology, and,
thoroughly believing in his mission, this man more than any other in his
generation fashioned in this country a living, interesting profession
out of the despised materials of the popular library. An impression
written by Alderman H. Keatley Moore, B.A., B.Mus., J.P., a veteran
worker for public libraries, who made his acquaintance early, may serve
to conclude this necessarily brief account of our author:

“What was it especially that made one feel so clearly that one was in
the presence of a true man, of an absolute master of his subject, of
one, in fact, whom it was an honour to know?

“I think it was that curious quietness, the repose of a man who has
thought out everything fully for himself, and is content to leave the
facts as he has arranged them to tell their own story. He was still,
because he was so strong; he was undisturbed by clamour because he had
been through it all, and now stood in the open with the conquered
fortress behind him, its strength his strength made visible; one
gradually grew rather timid of this shy talker because he always had the
facts on his side. . . . He was the most unaffected and modest man of real
mark that I have ever met in my long public life. I shall always be glad
to have known him. I shall always remember the great services he
rendered to me, to my town, to our country. Across my sincere regret at
his loss flickers the whimsical thought of how he would wonder at the
fuss we are making over him.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following is a list of Brown’s separate publications. His
articles were legion, and will be found by reference to the indexes
of all library periodicals and transactions. Nearly all the
anonymously-written articles and editorials in _The Library World_ from
1898 to about 1906 are his:

1886. Biographical Dictionary of Musicians: with a bibliography of
English writings on Music. Paisley: A. Gardner.

1888. A Volunteer Reconnaissance.

1892. Handbook of Library Appliances: fittings, furniture, charging
systems, etc. L.A. Series, 1.

1893. Guide to the Formation of a Music Library. L.A. Series, 4.

1897. Greenwood’s Library Year-Book. Scott, Greenwood.

(The second edition, 1900-01, was entitled British Library Year-Book.)

1898. Manual of Library Classification and Shelf Arrangement. Libraco
Series. Library Supply Co.

(Chapter vi., which contains “The Adjustable Classification,” was
published separately under that title.)

1903. Manual of Library Economy. Scott, Greenwood. Second edition,

1907. Library Supply Co.

1904. Annotated Syllabus for the Systematic Study of Librarianship.
Libraco.

Classified List of Current Periodicals: a guide to the selection of
magazine literature. L.A. Series, 8.

1906. Manual of Practical Bibliography. Routledge.

Subject Classification. 1906, Libraco. Second edition, 1914, Grafton.

1907. The Small Library: a guide to the collection and care of books.
Routledge.

1909. Guide to Librarianship: reading lists, methods of study, etc.
Grafton.

(Supersedes the “Annotated Syllabus.”)

1912. Library Classification and Cataloguing. Grafton.

(Incorporates much of the matter in the “Manual of Library
Classification” in revised form.)

1913. A British Library Itinerary. Grafton.

WORKS WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION

1897. _With_ Stratton, S. S. British Musical Biography: a dictionary
of musical artists, authors and composers born in Britain and its
Colonies. Birmingham: Stratton.

1901. _With_ Moffat, Alfred. Characteristic Songs and Dances of all
Nations.

1915. Stewart, J. D., _and Others_. Open Access Libraries: their
planning, equipment and organization. With Introduction by J. D.
Brown. Grafton.

(This work was planned by Brown.)

INTRODUCTION

LIBRARIANSHIP IN GREAT BRITAIN. THE PRESENT SCOPE OF THE LIBRARY
PROFESSION. METHODS OF THIS BOOK

I. Library economy is a term covering every branch of work concerned
with libraries; and libraries may be defined in a phrase as institutions
devoted to the collecting, conserving and exploiting of literature.
Originally the prevalent character of libraries was that of conserving
rather than exploiting institutions, and much of the technical equipment
of the modern librarian has come into being as a result of their
progress from their original “museum” to their present “workshop”
character. Our subject, then, covers the founding, organizing,
administration and routine of libraries. It is one of much wider compass
than is commonly supposed. Whatever may have been the original
intention, for example, of the pioneers of the municipal public library
movement, and there are still many who seem to regard that movement as a
counter-attraction to the seductions of the saloon bar and similar
places of recreation, the present public library is a many-sided, active
civic institution, making its appeal to all classes of the community as
a centre of education, culture and recreation, with a trained service to
direct it. Nearly every other type of library also is most concerned
with the best means of attracting people to make use of literature, and
is an active force in the community rather than a passive one.

II. Libraries have been recognized as important in all ages, and a brief
study of the early civilizations of the East and of the Mediterranean
countries, as well as all later periods, shows the existence of state,
public, ecclesiastical and monastic libraries for which there was some
sort of librarianship, with even such seemingly modern appliances as
classification and cataloguing of a kind. But the library as we know it
to-day, and librarianship in particular, may almost be said to be the
creation of the last half of the nineteenth century. Earlier town
libraries indeed existed, the first, it is believed, being that at
Norwich, which was opened to the public in 1608; but although there were
individual instances, the municipal public library (commonly but
erroneously called the “free library,” because no charge is made for its
use) was a result of the Libraries Act of 1850 promoted by William
Ewart, M.P., who had at his back the real pioneer of public libraries,
Edward Edwards, whose _Memoir of Libraries_ is the most monumental of
treatises on library history and administration. The Act of 1850 had in
view the needs of the poor, sanctioned the levying of a halfpenny rate,
and, with curious want of vision, left the provision of books to the
generosity of private donors. The debates upon the bill before it became
law are curious and entertaining reading; and it appears that the
special purpose of libraries was the prevention of crime! Progress was
slow at first, but in 1853 it was stated that thirteen towns had adopted
the Act. In 1855 its provisions were extended to Ireland, and in this
amending bill the amount that might be levied for libraries throughout
the kingdom was increased to a limit of one penny in the pound.

III. We need not follow the history of the movement, as an excellent
monograph by J. J. Ogle, _The Free Library_, is available on the
question; nor need we go into the parallel and in some respects more
wonderful development of the movement in America. So far as this country
is concerned libraries have grown up in every considerable town, with
very few exceptions; but the whole movement has been retarded, even
crippled, by the retention of the limit of one penny in the pound as the
amount a local authority may spend on library provision. The advance in
general education--it must be remembered that in 1850 not more than
one-seventeenth of the children of the people were receiving an
education which could be called satisfactory even when judged by the low
standards of that time--has created a new reading public more vast than
was contemplated by the promoters of the Act; but the only legal help
towards meeting its demands has come from the increased product of rate
assessments; the limit remains sixty-five years after its imposition.
But the increase we have mentioned has not been negligible, even if it
is entirely insufficient, and it has been assisted in a remarkable way
by private generosity. Amongst many who have provided towns with public
library buildings, Passmore Edwards, Lord Brassey, Henry Tate, Colonel
Gamble and Professor Sandeman may be mentioned; but the greatest impetus
to the movement was given by the systematic and almost universal
munificence of Andrew Carnegie, which began in 1886 and has been
continued by him and by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, which he has
endowed, to the present. His system has been to provide a suitable
building on the condition that the authority accepting it adopted the
Libraries Act and provided a site from other charges than the library
rate. By this means scores of towns which were without or had only
inferior library buildings now possess one in some way worthy of the
name.

IV. The expansion of libraries gave rise to the modern profession of
librarianship. The older libraries were usually in the charge of
scholars, whose main work was that of “keeper” of the books, a title
which the librarian in charge of the British Museum still bears,
although it does not now comprehend his work. The municipal library
required a man who was not primarily a scholar, although scholarship was
an invaluable basis for his work; he was rather required to be an
administrator, a purveyor of books, and, because of the very limited
moneys at his disposal, something of a business man. For some years,
however, there was no definite science or art of librarianship in this
sense. Edward Edwards, in the second volume of his _Memoirs of
Libraries_, laid firmly the foundations of present library economy in a
résumé and exposition of the multifarious methods of cataloguing,
classification, library planning and administration used in the various
libraries of the world. Little followed in England until the growing
needs of the work caused a few far-seeing librarians to find some means
of bringing librarians together. This they succeeded in doing in the
successive conferences of librarians, British and international, the
first of which was held in London in 1877. Out of these sprang the
Library Association in 1878, with Mr Henry R. Tedder and the late E. B.
Nicholson as its first honorary secretaries, and the late Robert
Harrison as honorary treasurer. In the first year the late E. C. Thomas
succeeded Nicholson, and somewhat later he was associated in his office
with Mr (now Sir) J. Y. W. MacAlister, one of the most significant and
creative personalities in our work; while Mr Tedder assumed the office
of treasurer, which he holds to this day, an office in which his wisdom
and counsel as well as his unsparing industry have done much to create
the present stability of the Association. By means of frequent
gatherings, especially by its annual meetings, the Library Association
gradually brought together the whole body of librarians in this country,
who read and discussed professional papers, published proceedings,
initiated scheme after scheme for the promotion and improvement of
libraries, and generally became the controlling factor in library
polity. It was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1898. For many years it
was recognized that training in technical methods was necessary for
librarians, and the Association has devoted much attention to this work.
At first it held summer schools and, from 1898, other brief courses for
library students, and examined the students upon them. Later it
established, in connexion with the Governors of the London School of
Economics, regular courses of lectures at that institution. A
carefully-designed and remarkably helpful syllabus of instruction was
drawn up, and on this examinations were held and certificates leading up
to a diploma in librarianship were issued. The latest phase of the
educational work of the Association has been the securing of a grant
from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust for the establishment of a School
of Librarianship at University College, London, which it is expected
will commence on 1st October 1919. This will primarily be a day school
with courses of study founded on the syllabus of the Association, which
has been carefully revised and extended to meet the new circumstances.
It is ridiculous to prophesy, but if this School is a success it is
probable that it will revolutionize the whole character of library
service in this country.

V. There have been various definitions of the purpose of libraries and
librarians, few of them entirely adequate. We shall not attempt another
dogmatically, but we may suggest that that purpose is to provide a
representative and systematically arranged collection of literature from
the daily newspaper to the elaborate treatise and encyclopædic work of
reference. The methods of doing this, and of exploiting in the public
interest the collection when made, are the subject-matter of this
manual. Until this primary purpose of a library is fulfilled any
attempts at those added activities which are advocated by some
librarians to-day are likely to be mistaken, or at least ill-advised.
The Library Association has not issued a comprehensive manifesto
covering this matter, and might very well do so, if care were taken, as
no doubt it would be, to give considerable elasticity to the
definitions. At the Annual Meeting in 1917, however, it did adopt a
series of resolutions of great importance, which, as the almost
unanimous pronouncement of the profession, must find a place here. In
the light of the rough definition given, their inadequacy as a
comprehensive statement of library work is obvious enough, but they have
great value as showing the trend of that work in the effort to meet the
remarkable intellectual, industrial and other conditions created by the
European War; and this seems to us a justification for treating each of
the resolutions at greater length in the following pages:

1. “That the aim of the library as an educational institution is best
expressed in the formula ‘Self-development in an atmosphere of freedom,’
as contrasted with the aim of the school, which is ‘Training in an
atmosphere of restraint or discipline’; in the school the teacher is
dominant, because it is possible to pass on a form, to teach an art; but
in the library the pupil strikes out his own line, and becomes his own
teacher; the library supplies the material upon which the powers
awakened and trained in the school can be exercised; the library and the
school depend upon different ideas, deal with different material in
different ways, and there is no administrative relation between the two;
furthermore, the contacts of the library with organized education
necessarily cease at the point where the educational machinery itself
terminates, but the library continues as an educational force of
national importance in its contacts with the whole social, political and
intellectual life of the community; that the recognition of the true
place of the library in education must carry with it the provision of
adequate financial resources, which is impossible under the present
limitation on the library rate; such limitation therefore should be
removed at the earliest possible moment.”

2. “That the creation in the child of intellectual interests, which is
furthered by a love of books, is an urgent national need; that while it
is the business of the school to foster the desire to know, it is the
business of the library to give adequate opportunity for the
satisfaction of this desire; that library work with children ought to be
the basis of all other library work; that reading-rooms should be
provided in all public libraries, where children may read books in
attractive surroundings, under the sympathetic and tactful guidance of
trained children’s librarians; but that such provision will be largely
futile except under the conditions which experience, especially in
America where the importance of this work has long been recognized and
where it is highly developed, has shown to be essential to success.”

3. “That in view of meeting trade conditions after the war, commercial
libraries should be established in all the great trade centres of the
kingdom, as a part of the municipal library system, where business men
may obtain reliable commercial information, by means of the collection
and arrangement for rapid consultation of all Government and other
publications relating to commerce; that such libraries should act as
outliers or branches of the Commercial Intelligence Department of the
Board of Trade; and that such Department should further the work of
these libraries in every possible way; that in the smaller towns
commercial collections should be formed.”

4. “That technical libraries are as essential, both to technical
education and to manufacture, as the laboratory or the workshop; that
discovery and invention are stimulated by books; that the technical
library, therefore, should be established as a special department of the
public library in all important manufacturing towns, with a special
organization, including a librarian trained not only in library method
and in the bibliography of technology, but possessing also a sufficient
technical knowledge to enable him to act as a source of information to
inquirers.”

5. “That collections of books and other printed and manuscript matter
bearing upon questions of local government should be established in
connexion with municipalities; that such collections to be effective
must be in charge of a trained librarian; that the management of such
collections should be placed under the library committee; that the cost
of such libraries will be small in proportion to the valuable part they
will play in serving the needs, not only of officials entrusted with the
carrying out of public work, but also of members of the municipality
responsible for local government finance and policy.”

VI. Since the succeeding chapters of this manual were revised the
Ministry of Reconstruction has issued a report on libraries and museums
which has been made by its Adult Education Committee. This traverses in
a general way the ground covered by the Library Association resolutions
and makes recommendations of much moment and gravity. The aim of the
report is to explain the extent of libraries and to secure their
co-ordination. It criticizes Resolution 1 on the ground that it
represents the aims of education inadequately, and it deduces from
several very cogent arguments the policy of placing libraries under the
local education committees in order that they may be merged into and
worked as an extension of the national education system. For London this
would mean taking libraries from the boroughs and placing them in the
care of the county. The matter is too unsettled to admit of argument
here, but such a policy, if carried out, might alter radically the whole
character of library provision and administration. The linking up of
libraries is recommended by means of a central lending library in
London, the municipal libraries, special libraries, and rural libraries;
the central lending library would supply the more expensive, little-used
books to students direct or through the municipal or rural libraries,
and special libraries should be drawn upon in their specialities for
books to be used throughout the country. To the end that the service
should be developed to the greatest extent, the present income of
libraries should be increased, either by an increase in the separate
library rate or by abolishing that rate altogether and allowing the
estimates of the library to be included in general education estimates.

It seems quite probable that the near future will see a removal of the
main financial difficulties.

VII. This manual is based upon the syllabus of the Library Association,
but excludes sections 1 and, in part, 2 (Literary History and
Bibliography), and includes the subject-matter of the resolutions of
1917. Primarily it is a manual of municipal library practice, but is by
no means exclusively so. Special libraries have their individual
methods, and a general conspectus of librarianship cannot include them;
and state, university, institutional, club and private libraries are
equally matters for specific treatment such as would be impossible here.
But all libraries are faced with very similar problems of selection,
accession, classification, cataloguing, etc., or at any rate they differ
in these matters in degree rather than in kind; and it is hoped that for
them much that follows will be at least interesting and suggestive. To
this end the method aimed at is expository rather than argumentative;
and when two or more methods are in vogue they have been placed side by
side in order that the student may review them and form his own judgment
of their relative merits. Where we are dogmatic we are so unconsciously,
and we hope that aberrations of this kind will be passed over with
forbearance.

DIVISION II

FOUNDATION, COMMITTEES AND FINANCE

CHAPTER I

LEGISLATION

=1. Municipal Libraries: Acts of Parliament.=--The principal Acts of
Parliament under which British public municipal libraries are now
constituted consist of the following:--

IRELAND

1855. “18 & 19 Vict., c. 40. An Act for further promoting the
establishment of Free Public Libraries and Museums in Ireland.” (The
principal Act.)

1877. “40 & 41 Vict., c. 15. An Act to amend the Public Libraries Act
(Ireland), 1855.”

1894. “57 & 58 Vict., c. 38. An Act to amend the Public Libraries
(Ireland) Acts.”

1902. “The Public Libraries (Ireland) Amendment Act.” Gives power to
District Councils to adopt the Acts, and empowers County Councils to
make grants in aid of libraries.

SCOTLAND

1887. “50 & 51 Vict., c. 42. An Act to amend and consolidate the
Public Libraries (Scotland) Acts.” (The principal Act.)

1894. “57 & 58 Vict., c. 20. An Act to amend the Public Libraries
Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1887.”

1899. “62 & 63 Vict., c. 5. An Act to amend the Public Libraries
(Scotland) Acts.”

ENGLAND AND WALES

1892. “55 & 66 Vict., c. 53. An Act to consolidate and amend the law
relating to Public Libraries.” (The principal Act.)

1893. “56 Vict., c. 11. An Act to amend the Public Libraries Act,
1892.”

1898. “61 & 62 Vict., c. 53. An Act to provide for the Punishment of
Offences in Libraries.”

1901. “1 Edw. 7. An Act to amend the Acts relating to Public
Libraries, Museums and Gymnasiums, and to regulate the liability of
managers of libraries to proceedings for libel.”

[NOTE.--This Act does _not_ deal with actions for libel. It was
originally intended to do so, but the clauses were struck out of the
bill, and the title escaped emendation.]

=2.= The whole of these are in force, and they repeal all the former
Acts dating from 1850, while incorporating some of their provisions. In
addition to these general Acts, a considerable number of local Acts have
been passed on behalf of various towns, which include provisions for the
modification of the general Acts, chiefly in regard to removing the
limitation of the rate, and for other purposes. Such powers are usually
contained in improvement or tramway Acts, and the principal towns which
have obtained them include Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh,
Halifax, Darwen, Sheffield, Cardiff, etc. Several towns, like Brighton,
Huddersfield, Kingston-on-Thames, have also special Acts which confer
the power of establishing libraries, independently of the general Acts,
so that the public libraries of Britain are not constituted under one
general law.

=3.= The Public Library Law is further modified or extended by various
other statutes which were passed for different purposes, and the
principal Acts of this kind are as follows:

“24 & 25 Vict., c. 97. An Act to consolidate and amend the Statute Law
of England and Ireland relating to malicious injuries to property,”
1861.

This gives power to prosecute for misdemeanour any person who
unlawfully and maliciously destroys or damages any book, manuscript,
etc., in any public museum, gallery, cabinet or library.

“56 & 57 Vict., c. 73. An Act to make further provision for local
government in England and Wales,” 1894.

Enables rural parishes to adopt the Public Libraries Act, 1892, by
means of a parish meeting or poll of the voters in the parish.

“62 & 63 Vict., c. 14. An Act to make better provision for local
government in London,” 1899.

Confers the power of adopting the Public Libraries Act, 1892, on the
Metropolitan Borough Councils, by extending to them the provisions of
the Public Libraries Act, 1893.

The remaining statutes which in any way deal with public or private
libraries will be noticed in connexion with the departments of library
administration, to which they specially refer, such as loans, rating,
etc.

The only other Acts of Parliament which may in the future influence
public libraries are the Education Acts passed since 1902. Under these
Acts local Education Boards are empowered to “promote the general
co-ordination of all forms of education,” and in many districts the
education and library authorities are amalgamated for common purposes.
It remains to be seen what further extensions will take place.

=4. Main Provisions of the Municipal Libraries Acts.=--A brief summary
of the leading practical points of the various Acts will serve to give
an idea of the powers which are conferred upon municipal authorities in
regard to libraries:

(_a_) ADOPTION OF ACTS IN TOWNS.--The Acts may be adopted in any city,
county borough, burgh or urban district by a resolution passed by the
council, at a special meeting of which a month’s notice shall have
been given, and the resolution must be advertised publicly in the
usual way, and a copy sent to the Local Government Board, if the
adoption is in England or Ireland; while a notice of the fact of
adoption must also be sent.

(_b_) ADOPTION OF ACTS IN PARISHES.--In parishes in England and
Scotland the Acts can only be adopted by a majority vote of the
householders or voters.

(_c_) LIBRARY RATE.--A rate of one penny in the £ on the rateable
value of an administrative area is the limit fixed by the Act, but
power is given parishes to fix a smaller sum by a popular vote, and
urban districts of all kinds to remove or fix any rate within the
limit of one penny by resolution of the council.

(_d_) POWERS.--The Library Authority may provide public libraries,
museums, schools for science, art galleries and schools for art, and
for that purpose may purchase and hire land, and erect, take down,
rebuild, alter, repair and extend buildings, and fit up, furnish and
supply the same with all requisite furniture, fittings and
conveniences. The Library Authority shall exercise the general
management, regulation and control of every department established
under the provisions of the Acts, and may provide books, newspapers,
maps and specimens of art and science, and cause the same to be bound
and repaired when necessary. Also appoint salaried officers and
servants, and dismiss them, and make regulations for the safety and
use of every library, museum, gallery and school under its control,
and for admission of the public thereto. Power is also given to make
agreements with other library authorities for the joint use of library
or other buildings; and to borrow money, with the sanction of the
central authorities, for the purpose of buying sites, erecting
buildings and furnishing them. The Irish Act of 1877 also gives power
to establish schools of music as part of a library scheme.

=5. Non-Municipal Libraries: Acts of Parliament.=--The legislation
affecting the large number of British libraries which are not supported
out of the rates is neither extensive nor satisfactory. The chief
feature of most of the Acts of Parliament which have been passed seems
to be the benevolent one of granting certain facilities to various kinds
of landowners to divest themselves of their property in order to provide
sites for literary and scientific institutions. There are similar
clauses in the Public Libraries Acts, and, of course, most of the Acts
named apply to municipal libraries; but in reality this kind of
legislation is not particularly valuable. To make the transfer of land
for public purposes more easy is quite laudable, but it has not yet had
the effect of inducing landowners to part with free plots of land as
building sites, either to public library authorities or literary
institutions.

=6.= The principal Act bearing on literary and scientific institutions
is entitled “An Act to afford greater facilities for the establishment
of Institutions for the promotion of Literature and Science and the Fine
Arts, and to provide for their better regulation,” 17 & 18 Vict., c.
112, 1854. This is nearly all taken up with provisions for transfers of
lands and other property, and with a few regulations concerning members,
rules, altering, extending or dissolving the institution, etc. This Act
was afterwards to some extent modified by “An Act to facilitate the
transfer of Schools for Science and Art to Local Authorities,” 54 & 55
Vict., c. 61, 1891. These, and the other Acts referred to, which deal
with transfers of property, have had very little to do with the
development of voluntary literary and scientific institutions or
libraries; the principal statute under which most of them are now
governed being an Act passed primarily for quite a different purpose.
This is the “Act to amend the ‘Companies Act, 1862,’” 30 & 31 Vict., c.
131, 1867, under Section 23 of which power is given the Board of Trade
to grant licences to literary and similar associations, providing for
registration with limited liability, and conferring all the privileges
attaching to limited companies. In connexion with this Act, and those of
1862 and 1877, the Board of Trade have issued a series of circulars and
forms, which include draft rules, articles of association, etc. Under
these licences a considerable number of British literary institutions
have been established and organized.

=7. British Colonial Library Legislation= has proceeded very much on the
lines adopted in the mother country, and in every case the permissive
character of the Acts has been preserved, and, in most cases, the rate
limitation. On the other hand, some effort has been made to keep in
touch with schools and universities.

In =South Africa= a Government proclamation established the South
African Public Library at Cape Town in 1818. This was further regulated
by an ordinance passed in 1836, which gave the library the right to
receive a free copy of every publication issued in CAPE COLONY. Other
libraries in the large towns now receive grants from the Government, and
a large number of smaller libraries also receive grants equal to the
annual average amount raised by subscriptions and donations during the
three preceding years; but in no case shall the amount of the
Parliamentary grant exceed £150 for any one library in one year. No
grants are made if less than £25 is raised by subscription. In return
for the grant, reading-rooms and reference libraries are to be open free
to the public, and an annual report has to be presented to the
Government. In NATAL the same arrangement is made, though on a much
smaller scale. In both colonies books are only lent for home reading to
subscribers. In 1874 an Act was passed by the Legislature of Natal for
regulating literary and other societies not legally incorporated.

In =Canada=, under a General Libraries Act of 1854, County Councils were
authorized to establish four classes of libraries: (1) Ordinary common
school libraries in each school-house for the use of children and
ratepayers; (2) a general public library available to all ratepayers in
the municipality; (3) professional libraries of books on teaching, etc.,
for teachers only; and (4) a library in any public institution under the
control of a municipality. Arrangements were made whereby the Education
Office sold books at low rates to the school libraries; and afterwards
the Education Department of the Legislature gave annual grants, equal to
the amounts contributed by members for book purchase, to mechanics’
institutes, etc., and subsequently increased such grants for books to
$400 (£80) annually. The province of Ontario, in 1882, passed “An Act to
provide for the Establishment of Free Libraries,” on lines very similar
to the English Acts. Power is given any city, town or incorporated
village to provide libraries, newsrooms, museums and branches, on the
petition and with the consent of the qualified electors. The management
is vested in a board chosen from the Town Council, citizens other than
councillors, and the Public School Boards. The library rate is limited
to an “annual rate not exceeding one half of a mill in the dollar upon
the assessed value of all rateable, real and personal property.” This
form of limitation is borrowed from the practice of the United States.
About ninety places have adopted this Free Libraries Act in Ontario. In
1895 an Act was passed in Ontario to enable mechanics’ institutes to
change their names and transfer their property to municipalities on
condition that the libraries were made free to the public.

The =Australian= colonies have all passed separate laws, somewhat
similar to those in force in other parts of the Empire, in regard to
their adoption being left to local option, and rates being more or less
limited. In 1870 VICTORIA passed an Act establishing the Library, Museum
and National Art Gallery at Melbourne, and in 1885 “The Free Libraries
Act” was passed. But, in 1890, these Acts were repealed by “An Act to
consolidate the Laws relating to Libraries.” The Melbourne Public
Library, which was established in 1853, is now wholly supported by
Government, and it lends books to any municipality in the colony. In
addition, the Government make grants from public funds to most of the
mechanics’ institutions, athenæums and other literary societies in
Victoria.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA has quite a body of library laws, dating from 1863, when
the South Australian Institution was incorporated, but most of them have
been repealed or incorporated in the two principal Acts regulating
institutes and free libraries. By the various Acts passed in connexion
with institutes or literary societies, grants in aid are made by
Parliament on lines similar to those in force in the other colonies,
while rules and regulations are made and power given to transfer such
institutes to the municipalities. Public libraries are regulated by “An
Act to establish Free Libraries in Corporate Towns and District
Councils,” 1898, subsequently amended by an Act of 1902. This Act gives
local authorities power, on the request and with the consent of the
ratepayers, to adopt the Act, subject to the rate not exceeding 3d. in
the £. Municipal libraries are also entitled to receive the same grants
as are made to institutes.

In NEW SOUTH WALES public libraries may be established under the
“Municipalities Act,” 1867. The Government makes grants for the purchase
of books on a scale according to population, and other funds must be
provided by the subscriptions of members. Schools of art are entitled to
receive a Government grant in proportion to the amount of monetary
support accorded by the public. In addition, the Sydney Public Library
(established in 1869) is entirely supported by the Government, and it
sends out carefully selected boxes of books to 128 institutes throughout
New South Wales, the entire cost being defrayed by Parliament.

In WESTERN AUSTRALIA grants are made to institutes as in the other
colonies, but there is no general Library Act in existence yet. In 1887
the Government established a Public Library at Perth, and contributes
£3000 per annum for its maintenance. The only legislative enactment
concerning libraries in Western Australia is an Act for establishing a
Law and Parliamentary Library for the Legislature, which was passed in
1873 and amended in 1889.

QUEENSLAND passed an “Act to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to
Municipal Institutions, and to provide more effectually for local
government,” 1878. This was extended by the “Divisional Boards Act” of
1887, and now Municipal Councils or Divisional Boards may make bye-laws
for the establishment, maintenance and management of public libraries.
Brisbane Free Public Library, the only library of importance opened
under this Act, has an annual grant from the municipal funds varying
from £800 to £1000. One hundred and forty schools of art throughout the
colony also receive Government grants for library and other purposes to
the extent of about 8s. 2d. for every pound subscribed by members.

TASMANIA has a model library law, which is worthy of adoption in every
civilized country. It is contained in “An Act to amend the Law relating
to Public Libraries,” passed in 1867. It is so short, and so much to the
point, that the whole of it may be quoted. After a two-line preamble it
declares that: “The Municipal Council of every municipality may, from
time to time, apply such sum as it sees fit, out of the rates of such
municipality, in and towards the formation and maintenance of Public
Libraries within such municipality.” That is the whole Act, and it gives
no indication of the grudging limitations which other countries inflict.
The only blemish on this admirable statute is the fact that it is not
compulsory. Most of the Tasmanian towns being small, only Hobart has put
the library law into force, by appropriating a penny rate to the support
of the Tasmanian Public Library (1849), which is also maintained by
Government grants. The small libraries throughout Tasmania receive
grants, on the usual conditions, from the Government.

The library law of NEW ZEALAND is based on a series of Acts, similar to
those passed in this country for the regulation of municipal libraries
and literary institutions. The principal Acts are: (1) “An Act to
promote the establishment of Public Libraries,” 1869, giving power for
the governing body of a city, village or district to adopt the Act with
the consent of the ratepayers, and to levy a rate not exceeding 1d. in
the £; (2) “An Act to confer powers on Public Libraries and Mechanics’
Institutes,” 1875--a series of rules for incorporation and management;
(3) “An Act to promote the establishment and support of Public
Libraries,” 1877. In this Act it is laid down that the grant for public
libraries is to be apportioned among provincial districts, in proportion
to the population of such districts, and that a subsidy equal to the
amount of the library rate is to be paid to municipal libraries
established under the Act of 1869. Free admission to reading-rooms is
permitted, but no person to be allowed to borrow unless he contributes
not less than 5s. per annum.

None of the =West Indian= dependencies have legislation relating to
libraries, although grants are paid from Government funds towards the
maintenance of libraries in different British possessions.

In =India= the Government subsidizes only libraries connected with the
leading departments of State, such as law and parliamentary libraries
for the use of legislators and the Councils forming the Indian
Government. It cannot be said to redound to the credit of the Government
that the only public library systems in India have been established in
native States. The Gaekwar of Baroda has instituted such a system, which
extends from the capital city to the smallest village, and his example
has been followed by the native State of Indore.

The British colonial libraries are thus established and regulated on
lines very similar to the municipal libraries of this country, and
literary institutions of all kinds are incorporated and recognized in
the same way as in the United Kingdom. There are numerous differences,
however, in points of detail, because, although the permissive clauses
are retained for municipal libraries in every case, in some cases, such
as Tasmania and South Australia, the rate limit is either non-existent
or greatly increased. Again, it is a universal provision in colonial
administration for the Governments to assist all kinds of libraries, to
the extent of contributing, within limits, as much money as is raised by
the subscriptions of members or produced by a municipal library rate.
Also, more attempt is made, especially in Canada, to embody the
libraries as part of the national system of education, and in this
respect our colonies are ahead of the mother country.

=8.= The Library Legislation of the =United States= is of very great
importance, because of its variety, liberality and consistent aim to
make libraries an essential part of the system of national education.

As Dr Thomas Bray was the first to procure library legislation in
England, so was he the first to obtain a law of this kind in North
America. He founded a library in South Carolina, which in 1700 formed
the subject of an Act passed by the Legislative Assembly of South
Carolina for its regulation and protection. In 1715 a similar law for
the same purpose was passed by the Legislative Assembly of North
Carolina. In subsequent years many laws were passed by different States
for the incorporation and regulation of all kinds of social,
subscription, mercantile and other libraries, much on the same lines as
were found necessary in other countries, in order to give such
associations legal standing and recognition. In some of the States laws
have been enacted providing for the payment of an annual grant to
proprietary libraries, on condition that they are made free to the
general public for reference purposes. This plan of utilizing existing
library facilities for the public benefit is common to both the United
States and our own colonies, and there are many less effective ways of
securing reading privileges at a comparatively cheap rate. It would add
enormously to the educational resources of London, for example, if, in
return for an annual Government grant, the general public could have
access to the reading-rooms of some of the more important literary,
scientific and artistic libraries, especially those which are rich in
the current periodical literature of other countries.

In the “Report of the Commissioner of Education” for the United States,
1895-96, vol. i., there is a very elaborate account of the “Library
Legislation in the United States,” to which reference must be made by
those who want minute details of the laws of the different States of the
Union. Here it is only possible to deal with the laws affecting school
and municipal libraries, and to give typical examples of the legislation
in each class.

In 1835 the New York State Legislature passed a law establishing
libraries for the school districts of the State. These libraries were
much extended and improved by later laws, and till 1853 they practically
supplied the place of the public libraries. Other States established
these school district libraries, open to scholars and all citizens,
Massachusetts and Michigan following in 1837, Connecticut in 1839, Iowa
and Rhode Island in 1840, and others at various dates down to 1876, when
Colorado passed a similar law. The failure of this system in many places
led to the first Town Library Law being passed by the Legislature of
Massachusetts in 1848, under which the City of Boston was authorized to
establish a free public library and levy a tax of $5000, or £1000, for
its support. This was the first State law passed in America, and in 1849
New Hampshire passed a general law for the whole State. Massachusetts
next extended its library law from the City of Boston to the whole State
in 1851, and Maine followed in 1854. The other northern States followed
slowly, till now nearly all the States, save a few in the South and
West, have laws enabling municipal libraries to be established. Previous
to this, most of the States, as they became incorporated in the Union,
established libraries for the use of the legislative councils in the
capital towns of each State, and these State Libraries, as they are
called, constitute a very important class of public library in the
United States. The first actual municipal library opened in the United
States was that of the town of Peterboro’, in New Hampshire, which in
1833 established and supported out of the local taxes a public library,
which still exists. From this it appears that there was nothing either
in the Federal or State law of the United States to prevent any town
from supporting a library at the public expense if it saw fit. The
principle of interference in local affairs by central authorities is,
however, a thoroughly Anglo-Saxon convention or principle, and though
the Federal Legislature in America does not impose local laws on the
State authorities, these State legislatures impose the same restrictions
upon local municipal authorities which are common throughout the British
Empire.

The main provisions of the State Library Laws of America are:

(1) The adoption of the library laws of the State by any city or
municipal council, with or without the petition or consent of the
ratepayers. The practice differs in the various States, but it is
permissive and not compulsory in every State.

(2) Power to levy a rate for the establishment and support of
municipal libraries, varying from the fraction of a mill per dollar on
the taxable value of the town to any sum the council may see fit to
levy.

(3) Power to appoint trustees and do everything necessary for the
equipment and efficient administration of the libraries.

It is important to note that in the United States the basis of taxation
is entirely different from what it is in this country. Here rental,
minus a certain deduction, is adopted as the unit from which to make up
the rateable value of a town. In the United States the value of all
property is taken, instead of mere rental, as the unit from which the
rateable value is built up. If a house in England is worth £420, and
rents at £36, it would be assessed at about £30, and the library rate
would be levied upon the £30, producing 2s. 6d. In the United States the
same house, plus contents, would pay rates on the £420, being the value
of the property, but on a smaller poundage. One mill on the dollar is
the thousandth part of 4s. 2d., or about one-twentieth of 1d. If,
therefore, the library rate in an American town is 1 mill, or the
twentieth of 1d., on the dollar, property valued at £420, or $2100,
would pay a total library rate of about 8s. 6d. Other classes of
property, such as live stock, crops, etc., are also taxed, so that in
America the produce of even a comparatively small library rate is much
greater than in a town the same size in England, and this fact should
always be kept in mind when comparisons are being made between the
library systems of the two countries.

There is one other point which should be mentioned as illustrative of
the difference of the methods of the United Kingdom and the United
States in regard to the adoption of the library laws by municipalities.
In those States of America where a poll of the citizens is required
before the libraries can be established, no special vote is taken, but
instead, at the annual election of councillors, the voting papers bear
the question: Are you in favour of a library being established at a tax
of ---- mills on the dollar? Thus at one election the municipal council
is returned to office, and their library policy dictated to them by the
ratepayers. The liberal library laws of the United States have produced
a great number of very large and magnificently equipped public
libraries, which are administered by well-educated officers, who are
paid adequate salaries for the work they accomplish. No other country in
the world can show such a scheme of libraries closely in touch with all
the other educational bodies and recognized by the State as part of the
national system of education.

In one respect the library authorities in the United States have shown
more wisdom than those of other countries, by establishing Boards of
Library Commissioners charged with the responsibility of supervising the
library work of the whole of a State. These Library Commissions are
established in some of the States, but not in all, and are generally
composed of five or six educational experts. They have power to advise
in the establishment of local libraries in every respect as regards
selection of books, cataloguing, etc., and may expend public money in
the purchase of books for libraries in towns which do not possess
municipal libraries. They are also authorized to pay for all clerical
work required in connexion with the Board, to issue reports and collect
statistics, and in some cases to organize travelling libraries. All
these State Library Commissions issue handbooks, and those of New Jersey
and Wisconsin will give some idea of the important work in co-ordinating
the library forces of America now being accomplished by these
Commissions.

=9.= No country in =Europe= has a library law like that in force in
Britain and the United States, but a certain amount of recognition is
accorded to public libraries by the State in most countries. Municipal
libraries exist in France under State direction, but very few towns in
other countries have done much to foster public libraries in their
midst; but in recent years movements for the establishment of municipal
libraries on British or American lines have been initiated in several
European countries, and such libraries are now to be found in Norway,
Holland and Germany. In some cases endowed or university or royal
libraries are recognized or partly supported by the State or the
municipal authorities, but so far no European nation has passed a
general library law which gives communities direct control of the
establishment, organization and support of public libraries by means of
a tax or rate.

=10.= It is fitting to close this chapter with a brief reference to
=future library legislation in Great Britain=. The most urgent and
insistent need, without which further development is impossible, is to
remove or raise the limitation of one penny in the pound on the library
rate, which was fixed by the Act of 1855. Over forty places, including
nearly all the large towns, have acquired extended rating powers by
means of special local Acts, but such a course is practically
prohibitive in the small towns, where relief is generally needed most.
In view of the growth of the demand for branch libraries, technical and
commercial departments, children’s reading-rooms, and for educational
work in many directions--extensions certainly never contemplated by the
original Acts--the penny limitation is an anachronism, which it was the
business of Parliament to have removed long ago. Another anomaly which
presses for remedy is that the County Councils, alone of all the related
local government bodies, such as Borough and Urban District Councils,
have no expressed power of adopting the Libraries Acts. The consequence
has been detrimental to the establishment of village libraries. A Parish
Council may adopt the Acts, and a few parishes have done so, but the
yield of a penny rate in a parish is so small that in most cases it is
impossible to meet even necessary administrative expenses, with nothing
whatever left over for books and papers. It is not surprising in these
circumstances that the rural population of the country is still deprived
of the social and educational advantages of the public library. What is
obviously indicated is a larger administrative authority, such as the
County Council, which could group the parishes, pool the income from the
rate, and administer from one centre a system of travelling libraries,
combined with local stationary collections of books and the provision of
suitable reading-rooms in the various districts. Such schemes have been
initiated in about a dozen counties by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust
in conjunction with the County Councils, but while the Scottish
Education Act of 1918 gives County Education Authorities power to
provide and maintain libraries, there is no mention of libraries in the
English Education Act of 1918. These and other needed reforms in the
library law are made in a Bill, now being promoted by the Library
Association, which every well-wisher of the movement must hope will
receive the sanction of the Legislature without further delay.

=11.= The solution of the problem may, indeed, come from another
direction, as the present President of the Board of Education (Mr H. A.
L. Fisher) indicated in an interview with a library deputation (April
1919) that the powers relating to public libraries then held by the
Local Government Board were to be transferred to another department. The
Board of Education was thus indicated, and it may be that new sources of
support, means of co-ordination, and possibly periodical Government
inspection of libraries, may flow from the transfer; but it is too early
to speculate upon the matter.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=12. English Legislation:=

Chambers, G. F., and Fovargue, H. W. The Law Relating to Public
Libraries and Museums, etc. 4th edition. 1899.

This is the principal work on the subject.

Fovargue, H. W. Summary of Library Law. N.D.

=13. Foreign and Colonial Legislation:=

_Canada._ Hardy, E. A. The Public Library. 1912.

_Colonies._ Society of Comparative Legislation. Legislation of the
Empire, 1898-1907. 4 vols. 1909.

_France._ Pellisson, M. Les Bibliothèques à l’étranger et en France.
1906.

Richou, G. Traité de l’administration des bibliothèques publiques.
1885.

Robert, U. Recueil de lois, decrets, etc., concernant les
bibliothèques publiques, etc. 1883.

_Germany._ Franke, J. Der Leihbetrieb der Öffentlichen Bibliotheken.
1905.

_United States._ Bureau of Education. Report of the Commissioner,
1895-6. Vol. i., chapter ix., Library Legislation in the U.S., pp.
523-599.

The fullest account.

Yust, W. F. Library Legislation. Preprint of American Library
Association, Manual of Library Economy, chapter ix. 1911.

Annual reviews of the library legislation in the U.S. appear in the
Library Jl.

For articles, see Cannons, pp. 90-96: LWK, Legislation, Library
Commissions, pp. 241-245.

CHAPTER II

ADOPTION OF ACTS, FOUNDATION AND COMMITTEES

=14. Methods of Adopting the Public Libraries Acts.=--There are only two
methods prescribed by the Libraries Acts under which public libraries
can be established. In rural parishes a parish meeting, called upon a
requisition signed by ten or more voters and held at the time and place
appointed, may adopt the Acts by a bare majority of those present and
voting. At least seven days’ notice of the meeting must be given, but it
is better to allow a month. Should a poll be demanded, it must be
conducted by ballot according to the rules laid down by the Local
Government Board. Full particulars, including forms of requisition, will
be found in Chambers and Fovargue’s _Law Relating to Public Libraries_,
1899.

=15.= As already stated in Section 4, any county borough, urban
district, burgh or other similar authority may adopt the Libraries Acts
by a resolution of the council, without reference to the voters. A
month’s notice of motion must be given in the customary form, and a bare
majority of the council can pass the resolution. A copy of the
resolution adopting the Acts must be sent to the Local Government Board,
and it must also be advertised in the local papers and posted on the
doors of all the churches and chapels--where such notices are usually
posted. It is best to make the resolution state a particular date when
the Acts are to come into operation, as is required by the Scotch Act.
In some places the Acts after being adopted have been allowed to become
a dead-letter owing to neglect of this necessary precaution. As the
urban districts and burghs are given power to fix the amount of rate
within the limitation of one penny, it is not necessary to include in
the resolution adopting the Acts any stipulation as to the amount of
rate. A useful form of resolution is as follows:

That the Public Libraries Act [_state date of principal Act_] and all
subsequent Acts amending the same be, and are hereby adopted, for the
county borough of -------- [_state place_], and shall be in force
throughout the borough [_or other area_] on and after the . . . . . .
day of . . . . . . . . [_state year_].

=16.= As the power of adopting the Acts in populous areas is now vested
in the local authorities, there is no longer, as formerly, any need to
educate opinion among ratepayers as to the necessity for establishing
public libraries. The Library Association has issued a useful pamphlet,
_The Establishment of Public Libraries_, 1909, and most of the other
propagandist literature of a useful kind appears in the various books of
Mr Thomas Greenwood (_Public Libraries_, _British Library Year Book_,
etc.), and these should be consulted by anyone in a rural parish who
desires to raise the question in a practical form. As regards urban
districts the initiative may safely be left in the hands of the
intelligent members of council, who will sooner or later move in the
direction of placing their districts in line with all the other large
towns in the country.

=17.= At present about 534 towns and districts in the United Kingdom
have adopted the Public Libraries Acts, or local Acts, and this number
includes every large town in the country. The principal areas still
unprovided with public libraries are the Metropolitan Borough of
Marylebone and the towns and districts of Bacup, Crewe, Scarborough,
Swindon, Govan, Leith, Pollokshaws and Wishaw; together with Dover,
Jarrow, Llandudno and Weymouth, which, though they have adopted the
Acts, have taken no steps to put them into force.

=18. Endowments.=--Little need be said about the foundation of public
libraries by endowment or bequest. The wills of Stephen Mitchell and
George Baillie, of Glasgow, are models of what a liberal bequest should
be, both as regards the amounts bequeathed and the conditions laid down
for the formation of the library itself. The practical condition
attached to all the gifts made by Mr Andrew Carnegie and Mr J. Passmore
Edwards for public library purposes should be adopted by every
benefactor who proposes to found a library. This is the very sensible
one that, if the gift of money is accepted by the community, the local
authority must adopt the Public Libraries Acts, in order to maintain the
library in a state of efficiency for all time. The only alteration
suggested in the form of future bequests is that, when money is offered
to a small town on the condition that it adopts the Libraries Acts, the
whole of the gift should not necessarily take the form of a building
fund. Small towns usually have very inadequate incomes from the library
rate, and for this reason it might be wise if a fair proportion of the
gift were directed to be invested as a book fund. A large library
building without books is by no means as useful to the people as a much
less ambitious building provided with a fund which permits of the annual
purchase of £50 to £100 worth of books, independently of the library
rate. At the same time, the endowment of libraries in the manner
suggested would not always act as an encouragement to town councils to
provide proper funds for libraries; indeed, it might act as an excuse
for withholding them.

=19. Appointment of Committees.=--The first step after the Libraries
Acts have been adopted by a local authority will be the appointment of a
committee, and it is desirable that only capable men should be elected.
The best interests of the library will be served by a committee
consisting of good business men and literary or professional men or
women, in about equal proportions. It is quite evident that the
legislature did not contemplate the formation of public libraries by
committees consisting exclusively of the rank and file of local
authorities, who are chiefly concerned with paving, drainage and other
equally material matters. By Section 15, Sub-section 3, of the “Public
Libraries Act, 1892,” it is ordained that “an urban authority may if it
think fit appoint a committee and delegate to it all or any of its
powers and duties under this section, and the said committee shall to
the extent of such delegation be deemed to be the library authority.
Persons appointed to be members of the committee need not be a member of
the urban authority.” The “Public Libraries (Ireland) Amendment Act,
1877,” gives similar power to elect members outside the local authority.
Section 4 ordains that “the committee in which the general management,
regulation and control of such libraries, museums or schools may be
vested under the provisions of the 12th Section of the principal Act may
consist in part of persons not members of the council or board or
commissioners.” By the “Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act,
1887,” Section 18 ordains that the local authority shall “appoint a
committee, consisting of not less than ten nor more than twenty members,
half of whom shall be chosen from amongst the magistrates and council,
or board, as the case may be, and the remaining half from amongst the
householders of the burgh or parish other than the magistrates and
council, or board, and three members of such committee shall form a
quorum.” It is further ordained, Section 21, that this committee “shall
manage, regulate and control all libraries and museums established under
this Act, or to which this Act applies; and shall have power to do all
things necessary for such management.” It is thus clear that local
authorities are fully empowered to select the best expert advice it is
possible to obtain in the district, and that the administration of the
library should not rest entirely in the hands of the local authority. It
is therefore advisable that library committees, while consisting of a
majority of members of the local authority, should be strengthened by a
good proportion of members selected from among the best qualified
citizens. The principle of co-option is compulsory in the case of
Education Committees, and so far as this principle is concerned the
arguments for its adoption on Library Committees are equally cogent.

=20. Constitution of Committees.=--The portions of the Acts already
quoted make it plain that in Scotland the library committees shall be
independent bodies, with power to provide everything necessary, without
requiring the sanction of the local authorities, or doing more than from
time to time reporting their proceedings. In Ireland, under Section 12
of the principal Act, “the general management, regulation and control of
such libraries and museums, etc., shall be, as to any borough, vested in
and exercised by the council or board, and as to any town, in and by the
town commissioners, _or such committee as they respectively may from
time to time appoint, who may from time to time purchase and provide the
necessary fuel, books, appoint and dismiss officers, make rules_,” etc.
This approximates closely to the English law, which differs from that of
the Scottish in leaving the power of appointing an independent or
semi-independent library committee in the discretion of the local
authority. The English Act has already been quoted in the previous
section, and it now remains to give reasons why every Public Library
Committee should be independent of the control of the local authority,
save for certain purposes. The fact that, in Scotland, the hybrid
composition of the committee is regarded as a reason for making it
practically independent of the local authority offers a strong argument
in favour of a similar course being pursued in England and Ireland. A
mixed committee is entitled to act without the special sanction of the
local authority, if only for the reason that all its members cannot take
part in the ratifying proceedings of the council or board. It seems
illogical to invite capable citizens who are not members of the council
to pass certain resolutions and then submit them for confirmation to a
council on which they have no vote or voice. Furthermore, a committee of
any kind appointed to administer an Act, like the Public Libraries Act,
which lays down clearly what may be done and how much may be expended,
does not require the same kind of oversight and control as an ordinary
committee appointed for some municipal purpose with comparatively
unlimited powers of expenditure. No committee appointed for an
educational purpose should be subject to the delays and difficulties
caused by having to submit all its proceedings for confirmation by a
superior authority. All these arguments furnish reasons why local
authorities in England and Ireland should follow Scotland in giving
Public Library Committees a complete or partial delegation of powers
under the Public Libraries Acts.

=21. Delegation of Powers.=--A delegation of powers under the various
sections of the Acts quoted should provide for a fair measure of
independence for the committee, with a fair share of general control on
the part of the local authority. As a matter of policy, as well as in
the public interest, it is very desirable to maintain harmonious
relations between a central board and its acting committees, and for
these reasons information as to the proceedings of a committee should
always be available, if required. But, for the reasons already set
forth, a Public Library Committee should be a _reporting_ and not merely
a _recommending_ body. With the exception of public libraries in the
Metropolitan Boroughs, which are compelled by Section 8 (3) of the
“London Government Act, 1899,” to receive the sanction of the Borough
Council and its Finance Committee for expenditures over £50, every
Public Library Committee in England and Ireland should be constituted
under a special delegation of powers, such as was contemplated and
authorized by the Acts already quoted. A fair and workable form of
delegation of powers, which has been adopted with good results, is as
follows:

That the [_name of authority_] hereby delegates to the Public Library
Committee all the powers and duties vested in it as the Library
Authority under the Public Libraries Acts, 1892, and all subsequent
amendments, with the following reservations:--

1. The sanction and raising of loans for new buildings or other
purposes.

2. The making and collection of the annual library rate.

3. The confirmation of agreements with adjoining library authorities
for the joint use of libraries.

4. The confirmation of the appointment or dismissal of the librarian.

5. The sanction of any scheme for the formation of branch libraries.

6. The proceedings of the Public Library Committee to be reported
monthly to the [_name of authority_], but only for confirmation and
sanction as regards Clauses 1 to 5 of this constitution.

7. The librarian to act as clerk to the Public Library Committee.

As regards Metropolitan Borough Councils, it may be desirable to add a
clause to the effect that no expenditure exceeding £50 be incurred
without an estimate being first obtained by the Finance Committee of the
Borough Council. But it is doubtful, if even this restriction is
necessary, if, when the rate is made, the Borough Finance Committee
passes an estimate for the whole amount of the public library rate, to
be expended on general library purposes according to a budget or scheme
prepared by the Public Library Committee. This will get over the
difficulty of having to obtain fresh estimates every time £50 worth of
books is ordered. The “Public Libraries Act (Amendments) Act, 1901,”
contains a clause making it quite clear that for library purposes a
Metropolitan Borough is an urban district.

=22. Standing Orders.=--The standing orders or bye-laws regulating
Public Library Committees need not be very elaborate. Generally, they
should be the same as those governing other committees of the local
authority, with the exceptions as to powers. The committee should be
elected annually by the local authority, and the number of members
should be small rather than large. The needs of districts differ, but a
Public Library Committee of over twelve may be an encumbrance rather
than a help to the institution. At the same time a larger committee
means a larger representation on the Council, and help from more people
who are actually or nominally interested in the library service.
Probably the largest committee in England is that at Wallasey, which has
thirty members, of whom thirteen are Council members. Where such large
committees exist it is usually found that the actual executive work
devolves upon a sub-committee, such as the Book Sub-Committee. Meetings
are generally held once a month; certainly there is ordinarily no
occasion for the committee to be called more often, and in some towns a
quarterly meeting is found to be sufficient. A chairman should be
elected annually by the committee; he should invariably be a Council
member, as he is the natural representative of the committee on the
Council; but the vice-chairman may fittingly be a co-opted member. The
principle of a constant change of chairmen, adopted in some Councils, is
a bad one on a Library Committee, as the work is quite different, in
many respects, from other departments of the public service, and
knowledge and experience are required if a sound and consistent library
policy is to be pursued. This is impossible under a system in which
chairmen come and go annually. The same remarks apply to the committee
as a whole; its personnel should remain reasonably stable. Three members
should form a quorum. The committee should control its own clerk, who
ought to be the librarian, although, as we have implied, this is by no
means generally the case, and, indeed, is sometimes impossible under the
standing orders of the Council. The Public Libraries Acts require that a
separate account be kept of receipts and expenditure from the library
rate, and library committees should see that this is done in all cases
where the accounts are kept and payments made by the Council officials.

=23. Duties of Committees.=--To a considerable extent these are fixed by
the delegation of powers granted and the standing orders adopted. But
there are certain broad principles which should be observed by library
committees in the ultimate interest of their work. The chief of these is
that the committee is concerned rather with library policy than with
library administration; with what shall be done rather than with how it
shall be done. The administration, planning, arrangement, methods,
etc., of a library are technical matters purely appertaining to the
librarian; and many libraries are stultified by well-meant and
conscientious interference in details of this character by library
committees. The committee has the right, and it is its duty, to expect
the results of its policy to be visibly effective in the library
service, but it should confide the means of obtaining those results to
its librarian; only in this way can the special training which
librarians now bring to their work be made of maximum use to the
community. With the modifications implied in these principles the duties
of the committee cover:

1. General oversight of buildings, staff and the work of the various
departments of the library.

2. Careful supervision of the selection of books.

3. Compilation and revision of public rules and regulations.

4. Regular checking of accounts and expenditures, including those of
all officers.

5. Regular meetings on fixed dates.

6. Every member of committee should become acquainted with the
elements of public library administration, and for this purpose should
possess copies of all the live Acts of Parliament.

=24.= To cover the work effectively, various sub-committees are
necessary, which should be small, but large enough to give each member
of the committee an actual interest in some definite department of
library work. Usually the sub-committees appointed include a _Book_
Sub-Committee, which undertakes the examining of all lists of books
suggested for purchase; an _Accounts_ Sub-Committee, to which all
financial matters are committed; and a _Staff_ Sub-Committee, which is
concerned with the appointment, dismissal, remuneration, and training of
the employees. Some of the large libraries have a _Buildings_
Sub-Committee to regulate the proper maintenance of library properties;
_Lectures and Extension_ Sub-Committee; _Branches_ Sub-Committee; and
such other groupings as the local circumstances warrant. In most cases,
however, the needs of the authority are met by the three sub-committees
first-named; and the multiplying of sub-committees is not desirable
where there is not enough business to keep them interested and
occupied.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=25. Adoption of Acts:=

Fovargue, H. W. Adoption of the Public Libraries Acts in England and
Wales. 1896. (L.A. Series, No. 7.)

Greenwood, T. Public Libraries, 1891, p. 76.

Library Association. The Establishment of Public Libraries, 1909.

Lord, J. E. The Free Public Library. Preprint of A.L.A., Man. of Lib.
Econ., chapter vi., 1914.

Wire, G. E. How to Start a Public Library. 1902. (A.L.A. Tracts, No.
2.)

=26. Committees and Trustees:=

Bostwick, A. E. Administration of a Public Library. Preprint of
A.L.A., Man. of Lib. Econ., chapter xii., 1911.

Greenwood, T. Public Library Committees. _In his_ Public Libraries,
1894, p. 352.

Notes for Library Committees. _In_ Greenwood’s Year Book, 1900, p. 1.

Hardy, E. A. The Public Library, chapter v., p. 103.

Sayers, W. C. Berwick. The Library Committee: its Character and Work.
1914. (Library Assistants’ Association Series, No. 6.)

Wynkoop, Asa. Commissions, State Aid, and State Agencies. Preprint of
A.L.A., Man. of Lib. Econ., chapter xxvii., 1913.

For articles, see Cannons, E 1-3, Library Organization and
Administration; E 8-12, Personnel, etc.

CHAPTER III

FINANCE, LOANS AND ACCOUNTS

=27. The Library Rate.=--The general library Acts passed for Ireland,
Scotland and England all limit the amount to be raised by rate for
library purposes to one penny in the pound on the annual rateable rental
of all properties within the areas, with certain exceptions or
modifications as to gardens and agricultural lands. Great doubt exists
as to what is meant by a penny rate and on what value it is to be
levied. Some authorities maintain that the income from a penny rate can
only represent the net sum realized by a penny on the rateable value,
after all deductions have been made on account of empty houses and other
irrecoverable items. Against this may be set the actual practice in
several places, of paying over the full sum which a penny rate on the
nominal rateable value would produce, without any deductions whatsoever.
As the Public Libraries Acts have placed a limitation on the amount of
the library rate, it may be assumed that the libraries were intended to
benefit to the full extent of the rateable value. At any rate the Acts
are silent on the point, and practice differs so much that it is fair to
say that a public library, because of the present limitation, and
because some places now give the full product, is entitled to the full
amount which a penny rate would yield when calculated on the full
rateable value of the town or district, without deduction of any kind,
either for unproductive properties or cost of collection. It has been
decided that no deduction can be made from the income produced by the
library rate on account of the cost of collection, and as this rate is
now collected as part of a general or other unlimited rate, it seems
unfair to saddle it with any part of the cost of collection. If it were
collected as a separate rate, or with rates similarly limited by Act of
Parliament, the position would be different. The difference between the
amount paid over to public libraries and the actual sums which would be
produced were the rate charged on the full rateable value is sometimes
considerable. The losses range from over 20 to 5 per cent., and thus a
considerable limit is placed upon the book-purchasing power of a large
number of libraries.

=28. Unexpended Balances.=--In some places the local authority has
appropriated unexpended balances of the public library rate and applied
them to other local purposes. This action is clearly illegal, and could
only have been taken by those who are ignorant of the decisions of the
Local Government Board on the point. It is true the Acts do not specify
how unexpended balances of the library rate are to be dealt with, but it
is equally true that as the money was raised under a special Act for a
strictly defined purpose, it cannot be diverted to any other purpose,
nor can it be carried forward as a portion of the library rate for a
succeeding year. No doubt the wording of the Act is responsible for the
interpretation which has been put upon the section entitled “Limitations
on expenditure for purpose of Act.” It reads: “A rate or addition to a
rate shall not be levied for the purposes of this Act for any one
financial year in any library district to an amount exceeding one penny
in the pound.” The Local Government Board have decided that any
unexpended balances of the library income must be carried forward to
next year’s library account, without prejudice to the next year’s
library income. This decision has been upheld by all the district
auditors of the Local Government Board, and it is difficult to
understand the reason why a few places still cling to the belief that
the library rate can be further limited by this illegal procedure of
appropriating unexpended balances. Committees who are threatened with
this action can always protect themselves against the injustice by
taking care that there are no balances to appropriate; but it will
prevent them from saving a little money for necessary book purchases,
cleaning or other purposes. It should be pointed out, furthermore, that
the section of the Act above quoted does not really refer to the total
_amount_ to be raised by rate in a given year, but only to the
_poundage_ or rate which may be charged for library purposes, namely,
not more than a penny in the pound. The question of the _product_ of
this rate of a penny is not mentioned anywhere in the Acts, and it is
this lack of clear definition--the failure to distinguish the amount of
a rate from the total amount which it will produce annually--which is
responsible for many of the difficulties hitherto met with in
administering the Libraries Acts.

=29. Annual Estimates.=--The Scotch principal Act is the only one which
requires an annual estimate or budget to be prepared by the library
authority for the information of the local authority. Section 30 of the
Act of 1887 provides that “The Committee shall in the month of April in
every year make up, or cause to be made up, an estimate of the sums
required in order to defray the interest of any money borrowed, the
payment of the sinking fund, and the expense of maintaining and managing
all libraries and museums under its control for the year after
Whitsunday then next to come, and for the purpose of purchasing the
books, articles and things authorized by this Act,” etc. This estimate
has to be submitted to the local authority, who “shall provide the
amount required out of the library rate to be levied by it, and shall
pay over to the committee the sum necessary for the annual expenditure
by it in terms of its estimate.” By the standing orders of most local
authorities yearly or half-yearly estimates have to be prepared and
submitted by the various committees, and as practice varies everywhere,
it will be well for the library authority to follow the local practice.

=30.= Local circumstances alter the conditions materially in every
place, and hitherto there has been a lack of uniformity in presenting
financial statements which makes any attempt to produce a model budget
to be suspect. The form of the statement is often governed by the
practice of the Borough Accountant, who arranges the order of items in
accordance with his own views; but wherever it is possible to do so, it
would be well if the form of annual estimate conformed with the order
adopted in the report made by Professor W. G. S. Adams to the Carnegie
United Kingdom Trust in 1915, _On Library Provision and Policy_, which
would arrange in some such order as in the table on page 46.

Each of these items will probably need analysis, and the order given
here may be inverted; indeed, the form shown is merely meant to be
suggestive and to show the nature of the information which the Council
usually requires when it is considering the annual estimates.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMITTEE ESTIMATE, 1919. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
|_Expenditure._ |
+--------+--------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| Actual | |Estimate| Actual |Estimate|
| 1917. | | 1918. | 1918. | 1919. |
+--------+--------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| 1. £897|Books and Binding | £900 | £910 | £920 |
| 2. £300|Newspapers and Periodicals| £350 | £380 | £380 |
| 3. etc.|Salaries and Wages | .. | .. | .. |
| 4. |Rent and Loans | .. | .. | .. |
| 5. |Rates and Taxes | .. | .. | .. |
| 6. |Maintenance: | .. | .. | .. |
| 7. | Lighting | .. | .. | .. |
| 8. | Heating | .. | .. | .. |
| 9. | Cleaning | .. | .. | .. |
|10. |Balance | .. | .. | .. |
+--------+--------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
|_Income_ | | | |
+--------+--------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| 1. |From 0d. rate | .. | .. | .. |
| 2. |From other sources | .. | .. | .. |
+--------+--------------------------+--------+--------+--------+

FIG. 1.--Form for Annual Estimates.

=31.= The distribution of the income over the various items is again
subject to local circumstances; but, thanks to the inquiry of Professor
Adams, a table of comparative distribution of income drawn from the
figures of about 500 library systems throughout the kingdom has been
published, which gives the best information at present available. It is
qualified by the facts we have emphasized in the last paragraph, and
still more by the changed conditions which result from the European War,
which have increased such items as salaries, and reduced the
book-purchasing (and indeed every other purchasing) power of libraries
considerably. We give the table of percentages of expenditure for
libraries with, and without, loans, merely remarking that it may serve
as a rough guide by which library committees may work. Again, the
librarian, in submitting his budget for the use of his committee, will
analyse the items into general administrative, central, reference and
branch libraries’ expenditure, and under each will show salaries as
distinct from wages paid for unskilled service; and books will be
divided into “new,” “replacements,” etc.; periodicals into those filed
permanently and others; maintenance charges into building expenses,
furniture and fittings, stationery, repairs to fabric and furniture, and
so on. The Council as a rule does not require so detailed a statement.

CLASSIFIED PERCENTAGES OF LIBRARY EXPENDITURE

LIBRARIES WITH LOAN CHARGES.
+---------+--------+-------+-------+------+------+------------+-----+
| | | Peri- | | | |Other Items,| |
| | Books |odicals| |Rents |Rates | including | |
| Income. | and | and | Sala- | and | and |Maintenance |Total|
| |Binding.| News- | ries. |Loans.|Taxes.|of Premises,| |
| | |papers.| | | |Light, Heat,| |
| | | | | | | &c. | |
+---------+--------+-------+-------+------+------+------------+-----+
| £ | % | % | % | % | % | % | % |
|8000 | | | | | | | |
| & over| 19·06 | 4·96 | 37·5 | 15·46| 2·41 | 20·58 |99·97|
|4000-8000| 18·81 | 5·31 | 39·96 | 12·54| 1·81 | 21·55 |99·98|
|3000-4000| 17·97 | 6·07 | 41·74 | 17·42| 1·09 | 15·68 |99·97|
|2000-3000| 19·53 | 6·44 | 39·33 | 13·5 | 2·38 | 18·78 |99·96|
|1500-2000| 21·09 | 6·24 | 37·87 | 13·13| 2·3 | 19·01 |99·64|
|1000-1500| 19·07 | 7·43 | 37·18 | 16·47| 2·21 | 17·62 |99·98|
| 750-1000| 17·58 | 7·81 | 38·97 | 10·8 | 2·22 | 22·6 |99·86|
| 500- 750| 17·55 | 10·88 | 36·32 | 11·81| 3·10 | 20·22 |99·88|
| 250- 500| 13·12 | 10·25 | 38·9 | 15·09| 4·00 | 18·61 |99·97|
| 100- 250| 16·31 | 13·13 | 33·63 | 21·31| 3·14 | 12·45 |99·97|
|Under 100| 14·32 | 16·15 | 25·84 | 24·48| 2·66 | 19·52 |99·97|
+---------+--------+-------+-------+------+------+------------+-----+

LIBRARIES WITHOUT LOAN CHARGES.
+---------+--------+-------+-------+------+------+------------+-----+
| | | Peri- | | | |Other Items,| |
| | Books |odicals| |Rents |Rates | including | |
| Income. | and | and | Sala- | and | and |Maintenance |Total|
| |Binding.| News- | ries. |Loans.|Taxes.|of Premises,| |
| | |papers.| | | |Light, Heat,| |
| | | | | | | &c. | |
+---------+--------+-------+-------+------+------+------------+-----+
| £ | % | % | % | % | % | % | % |
|1000 | | | | | | | |
| & over| 19·93 | 6·37 | 39·22 | .. | 2·03 | 32·43 |99·98|
| 750-1000| 25·4 | 7·95 | 44·17 | .. | 3·16 | 19·29 |99·97|
| 500- 750| 20·31 | 9·98 | 45·49 | .. | 3·86 | 20·23 |99·97|
| 400- 500| 18·48 | 10·07 | 40·90 | .. | 5·81 | 24·6 |99·86|
| 300- 400| 15·9 | 12·31 | 46·91 | .. | 2·9 | 21·9 |99·92|
| 200- 300| 17·13 | 13·25 | 42·98 | .. | 4·00 | 22·61 |99·97|
| 100- 200| 16·2 | 15·66 | 45·1 | .. | 2·54 | 20·47 |99·97|
| 50- 100| 20·16 | 15·82 | 34·29 | .. | 5·68 | 24·02 |99·97|
|Under 50 | 28·65 | 21·85 | 36·46 | .. | 2·26 | 10·75 |99·97|
+---------+--------+-------+-------+------+------+------------+-----+

FIG. 2.--Returns compiled from Professor Adams’ Report on Library
Provision and Policy [Carnegie United Kingdom Trust], Sec. 31.

=32.= We must consider in some detail the principal expenditures to
which library committees are subject.

=33. Loans.=--The Libraries Acts give fairly full instructions as to
loans for public library purposes. In England under the principal Act
“every library authority, with the sanction of the Local Government
Board . . . may borrow money for the purposes of this Act on the
security of any fund or rate applicable for those purposes.” In parishes
the regulations for borrowing prescribed by the “Local Government Act,
1894,” are to apply. As a preliminary to borrowing, an inquiry is held
locally by a Local Government Board inspector, who receives evidence as
to proposed buildings, sites, amount required, etc., and also hears
objections to the proposal. The Local Government Board print bills
announcing the inquiry, and these must be posted and paid for by the
library authority. At such inquiries full particulars should be prepared
as to income, date of adopting Acts, etc., as well as particulars of the
proposed scheme. After the inquiry is held it is generally about three
months later before the sanction of the Board is received. This states
the amount sanctioned and for what period the money can be borrowed for
sites, buildings, furniture or books, as the case may be.

The security for loans is declared by the “Public Health Act, 1875,”
Section 233, to be the “credit of any fund or all or any rates or rate
out of which they are authorized to defray expenses incurred by them in
the execution of this Act.” And it is further laid down that “they may
mortgage to the persons by or on behalf of whom such sums are advanced
any such fund or rates or rate.” It thus appears that neither library
buildings nor the library rate can be mortgaged for the purposes of
library loans, but only the rate or rates out of which the expenses of
the Public Health Act are paid. This practically means the general rate
of a district.

=34.= The Local Government Board will fix the period for which sums of
money for particular purposes may be borrowed. Generally the periods are
as follows:

For sites or lands 60 or 50 years.
„ buildings (including fixtures like counters,
screens, wall and standard bookcases, wall
newspaper slopes, barriers, etc.) 30 years.[1]
„ books 10 „
„ furniture (tables, chairs, desks, and movable
furniture only) 10 „

[1] A loan for purchasing an existing building will not be sanctioned
by the Local Government Board for a period exceeding twenty or
twenty-five years.

The money may be borrowed from the Public Works Loan Commissioners,
County Councils, Banks, Friendly Societies or private individuals. The
rate of interest varies, according to the state of the money market.
Four per cent. may be regarded as an average interest at present, but
library authorities have borrowed for as low as 3 per cent.

=35.= The methods of repayment vary, and this must be entirely a matter
for local arrangement, and should follow the practice in vogue with
other municipal loans. An equalized repayment of principal and interest
on the annuity system has the advantage of distributing the payments
uniformly over the whole period, and of placing part of the burden on
succeeding ratepayers as well as upon those who establish the library.
This is much fairer than making the pioneer ratepayers practically bear
the whole foundation cost of establishing an institution which increases
in its value to the community as it progresses. On the other hand,
buildings are sure to depreciate in value, and the question of repairs
is a constant one, so that some authorities maintain that loans on
structures should be paid off by annually diminishing instalments of
principal and interest. In Scotland repayments of principal must be made
from a sinking fund which is to be formed from a certain proportion of
the rate put aside annually.

The arrangements for negotiating a loan and drawing up the necessary
deeds should be placed in the hands of a solicitor, but in many cases
the accountant or town clerk of the district is responsible for all
arrangements, and will see that the deed is duly sealed as prescribed by
the Act.

In connexion with this it should be noted that by Section 237 of the
“Public Health Act, 1875,” a register of the mortgages on each rate must
be kept, and that “within fourteen days after the date of any mortgage
an entry shall be made in the register of the number and date thereof,
and of the names and description of the parties thereto, as stated in
the deed.” Furthermore, “every such register shall be open to public
inspection during office hours at the said office [local authority’s
office] without fee or reward.” As the auditor will call for this
register, the clerk to the library authority should see that it is
provided, if the local authority has not already done so.

=36.= The arrangements for loans in Ireland and Scotland are somewhat
similar to those just described. In Ireland no power to borrow was given
under the principal Act, but the Amendment Act of 1877 gives the power,
provided the commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury approve. The
Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland may lend, and power is given to
mortgage, as security, either the borough fund, town fund, or the
library rate itself. In Scotland the local authority may borrow, without
any other consent, on mortgage or bond on the security of the library
rate, a sum or sums not exceeding the capital sum represented by
one-fourth part of the library rate, capitalized at the rate of twenty
years’ purchase of such sum. A sinking fund must be formed, consisting
of an annual sum equal to one-fiftieth part of the money borrowed, which
is to be invested and applied to the purpose of extinguishing the debt.

Before leaving the question of loans, it may be well to offer a word of
warning against the danger of overborrowing, which has very seriously
crippled the work of various libraries. In some places as much as
one-half the library income has to be devoted to the repayment of
principal and interest of loans; in others, one-third is similarly
spent. One-fourth is the maximum which in any case should be set apart
for the purpose.

=37. Assessment to Rates and Taxes.=--The assessment of public library
buildings to rates and taxes has been for long a burning question, and
is still far from final settlement. The limitation of the library rate
to a penny in the pound has always been considered by library
authorities a strong reason why all additional burdens on the meagre
income raised thereby should be resisted. But all local authorities and
assessment committees did not think likewise, and a good deal of
friction resulted.

In 1843 was passed “An Act to exempt from County, Borough, Parochial,
and other Local Rates, Land and Buildings occupied by Scientific or
Literary Societies,” 6 & 7 Vict., c. 36, under which a few public
libraries obtained certificates of exemption from the payment of local
rates, from the Registrar of Friendly Societies, as allowed by this Act.
Some of these certificates were recognized by the rating authorities,
others were ignored, and it was frequently maintained that a public
library was not a scientific or literary society within the meaning of
the Act. In 1896, however, a complete change took place as regards this
point, by a decision of the House of Lords, which ruled that public
libraries were literary societies or institutions for the purposes of
the “Income Tax Act of 1842,” under which such institutions were granted
exemption from the payment of income tax. Although the case, brought by
the Corporation of Manchester against the Surveyor of Income Tax for
Manchester, did not directly refer to the Act of 1843, the decision that
public libraries were literary institutions effected all that was
necessary for the purpose of claiming exemption from local rates under
the “Literary Societies Act of 1843.” A full report of this case and
decision is printed in the _Library_ for 1896, in the _Times_ law
reports and elsewhere. The effect of this decision was to remove any
doubt from the mind of the Registrar of Friendly Societies, who has
power under the Act to grant certificates exempting public libraries
from the payment of local rates, and as a result many libraries obtained
certificates, and now enjoy complete or partial exemption. It is not
necessary to quote the Act of 1843, which can be obtained for one penny
from the King’s printers, but the procedure requisite for obtaining a
certificate of exemption may be noted.

=38.= An application claiming exemption under the 1843 Act must be
addressed to the Registrar of Friendly Societies at London, Edinburgh or
Dublin, as the case may require. With this must be enclosed a copy of
the rules and regulations of the library, signed by the chairman and
three members of committee, and countersigned by the clerk or
librarian. These rules must include the following, or others in similar
terms:--

1. “The ---- Public Library is a society established for purposes of
literature and science exclusively.”

2. “The library is supported in part by a rate levied in accordance with
the Public Libraries Acts, and in part by annual voluntary contributions
of money and gifts of books and periodicals. The Library Committee shall
not make any dividend, gift, division or bonus in money unto or between
any of the members.”

These two rules are absolutely necessary to a successful application,
and, if not already incorporated, should be included by special
resolution of the library authority before application is made. It is
best to send printed copies of the rules, and it should be noted that
three identical copies, all signed, must be sent. On these the registrar
endorses his certificate, and sends one to the Clerk of the Peace for
the district, one to the library authority, and retains one. The form of
certificate usually attached is as follows:

It is hereby certified that this society is entitled to the benefit of
the Act 6 & 7 Vict., c. 36, intituled “An Act to exempt from County,
Borough, Parochial and other Local Rates, Lands and Buildings occupied
by Scientific or Literary Societies.”

Date.

_________
/ \
/ Seal of \
| Registry of |
\ Friendly /
\Societies./
\________/

The application should show that annual voluntary contributions of
money, books and periodicals are received, but there is no direction
laid down as to the amount of voluntary contributions which will pass
muster. The point is somewhat vague, but it may be assumed that the
amount received from gifts, subscriptions, sales, books, periodicals,
etc., need not form a substantial proportion of the income. As the
English Registrar accepts donations in kind as annual voluntary
contributions, it is only necessary to value these to make up a
respectable sum.

=39.= Certificates are not granted as a rule in cases where a charge for
admission is made. Furthermore, it is doubtful if the exemption from
local rates would be allowed by hostile local authorities for any
occupied portions of library buildings. A caretaker’s or librarian’s
residence would in all probability be separately assessed, if the
certificate were otherwise recognized. By a decision of a Court of
Quarter Sessions at Liverpool in 1905, it has been decided that the
Corporation of Liverpool is liable for local rates on a library
building; but it is not possible to say how far this may affect
libraries holding these certificates. Legislation is pending, and till
something is definitely settled, the question must remain open.

=40.= The House of Lords’ decision already noticed also freed public
library buildings from income tax, but it should be distinctly
understood that inhabited house duty can be charged for the whole of a
building, even if only partly occupied as a residence, when included
under one roof, unless it can be shown that the library and residence do
not communicate directly with each other.

=41. Insurance.=--Library buildings and their contents should be fully
insured against fire. To ascertain insurable value take the cost of
buildings at the contract price, including all charges which would have
to be incurred again for rebuilding; furniture at the contract price;
lending library books at 3s. 4d. per volume all over; and reference
library books at 5s. per volume all over, and thus obtain a total. An
allowance is sometimes made for depreciation, but a full covering value
is always safe. The policy will state these various items separately for
the purposes of insurance, but will likely charge a uniform percentage
on all. 1s. 6d. per cent. is a fair charge in a good office, but
insurances can be effected for as low as 1s. 3d. per cent. Library
buildings form a safe risk, and unless in a case of temporary premises
with bad surroundings, 1s. 6d. per cent. should be regarded as a maximum
charge. Some offices return the premium once in five years or so by way
of bonus. Insurance policies should be revised every few years to keep
pace with the growth of the library. Paintings, valuable MSS. and rare
books must be made the subject of special insurances. The same may be
said of temporary exhibitions, especially of loan articles, which ought
to be covered by a policy for the period of the show. Plenty of
fire-buckets should be provided in public library buildings to cope with
the first outbreak of fire. Hydrants, save in large buildings, are not
necessary, on account of their cost and practical inutility. If a fire
cannot be checked at its onset by means of buckets, it is time to ring
up the fire-brigade.

=42.= Another insurance that should be provided is against claims for
damage or injury to children who use juvenile departments which may be
caused through any defect in the building or its fittings; and in
connexion therewith it should be remembered that children cannot legally
be held contributory by their carelessness or misbehaviour to such
accidents as would cause injury.

=43.= Health insurance must be paid by the library committees for all
employees of sixteen years of age and more who earn less than £250 a
year.

=44. Contracts, Agreements, Requisitions.=--Contracts for regular
supplies should be renewed annually. The principal items of this kind
are:

Books, bookbinding, periodicals and newspapers, printing, stationery,
cleaning materials.

Local sentiment is generally in favour of procuring all supplies
locally, where possible, and when this can be done without absolute
disadvantage to the library it is the most convenient course. Tenders
can be invited either by public advertisement or on the nomination of
members of committee and the librarian. To begin with, public
advertisement is, perhaps, the fairest way; afterwards, quality of
service and other considerations will decide. Specifications should be
prepared and sent out according to requirements.

=45.= All specifications and contracts should be carefully preserved.
The former should be entered up in a specification book, which need be
but an ordinary foolscap folio blank book, ruled faint. Accepted
contracts should either be filed in boxes or guard books, or copied into
a contracts book similar to the specification book. Accepted estimates
for occasional work should be fastened to the accounts. It is important
to be able to lay hands on any given document or its terms without the
slightest delay. All tenders for regular supplies and estimates for
occasional work should be opened in committee, in meeting duly convened,
unless by special resolution the librarian or a sub-committee is
authorized to deal with them. Envelopes, printed with the address of the
library and having the words “Tender for ----” printed boldly in one
corner, should be enclosed with all invitations for estimates to prevent
the risk of accidental opening.

=46.= In connexion with contracts it is important to note that Public
Library Committees and officers are subject to the penal provisions of
the “Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act, 1889,” 52 & 53 Vict., c. 69,
in the event of bribes or commissions being given or received in
connexion with pending contracts or supplies. As this does not seem to
be generally known, the essential words of the Act are quoted:

“Every person who corruptly solicits or receives, or agrees to
receive, for himself, or for any other person, any gift, loan, fee,
reward, or advantage, as an inducement to any member, officer, or
servant of a public body, doing or forbearing to do anything in
respect of any matter or transaction in which such public body is
concerned; and every person who shall, with the like object, corruptly
give, promise, or offer any gift, loan, fee, reward, or advantage to
any person, whether for the benefit of that person or of another,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanour. Any one convicted of such an
offence shall be liable to imprisonment for two years, or to a fine of
£500, or to both imprisonment and fine; and, in addition, be liable to
pay to such public body the amount or value of any gift, loan, fee, or
reward so received by him; and be adjudged incapable of holding any
public office for seven years, and to forfeit any such office held by
him,” etc.

=47.= AGREEMENTS for leases, loans, joint use of libraries with
adjoining authorities, or between committee and librarian or other
persons, should be drawn up by a solicitor. Minor agreements may be
drawn up by the library authority, but they should all be stamped with a
sixpenny stamp if in connexion with a consideration of £5 and over. The
legal limits within which agreements between various kinds of library
authorities can be made are duly set forth in the various Public
Libraries Acts, and, as these matters seldom arise in the course of
ordinary library routine, there is no need further to consider the
subject.

=48. Suggestions on Management.=--It is well to keep a book or to
provide forms to enable readers to make suggestions on the management of
the library. Frequently such suggestions take the form of complaints,
but it is a useful thing to allow free opportunity for the expression of
public opinion. In some libraries separate books are kept for
propositions of new books not in the library and suggestions on
management. A simple form, on which the reader can make suggestions on
management or of books, is preferable. When these forms are made readily
available, and are kept in public view, together with a locked box in
which the slips can be lodged through a slit in the lid, they are much
more effective as a means of drawing suggestions than special MS. books
which have to be asked for. A useful form of slip is the following:--

+----------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. |
| |
| I beg to make the following suggestion (.if a book or |
| periodical, please give publisher and price.):-- |
| |
| ........................................................ |
| |
| ........................................................ |
| |
| ........................................................ |
| |
| ........................................................ |
| |
| Name.............................................. |
| |
| Address........................................... |
| |
| Date.............................................. |
| |
| ~Please fold across and leave in “Suggestions” Box.~ |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 3.--Suggestion Slip.

A small locked box to contain these, and lettered on side “Suggestions,”
should be provided. If one of these boxes is placed in each important
department of the library, readers will be encouraged to air their
views. Even if nothing more valuable should be received than a complaint
about a draught or the manner of the librarian, it is better than the
dull indifference and apathy which are met with in libraries where
readers are discouraged from taking any part in the administration.
Occasionally some brilliant, if impossible, suggestions on management
are received by means of these slips and boxes, and suggestions of
desirable books can always be depended upon. Every means of interesting
readers in the work of the library should be adopted, and this will be
found a very effective method.

=49. Accounts.=--By the principal English Act, Section 20 (1), it is
ordained that “separate accounts shall be kept of the receipts and
expenditure under this Act of every library authority and its officers,
and those accounts shall be audited in like manner and with the like
incidents and consequences, in the case of a library authority being an
urban authority, and of its officers, as the accounts of the receipts
and expenditure of that authority and its officers under the Public
Health Acts.” In Ireland the same provisions apply, that is, library
accounts are to be kept and audited like those of the local authority,
and copies of the accounts are to be sent within one month after
auditing to the Lord Lieutenant. In Scotland the accounts are to be kept
separately in special books, and are to be audited by “one or more
competent auditors.” In all cases the books are to be open to public
inspection, and in Scotland abstracts of the accounts are to be inserted
in one or more newspapers published or circulated in the district.

No special system of library book-keeping has been laid down, the
nearest approach to a form being that prescribed by an order of the
Local Government Board, dated 26th November 1892, for parishes whose
library accounts are audited in like manner to those of Poor Law
Guardians. In Greenwood’s _Public Libraries_, fourth edition, 1894,
pages 343-345, some details are given of this system, and the first
edition of this _Manual_ also gives specimens of forms, etc.

=50. Financial Statement.=--The form of financial statement for public
libraries in parishes, prescribed by the Local Government Board, alluded
to in Section 49, is the best for all purposes. As shown in the section
on Annual Estimates, it provides for every kind of receipt and
expenditure. Printed blanks giving the whole of the items copied from
the L.G.B. Order of 1892 have been published. In addition to a blank
tabular form for showing particulars of loans, etc., the statement
includes spaces for the undernoted items, all duly set out to form a
balance sheet:

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

RECEIPTS.

Rates.
Fines and penalties.
Donations and subscriptions.
From parliamentary grants.
From other local authorities.
From sale of securities in which sinking fund is invested.
From all other sources, specifying them.
Sale of catalogues, etc.
etc.

EXPENDITURE.

Buildings, repairs, maintenance.
Books, periodicals, etc.
Salaries and remuneration of officers and assistants.
Establishment charges not before included.
Loans: Principal repaid {Out of invested Sinking Fund.
{Otherwise.
„ Interest.
Payments to other local authorities.
Other expenditure.

=51. Audit.=--In cases where library accounts are audited under the
“District Auditors’ Act, 1879,” it is imperative that all the forms and
consequences should be borne in mind. District auditors have power to
surcharge expenditures for items which in their opinion cannot be
legally incurred under the provisions of the Public Libraries Acts, and
it should also be remembered that the committee-men who sign the
disputed cheque are held liable. The powers vested in library
authorities are so wide that it is very doubtful if some district
auditors are not exceeding their authority by objecting, as they have
done in some places, to payments for publications, subscriptions to
societies, expenses of lectures, and other items. In cases of surcharge
appeal for relief should be made to the Local Government Board, when it
is a first offence, or when there is good grounds for challenging the
decision of the auditor. The cost of auditing accounts is laid down in
the “District Auditors’ Act, 1879,” according to the following scale.
The library authority is required to purchase the necessary stamps to
cover the amount:

Under £20 = £0 5
£20 and under £50 = 0 10
50 „ 100 = 1 0
100 „ 500 = 2 0
500 „ 1,000 = 3 0
1,000 „ 2,500 = 4 0
2,500 „ 5,000 = 5 0
5,000 „ 10,000 = 10 0
10,000 „ 20,000 = 15 0
20,000 „ 50,000 = 20 0
50,000 „ 100,000 = 30 0
100,000 and upwards = 50 0

Needless to say, very few libraries will have to pay more than £10. The
charges for auditing by a firm of chartered accountants are generally
according to an agreed scale.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=52. Rating:=

Greenwood, Thomas. Public Libraries, 1891, p. 376.

Adams, W. G. S. Report to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust of Library
Provision and Policy, 1915.

Chambers and Fovargue. Law relating to Public Libraries, 1899.

Credland, W. R. Rating and Taxation of Public Libraries. In
Greenwood’s Year-Book, 1897, p. 45.

For articles, see Cannons, B 38-44, Taxation, etc.

=53. Insurance:=

Davis, C. T. Fire Prevention and Insurance. In Greenwood’s Year-Book,
1900, p. 53.

Poole, R. B. Fires, Protection, Insurance. U.S. Education Report,
1892-93, vol. i. p. 724. For articles, see Cannons, D 46, Fire
Prevention, Insurance.

=54. Accounts:=

Brown, J. D. Manual of Library Economy, Ed. 1, 1903, p. 30.

Hopper, F. F. Order and Accession Department. _In_ A.L.A., Man. of
Lib. Econ. Preprint of chapter xvii., 1911.

For articles, see Cannons, E 6-7, Accounts.

CHAPTER IV

THE MATERIAL OF THE ANNUAL REPORT. STATISTICS, WORKING RECORDS. FORM OF
THE ANNUAL REPORT

=55. Statistical Methods.=--It seems desirable to describe here, as
being concerned with committee work, the various statistical and other
methods adopted to show the operations of the library. Every business
concern of any consequence has what approximates to a statistical
department, in which records are kept and analysed of every transaction
of the business, and from these useful deductions are made. Such
statistics, with the necessary proviso that the keeping of them should
not impede more obvious work, are desirable for libraries, and although
they are necessarily of a quantitative rather than qualitative
character, they are nevertheless of value as showing the use made of the
several departments and of the various classes of the stock. Statistics
usually kept include: the stock; accessions; the issue of books and
material in each department according to their classes; the number of
readers’ tickets in force; and the attendances at the reading rooms.
Sometimes records are kept of the occupations and ages of readers, and
the wards from which they are drawn.

Hitherto all these statistics have been of doubtful comparative value,
owing to the great divergence in the methods of computation adopted, and
the methods of administering the library have a definite effect upon the
resultant figures. For example, in the few libraries where so brief a
time as a week is allowed for the reading of a volume, the issue figures
will be higher than in those where a fortnight or more is allowed. Then,
the amounts charged as fines for undue detention of books, ranging from
1d. a week or part of a week to 1d. a day beyond the time allowed, make
a difference of some moment. Again, in some libraries it is usual to
record the number of borrowers continuously, only counting off the
lapsed tickets, while in others only those borrowers who are actually
using the libraries within the year are counted. It would be well if an
effort were made to standardize all these methods. A scheme for
standardizing the form in which they are to be presented has been
reached, and is described below (Section 62).

=56.= A satisfactory record of the relative circulation of books can be
made only of a classified stock. Certainly comparisons cannot be fairly
made while one librarian classes his periodicals as science, useful
arts, etc., and another groups his together as miscellaneous. Then, some
librarians, rightly we think, separate Juvenile Fiction issues from
Adult Fiction issues; and, indeed, divergences and anomalies are
frequent and are confusing.

Suggested rulings for Issue Record books, for lending and reference
libraries respectively, are given on page 62.

The record book should have about thirty-five lines to the page,
exclusive of the headings, to allow one line for each day and leave room
for adding up the columns. The dates, 1 to 31, may be printed down each
column, but this will mean leaving gaps for Sundays. It is better to
write the dates in for each month, omitting Sundays, which may be
entered on a separate page or pages. The issues of each year should be
kept together in a series; and a page or more, as required, should be
left for the necessary summaries, which can be entered up to show the
total issues month by month in cumulative form. If this is done
regularly the figures for the annual or other reports are quite easily
obtained. The accessions book, if kept entered, added and classified up
to date, will give similar information about books.

=57.= It is usual to count volumes separately. Thus a work in five
volumes is counted as 5 in the record. Illustrations, pamphlets,
broadsides and other material in separate form are usually counted in
the same way, but are sometimes indicated as being of this separate
character in separate columns. There are minor problems in counting
which interest librarians, and upon which opinion is divided. Thus, when
a series of prints are formed into a public exhibition, it is sometimes
the practice to count each print as having been issued once. They may,
however, have been examined by hundreds of people during the exhibition,
and sometimes an allowance is made for that fact. Again, the
consultation of a magazine in the reading rooms is usually not counted;
but the same magazine when bound is counted if issued from the shelves
in the reference library. Directories, time-tables, and similar
quick-reference works are often omitted from the statistics. There seems
no reason why all these uses of material should not be recorded, so long
as the character of the use is made clear in the reports of the
librarian. Otherwise the frequent complaint of librarians that their
figures represent only part of their work seems to be justified; and it
is well to remember that public criticism of libraries is in the main
based upon their statistics. At the same time if the recording of
statistics means the placing of barriers between books and readers, it
is a safe principle to prefer fewer statistics and more accessibility.

1
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Month: September 1918. Lending Library Issues. |
+-----++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+------+-------+------+------++----+-----+------+
| || | | | | | | | | | | Il- | Lan- |Blank |Blank ||To- | D. | Re- |
| || | | | | | | | | | | lus- | tern | I. | II. ||tal.|Aver-|marks.|
|Date.||0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9| tra- |Slides.|(Other|(Other|| |age. | |
| || | | | | | | | | | |tions.| |Mate- |Mate- || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | |rial).|rial).|| | | |
+-----++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+------+-------+------+------++----+-----+------+
| 1 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| 2 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| 3 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| 4 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| 5 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| etc.|| | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
+-----++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+------+-------+------+------++----+-----+------+

2
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Month: Reference Library Issues. |
+-----++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+------+-------+------+------++----+-----+------+
| || | | | | | | | | | | Il- | Lan- |Blank |Blank ||To- | D. | Re- |
| || | | | | | | | | | | lus- | tern | I. | II. ||tal.|Aver-|marks.|
|Date.||0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9| tra- |Slides.|(Other|(Other|| |age. | |
| || | | | | | | | | | |tions.| |Mate- |Mate- || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | |rial).|rial).|| | | |
+-----++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+------+-------+------+------++----+-----+------+
| 1 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| 2 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| 3 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| 4 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| 5 || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| || | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
| etc.|| | | | | | | | | | | | | | || | | |
+-----++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+------+-------+------+------++----+-----+------+

FIG. 4.--Suggested Rulings for Issue Record Books.

The record of the number of readers should be confined to those whose
tickets are “live” ones. This does not mean necessarily that tickets not
in active use at the time statistics are compiled should be regarded as
“dead.” A borrower may leave his ticket in abeyance for several months
with the intention of using it later. It does mean that only those
tickets should be counted which are valid at the time. As we have seen,
validity ranges from one to three or more years in different libraries,
and the figures as a rule will be only approximately sound. If, however,
all valid tickets are included, and if the number of tickets issued
within the year covered by the annual report is also indicated, the
record will be a serviceable account of the use made in relation to the
population of the district served. It is usual to show the number of
actual borrowers divided into burgesses and non-burgesses; of
non-resident borrowers (employees, scholars, etc.); and of supplementary
tickets (non-fiction, teachers’, illustration, music, etc.) held by
them.

=58.= Where it is thought necessary to keep records of the occupations
of readers, a blank line for the name of the occupation is included on
the application voucher (see Section 368) from which the records are
made.

=59.= It is not usual to keep formal statistics of the number of
visitors to newspaper and periodical rooms; the attendances are either
not recorded or are estimated. In some cases, however, a daily count is
made at monthly or other intervals and the yearly attendance is gauged
from this. It is obvious that such figures have no great value. A series
of visits to the rooms will assure any librarian or member of committee
of the amount of use that is made of them equally well.

=60.= Brief paragraphs, presenting the record of work weekly or monthly,
and the number of borrowers, are sometimes sent to the local newspapers.
This is a good plan, and the matter is more acceptable if presented in
literary rather than in merely tabular form. At each meeting of the
library committee a fairly complete statistical record of the work since
the last meeting is presented, in which the factors we have discussed,
together with the percentage of fiction issued, and comparisons with the
corresponding weeks or months of the previous year, are made. The
committee is thus kept closely acquainted with the results of its work.

=61. The Annual Report.=--The annual report of the library committee is
the summary and crown of its labours, and is often the most direct means
of contact between the committee and the community. Such reports deserve
more attention than is commonly given to them by librarians, and in this
matter the American librarian--who is essentially a business man and
does not often produce useless documents--may give hints to his British
brethren. A report should be a complete history of the operations of the
library in all its departments; and if improvement is necessary it is in
the direction of reducing the mere statistical and in increasing the
literary matter to be included. Elaborate tables of issue, stock, etc.,
of central and branch libraries have a use for the librarian and may be
kept at the libraries, but their publication is of interest to few other
people, and they are better given in summary. Plain and clear reports,
in which comparisons with other libraries by name should be avoided, and
which present the salient statistics without the use of confusingly
elaborate tables, give the best results. Illustrations and an occasional
diagram rendering in graphic form the statistical results of work are
not necessarily superfluous, and may brighten the report considerably.
The report will not be a less authoritative document if it is
attractive. The information which a library report ought to convey may
be indicated briefly as follows:

Title-page.

List of members of committee and library staff.

Narrative report.

[This is the most interesting feature from the public point of view.
It is usually a review of the year founded upon the statistics, etc.,
in the appendix, and is properly presented as if written by the
committee and signed by the chairman. Frequently, however, it takes
the form of a report written by the librarian to the committee, to be
adopted as the committee’s report. Each method has advantages. The
committee can appeal to the council upon any part of its policy with
greater authority than the librarian. On the other hand, the librarian
can express views of the work and needs of the library from his own
standpoint. The character of the document, however, would seem to
require that a report should be the committee’s. Sometimes, as usually
in America, the question is solved by having a brief report from the
committee, followed by a longer one from the librarian.]

Appendix of documents:--The following forms may be used conveniently
to present the statistical record:--

STOCK

Central. Branches. Total. Grand Total.
Class. Refer- Lend- Refer- Lend- Refer- Lend- Report Last
ence. ing. ence. ing. ence. ing. Year. Year.
0 000 000 000 000 000 000 0000 0000
1
2
3
etc.
Total

Number of volumes added during the year, with proportions purchased
and donated. Grand total purchased . . . . . . Do. donated
. . . . . . . . Number of volumes worn-out and withdrawn. Other
particulars in brief paragraph form.

ISSUES

Central. Branches. Total. Grand Total.
Class. Refer- Lend- Refer- Lend- Refer- Lend- Report Last
ence. ing. ence. ing. ence. ing. Year. Year.
0 000 000 000 000 000 000 0000 0000
0
1
2
3
etc.
Total
Averages

Columns for juvenile and other departments, if they exist, must, of
course, be included.

BORROWERS

Total number report year and last year. Number holding extra or
students’ tickets.

READING ROOMS

Attendances at newsrooms, magazine rooms, etc.

List of donations.

Lists of periodicals and annuals (only if no other means of revising
printed list is available).

Financial statement. (_See_ Section 50.)

Memoranda relating to district, showing population, area, valuation,
date when Acts adopted, date of opening building, other leading facts.

=62. Library Association Summary.=--The appendix outlined above may be
reduced considerably by substituting for most of the items a summary in
the form recommended by the Library Association. The financial
statement, however, should always be given in full, even by libraries
the accounts of which are kept by the municipal treasurer or accountant.
It is clearly impossible to gauge the character of any library’s work if
the distribution of expenditure in performing it is not shown. The
summary recommended by the Library Association resembles a summary used
in American library reports, and is the outcome of a suggestion made to
a meeting of the North Central Library Association in 1916 by Mr E. L.
Hetherington, then Secretary of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. Its
purpose is not only to present the statistics of libraries in a succinct
and simple manner, but by its general adoption to secure a uniform
record from all libraries by which satisfactory comparisons may be made.
No library report should appear without this summary, even if the
librarian chooses to retain his more elaborate tables; and, in view of
its utility and the proposed generalness of its use, we append it in
full with the Library Association’s explanatory notes.

GENERAL STATISTICS:

(i) Population as at last Census.
(ii) Amount of rate in the pound.
(iii) Cost of Library Service per inhabitant.
(iv) Total Cost of Library per inhabitant.
(v) Number of Separate Establishments.
(vi) Number of Staff--Librarians and Assistants.
(_a_) Whole Time--Male.
(_b_) Whole Time--Female.
(_c_) Part Time--Male.
(_d_) Part Time--Female.
(_e_) Total--Male--Female.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE:

_Income._ +-----------+----------+
|£ _s._ _d._|% of Total|
| | Income. |
+-----------+----------+
(i) From rate | | |
(ii) From other sources | | |
(iii) Total income | | |
+-----------+----------+
|£ _s._ _d._|% of Total|
| | Expendi- |
| | ture. |
+-----------+----------+
{ (i) Books | | |
{ (ii) Binding and Repairing | | |
{ (iii) Printing of Catalogues | | |
{ (iv) Newspapers and Periodicals | | |
_Library_ { not permanently retained | | |
_Service_ { (v) Library Fittings and | | |
_Expendi-_{ Furniture | | |
_ture_ { (vi) Printing, Stationery, Office| | |
{ Requisites | | |
{ (vii) Salaries of Librarians and | | |
{ Assistants | | |
{(viii) Total | | |
+-----------+----------+
|£ _s._ _d._|% of Total|
| | Income. |
+-----------+----------+
{ (ix) Rents and Loans | | |
{ (x) Rates and Taxes | | |
{ (xi) Upkeep of Buildings | | |
_Fabric_ { (xii) Heating, Lighting and | | |
_Charges_ { Cleaning, including wages | | |
{(xiii) Total | | |
{ (xiv) Total Expenditure | | |

_Borrowers._

(i) Percentage of Borrowers to population.
(ii) Number of Supplementary Readers’ Tickets held.
(iii) Total Borrowers’ Tickets in use.

INSTRUCTIONS TO BE STUDIED IN PREPARATION OF THE FIGURES DETAILED ABOVE

_General._

1. Asterisks with relative foot-notes should be placed against any
figure which includes abnormalities; for example, if any item of the
expenditure includes certain special or non-recurring charges, the
amount of that expenditure should be detailed in a foot-note with an
explanation of the item.

_General Statistics._

2. Head (iii) should express in pence the cost of the total library
service--per inhabitant according to last census.

3. Similarly head (iv) should express the cost of the total library
expenditure per inhabitant.

4. Head (v) asks for the number of separate establishments. The
figure should include the central library, but if delivery stations
are also included the number of such subsidiary establishments should
be stated in a footnote.

_Income._

5. Head (i) should be confined solely to the income from the library
rate.

6. Head (ii) should include income from all other sources, whether
from interest on investments, rents, sales of catalogues, fines or
special subscriptions or donations.

_Expenditure._

7. Under head (iv) should be included only the cost of periodicals not
permanently retained. In cases of periodicals which are subsequently
bound and added to the permanent library stocks, their cost should be
included under head (i) books and head (ii) binding.

8. Care should be taken that head (vii) should be confined to the
salary payments made to the library staff proper. All wages paid to
caretakers, cleaners, messengers and the like, should be included
under head (xii).

9. It will be observed that there is no separate heading for
“miscellaneous” or “other items.” It is desired that all items of
expenditure should be allocated to the headings detailed above.

_Stocks._

10. It is recognized that the word book or volume has no definite
technical meaning, and is usually an indeterminate expression useful
for popular purposes.

It may therefore be useful to make the following definitions for the
guidance of the Libraries:--

_Volumes_ mean books as they stand on the shelves.

_Pieces_ mean separate works or parts (each usually having a separate
title-page to itself, as with pamphlets, parts of periodicals, and the
like).

_Papers_ mean lesser items, usually with less than 5 pages, as
broadsides, cards, fly-sheets.

_Items_ mean volumes, pieces and papers.

_Works_ mean whole literary productions whether in several volumes or
only one piece.

Thus: Ten pamphlets bound together, with five broadsides at end, are
one volume, ten works or pieces, fifteen items. A dictionary in twenty
volumes would count as twenty volumes, pieces and items, but one work,
and in a sense one book.

Having regard to these definitions care should be taken, in recording
the number of volumes in a library, to reckon ten pamphlets or parts
as the equivalent of a single volume.

_Issues._

11. Head (iii) should give the issues from the reference library
actually recorded.

12. Head (iv) should give the estimated use made of the books from the
open shelves of the reference library.

13. Sunday use of libraries should be separately recorded.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=63. Statistics:=

Hetherington, A. L. Library Statistics. _In_ L.A. Record, v. 19, p. 3,
1917. [Also separately.]

For articles, see Cannons, E 135, Library Statistics.

=64. Annual Report:=

Bostwick, A. E. Administration of a Public Library. _In_ A.L.A., Man.
of Lib. Econ. Preprint of chapter xii., 1911.

For articles, see Cannons, E 136, Annual Report.

DIVISION III

STAFF

CHAPTER V

THE LIBRARIAN

=65. General.=--The success or failure of a library depends almost
entirely upon the ability and energy of the staff. Opinion upon this
question has been almost revolutionized in the past twenty years, and
only very occasionally now do we find some misguided library authority
placing so special an institution in the keeping of stickit ministers,
unlucky schoolmasters, retired soldiers, minor journalists, unsuccessful
booksellers, and similar remnants of the failures or superannuated in
other walks of life. No untrained person is likely to attain more than
the poorest or most commonplace results and will undoubtedly prevent the
library from serving the community to anything like its potential
capacity. Indeed, the work of the librarian is a professional occupation
demanding for its successful accomplishment a training as complete and
special at least as that required of the teacher. A committee fails
signally in its public duty if it does not recognize this fact in the
choice of its librarian; and the public has a right to demand that the
man appointed to occupy any technical public office shall have had both
training and experience.

=66.= The appointment of a chief librarian should be the first step
taken by a committee. Numberless blunders, often resulting in great
subsequent expense, have been made in the past through the mistaken
economy of proceeding with buildings, methods and book-selection before
such appointment. These matters are essentially the work of the
librarian and _not_ of the committee; and any little amount that may be
saved from the salary of the librarian is invariably lost because of the
adoption of faulty apparatus or plans; amateur experiments are usually
expensive. If, at the beginning of its career, a library committee is
unable to engage a qualified librarian, application should be made to
the Library Association for the nomination of a professional adviser,
who for a reasonable fee would give invaluable assistance at the time
when such assistance is really vital.

=67. Qualifications.=--As is the case with the prominent members of
every other profession, good librarians are born, not made. Training and
experience cannot create such natural endowments as enthusiasm,
originality, initiative--in short, positive genius for the work; but
training and experience in sound methods will provide a passable
substitute. Experience, however, depends for its value upon its
character, and long years in inefficiently-managed libraries will not
suffice for modern needs. Owing to the wide difference between the
methods of, say, thirty years ago, and the more scientific methods of
to-day, it is necessary to judge the experience of any librarian by the
school in which he has been trained. This does not mean that a library
which has been in existence thirty years or more is operated by obsolete
methods; most of the larger libraries, indeed, have kept pace with, and
have helped to originate, the modern methods which are to be preferred.
At the same time the practice of appointing librarians from larger
libraries in preference to those from smaller ones is often mistaken. A
small library may afford its staff opportunities for a more
comprehensive training than a large one, but it may not be so extensive
in detail. In short, the _size_ of the library in which a man is trained
is no index to the character of its service, and this character is the
main factor in considering experience.

The physical qualifications of a librarian should include good health,
freedom from deformity, defect or incurable disease, and his or her age
should not usually be less than twenty-five. Age is not so important in
cases of promotion, as the committee has first-hand and accurate
knowledge of capabilities to guide it. As regards the physical condition
of librarians, it may be said generally that the same principles which
guide selection in business appointments should be the rule in library
appointments.

=68.= The professional attainments of a librarian should be judged
mainly by their suitability for the duties to be performed. The degree
of attainment differs in individuals, and it would be unfair to expect
so many useful qualifications in a librarian who is to receive £200 per
annum as in one who is to receive a much larger salary. But there are
certain broad principles to be considered, the cardinal one being that
_only trained librarians should ever be appointed to chief positions_. A
committee is safe in selecting candidates from amongst diplomates,
fellows and members of the Library Association, as these _ipso facto_
have received the training indicated. We give in Sections 99-101 some
account of the compass and activities of the Library Association, and
commend what is there written to the consideration of library
committees. Here it may be said that a diplomate is a librarian who has
received at least three years’ training in a library recognized by the
Association, has gained the six provisional certificates of that body in
literary history, bibliography, classification, cataloguing, library
organization and library routine, and has in addition shown a knowledge
of Latin and one modern foreign language, and has presented an
acceptable written thesis showing independent research upon some
department of librarianship. The diploma is a very considerable
attainment, and is at present held by few librarians, but the number
increases, and no doubt its possession will influence future
appointments considerably. It was initiated in 1901, and therefore too
recently to have made it possible for all eligible candidates for
appointments to have acquired it. To meet this situation, and to set up
a standard of qualification, the Library Association adopted in 1911 a
scheme for the classification of librarians into fellows, members, and
student-members. A fellow is a librarian of approved experience who held
office prior to the end of 1914, a librarian who holds the diploma, or a
university degree plus approved library experience, or an assistant
librarian of proved reputation and capacity who held office prior to the
date named. All other librarians at the initiation of this scheme were
classified as members (except very young men and women who became
student-members and whose degree of training may be judged from that
name). After 1914 admission to fellowship has generally been restricted
to diplomates, or graduates with library experience, save in exceptional
cases where great and proved capacity has been shown; and admission to
membership has been restricted to chief librarians, or to assistants who
hold four of the six diploma certificates. Other factors may apply in
individual cases, but there are very few librarians or assistants of
character and ability who are either members or certificate-holders of
the Association.

With due allowance for the size and means of the library, and the salary
to be offered to the librarian, the following list of qualifications may
serve as a guide to a committee as to what they may expect.

LIBRARIAN’S QUALIFICATIONS

1. Training for at least three years in a library which is classified
according to some recognized bibliographical scheme [Decimal,
Expansive, Library of Congress, Subject or other].

2. A wide knowledge of English and Foreign Bibliography and
Literature, and an intimate and exact knowledge of the contents of
modern, and especially technical, scientific, and historical, books.

3. Sufficient acquaintance with languages to enable the translating of
title-pages with the aid of dictionaries.

4. A knowledge of business routine, including elementary book-keeping
and accounts.

5. Practical acquaintance with the leading systems of book
classification.

6. Full knowledge of the various methods of cataloguing, with a
thorough grasp of the modern literature of the subject.

7. Experience in staff management.

8. Practical knowledge of all modern systems of library working,
including book-binding, book-buying, charging and maintenance.

9. Knowledge of modern periodical literature, and the management of
news-rooms.

10. General culture, the ability to make a useful public speech, tact,
courtesy, and, in fact, good “personality.”

=69. Advertisements and Application Forms for
Appointments.=--Advertisements for librarians are usually inserted in
one or all of the following:--_The Times_, _The Athenæum_, _The
Spectator_ and _The Municipal Journal_. A useful form of announcement
may be subjoined:

LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF LIBRARIAN

A Chief Librarian is required for the Liberton Public Library.
Candidates must be Diplomates, or Fellows, or Members of the Library
Association (or be certificated by that body), and have had at least
three years’ training in a library employing scientific
classification. Salary to commence, £. . . . ., rising by annual
increments of £. . . . . to a maximum of £. . . . . . The application,
which should be accompanied by three recent testimonials, is to be
made on a special form which may be obtained from the undersigned. All
applications should reach the undersigned not later than [_allow three
weeks_]. Second class railway fares and reasonable expenses of
selected candidates will be allowed. All canvassing will disqualify.

A. B. C.,

_Town Clerk, or Clerk to the Committee_.

The practice of requiring candidates to apply on a special form is
fairly general, and has the advantage of securing uniformity in the
information supplied, and in emphasizing the particulars considered to
be the most important. For very important positions the method may be
not so advantageous, as valuable conclusions may be drawn from the
_manner_ in which candidates present their applications. The following
draft form may be suggestive to committees:--

LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMITTEE

[Address.]

APPLICATION FOR LIBRARIANSHIP

_The candidate is particularly requested to answer every question in
full, and return to A. B. C. [address], by 12 o’clock on [date to be
named], marked on outside of envelope, “Librarianship.”_

1. Full name.

2. Address.

3. Age next birthday.

4. Married or single.

5. Number of family if married.

6. Is your health good?

7. Have you any physical defect (deafness, lameness, etc.)?

8. Present occupation.

9. Length of service in present occupation.

10. Former occupations, if any.

11. Are you a Fellow or Member of the Library Association?

12. Do you hold the Diploma or any of the Provisional Certificates of
the Library Association?

13. Do you possess any of the following qualifications?--

Practical knowledge of modern literature.

Practical knowledge of scientific classification.

Practical knowledge of library planning.

Knowledge of accounts and book-keeping.

Experience in management of staff.

Practical knowledge of modern library management.

14. State system used in your library for the following departments,
and which you would adopt if appointed here:--

Classification.

Printed catalogue.

Manuscript catalogue.

Book issue method.

Reference library method.

15. Have you originated any library device, or published books or
articles on practical phases of library work?

16. Do you possess any degrees or certificates of an educational kind?

17. Have you made a special study of any particular subject?

18. When could you enter upon duty if appointed?

19. Add here any further relevant particulars [_leave large space_].

Selected candidates, when interviewed, should be examined on the
questions scheduled above and on the qualifications specified in Section
68. A few questions by the chairman, based upon these, in addition to
the independent suggestions of members of committee, will generally
result in obtaining a very fair estimate of the qualifications of each
candidate.

=70. Salaries.=--Owing to the limitation of the library rate and a
general underestimate of the librarian’s utility, salaries in municipal
libraries are not very liberal, and may be described as inadequate. In
the state, university and some of the endowed and proprietary libraries
the salaries range much higher, taken all round. These appointments,
however, especially such as the British Museum, India Office, the Houses
of Parliament, the universities and similar institutions, are seldom
offered for competition. In public municipal libraries the salaries of
chief librarians range downward from about £800. Some of the large
London proprietary libraries, and many of the provincial libraries of a
similar kind, give salaries to about the same maximum.

A careful analysis of the income, population and work of the principal
English and American libraries has enabled the following table to be
produced, showing the amount which a library can reasonably pay for a
good officer. This scale is considerably below the American one, but
slightly higher than the English.

FIG. 5.--TABLE OF LIBRARIANS’ SALARIES WHICH SHOULD BE PAID BY LIBRARIES
POSSESSING THE INCOMES UNDERNOTED

+-----------+----------------+
| Library | |
| Annual | Librarian’s |
|Income from| Salary. |
| Rate. | |
+-----------+----------------+
| £ | £ |
| 20,000 |1000 |
| 15,000 | 800 |
| 10,000 | 750 |
| 8,000 | 700 |
| 6,000 | 600 |
| 5,500 | 550 |
| 5,000 | 500 |
| 4,500 | 450 |
| 4,000 | 425 |
| 3,500 | 400 |
| 3,000 | 350 |
| 2,500 | 325 |
| 2,000 | 300 |
| 1,900 | 290 |
| 1,800 | 280 |
| 1,700 | 270 |
| 1,600 | 260 |
| 1,500 | 250 |
| 1,400 | 240 |
| 1,300 | 230 |
| 1,200 | 220 |
| 1,100 | 210 |
| 1,000 | 200 |
| 900 | 190 |
| 800 | 180 |
| 700 | 170 |
| 600 | 160 |
| 500 | 150 |
| 400 | 120 |
| 300 | 90 |
| 200 | 60}For part of|
| 100 | 30}time only. |
+-----------+----------------+

[The above table is rather higher than that given in the last edition,
as regards the libraries with incomes exceeding £3000, and is based
upon my own inquiries and conclusions as they have been affected by
the European War. Few librarians receive normally £1000, and it is
quite clear that the present salaries for the greater libraries are
most inadequate, having regard to the responsibilities
involved.--EDITOR.]

=71.= The only other point of importance arising out of the question of
librarians’ salaries is that of providing a residence on the library
premises. This policy has been adopted in London more than anywhere
else. It affects the question of salary to some extent, though not quite
so much as has been claimed. A committee of a £4000 library might argue
that, by providing a good house in a valuable position, they are only
entitled to give a salary of £325, the balance of £100 being represented
by the house. The practical reply to this is, that a house under these
conditions, although it could rent at £100 or even more, is just worth
to the librarian exactly what he would be prepared to pay for house rent
if he lived away from the library. Any allowance or deduction should
accordingly be based upon this consideration. In small libraries it is
not advisable to incur additional cost in the erection of buildings by
providing a residence for the librarian in order to save on his salary.
Beyond the advantage of having a librarian living on the premises as a
kind of superior perpetual caretaker, there is little to be gained by
complicating a library building with such an excrescence as a residence.
If houses are provided at all, they should be mainly used by caretakers
who have to get up early, and there is a decided convenience in having
an officer of this description always at hand. If possible, residences
should be erected as far away from public reading-rooms as they can be,
the occupation of rooms over news-rooms, etc., having been proved to be
unhealthy in many cases. The accommodation provided for a caretaker
usually consists of a sitting-room or large kitchen, parlour, two
bedrooms, and the usual offices. In some London libraries very liberal
provision has been made for librarians living on the premises, the
accommodation consisting of three large living rooms, four or five
bedrooms, kitchen, scullery, bathroom and other offices. The whole
question of residence or non-residence is one for library authorities to
decide for themselves, but the matter is another proof of the necessity
which exists for appointing librarians before buildings are erected.

=72. Superannuation.=--There is no general law at present under which
public librarians can retire on a pension after a certain age has been
reached. Some towns have made separate arrangements for the
superannuation of all their officers, but even this is far from common.
The National Association of Local Government Officers, which deserves
the support of librarians and committees, has a Bill before Parliament,
the object of which is to procure for municipal officers the same
regulations as to superannuation as are in force for poor-law officers,
but this has not yet passed into law.

=73. Conditions of Librarian’s Appointment.=--There are several points
requiring notice in connexion with the conditions upon which librarians
are appointed. It is not usual to draw up a formal agreement, but if
this is done it should be executed by a solicitor, and specify the
principal obligations, terms and duration of the appointment.

1. In large libraries it is usual to stipulate that the librarian must
devote the whole of his or her TIME to the duties of the office. This
simply means that no other office can be held concurrently, but
particularly a paid office. A librarian’s private time can be devoted
to any hobby he chooses, be it gardening, cycling, photography,
literature, music or sport. Provided, always, such recreations do not
render a librarian less fit for his public duty. Official time
occupied in any work which has for its object improvement in
professional knowledge should be allowed within reasonable limits.
Attendances at meetings called for professional purposes, or visits to
other places for the purpose of acquiring professional knowledge,
would, we take it, be considered quite legitimate. Where a certain
number of hours daily or weekly has been fixed, the question of the
disposal of a librarian’s leisure time will not arise.

2. Notice of intention to DETERMINE AN APPOINTMENT might be stipulated
for in an agreement. The usual practice is one month’s notice on
either side.

3. A public librarian who handles public money should be required to
obtain security from a recognized guarantee office. The amount insured
against will generally be fully covered by a sum equal to 10 per cent.
of the annual income of the library. Thus, a library with an income of
£2000 should make £200 the insurable sum, as this will cover any
possible defalcations of the librarians, who, under any circumstances,
in such a library, can never handle more than about £60 or £70 in the
course of one month. The premium for municipal officers averages about
5s. per cent., and, of course, the library authority should make the
annual payments to keep the policy alive.

4. The VACATION allowed to librarians varies with the conditions of
each place. In some cases five weeks are allowed, irrespective of the
time occupied by conferences or other annual meetings. Usually four
weeks are given. As a rule, committees will not be found niggardly in
this matter when they have an officer whom they can respect and trust.
In American libraries a month is often allowed, and in some cases much
longer periods.

5. The only ANNUAL CONFERENCES of any importance in connexion with
public library work are those of the Library Association and the
Museums Association. Practice differs as regards libraries sending
delegates to the annual conferences of the Library Association. In
some cases where a library is a subscribing member, and, in addition,
the librarian is also a member in his own name, it sends a member of
the committee and the librarian, and pays their expenses. In other
cases the librarian alone is sent, and his expenses paid. In still
other cases the librarian is allowed the time to attend, but has to
pay his own expenses; while, sometimes, the chairman of committee
attends, and either pays his own expenses or has them paid by the
committee.

Every library which desires to keep abreast with modern ideas in
library work should send its librarian to the annual conferences of
the Library Association, and pay his expenses. All public libraries
should join this association as institution members, and their
librarian will naturally be a member in his own right. There is more
knowledge and good obtained by a librarian coming into personal touch
with other librarians during a conference week than can ever be
achieved in a state of hermit-like seclusion. The sum spent on a
library conference to insure a librarian’s attendance is by far the
most profitable investment a library committee can make in a single
year.

Some doubt exists as to whether members of committee can be sent at
the expense of the library rate, and, so far as parishes are
concerned, it has been decided by the district auditors that they can
not be sent unless at their own personal expense. Municipal boroughs
have power to send committee delegates if so disposed, but the matter
remains doubtful as regards Urban District Councils.

=74. Duties of the Librarian.=--The duties of a librarian practically
cover every section of this _Manual_, and it is therefore needless to go
over the same ground here. It may be assumed, however, that the
librarian also acts as clerk to his committee, and a few of the more
personal duties of the librarian may be specified. It has been
recommended that a librarian should act as clerk, and some reasons may
be given why this course should always be taken. The librarian is the
only official who holds all the threads of work and routine in his hands
or who thoroughly understands the practical working of the institution.
By combining the functions he remains in touch with his committee, and
can much better understand their views than if a second person acts as
intermediary or interpreter. The plan is also more economical, as town
clerks sometimes take a salary for acting as clerk to the library
committee, or charge a proportion of office expenses to the library.
Both courses are quite unnecessary. It is not desirable, when a library
committee has obtained a complete or partial delegation of powers, to
have its work controlled or interfered with by another municipal
department. Even when a library committee remains but an ordinary
committee of a local authority, it is not desirable for the town clerk
to do more than depute a junior clerk to attend meetings for the sole
purpose of recording minutes. The chairman and librarian should call all
meetings and arrange all necessary business. It is too often overlooked
that library committees are appointed to carry out special work under a
special Act of Parliament, and that, in consequence, they are performing
duties outside the ordinary routine of municipal work.

=75.= The following summary of the more important duties of the
librarian is applicable to the average library, but must be adjusted
considerably in large libraries, where the chief librarian is mainly an
administrator. Such large libraries have special departmental experts,
and it is clear that over many of these items the chief librarian can
exercise only a general supervision. Where there are large trained
staffs he should avoid details and concern himself with the general
direction of all departments; otherwise he will become immersed
impossibly in minutiæ to the great detriment of the library service as a
whole:

1. He must superintend and prepare all the business for the library
committee, including summoning meetings, preparing agendas, checking
accounts, compiling lists of books, preparing reports and taking
minutes of proceedings.

2. He must attend all committee meetings, and such of the local
authority meetings as may be fixed.

3. He must prepare all specifications for contracts, and bring forward
in plenty of time all business which arises regularly, either monthly,
quarterly or annually.

4. He should sign all orders and be responsible for all correspondence
connected with the library. He should keep copies of all orders and
important letters, as well as copies of any specifications or other
documents.

5. He must fix the time, duties and daily work of the staff, and
superintend and check their attendance and work in every department.

6. He must see that order is maintained among readers throughout the
main building and branches, and that the rules are enforced within
reason, and that the opening and closing of the library are done
punctually.

7. He must carefully supervise the selection of books and periodicals
for addition to the library, and examine all necessary lists,
catalogues and reviews for that purpose.

8. He should check all cataloguing and classification work.

9. He should be prepared when called upon to aid readers, as far as
possible, in any line of research, and should be easily accessible at
all times when on duty.

=76. The Librarian.=

Cowell, Peter. Public Library Staffs, 1893. L.A. Series, 3.

Fletcher, W. J. The Librarian: His Work and Training for It. _In his_
Public Libraries in America, 1894, p. 80.

Hardy, E. A. The Librarian. _In his_ The Public Library, 1912, p. 109.

Hulme, E. W. Ideals Old and New, 1914. Library Assistants’
Association, Series 5.

Baldwin, E. V. Library Service. A.L.A., Man. of Lib. Econ. Preprint of
Chapter xiv., 1914.

For articles, see Cannons, E 13-43, Librarianship.

=77. Library Training.=

Baker, E. A. Education and Training of Librarians. _In_ Library
Association. Public Libraries: Their Development and Future
Organization, 1917, p. 89.

Brown, J. D. Guide to Librarianship, 1909.

Library Association. Information relating to the Professional
Examinations and Syllabus, 1919. (Issued annually as a rule.)

University College, London. Prospectus of School of Librarianship (in
the Press--June 1919).

The American libraries or universities of Atlanta, Brooklyn,
California, Cleveland (Univ.), Illinois, Michigan, New York (State),
Drexel Inst., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St Louis, and others have
library schools, which issue periodical calendars and circulars of
information of a suggestive kind. There are about forty such library
schools.

For articles, see Cannons, E 26-28, Assistants, Qualifications,
Training, etc.; A 135-175, Library Schools in America.

CHAPTER VI

ASSISTANTS

=78. General.=--The organization of the library staff under the chief
librarian is naturally governed by the number of assistants and the size
of the system they work. Most libraries have a second qualified
librarian who is variously called Deputy-Librarian or Sub-Librarian [or
sometimes he is called Chief Assistant Librarian, Deputy Chief
Librarian, or, more rarely in England, Vice-Librarian. There is still
considerable confusion in the nomenclature of library offices, and it
would be well if a uniform system were adopted. (See Appendix I.)].
Large libraries have, in addition, a hierarchy of assistants, as
follows: 1. A Superintendent of Branches, where there are several
libraries in the system, as at Birmingham, Glasgow, etc.; 2.
Librarians-in-Charge of the several departments; 3. Branch Librarians;
4. Senior assistants; 5. Junior assistants. The qualifications of
Deputy, Superintendent of Branches, Librarians-in-Charge and Branch
Librarians differ from those of the Chief Librarian in degree rather
than in kind, and to these positions only trained men should be
appointed. In many cases they are appointed from staff, not always to
the benefit of the library. It is a sound plan to throw open all the
higher appointments in libraries to competition, in which competition,
of course, any member of the existing staff should be allowed, without
prejudice, to compete. One of the mistaken policies, especially of large
libraries, has been to promote men because of mere length of service.
Such service is undoubtedly valuable, but is not necessarily a proof of
qualification for higher library positions.

=79. Deputy-Librarian.=--It may be affirmed that appointments to any
senior position should be subject to the same principles, and to
conditions similar to those governing the appointment of chief
librarians. In small libraries the means at the disposal of the
committee do not always permit of a salary sufficient to attract a
diplomate of the Library Association, or a man similarly qualified, but
no assistant who is inexperienced or is without the certificates of the
Library Association should ever be appointed to the important position
of Deputy-Librarian. The duties of the Deputy-Librarian comprise the
whole administration of the library system under the chief librarian,
the general supervision of every department, and the direction of the
duties of the whole staff. He becomes acting-chief librarian in every
absence of his principal, and should be qualified to assume this
position both by his knowledge and his personality. It is therefore
clear that his technical training must in general be as sound and
catholic as that of his chief; and in addition to this quality, he
should possess initiative, disciplinary powers, discretion, and loyalty
to his chief and to the existing system. In detail his duties will vary
according to the size of the system; and in small libraries he will be
merely the superior assistant, taking part in every operation (except
the merely mechanical ones, which may be performed by untrained juniors)
of the library; in somewhat larger libraries he may arrange the hours
and duties of the staff and superintend them, and check all cataloguing
and classification. In the largest libraries his work is almost purely
administrative.

The conditions of the appointment of a Deputy-Librarian are somewhat
difficult to describe, owing to the divergences we have named. He
usually, but not always, works similar hours to the remainder of the
staff; has his own office, or, at any rate, private desk; and is usually
invested with considerable authority. It should be the aim of the chief
librarian to make this office a worthy one--and to see that only worthy
persons occupy it. A good deputy gives tone to the whole staff, as he
comes into more intimate contact with it than the chief librarian. The
salaries paid to Deputy-Librarians are again matters which vary; they
range from £100 to £300, and in a few places to much higher sums than
this. [In the last edition it was laid down that the deputy should
receive a maximum of not less than half of that of the chief; but we
think any dogmatic statement of that kind objectionable, as being
subject to numberless variations in various places.]

=80. Superintendent of Branches.=--This librarian acts as a _liaison_
officer between the chief librarian and the branch librarian in systems
where there are many branch libraries. He must be qualified to assess
the work of each library and to co-ordinate the whole branch system, to
look over time-sheets, examine into the performance of the assistants,
judge their capacity and training, advise as to the books required in
particular localities, and, in general, make the units of the system
smooth-working parts of a homogenous whole. It is probable that a
capable superintendent is an economy of some consequence in a large
system. Few libraries, however, with less than a dozen branches possess
such an officer, his duties usually in other cases falling upon the
chief or deputy librarians. The superintendent is subordinate to the
deputy-librarian, and his salary is something more than that of a branch
or departmental librarian.

=81. Departmental Librarians.=--Of recent years the tendency in library
work has been towards specialization, and in most libraries of any size
assistants are given more or less permanent charge of departments, and
are usually called librarians-in-charge. The librarian of a branch
library falls into this category although he may not occupy exactly the
same level on the staff as the librarian-in-charge of the reference
library; as, also, in libraries which have such departments, does the
head of the cataloguing staff, the order division, etc. In the great
libraries the librarian-in-charge of the reference department is easily
the head of the grade we are discussing, as he must obviously be a
person of considerable bibliographical acquirements in addition to being
the possessor of a complete library training, and his work lies with
inquirers, research workers, and similar readers who require skilled and
sympathetic assistance. In the majority of libraries all
librarians-in-charge are regarded as official equals. Their salaries are
obviously governed by the wealth and work of the library concerned, but
a rough calculation ranges them at from the inadequate minimum of £90 to
about £250 or more, with many intermediate scales. The duties of a
librarian-in-charge involve the responsibility of conducting the
department according to the prevailing library policy, the arranging of
the duties of the staff and the seeing that they are performed, the
training of the staff, the maintenance of order in public rooms, and
the exploiting of the department to the utmost in the interest of the
public.

=82. Library Councils.=--In some libraries the chief librarians have
formed the deputy-librarian, the superintendent of branches and the
librarians-in-charge into a committee which is variously named, but is
commonly called by the large name of the Library Council, which meets
weekly or monthly in the chief librarian’s office and discusses the
current methods of the library system and the means whereby its
activities may be improved and its influence extended. Such a council
has necessarily only a consultative function, and all decisions it
reaches are subject to the chief librarian. Regular agenda are often
used and minutes kept of such meetings, and they are surprisingly
fruitful in useful and practical suggestions. Even quite impractical
suggestions should be encouraged at such meetings, as they often throw
light on the general work and lead to other suggestions of a useful
character. More and more both in this country and in America the chief
librarians are taking their senior colleagues into their confidence in
this way, and thus a community of interest is created and an enthusiasm
is fostered which are well worth having.

=83. Assistants.=--In America the library assistant is in the best
instances a person who is a graduate of a college or who has had a high
school education; who, in addition, has taken a course of one year, or,
in special instances, two years at a library school. Not all or even the
majority of assistants are of this type, as the American library is
unable to afford a large number of workers so highly qualified. On this
side of the Atlantic the American system is an impossible ideal in
existing circumstances; not one library in the kingdom--except,
occasionally, the Government libraries--could pay the initial salaries
which such training should command. Indeed, the whole question of
staffing libraries is affected in most adverse manner by the inadequacy
of library incomes. Assistants must as a rule be chosen from amongst
young people just leaving school--often Council elementary or secondary
schools. They are therefore people in almost every sense, except, it may
be, natural ability, incapable at the beginning of their library career
of anything more than the mere mechanical tasks. They have to be
educated before they are trained technically in most cases. To secure
the right material it is becoming the practice to demand of candidates
for library work a fair general knowledge, and the Library Association
has asked that some such certificate as matriculation, or the Oxford and
Cambridge Locals, should be required of them. Where the supply of
candidates so qualified does not exist, the chief librarian sets a
simple qualifying examination paper to test the common sense and
education of candidates. Appointments are usually made for a
probationary period of about three months, at the end of which time it
is possible to judge in a rough way whether the youngster will benefit
by library training or not. Owing to the limited prospects the work
offers the librarian has a moral obligation to see that appointees who
are unsuitable are encouraged to seek other occupations as soon as their
unfitness for librarianship is proven. Where both sexes are employed
exactly the same type of qualifications should be required from each,
and equal remuneration should be paid. The smaller salaries sometimes
offered to girls have ill results both upon the individual candidates
and upon the library.

=84. Hours.=--The last exhaustive inquiry into the hours worked by
municipal library assistants was made by the Library Assistants’
Association in 1911, who embodied its results in a valuable report.
Hours are naturally influenced by the prevailing length of working-time
in commerce and in other walks of life. The average number worked in
libraries in 1908 was 48 weekly; in 1911 it was 45·22; but the tendency
is to make it 42 hours. The difficulties which face a librarian in
arranging a time-sheet are that he has usually too small a staff, and
cannot afford a larger one, and that the library is in many or all of
its departments open from twelve to fourteen hours daily. This involves
evening work on several days in the week, and means that the hours are
irregular and broken. At the same time the nature of library work is
exacting, and much more efficient work can be expected from a
seven-hours’, or even shorter, day than from a longer one. Study,
recreation and social experience are absolutely necessary for successful
work; and time-sheets should be arranged to make these possible. There
is no excuse whatever for the at one time prevailing time-sheets which
required assistants to work from about 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. with an
interval of 1½ hours for dinner and a similar interval for tea. The
librarian whose staff is so small that these hours are necessary to keep
the library open is attempting at the expense of the health and whole
natural life of his staff to do more work than the community has a right
to expect. Even with the seven-hour day the broken hours involved form
the least attractive feature of library work. The time-sheet suggested
by the Library Assistants’ Association is given as a practical solution
of some of the difficulties we have enumerated--not as an ideal but as
the result of experience. It provides for a half-holiday weekly and for
hours of recreation and study. It should be the aim to make the use of
the sheet regular, so that every assistant may know what evenings, for
example, he has at his disposal throughout the year. Modifications are
sometimes made during the summer months, when the work is slacker, in
the direction of giving the assistants more free time.

SUGGESTED TIME-SHEET (LIBRARY ASSISTANTS’ ASSOCIATION)

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
MONDAY
A ------------ ------------
B ------------ ---------
C 8.45----------
D ------------ ------------
E ------------ -------------
F ------------ ----------
G ------------ ------------
H ------------ ----------

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TUESDAY
A ------------ ---------
B ------------ ------------
C ------------ ------------
D 8.45----------
E ------------ ---------
F ------------ ------------
G ------------ ---------
H ------------ ------------

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
WEDNESDAY
A ------------
B ------------ ---------
C ------------ ------------
D ------------ ------------
E 8.45----------
F --------- ---------
G --------- ------------
H ------------ ------------

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
THURSDAY
A ------------ ------------
B ------------
C ------------ ------------
D ------------ ------------
E --------- ------------
F 8.45----------
G ------------ ------------
H ------------ ------------

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
FRIDAY
A ------------ ------------
B ------------ ------------
C ------------ ---------
D ------------ ---------
E ------------ ------------
F ------------
G 8.45----------
H ------------ ------------

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
SATURDAY
A ------------ ---------
B ------------ ------------
C ------------ ---------
D ------------ ---------
E ------------ ------------
F ------------ ------------
G ------------ ------------
H 8.45----------

FIG. 6 (Section 84).

Hours of duty 42 per week. Each assistant has a half-day and an
evening off, works one night until 10 o’clock, and comes on one
morning at 8.45. The library is assumed to be open all the week, and
where an early-closing day is in vogue, the time-sheet is simplified
by confining nearly all the half-holidays to that day.

The time-sheet would be much improved if 5 p.m. were substituted for 6
p.m. on the evening off; an assistant leaving at 6, after he has had a
meal, has very little evening left. It should be the endeavour so to
adjust the sheet that each assistant is off every other evening, the
half-day counting as one. Local circumstances will suggest variations,
which can easily be made.

=85.= The whole staff question, so far as junior assistants are
concerned, may be modified by the Education Act of 1918. This has raised
the age at which children may leave school, and requires of them
part-study until the age of 18. Seeing that the juniors at present
engaged are of 14 years and upwards, this may mean duplicate junior
staffs, with accompanying problems of remuneration. It may be that
specialized library training may be accepted in lieu of the continuation
classes contemplated by the Act. But the matter is at present in a state
of transition, and we can only indicate the new problem.

=86. Sunday Work.=--Some libraries remain open on Sundays and on public
holidays, usually for a part of the day. About half of these pay extra
remuneration for hours worked on these days; others allow time off
through the week for it; and in one or two places Hebrew assistants are
specially employed for Sunday duty.

=87. Junior Assistant.=--The work of the assistant in his first library
years is largely mechanical: the preparing of books for circulating;
labelling, card-writing, tagging; keeping shelves in order and replacing
returned books; charging and issue-desk work of the simpler kind. There
is much work in every library of this unskilled character which forms a
useful training in business habits, order, regularity, etc. It is
unfortunate, however, that the smallness of staffs often makes it
necessary to put the work of issuing books to readers in the hands of
juniors. The actual charging of books is indeed a mechanical process,
but its performance is carried out at one of the main points of contact
with the public where knowledge and experience are of great value.
Larger libraries have, as a rule, departmental staffs which are confined
to the work of the particular department to which they are accredited.
This is undoubtedly the most business-like and economical method; but
every assistant should be given the opportunity of learning the work of
every department and should be required to do so. This may be done by
transferring the assistants at not too lengthy intervals. In smaller
libraries this departmental division does not exist, and an assistant
may work in the lending library in the morning, in the reference library
in the evening, and at a branch to-morrow, just as the exigencies of the
service dictate.

=88. Senior Assistant.=--The name senior assistant is bestowed
upon assistants with a few years’ experience and training, including
as a rule the possession of two or more certificates of the
Library Association. They occupy a position somewhat analogous to
that of non-commissioned officers, and act as reliefs to the
librarians-in-charge. Often they are made responsible for some branch of
the routine, as, for example, book-binding, defaulters, registration of
borrowers, etc., and this is a good method, provided that any one
assistant is not confined rigidly and for too long to one task. A sense
of responsibility is a useful quality which can be fostered in this way.
Usually senior assistants are promoted from the junior staff, but not
always; and it is becoming a general condition of promotion to this
grade that the candidate shall have taken some part of the Library
Association course. Promotion should never be made unless the candidate
has shown a disposition to qualify in some such manner.

=89. Work Book.=--It is a good plan to use a work book or duty book, in
which the daily duties of each assistant can be entered. By means of
such a book it is easy to change the work about, in order to give every
assistant an opportunity of doing everything in turn; and it is
necessary because of the changes worked on the composition of the staff
by the time-sheet. A good form of work book for a library where the
staff is not departmental is shown in the ruling below, which can be
adjusted to meet the conditions in large libraries. The names or numbers
of the assistants are written or printed in the margin, and against
these the particular duty, or set of duties, to be performed that day
are written. This book is generally made up by the deputy-librarian and
checked by the librarian. In small libraries the librarian can write up
this record. Apart from its value as a simple means of distributing and
fixing duties, it makes a capital record of visitors or callers, errors,
absences of staff, progress of certain pieces of work, checks of various
kinds, and may even be used as a staff time-book. The form given on page
92 (Fig. 7) is a guide to the work of a library and a check upon
results. For convenience’ sake the assistants are numbered in order of
seniority.

=90.= The method of using this book is very simple. If there are ten
assistants or under, one page only is used, each member of the staff
receiving an appropriate number. If there are more than ten assistants
two pages must be used, the numbers on the second page having the figure
1 prefixed to them, and the 10 being altered to 20. Thus page 2 will
appear as 11, 12, 13, 14, etc. If there are more than twenty assistants
a third page can be used, the existing numbers having 2 prefixed as
before.

Each assistant on arriving or departing enters on the “Time-Sheet” his
or her exact time in the spaces reserved, beginning the day with the
first column. The assistants who check and tidy _a_ to _d_ in the
mornings write their initials opposite the particular duty, while those
who attend to the charging system, date stamps, overdues and cash for
change also initial the item, the amount of change being stated. Against
each assistant’s number is written his or her duties for the day. The
first page or pages of the work book should be reserved as a key, and
the names of the assistants should be written against the numbers which
represent them. The column “New Orders” is for new instructions for all
the staff. These should be entered briefly in red ink from the bottom
towards the top of the page. The Notes lines will receive all items
specified and any other notable incidents occurring in the course of
each day, such as “Breakdown of Electric Light,” “Drunken man expelled,”
etc. The work book must be kept in _one_ recognized place, and every
assistant should be held responsible for entering up his own notes and
time. Any note of a general kind must be entered by the senior officer
present on duty. The work book should be submitted to the chief
librarian every morning.

<-------------------------------9″------------------------------->
^ +----------------------------------------------------------------+
| | |
| | |
| | Date ............................. |
| | |
| | Time-Sheet. Daily Checks. |
| +--+----+----++----+----++----+----++-------------------+--------+
| | |Arr.|Dep.||Arr.|Dep.||Arr.|Dep.||Department. |Initial.|
| +--+----+----++----+----++----+----++-------------------+--------+
| | 1| | || | || | ||_a_ Reference | |
| | 2| | || | || | ||_b_ Lending | |
| | 3| | || | || | ||_c_ Reading Room | |
| | 4| | || | || | ||_d_ Juvenile | |
| | 5| | || | || | ||_e_ Overdues | |
| | 6| | || | || | ||_f_ Charging System| |
| | 7| | || | || | ||_g_ Change (money) | |
| | 8| | || | || | ||_h_ | |
| | 9| | || | || | ||_j_ | |
| |10| | || | || | ||_k_ | |
| +==+====+====++====+====++====+====++===================+========+
| | | New |
| | | Orders.|
| | 1 | |
| | | |
14″| 2 | |
| | | |
| | 3 | |
| | | |
| | 4 | |
| | | |
| | 5 | |
| | | |
| | 6 | |
| | | |
| | 7 | |
| | | |
| | 8 | |
| | | |
| | 9 | |
| | | |
| |10 | |
| +=======================================================+========+
| |Notes.--[Callers, Complaints, Errors, Lost or Found Property, |
| |etc.] |
| | |
| | |
V +----------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 7.--Staff Work Book (Section 89).

=91. Salaries.=--Salaries are the most difficult question the library
profession has to meet. Up to the present few library workers have been
paid more than a living wage, and many have received barely that. It is
obvious that increases in this direction are essential in the new
conditions; but it is equally obvious that no library should spend so
much in salaries that it is unable to purchase new books or to
administer them. We saw in Section 31 that the average amount spent on
salaries in the United Kingdom was about 42 per cent. of the entire
income; and the staff, including the chief librarian, must be
recompensed from the sum represented. The following figures show what
was paid in the various positions in 1911:--

+-----------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+
|Income of Library|Librarians in| Senior | Junior |
| Authority. | Charge. |Assistants.|Assistants.|
+-----------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+
| £ | £ | £ | £ |
| 500- 1,000 | 73-100 | 46- 80 | 19-52 |
| 1,000- 1,500 | 54- 65 | 58- 90 | 19-52 |
| 1,500- 2,000 | 84-120 | 77-125 | 24-65 |
| 2,000- 3,000 | 78-180 | 84- 95 | 20-60 |
| 3,000- 4,000 | 122-250 | 65-100 | 26-80 |
| 4,000- 5,000 | 107-160 | 90-130 | 26-65 |
| 5,000-10,000 | 148-225 | 100-170 | 29-78 |
| 10,000 and over | 95-160 | 108-170 | 26-56 |
+-----------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+

FIG. 8.--Salaries paid in 1911.

It will be seen that these “actual” figures are full of anomalies and
divergences, and the inadequacy of payment they reveal is in some grades
positively remarkable. The European War has produced conditions under
which it is impossible for many of these payments to sustain life, and
the case for better payment is an imperative one. At the same time the
argument is not for increased salaries out of _present_ library means,
but for increased library means wherewith to pay increased salaries. Any
other course, in present circumstances, would lead many libraries into
bankruptcy. Salaries are subject to deduction, in the case of assistants
earning less than £250 per annum, for National Health Insurance; and in
some towns having superannuation schemes, contributions, amounting on
the average to 2½ per cent., are exacted for that purpose.

The following salary scale for junior and senior assistants has been
used in smaller libraries whose incomes exceed £1000:--

Juniors--1st year £26 0 0
2nd „ 31 4 0
3rd „ 36 8 0
4th „ 41 12 0

Seniors--1st „ 52 0 0
2nd „ 62 0 0
3rd „ 72 0 0
4th „ 82 0 0
5th „ 92 0 0
6th „ 104 0 0

(Thus, an assistant must, as a rule, wait ten years in order to earn two
pounds a week!) All salaries, whether paid monthly or weekly, should not
be subject to any deduction on account of absences from illness (except
in so far as the matter is governed by National Health Insurance rules),
holidays, or other causes. The annual increases should only be granted
provided the report of the chief librarian is satisfactory. No assistant
should be allowed to hold the view that increases in salary are
automatic and not dependent upon satisfactory service. It is a good plan
to arrange for the whole of the staff increases to become due at the
same date, so that they can all be considered at one meeting of the
committee.

=92. Vacation.=--The time granted for annual holidays ranges from three
weeks or more for deputy librarians and departmental librarians to one
week for juniors. A week or ten days is not sufficient for rest and
change, and a fortnight is the minimum that should be allowed.

=93. Staff Training.=--In present circumstances every library should
have a definite official system of training for its staff, and every
assistance in and inducement to study should be given. The low salaries
paid in libraries demand that assistants shall at least receive in part
return the best equipment that can be given them. The first essential is
general education approximating to matriculation, and definite study of
_literature_ should be required from the first year. Where such training
has not been acquired previously, junior assistants should be required
to read in such manner that they may at the age of sixteen take the
Preliminary Test offered by the Library Association, and no assistant
should be retained permanently, in his own interests as well as in those
of the library, who is unable to pass that Test. Not until the Test is
passed should assistants be encouraged to study the more technical
divisions of the Library Association syllabus. Chief librarians should
supervise the training of the whole staff and hold periodical brief
examinations to convince themselves that it is being pursued
systematically. Every librarian-in-charge should be held responsible for
directing the studies of his subordinates, and in small libraries the
deputy-librarian should assume this duty. Some libraries have staff
guilds which hold regular classes, sometimes with outside teachers in
special subjects; and the plan is to be commended. All books that may be
required should be provided by the library, and class fees and
examination expenses are paid in many towns--a method which deserves
universal adoption. Every professional certificate won should command
some financial recompense, however small; and, other things being equal,
promotion should be given only to assistants who hold certificates. In a
few libraries, but in an increasing number, a certain amount of study is
allowed in official hours; this is a matter of time-sheet arrangement,
as sporadic reading in ordinary library hours is not to be encouraged.

=94. The Library Economy Library.=--The foundation of all training is a
collection of works on library economy and bibliography. A library
without this is not properly equipped, and some libraries have much to
seek in the matter. Every recognized text-book on the theory and
practice of every department of librarianship, all library periodicals,
the best examples of catalogues, bulletins, reading lists, annual
reports, and the standard bibliographies, should be available on the
freest conditions to the whole staff. Some libraries set apart a
definite fund for the purchase of such works; and its expenditure is one
of the best ultimate economies in which a committee can engage.
Moreover, the institution which ostensibly provides the literature of
all other professions is obviously in a ridiculous position if it does
not provide the literature of librarianship. In Appendix II. we give a
list of the works which should form the professional collection of every
library of average size; and even small libraries should endeavour to
become possessed of the majority of them.

=95. Women Librarians and Assistants.=--The employment of women in
libraries is not universal in this country, and very few women hold the
position of chief librarian, and these only of small libraries. In the
United States the proportion of women librarians and assistants is
nearer 95 per cent. than the 14 or 15 per cent. of Britain. There can
hardly be a doubt, however, that women will be more extensively employed
in British municipal libraries than they have been hitherto. In large
towns it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain and retain the
services of intelligent lads who will devote themselves to the work, and
it is unnecessary to affirm nowadays that a well-educated, intelligent
girl is just as suitable for public library work as a well-educated lad.
If women are employed in libraries, they should be paid at the same rate
as men or lads performing similar duties. There is no reason why a woman
should be paid less than a man for doing exactly the same work.
Everything recommended regarding qualifications, duties, etc., should
apply to women as well as to men. It is the opinion of some librarians
that, if women are employed, the staff should be composed entirely of
them, as a mixed staff requires various kinds of separate accommodation.

=96. Caretakers.=--A satisfactory janitor or caretaker, generally
speaking, is a valuable member of staff, and is rare. A good man seldom
stays very long, so easy is it for him to seek and obtain promotion.
Caretakers’ wages vary all over the country, according to the size of
the library, amount of work and perquisites. In cases where a residence
is provided, it is usual to secure the services of a man and his wife,
and furnish him with a uniform and the usual light, coal, etc. In such
cases the wages are usually less than when a man has to find his own
residence. From 25s. to 30s. weekly is the wage given when a house is
provided. In other instances, according to circumstances, the wages vary
from 27s. 6d. to 50s. weekly. In large libraries extra assistance should
always be provided, and the cleaning should be done early in the
morning, before the hour of opening. A sufficient staff of cleaners
should be provided to enable this to be done without interfering with
the service of the public. Three hours every morning should suffice to
clean any library, and it is important to employ plenty of help. The
wages of cleaners vary from 9d. an hour downwards, but it is more often
the practice to pay so much a week according to circumstances. Rates for
this class of work differ so much that it is impossible to do more than
roughly indicate a possible basis.

A caretaker should be made responsible to the librarian for the
cleanness and order of the building, and his duties should include a
certain number of hours’ attendance in uniform as general overseer of
the rooms and their frequenters. It is imperative that this official
should not be allowed to develop the attitude of a Jack-in-office, and
in all his patrol work courtesy and firmness should be required. Eight
or nine hours daily should be considered full time for a caretaker, and
suitable arrangements must be made to enable him to remain off duty at
hours when the business is quiet. In large libraries it is customary to
employ more than one janitor or caretaker.

=97. Staff and Public.=--It is most important that good relations should
exist between readers and the whole of the staff. It is a well-known
fact that one or two overbearing assistants can render a public library
more unpopular than almost anything else. Assistants should school
themselves to endure with philosophy the impertinence of the small
number of the general public who contrive to make themselves
objectionable in every town, and not visit on the heads of the
inoffensive majority the sins of the inconsiderate few. The staff of
every public library should learn as a first lesson that they are the
servants and not the masters of the people, and that mutual self-respect
can be maintained without undue familiarity on the one side or aloofness
on the other. The supercilious “official” attitude, with which public
servants are so frequently credited, is to be completely repressed and
kept under, and the public should be taught to appreciate their own
libraries, and to understand that the doors of a municipal library are
always open to receive and welcome every class of citizen. At the same
time, preference should not be shown for any particular frequenter or
group of frequenters, and gossiping must be suppressed.

=98. Staff Accommodation.=--In libraries of every size private rooms of
suitable dimensions should be provided for the librarian and the
assistants; with work- and store-rooms for the staff and caretaker. The
librarian’s room in small libraries may be made large enough to serve as
a committee room, and in all cases should have separate lavatory
accommodation. A large safe or strong room is often attached to the
librarian’s room, or in a secure part of the basement, in which to store
valuable documents and books. It should be shelved to contain such
documents as registers, minutes and other local records in a convenient
manner, and should be kept well ventilated and dry for the safe
preservation of its contents. Strong rooms vary in size from 4 feet × 6
feet × 8 feet, to large apartments 20 feet × 20 feet and upwards. The
usual furnishings of a librarian’s room comprise a desk, table,
bookshelves, chairs, hat and umbrella stand, and other office furniture.
Staff mess-rooms should be fitted with tables, chairs, cupboards, with a
locker for each assistant, cooking apparatus and other appliances.
Work-rooms for staff use must be fitted to suit the class of work
carried on, whether cataloguing or preparing books, binding or filing.
Store-rooms for general purposes and for the use of the caretaker should
also be provided, fitted with all necessary cupboards and shelving.
Separate staff rooms and lavatory accommodation should be provided in
libraries with staffs composed partly of men, partly of women.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cowell, Peter. Public Library Staffs, 1893, L.A. Series, 3.

Library Assistants’ Association. Report on the Hours, Salaries,
Training, and Conditions of Service in British Municipal Libraries,
1911. L.A.A. Series, 4.

Brooklyn Public Library. Rules for the Guidance of the Staff, 1906.

Michigan University. Library Staff Manual, 1912.

Bodleian Library. Staff Manual. Annually.

For articles, see Cannons, E 20-43, Staff Management.

CHAPTER VII

LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS

=99.= Although there is no such co-ordination of libraries as there is
of schools under central Government control, and therefore not the same
apparent necessity for combination amongst librarians, the library
profession is closely linked by means of library societies to which
every librarian with any claims to consideration is attached. The
largest of these societies is the American Library Association, which
has nearly 4000 members; and many continental European countries have
such societies. In the United Kingdom the principal societies are the
Library Association and its branches, and the Library Assistants’
Association.

=100. The Library Association.=--This body, which is the centre and
controlling force of British librarianship, was founded in 1877 at the
First International Library Conference, which was held in London. In
1898 it received a Royal Charter by which it became the responsible
representative body of the profession. Its objects as set out in the
Charter are to unite all persons engaged or interested in libraries by
means of conferences and meetings for the discussion of bibliography and
all other phases of librarianship; to promote the better administration
of libraries; to improve the position and qualifications of librarians;
to promote the adoption of the Public Libraries Acts and the
establishment of reference and lending libraries for use by the public;
to watch and promote legislation affecting public libraries; to
encourage bibliographical study and research; to publish information of
service to the members or which in any way furthers the interests of the
Association; to collect and maintain a library and museum; to hold
examinations in librarianship and to issue certificates of efficiency;
and to maintain in every lawful way the interests of libraries and their
workers.

The Association is not purely professional. It seeks the co-operation in
membership of library authorities, members of library committees and all
persons who are interested in libraries, as well as library workers
themselves. The presidency of the Association has until quite recently
usually been held by a public man who was not a librarian. The executive
is a council consisting of president, past presidents, honorary
secretary, solicitor and treasurer, and twelve members of any grade
representing London, and twenty representing the remainder of the United
Kingdom, who, with the exception of the past presidents, are elected
annually.

The membership consists of Honorary Fellows, Fellows, Members, Associate
Members and Student Members. The _Honorary Fellowship_ is given for
distinguished service to the objects of the Association; _Fellows_ are
holders of the Library Association diploma, chief librarians who held
office before December 1914, and, in some instances, librarians who are
graduates of universities; _Members_ are librarians[2] who hold four
professional certificates and have had three years’ approved library
experience, or librarians 25 years of age or more, who held office
before December 1914 and have had not less than six years’ approved
experience; _Associate Members_ are librarians not qualified as Fellows
or Members, and non-librarians; _Student Members_ are persons under 25
years of age who are studying for librarianship; and libraries and
institutions are received as _Institution Members_. Fellows and Members
have the right of using the initials F.L.A. and M.L.A. respectively
after their names so long as they remain subscribing members. The
entrance fee to all grades of membership is one guinea, and the annual
subscription is also one guinea, except for Student Members, who pay a
half-guinea yearly.

[2] The word “librarian” includes “library assistant.” After all,
“librarian” is the name of a member of a profession, not the
holder of a position.

The scheme of classification of members set out in the last paragraph
has been in operation since 1914, and in course of time the classes will
show the degrees of qualification possessed by their members. In 1914,
however, many quite undistinguished people were made Fellows simply
because they held the chief office in a library, however small or badly
managed that institution might be. Hereafter, if the Council carries
out its duties properly, as there is every reason to believe it will,
only men and women qualified by a searching examination will become
Fellows or Members. All classes of members (except student members, who
do not vote) enjoy equal privileges in the Association.

The Association holds monthly meetings from about November to June in
London, at which professional papers are read and discussed. It also
holds an Annual Conference, usually early in September, when it is
generally the guest of some municipality, and when the greater part of
its members foregather for the discussion of library questions. The
Annual Conference is the principal library event of the year, and every
library worker who can should attend, as more is to be learned during
that week than in many months of solitary reading or study of library
problems. Library committees should not only encourage their librarians
to attend; they should send delegates of their own members, and in the
case both of these and of the librarians, defray their expenses. The
papers and discussions are published in _The Library Association
Record_, the monthly official journal of the Association, which is
issued free to all members.

=101. Educational Work.=--From the standpoint of this book the most
interesting part of the Association’s work is that of its Education
Committee. The Committee holds examinations yearly in May, and the
scheme of examination for the Diploma includes six provisional
examinations, a language test, a thesis, and, if desirable, further oral
examination, etc., as follows:

(_a_) Provisional certificates are granted for:

1. Literary History.
2. Elements of Practical Bibliography.
3. Classification.
4. Cataloguing.
5. Library History, Foundation and Equipment.
6. Library Routine.

(_b_) A satisfactory essay upon some aspect of each of the above
subjects is required as part of the examination.

(_c_) Practical experience of not less than 24 hours a week for at
least 3 years as a member of the administrative staff of one or more
libraries approved by the Council.

(_d_) A thesis showing original thought or research on some subject
within the purview of the syllabus, the subject being previously
approved by the Council.

(_e_) A certificate approved by the Council, showing an elementary
knowledge of Latin or Greek, and one modern foreign language. In the
absence of such certificates the candidates may be examined by
gentlemen appointed by the Council.

Each of the examinations may at present be taken separately; and the
method of preparation is left to the individual candidates. It may be by
individual reading, by the correspondence classes provided by the
Association, or by attendance at the courses of lectures which the
Association also provides. No student, however, is admitted to the
examination who has not passed matriculation, the senior Oxford or
Cambridge Local, or some similar examination. For those who cannot
obtain one of these certificates, the Association prescribes its own
Preliminary Test (held in May and October), which consists of papers in
the general school subjects and in such matters as will test the
candidate’s powers of observation and his common sense. The Association
publishes a yearly _Syllabus_ setting forth in detail these conditions,
a detailed synopsis of the required subjects, lists of text-books,
classes, etc., and a full list of certificate-holders.

The address of the Association is at Caxton Hall, Westminster, London.

We conclude these remarks by saying that librarians may be judged by
their relations with the Library Association. Membership is in a broad
sense the seal upon their experience and qualifications; and the
catholicity of the Association’s educational work and its record of
activity on behalf of libraries and librarians command the respect and
adherence of all who are likely to read this book. No library worker of
whatever grade whose income exceeds £100 a year should consider it
consistent with his self-respect to remain outside this Association.

=102. The Library Assistants’ Association.=--This is a purely sectional
association for assistants in municipal and institutional (but not
commercial lending) libraries, and was founded in 1895 by the members of
one of the Library Association Summer Schools, to educate and to protect
the special interests of assistants, and to provide them with a freer
platform than the Library Association seemed to offer. By means of
monthly meetings held throughout the winter at various libraries, the
reading of papers, discussions, etc.; by study circles, summer schools,
international visits to libraries, and other activities, it has changed
for the better the whole tone of the library service, and has won for
itself a distinct place amongst professional associations.

It is organized on lines similar to those of the Library Association,
being governed by a President, Honorary Treasurer, and Honorary
Secretary and a Council of ten London and ten non-London members. Its
membership is of _Honorary Fellows_, elected for special distinction or
services; _Fellows_ who are chief librarians who were formerly members;
_Members_, assistant librarians earning salaries of £52 per annum and
more; and _Associates_, assistants earning less than £52. The
Association has several branches; maintains a good professional library
(housed at the Central Public Library, Islington); issues free to all
members a monthly journal, _The Library Assistant_; and has been
responsible for various valuable brief publications included in the
“L.A.A. Series.” The subscriptions for membership are 5s. per annum for
Fellows and Members, and 2s. 6d. for Associates.

The value of the Association has been widely recognized, and library
assistants, of whatever age or rank, would serve their own interests and
those of their profession by adhering to it.

=103. Other Societies.=--Other purely library Societies which may be
mentioned are the Panizzi Club and the Society of Public Librarians. The
Panizzi Club, which was founded in 1914, is mainly composed of
university, Government and institutional--but not municipal--librarians.
It has not yet published any proceedings, and is interested in the
compiling of co-operative bibliographies, and in doing such other work
as will co-ordinate and improve the service of the libraries it
represents. The Society of Public Librarians is a small body of
librarians which meets in London for the reading and discussion of
papers. It does not seek to add to its membership except by the
nomination of existing members.

=104.= Societies which are not mainly for librarians, but which are of
considerable interest to them, are the Bibliographical Society and the
Museums Association. The Bibliographical Society, founded in 1892, has
its headquarters at 20 Hanover Square, London, W.1, and exists for the
promoting of the study of the book and manuscript mainly in their
historical and bibliographical characteristics. It meets monthly for the
reading and discussion of papers, and publishes, to members only,
valuable works on matters within its province. The annual subscription
is one guinea, and the entrance fee is a similar sum.

The Museums Association, founded in 1889, has for its object the
bringing together of museum officials, members of museum committees, and
others interested in museum work for mutual discussion and help. Its
membership is made up of persons who pay a subscription of one guinea
per annum, and associates who pay a half-guinea. An annual meeting,
usually lasting four days, is held in July, when papers are read and
discussed. The _Museums Journal_, published monthly, contains the
transactions.

=105. Staff Guilds, etc.=--It will be appropriate to say a little here
about the private organizations of library staffs, known as guilds, or
clubs, which are becoming a feature of larger libraries here and in
America. The members of the staff band themselves together for mutual
improvement and recreation with a committee chosen of their own numbers
to direct their activities. These latter include classes in library
economy, literature, and other subjects of interest to assistants for
the younger members of the staff, and reading circles, elocution
classes, etc., for the older ones. Recreations, as cricket, swimming,
walking, photography and other sports, are also arranged by the guilds;
and at Croydon there is an annual excursion which is recognized by the
public, the libraries being closed for the purpose on the chosen day.
Croydon, Fulham and Glasgow have issued staff magazines in connection
with their clubs; these are usually cyclostyled publications. The
Islington club has distinguished itself for social gatherings, and the
New Year’s gathering of the Glasgow club is one of the features of the
library year. Wisely conducted, these guilds have a great influence for
good, are an incentive to study, and produce that better work which
comes from mutual understanding amongst library workers. They should be
recognized by the library committee and the chief librarian, but should
be perfectly autonomous.

=106.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Library Assistant.

Library Association Record.

Library Association Year Book.

Thorne, W. B. The Library Assistants’ Association: an outline of its
development and work. “Librarian” Series, 2.

For articles, see Cannons, A 1-243, Library Associations.

DIVISION IV

BUILDINGS

CHAPTER VIII

THEORY AND GENERAL REMARKS

=107. Theory.=--Although the subject of library buildings has been
frequently treated by various writers, there is a lack of literature on
the important question of size limitation and the modifications arising
therefrom. Controversy has raged round such questions as stacks _versus_
alcoves, general _versus_ special reading rooms, general _versus_
separate book stores, and so on, but on the much more important
question, “What size is the library to be?” hardly any theories or
definite statements exist. Beyond a vague general recommendation to
secure as large a site as possible, in view of future extension, writers
on library architecture have not committed themselves to any principle
which would guide those responsible for new library buildings in
estimating the provision to be made. The chief reason for this is no
doubt the cherished tradition that libraries are to be made as large as
possible, because they are the repositories of the literature of the
ages and the storehouse for every kind of printed matter. The _museum_
idea of a public library, however, is now giving place to the _workshop_
idea, and few librarians nowadays of average-sized municipal libraries
hold the view that it is their function to provide and retain every
book, irrespective of its value or appeal, and to attempt to rival the
British Museum or Bibliothèque Nationale on a reduced scale.

=108.= There are several very important considerations to be advanced in
favour of limiting libraries both as regards book storage and
accommodation for readers, and these shall be set out in order. However
much one may sympathize with the view that all public libraries ought to
collect _everything_--on the grounds that it may one day be used, and
that nothing which illustrates past life, customs, etc., should be
ignored--it is only fair to point out that this work is already being
done effectively by general or special libraries in all parts of the
country. This particular form of literature conservation is the chief
province of the great State libraries like the British Museum, Patent
Office, India Office, National Libraries of Ireland and Wales, etc.; the
university libraries; the endowed or special libraries like the
Advocates’ (Edinburgh), Mitchell (Glasgow), John Rylands (Manchester);
the great proprietary libraries of a special kind like the Royal
Colonial Institute, Athenæum Club, Signet (Edinburgh), London Library,
etc.; and scientific, law and collegiate libraries of all kinds. The
burden of carrying on this tradition of universal garnering need not be
borne by municipal libraries, except in the case of great towns such as
Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol, where the
libraries may reasonably be expected to be as representative as
possible.

=109.= The workshop form of public library provides for the systematic
and continuous revision of the stock of the library, and in this way it
becomes practicable to fix a rough limit to the size of a building. This
is a most important matter, because it is undoubtedly the result of a
general cultivation of the museum idea which has led to the formation of
some municipal libraries, a great portion of whose contents could be
discarded without perceptible inconvenience to anyone. While the wisdom
of acquiring additional land for future extension, should it be
required, can be admitted, the wisdom of erecting and furnishing large
buildings on the assumption that they ought to be filled as speedily as
possible can be questioned safely. The result of overbuilding is to
cripple the early and most critical years of the library’s existence
with heavy loans and their repayment, while the upkeep of a great
building ultimately designed to accommodate 100,000 volumes and 500
readers, though starting with only 10,000 volumes and 100 readers, is
sure to be out of all proportion. Library buildings should bear some
proportion to the funds available for their maintenance and the
percentage of the public they are likely to attract.

=110.= The chief danger with most library authorities is the tendency to
erect a library building having no relation to the funds available for
its maintenance. The laudable desire for a handsome architectural
exterior, which all public buildings ought to have, is frequently
carried to such an extent that utility is completely sacrificed to an
ornamental outside appearance. Where funds are plentiful, as they would
be without a limited rate, there is no reason why a fine-looking
building should not be provided, but where money is strictly limited it
is necessary to consider the plans rather than the elevation. In any
case, the interior arrangements should never be subordinated to the
desire for mere outward show and ornament, and a library building in the
hands of a competent architect can be made of a suitable and dignified
design notwithstanding the rate limitation. In too many cases most of
the money provided for library buildings has been spent on the
structure, with the result that the interior fittings have been cut down
to the cheapest and meanest varieties. The outside of a library building
is its least important feature, and should never be so extravagant as to
imperil the utility and appearance of the interior arrangements. There
are library buildings now existing on which much money has been lavished
apparently for the purpose of providing façades to dazzle the townsfolk,
but which, nevertheless, are not only inconveniently planned inside, but
furnished and fitted up in a style which suggests a kitchen rather than
a public institution. This is often brought about by a wrong division of
the money borrowed for building and furnishing purposes. A sum is set
apart for furniture, which would be ample if such permanent fittings as
bookshelves, counters, screens, etc., were not included. But when these
are provided out of a furniture loan it is seldom that a large enough
sum is borrowed. It is important to remember that such fittings as
bookcases, counters, screens, wall newspaper slopes, barriers, lifts,
galleries, etc., form permanent parts of the building, and ought to be
included in the building loan, which can be borrowed for thirty years. A
furniture loan must be repaid within ten years, and only such _movable_
items as tables, chairs, desks, office furniture, etc., should be bought
from this fund.

=111.= Assuming, also, that a building must be provided which will bear
some relation to the number of persons who will be attracted, the stock
to be housed, and the funds available for maintenance, the following
factors are presented as a basis from which estimates can be made:--

It has been definitely ascertained that 6 per cent. of the population of
the average town become borrowers. For this number the average stock of
books provided in lending libraries is three per borrower. Books are
kept out on an average ten days each, or twelve days non-fiction, eight
days fiction. In a year of 306 days each borrower will read about thirty
books. Here, then, is a basis from which to start in providing
accommodation for a lending library. If a town has 50,000 inhabitants,
it will attract 3000 borrowers, who will require 9000 volumes as a
minimum lending stock. The annual issue should be 90,000 volumes. It
follows that the minimum lending library accommodation in a case like
this should comprise shelving for 9000 volumes, and lobby or other
spaces for at least seventy-five persons present at one time. In theory
an issue of 300 per day should mean an average hourly attendance of
thirty per hour, but in actual practice it must be recognized that
borrowers attend at uncertain parts of the day, and most commonly during
the last two or three hours in the evening; therefore it is safe to
allow for the accommodation of at least one-fourth of the daily average
number of visitors. Many lending libraries are overshelved owing to a
failure to recognize the possibility of revision of stock and the
equally important fact that the best shelving for books is in the homes
of the people.

The same rules apply to all the other departments.

CHAPTER IX

SITES AND PLANS

=112.= This chapter is of a purely practical character, with
illustrations from well-known examples of library plans. Except in the
necessary precautionary remarks made already, it has been thought
undesirable to dwell upon the elevations of libraries and the relative
desirability of façades, although much might be said upon the subject
and it is worthy of careful attention. Such a discussion, however, could
be useful only if a long series of illustrations were given ranging say
from the New York and Pittsburgh public libraries, the National Library
of Wales, the Liverpool Public Library and the Mitchell Library at
Glasgow, which are large and handsome architectural edifices, to the
more modest but satisfactory small buildings such as those at Bromley,
Herne Hill and Wallasey. Although a certain common character is to be
found in smaller municipal library elevations, and especially in
Carnegie libraries, there is no distinctive type of elevation peculiar
to libraries which immediately suggests the purpose of the buildings.
This is one of the things to be desired in British architecture, as it
is fair to expect that such buildings should be both artistic and
appropriate, if such results can be reached without the sacrifice of
even more important considerations.

=113.= It is premised that all central libraries require certain
departments, including reference and lending libraries, newspaper room,
magazine (or periodicals) room, children’s room, lecture room, and
administrative departments--librarian’s office, cataloguing room, store
rooms, staff rooms, cloak rooms, etc. Too often the provision made for
administrative and staff purposes is inadequate, and the library suffers
greatly in consequence. Branch libraries do not, as a rule, have
reference rooms, although accommodation for a collection of
quick-reference books is necessary, and in many branch libraries
newspaper and magazine rooms are combined. All the apartments premised
above are not present in all buildings. Older libraries have no separate
provision for children, and indeed work with children on a large scale
is quite a recent development of library activity, but the desirability
of such a department is made clear in Division XIII. Lecture rooms are
rarer still, because of the peculiar view taken by legal authority that
lectures are not within the province of libraries; and in some of the
larger cities lecture work is adequately carried out by other
institutions. A modern librarian, however, regards a lecture room as a
necessary part of his building, and even in the larger cities lectures
which are purely library lectures, having a direct bearing upon the use
of books, can be given satisfactorily only in direct connexion with the
library.

=114. Sites.=--In choosing sites for public library buildings committees
should bear in mind the following principles:--

1. They should be central and easily accessible from all parts of the
district, by tramways or other conveyances.

2. They should be as far as possible isolated from all other
buildings, particularly shops.

3. Quiet side streets are preferable to noisy main thoroughfares.

4. Level sites are preferable to those on steep gradients.

5. More ground than is required for immediate use should be secured if
possible.

A large number of the public libraries of the country are erected upon
land which has been presented to the towns, and an endeavour should be
made to procure a gift of this kind before a purchase is made. It will
make a considerable difference to the size and quality of the building
which can be provided if land has to be purchased. Frequently land can
be secured upon a long lease at a nominal or peppercorn rent, and when
this can be done it is better than borrowing more money than the rate
will allow, and thereby crippling the library in its early years. In the
tables in Section 31 no direct provision is made for loans for sites,
but if it is necessary that money must be borrowed for the purpose, the
margin which is mentioned as arising from incidental receipts, will
probably meet the annual repayments of a loan spread over fifty years,
if the site and its purchase money are not excessive. But in any case,
let the advice to committees be reiterated not to borrow money for sites
till they have exhausted every hope of inducing some public-spirited
citizen or public body to come forward with a gift of land. This is the
only way, save in towns with very large incomes, in which the inadequate
provisions of the Public Libraries Acts can be in part overcome. At the
same time it should be remembered that by these and other Acts of
Parliament special power is given to town councils and other public
bodies to convey land to library authorities for building purposes.

=115. The Architect.=--When a suitable site has been secured it is usual
to institute a competition for the planning and design of the building.
This is not necessarily the best method; indeed, we are of opinion that
more satisfactory results are obtained if a reputable architect is
engaged without competition other than his previous record establishes
for him in comparison with other architects, who will carry out the
directions of the committee. The importance of appointing a professional
librarian before any serious step is taken or permanent arrangement is
made has already been pointed out. No plan should be drawn up or
accepted without such skilled guidance as he can give. The mistakes made
in the past through neglect of this precaution are a warning to
committees never to trust to their own choice and judgment, and not to
rely entirely upon an architect, who is often unacquainted with the best
arrangements for working a public library, however great his artistic
and technical qualifications may be. Assuming that a competent librarian
has been appointed, the first thing to do after securing a site is to
determine the size and kind of building required, and to make out a
rough plan of the interior arrangements and prepare a specification of
requirements or instructions to the architect. If a competition is
determined upon, a limited one is preferable to any open one, unless
there are local or other reasons against such a course. In the case of
an open competition, advertisements should be inserted in the local
papers, and in _The Architect_, _Builder_ and _Building News_, inviting
architects to compete, and asking them to apply for the conditions.
Premiums should be fixed for the designs placed first, second and third
in order of merit by the assessor who judges the plans. These must be
regulated by the size and style of the building. £50, £30 and £20 have
been offered for buildings costing £4000 and upwards. Premiated designs
become the property of the committee. The Royal Institute of British
Architects, London, should be asked to nominate an assessor at a fee to
be determined, and of course such assessor will not be a competitor. It
is usual to merge the premium of the successful architect whose design
is carried out into the fee paid him for superintending the work, which
amounts to 5 per cent. on the cost of the building, including all
extras.

=116. Instructions and Plan.=--The instructions to the competitors
should be accompanied by a plan of the site drawn to quarter- or
eighth-inch scale, and showing building line and ancient lights, if any.
They should specify the amount and kind of accommodation required on
each floor, and state that the cost should not exceed a certain sum
exclusive of movable furniture. Permanent fittings should include
bookcases, wall and standard; screens, counters, wall slopes for
newspapers, barriers, and any other kind of fixture. The conditions as
regards premiums, assessing, etc., should be sent with the instructions
and site plan. All competitive designs should be drawn to the same scale
(one-fourth or one-eighth inch), and should be finished in black without
colour or ornament. Perspective drawings, in addition to elevations, may
be sent at the discretion of each competitor. Each set of drawings
should include a plan of every floor, showing proposed arrangement of
bookcases, counters, furniture, etc.; an elevation of every face; and a
section through the building both ways. Plenty of time should be allowed
for the sending in of designs; three months at least from date of
advertisement. Usually the assessor draws up the instructions, and
afterwards circulates answers to any questions which may be put by the
competitors.

=117. Selection of Plan.=--The competing drawings should be sent in
unmarked in any way, but should be numbered in order of receipt, so that
the assessor and committee cannot recognize the author. The competitor’s
name and address should be sent separately in a sealed envelope marked
on the outside with the same number, and some such words as “architect’s
name and address,” to prevent accidental opening. It is the duty of the
assessor to advise the committee as to the practicability of every
design; to determine if it is in accordance with the instructions; to
ascertain if it can be carried out for the amount stated; and to judge
which designs are first, second and third in order of merit after
fulfilling the conditions of the instructions.

=118.= The following rules for judging library plans will be found
useful; they are based on a wide experience of planning in all its
departments, and can be used by architectural assessors and librarians
as a guide:--

1. No public room should be made a thoroughfare leading to any other
public room.

2. All exits from public rooms should be within view of the staff.

3. Oversight of public rooms should, if possible, be secured without
the need for special officers in every room. For this purpose
ornamental glazed partitions are preferable to solid walls.

4. No passage for public traffic should be less than 4 feet wide.
Where movable chairs are used the passages should be from 6 to 8 feet
wide.

5. Cross gangways between table and bookcase-ends should not be less
than 3 feet if used as thoroughfares, but may be 2 feet only if simply
spaces to enable readers or assistants to pass round.

6. Bookcases should not exceed 7 feet 6 inches in height either in
open access or closed libraries, and shelves should be of the uniform
length of 3 feet, unless for folio and quarto stock, when 18 inches
will be found better. For fiction wall shelves in open access
libraries, the depth should not exceed 7 inches.

7. Standard bookcases in open access libraries should be spaced at not
less than 6 feet apart when facing each other, and in closed libraries
at not less than 3 feet apart.

8. Magazine room readers should be allowed not less than 12
superficial feet each, including table and passage room.

9. Reference library readers should be allowed not less than 18
superficial feet, including table and passage room.

10. Where indicators are used in lending libraries the counter space
should provide 5 feet run for every 4000 volumes stored, or 15 inches
per 1000 numbers, and at least 10 feet run of clear space for service.
The public space in front of any such counter should not be less than
10 feet wide, unless in a very small library, when it may be 6.

11. In open access lending libraries the spaces should not be less
than those shown in No. 7 above. As a general rule it will be found
easy and fairly accurate to allow 20 square feet to every borrower
estimated to be present at one time, and disregard the provision of
stock. In this calculation allowance is made for gangways, stock and
readers.

12. Allow nine volumes per foot run in lending library shelving, and
eight volumes per foot run in reference library shelving. A 7 foot 6
inch bookcase should give an average of eight shelves per tier in a
lending library, and about the same in a reference library, if
separate provision is made in wall cases for folio and other large
books.

13. Public lobbies and staircases must be arranged according to the
rules laid down by any local or general building act or bye-law.

14. Newspaper slopes should allow an average of 4 feet run for every
paper. This will provide for spaces between papers.

In some towns the competition designs for library buildings have been
placed on exhibition, to enable the public and other interested persons
to compare the premiated with the other drawings. This seems an
admirable procedure, regarded as a mere matter of policy, but the
practical advantage is somewhat doubtful.

=119. Library Planning.=--In subsequent chapters are set out in detail
some of the chief requirements of the different departments of a public
library, and here may be noted a few general principles, illustrated
with plans. It is impossible to fix any data which will apply to all
sizes and shapes of sites, on account of differences introduced by
difficulties of lighting, approaches and varying local requirements. The
data given above (Section 118) can be applied in most cases, as
dimensions of this class seldom vary, but any additional data are
certain to be modified by local conditions.

The chief principle to be emphasized is the one already stated, that
public libraries should be constructed and stocked with the view to
constant revision, and that their size should be limited by the number
of _live_ books likely to be wanted at any period. It is difficult to
say what the number of actually living books will be at any given
period, but judging by the selections which have been made in histories
of literature and in such books as Sonnenschein’s _Best Books_, it may
be roughly estimated that there are about 50,000 works of perennial
interest which are worth storing in a modern workshop library. Even this
number could be reduced by one-half and still be made fairly
representative of every literature, period and subject of human
interest. In the largest municipal libraries a very considerable
proportion of the stock is composed of duplicates of popular books in
central and branch libraries, while practically one-half of the stock of
such libraries consists of literature which is rarely used. The
provision of book-storage should, therefore, be limited in the case of
municipal libraries, not so much by the size of building which can be
afforded by the income, but by the actual living books which are likely
to be required.

[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Sketch Plan for a Small Town Library (Section
119).]

[Illustration: FIG. 10.--North Islington Library, with Reading Room on
Ground Floor (Section 120).]

[Illustration: FIG. 11.--North Islington Library, with Lending
Department on First Floor (Section 120).]

In libraries which start with incomes of £500, provision should not be
made for more than 20,000 volumes. In those with commencing incomes of
£1000 to £2000 room, for 40,000 volumes will be found ample. From £2000
to £3000, 60,000 volumes; from £3000 to £4000, 100,000 volumes; from
£4000 to £5000, 130,000 volumes; from £5000 to £6000, 160,000 volumes,
and so on. Bearing these figures in mind, the planning of library
buildings becomes greatly simplified. The main points to be aimed at in
library planning are good light, convenient access to rooms, a fair
amount of oversight, and the arrangement of departments so as to secure
quiet in the principal reading rooms. For this last reason the reference
library should be put farthest away from both newsroom and lending
library, so that the traffic of these departments will not disturb
readers. In small libraries it is best and most convenient to keep the
whole of the departments on one floor, obtaining light, if necessary,
from the roof. The sketch plan, Fig. 9, shows a convenient arrangement
for such a library.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Lambeth (Herne Hill Branch) Open Access Library
with Radiating Stacks in a Square Room (Section 121).]

=120.= The plans which are given in this section illustrate the
principal points raised. They will also serve as suggestions to
committees, librarians and architects charged with the establishment of
new library buildings. Figs. 10 and 11 represent a building designed to
be worked on the open access system in each department, and in every
respect it is a model of good arrangement and convenience.

[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Montrose Open Access Lending Library (Section
121).]

=121.= The principle of radiation to secure oversight and ease of
working is well illustrated in this plan. The next plan (Fig. 12) shows
the plan of radiation applied to an open access lending department in a
square room, and here it is obvious that considerable loss of space is
sustained in the angles. The same objection applies to the arrangement
of Figs. 13 and 14. Figs. 10 and 11 show the children’s room and general
reading room on the ground floor, and the lending library on the first
floor, together with a lecture room. It is argued in favour of this that
fewer people go to the lending department than to the reading room, and
that the plan is therefore more convenient. In practice it has been
found an admirable arrangement. Figs. 15 and 16 show the arrangement of
a large library, fully equipped with all departments, and in this the
radial arrangement of bookcases in the lending library has not been
adopted because of the shape of the room. Another plan on the same
principle (Fig. 27) illustrates an open access library without radiating
bookcases, and a double entrance and exit counter. An interesting
arrangement for a small open access library is afforded by the Fulham
North Library, designed by the late Franklin T. Barrett, in which the
lending department is shown in a gallery surrounding a reading room on
the ground floor (Fig. 17).

[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Bromley (Kent) Open Access Lending Library with
Radiating Stacks in a Square Room (Section 121). This Library has now
been re-arranged, and the radiating stacks arranged in parallel order.]

=122.= The following plans of closed libraries, worked on various
systems, speak for themselves, and show clearly the variety of ways in
which this kind of library can be arranged.

Fig. 18 shows a semi-circular counter with the books arranged behind,
the borrowers’ space being flanked by a reading room and juvenile room.
Figs. 19 and 20 are arranged with long counters providing for indicators
for fiction and card changing for non-fiction, with the other
departments grouped round. Fig. 21 shows an indicator occupying the
sides of a large lobby on the first floor, and Fig. 22 a plan for
working a library on the open access system for non-fiction, and the
indicator for fiction.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Islington Central Library. Ground Floor Plan
(Section 121).]

[Illustration: FIG. 16 (Section 121).]

=123.= The plan on p. 129 shows a case in which the arrangements are
designed as a compromise between whole and partial open access, the
lending department having open access for non-fiction and the closed
system for fiction (Fig. 22). It is doubtful if any advantage arises
from this compromise, and certainly readers are denied the privilege of
referring from class to class, and cut off from the pleasure of seeing
the whole of a classified collection of books at one time. The great
additional mutual oversight of reader over reader is also lost, and
there is always the suspicion attaching to such a compromise that a
favoured class has been created.

[Illustration: FIG. 17.--Fulham (North) Library Plan, showing Open
Access Lending Library on First Floor and Reading Room, through Well, on
Ground Floor (Section 121).]

=124. Building Specification and Contracts.=--The specification for the
building on which builders are required to tender will be prepared by
the architect, and it is usual in most cases to have the quantities
abstracted by a surveyor, so that contractors can all tender for the
same thing. The surveyor’s fee, 1 per cent. to 1½ per cent., according
to the total amount, is usually included in the specification, as are
also allowances for other extras, such as foundation-stones, memorial
tablets, and such items as presentation trowels, etc., if a
foundation-stone laying is made a public ceremony.

[Illustration: FIG. 18.--St Pancras Central Library (a proposed
building), showing Lending Department arranged for Indicator Charging
(Section 122).]

=125.= The contract for the building may be publicly advertised in such
journals as the _Contract Journal_, _Builder_, _Building News_ and the
local newspapers, or may be confined to a few selected firms, and the
tenders should, when received, be opened at a meeting of the library
authority, to which the firms who tender may be invited. When a contract
is accepted and signed it should contain a clause specifying that all
extras must be sanctioned by the library authority before being put in
hand, and must be certified by the architect when completed. It is well
to avoid extras by making a careful estimate in advance, but if they are
supplied, great precaution must be used to see that they are limited and
strictly watched.

[Illustration: FIG. 19.--Glasgow Branch Library, Plan and Elevation
(Section 122).]

[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Glasgow Branch Library, Plan and Elevation
(Section 122).]

=126.= A clerk of works must be appointed to watch over the building
operations on behalf of the library authority and the architect, and
it is a wise and most economical policy to pay for a first-rate man. The
wages of a competent man, who is usually recommended by the architect,
will amount to from about £7 weekly, according to circumstances.

The architect’s fee is 5 per cent. on the total cost of the building,
including extras and all furniture or other fittings which he may
design.

[Illustration: FIG. 21.--Lending Library on First Floor adjoining
Reference Library (Section 122).]

=127. Opening Ceremony, etc.=--There are certain ceremonial matters
connected with the laying of foundation-stones, unveiling of memorial
stones or brasses and opening ceremonies, which each locality must
arrange to suit its own needs. An opening ceremony of a public character
is always so useful in making known a library that it ought when
possible to be arranged. It need not be a very expensive function, and
if an eminent public personage, local or otherwise, can be secured to
perform the ceremony, so much the better. It is a doubtful point whether
the expense of an opening ceremony can be defrayed from the library
rate. In districts where the expenditure is audited by a Government
auditor, a moderate sum may be passed, with the caution not to incur
such charge again, but it is dangerous to assume that this expenditure
will always be allowed. Such expenditure, if incurred, would not of
course include any extravagant items such as banquets, receptions, etc.,
but be confined to printing and other expenses.

[Illustration: FIG. 22.--Lending Library with Open Access for
Non-fiction (Section 123).]

=128.= The lighting, heating and ventilation of library buildings are
all matters which primarily concern the architect; and they are seldom
solved in a completely satisfactory manner. Lighting is the one that
most directly interests the librarian, as much of the effectiveness of
libraries depends upon it. A valuable discussion upon the question took
place in 1911 at joint-meetings of the Illuminating Engineering Society
and the Library Association, at which both librarians and lighting
engineers expressed their views and experience. The matter is one for
expert advice, but librarians should be clear as to the problems to be
solved in artificial lighting; these are:

To light reading room tables, so as to avoid glare in the eyes of
readers.

To prevent the casting of strong shadows, single or multiple.

To avoid fixing furniture or fittings in permanent positions.

To ensure the illumination of the room generally, as well as the
tables.

To light the vertical spaces presented by two cases of books standing
face to face, with a narrow gangway between, so that the book-titles
on all the shelves can be read easily.

To ensure good results attention must be directed to general lighting,
which should be full in newspaper and similar rooms, but subordinate in
reference libraries; and it is recommended that point lighting, with
positions fixed and shades chosen to prevent glare, should be used at
all reading points and tables; and if possible _all_ lights should be
suspended from the ceiling, as to fix them upon furniture involves the
anchoring of the furniture to the floors or walls. In general lighting
the use of the walls and ceilings as reflectors should be remembered,
and the walls should be tinted in such colours as return the maximum
reflection. The problem of lighting gangways of books has not been
solved satisfactorily, but tube-o’-lights or line-o’-lights fixed on the
top cornice of cases have given good results. Lights centred above
gangways are the most usual method, but these produce shadows. We can
touch upon this subject only briefly, but the gravest thought should be
given to it, as systems of lighting which are most effective
architecturally are often quite useless for library purposes.

The ventilation of the rooms should be thorough and yet exclude
draughts; and on this matter, as upon the kindred matter of heating, we
cannot do more here than refer to the recent literature upon those
subjects.

=129.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, H. B. Public Libraries and Popular Education (Home Education
Bulletin, No. 31). Albany, University of the State of New York, 1900.
(Valuable for the plans and elevations of American library buildings
reproduced.)

Adams, M. B. Public Libraries: Their Building and Equipment. L.A.R.,
vol. vii., pp. 161, 220. (Reprinted from Journal of Royal Institute of
British Architects.)

Burgoyne, F. J. Library Construction: Architecture, Fittings,
Furniture, 1897. (Library Ser.)

---- Points in Library Planning. Greenwood’s Year Book, 1900, p. 12.

Champneys, A. L. Public Libraries: A Treatise on their Design,
Construction, and Fittings, 1907.

Eastman, W. R. Library Buildings and Plans, 1906. N. York State Lib.,
Bulletin, 107, Lib. School, 22.

Graesel, A. Planning. _In his_ Handbuch der Bibliothekslehre, 1902.

Illuminating Engineering Society and the Library Association. Library
Lighting, 1911.

League of Library Commissions. Small Library Buildings, 1908.

Soule, C. C. How to Plan a Library Building for Library Work, Boston,
1912.

---- Library Rooms and Buildings, 1902. (A.L.A. Tracts, No. 4.)

Utley, H. M. How to Plan a Public Library. L.J., vol. xxiv., Conf.
no., p. 21.

For articles, see Cannons, D 1-23, Architecture.

DIVISION V

FITTINGS AND FURNITURE

CHAPTER X

MISCELLANEOUS FIXTURES AND FITTINGS

=130.= It is important to note that all fittings which are fixtures, as
are most of those about to be described in the following chapter, should
be regarded as part of the permanent structure, and not as movable
furniture. Such fittings should be included in the loan raised for
building, which can be borrowed for thirty years, and not in that raised
for furniture, which can only be borrowed for ten years. The additional
twenty years for which money can be borrowed for permanent buildings
will be found to make a very considerable difference in the annual
repayments.

=131. Counters and Barriers.=--Counters and barriers are required
chiefly in lending and reference libraries, or in situations where it is
necessary to cut readers off from books or private rooms. No lending
library counter which has to carry an indicator should be more than
thirty inches high and eighteen inches wide, and for ledger or card
charging and open access the dimensions need not be more than thirty-two
inches high and two feet wide. Reference library counters for cutting
readers off from the books and for service should be thirty-two inches
high and two feet wide. All counters should be fitted on the staff side
with shelves and cupboards, and on the public side the panelling should
be raised at least four inches from the floor to prevent it from being
kicked and marked. It is a useful plan to fit up the back of a long
counter with shelves, drawers and cupboards alternately, as shown in
diagram on the next page (Fig. 23).

This arrangement can be carried out to any extent and in any order,
according to space. In lending library counters a slot for money should
be made in the top of the counter over one of the small locked drawers.
This will form the till for cash receipts from fines, the sale of
catalogues, etc.

[Illustration: FIG. 23.--Back of Library Counter (Section 131).]

=132.= Barriers for open access lending and reference libraries are made
in various forms. In small open access libraries the barriers need only
be large enough to control the entrances and exits of readers.

[Illustration: FIG. 24.--West Islington Library, showing wicket.]

[Illustration: FIG. 25.--North Islington Staff Enclosure, Open Access
(Section 133).]

=133.= Lending library barriers for open access are planned in a variety
of ways to take charging trays, etc. The following are typical
illustrations of barriers or combined counters and screens specially
designed for open access libraries. The object of the glazed screen is
to protect the staff from draughts and the charging system from being
tampered with. The plans and views of open access barriers in Figs.
24-25 show the usual arrangement for ordinary purposes, and an imaginary
design for a library doing a very large business requiring three
assistants at each side is shown in Fig. 28. By means of this it would
be possible for six assistants, three at each side, to discharge and
charge books at the rate of 1400 per hour, a speed never required
anywhere.

For all practical purposes a barrier with two wickets on the entrance
side and one at the exit will serve for the largest single library in
existence (Fig. 27). The treadle latches such as are fitted in the open
access libraries of Croydon, Clerkenwell, Hornsey, Lambeth, Darwen,
Southport, etc., will be found well adapted for the purpose of
controlling the wickets of both single and double open access barriers
(Fig. 29).

[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Lambeth (Herne Hill) Branch Library Open Access
Barrier (Section 133).]

The chief objection to wickets hinged at one side is their tendency to
slam, no matter what kind of controlling springs or buffers are used. In
course of time every form of pneumatic or other spring loses its power,
and some effective form of noiseless turnstile or very light barrier on
rising butts would perhaps be an improvement. Where lending libraries
are isolated, the trouble is not so marked as in cases where they adjoin
reading rooms.

=134.= The plans already printed (Figs. 18-22) explain better than words
the form of counters best adapted for lending libraries using the
indicator system of issue.

The space for borrowers in front of an indicator ought not to be less
than four square feet per person likely to be present at one time, in
order to prevent crowding at busy times. Thus a town with 3000 borrowers
would have an average daily issue of about 300 volumes, which might
mean seventy-five people present at one time, counting companions, and
thus 300 square feet of borrowers’ lobby would be necessary as a
minimum; or a space 30 by 10 feet. It is not often, however, that one
finds lobbies planned on this desirable scale. The height of a counter
designed to carry an indicator should not exceed thirty inches, and the
top need not be more than eighteen inches wide. The length of the
counter will depend entirely upon the kind of indicator used, and
whether it is classified or not, or intended for all the stock or only
for fiction. The indicators most used all differ in size (see Section
386, etc.), and this factor must be taken into account in designing the
counter.

[Illustration: FIG. 27.--Croydon Central Library. Open Access Lending
Department, showing Double Wickets (Section 133).]

=135.= Sometimes a simple barrier is required in some kinds of reference
libraries to separate bookcases from reading rooms. This may be either
fixed or movable, and a good form can be constructed of ornamental
ironwork, surmounted by a polished oak or walnut rail, about four to six
inches wide, in the style of illustration (Fig. 30).

[Illustration: FIG. 28.--Triple Open-Access Barrier (Section 133).]

=136. Screens.=--In small libraries with a small staff it is often
possible to obtain complete oversight of nearly every department by
using glazed partitions or screens instead of opaque internal walls. In
cases where there is no roof weight to be supported this is a very good
arrangement, and is recommended for every building to which it can be
applied. When such partitions separate rooms, it is advisable to carry
them right up to the ceiling to exclude noise. In other situations, as
when dividing a room into two or more sections, the screens need not be
more than eight or nine feet high. Clear glass should be used
throughout, unless in the upper panels, for the sake of both oversight
and light.

[Illustration: FIG. 29.--Treadle Latch for Open Access Wicket (Section
133).]

[Illustration: FIG. 30.--Barrier for Dividing Rooms (Section 135).]

=137. Lifts.=--In large libraries with many floors, passenger or other
lifts for carrying heavy weights are desirable. In a building with two
or more floors, an ordinary lift for transporting parcels of books to
the extent of perhaps two hundredweights should be provided in a
convenient place, preferably against a wall. Such lifts should have
automatic brakes and simple raising and lowering mechanism; but an
electric motor will be found less noisy and easier to work than any
form of rope lift. In addition, it is often of greater service to have
small, quick-running lifts or tubes capable of carrying one to six
single books from floor to floor. In cases where lending library books
are issued for reading in the reading room, this is a very convenient
arrangement, and it also greatly facilitates the work of the staff by
enabling messages and small articles to be rapidly transferred from
place to place.

=138. Speaking Tubes and Telephones.=--Speaking tubes connecting every
department should be provided in all new buildings, if telephones have
not already been fixed. The telephone is much easier applied to an
existing building, as there is less cutting about of walls required. But
in new buildings speaking tubes can be provided quite easily, and they
are simpler to work and less liable to get out of order than telephones.
The telephone should be provided for every large public library, which
ought to be connected with the municipal offices, the telephone exchange
and its own branches. It is often possible for a public library to
obtain a sufficient service by having a wire from the town hall
switchboard to the library. The annual cost of this is only about
one-fourth of the regular exchange service. For a complicated internal
service of inter-communications, the telephone is much superior to
speaking tubes, as the switchboard system enables the user to
communicate with any department without the need of extra tubes.

=139. Miscellaneous.=--In some libraries accommodation for CYCLES is
provided outside the buildings, which is the proper place for such
machines, in view of their tendency to do damage when placed against
interior walls. In buildings which front busy main streets this kind of
accommodation cannot be provided unless there is a courtyard or similar
space in front. Some libraries which are infested by DOGS would be all
the better of some effective means of keeping such animals outside. No
doubt, if their owners were spoken to, they would agree to fasten them
to hooks or rails outside the building, if proper means were provided.

=140.= TURNSTILES for counting purposes are fitted up in several
libraries, as well as in most museums, art galleries, etc. They should
be placed in situations where their noisy clacking will not prove
disturbing, if they are used at all.

=141.= Good English CLOCKS, with conspicuous dials, should be placed in
every public room of a library. Where a number are provided, it is
better to specify electrically controlled or synchronized clocks, which
keep uniform time and are much less troublesome than ordinary self-wound
clocks. Libraries should have a supply of small THERMOMETERS
distributed and fixed throughout the rooms as a check upon the internal
temperature, and it is a useful thing to provide a barometer as well.
Bold visible CALENDARS are also desirable in every department.

=142= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, J. D. Furniture. _See his_ Library Appliances, p. 12.

Burgoyne, F. J. Furniture and Appliances. _See his_ Library
Architecture, pp. 73-127.

Carr, H. J. Fixtures, Furniture and Fittings. U.S. Educ. Rept.,
1892-1893, vol. i., p. 733.

Champneys, A. L. Public Libraries, 1907. Batsford.

For articles, see Cannons, E 24-D 47, Library Appliances and Supplies.

CHAPTER XI

SHELVING AND ACCESSORIES

=143.= The chief requirements of book-shelving are accessibility and
adjustability. All authorities on library architecture are agreed that
high shelves are an obstruction to quick service, and a danger to books,
by placing them in a vitiated atmosphere with a comparatively high
temperature. The old-fashioned wall-cases, twelve or fifteen feet high,
which could only be reached by means of long ladders, are no longer
recommended or installed, because of the labour they place upon the
staff, their danger, and the fact that all the books on the upper
shelves are not only inaccessible, but liable to a certain amount of
harm. Modern librarians prefer to enlarge their floor area for the
purpose of book-storage, and to provide wall and standard bookcases
which are within easy reach of the floor, thus placing the entire stock
at the command of both staff and readers without the labour or danger of
climbing long ladders. It may be said, generally, that high wall-shelves
should never be provided, unless with the provision of an iron gallery
half-way up, which can be reached by means of stairs.

=144.= The question of adjustability is just as important as
get-at-ability. In every method or appliance which is introduced for
library, or, indeed, any other work, the great principle of movability
or adjustability should be preferred to fixity. The power of moving or
changing without altering the character or shape of anything is of
enormous advantage in every operation, and a very good illustration of
the application of this power is furnished by the card catalogue, with
its infinite capacity for expansion in every direction. Book-shelves
should be as mobile as cards in their own way, and should be so
adjustable that a new shelf can be introduced or an existing one removed
at any point where such a course is possible. The only advantage which
fixed wooden shelves possess is that of comparative cheapness, but this
is an advantage which, in a short time, is completely swallowed up in
the inconveniences which arise through the impossibility of placing
books of varying sizes in strict classified order on the shelves.
Besides a great sacrifice of vertical space in some places, it will be
found in a rapidly growing library that the carefully gauged shelves, at
eight, nine, ten, or twelve inches apart, in every tier, cannot be made
to contain all the books which ought to go on these shelves in their
order. The day comes when the eight-and-a-half or nine-and-a-half inch
book arrives which must go on the eight or nine inch shelf, and, because
there is no means of making a slight adjustment, such books must either
be shelved out of their order, or placed on their fore-edges. If such
shelves are arranged throughout a library at a distance of ten inches
apart to provide for contingencies, they will take all sizes up to demy
8vo, but at a great sacrifice of space, especially in the fiction
shelves, where most of the books average about seven and a half inches.
Any attempt at varying the distances between shelves in every tier will
lead to confusion in a strictly classified library. On the other hand,
liberal spacing will result in the loss of a shelf in every tier,
thereby reducing the total storage space by about one-eighth or
one-ninth, according to the number of shelves in a tier. The balance of
advantage lies, with movable forms of shelving, and it is strongly
recommended that no other kind be specified or ordered.

=145.= The following diagrams give the usual dimensions for ordinary
standard and wall bookcases, and may be taken as the unit from which a
library stack can be built up according to any plan of arrangement. Fig.
31 represents a double-sized standard iron bookcase, 7 feet 6 inches × 3
feet 2 inches × 15 inches, which can be joined end to end to form cases
of any length, or used in halves to form cases against walls.

Exactly the same dimensions can be used with wooden presses fitted with
adjustable brackets or catches. In reference libraries the dimensions
may be slightly varied, as the average book which must be stored is
rather larger than in lending libraries. But the chief provision for
folio and large quarto books should be in special cases arranged round
the walls, and it is well to have presses intended for music and quartos
fitted with uprights about eighteen inches apart, in order to
distribute the weight of the books and facilitate their handling.

[Illustration: FIG. 31.--Double Bay Standard Metal Bookcase (Section
145)].

=146.= For standard reference cases the unit of size should be 7 feet 6
inches × 3 feet 2 inches × 18 inches. Special wall-cases should be the
same height, but should have an arrangement for large books in the form
of a ledged base projecting at least six inches from the front of the
upper part of the case, about three feet above the floor (Fig. 32).

=147. Adjustable Shelf Fittings.=--The old-fashioned varieties of shelf
adjustments for wooden bookcases, such as pegs fitting into holes
drilled in the uprights, one and a half or two inches apart, wooden or
metal ratchets for carrying bars or rods for supporting the shelves, and
similar devices, may be dismissed as unsuitable for modern library
purposes. The best-known adjustment is that known as Tonks’, from the
name of its patentee. It consists of metal strips, with perforations at
inch intervals, let into grooves in the uprights, and designed to carry
the shelves on four metal studs or catches, which engage in the slots or
perforations. This method requires very careful fitting, as the grooves
in the woodwork must be deep and smooth enough to admit the catches, and
each metal strip must be accurately inserted so that the slots will come
level not only with those adjoining, but with those on the opposite
upright. The least carelessness in fitting will cause shelves to rock
and buckle, because not supported by catches all at one level. The
illustration on page 145 (Fig. 33) will show exactly the form of this
fitting. It consists of: shelf supported on standard; perforated metal
slip and stud; and groove in wooden standard.

[Illustration: FIG. 32.--Wooden Wall Case with Lodged Base (Section
146).]

It should be noted that this variety of shelf fitting does not give
absolute adjustability, but only a movement of about an inch up or down,
as may be required. Smaller adjustments are impossible by this or any
other similar system.

=148.= There are various other methods of fixed shelf adjustments for
wooden bookcases, English, American and German, but none of them possess
any particular advantage over Tonks’ variety.

Absolute adjustability in shelf fittings, as applied to wooden cases,
has been obtained in the English method, to be seen at various libraries
in England. There are also various American systems.

Both of these forms are similar in principle to the absolute adjustments
described under Section 149, but the English system was the first to be
patented, and therefore ranks as the pioneer of this type of shelf
fitting.

[Illustration: FIG. 33.--Wooden Shelf Adjustment (Section 147).]

=149. Metal Bookcases with Absolute Shelf Adjustments.=--The best and
most used English variety of metal bookcase with absolute shelf
adjustment is that which has been installed in the public libraries of
Worcester, Shoreditch, Huddersfield, Lambeth, Perth, the Patent Office
Library, London, Islington and elsewhere. It consists, as shown in Figs.
31, 34 and 35, of strong steel uprights, in which are formed continuous
grooves, which carry and support shelf brackets designed to grip at any
point by automatic means. These brackets will slide up and down the
uprights to any point, while a small controlling lever is depressed, but
the moment this is released the bracket will become firmly fixed in
place, and will remain there till again moved, whatever weight may be
placed upon the shelf which it supports. These brackets can be pushed up
without touching the controlling lever, and will always grip at the
point where they are left. To push them down, the controlling arm must
be depressed as already described. The shelves for this type of case may
be either metal or wood, but probably good oak shelves will be found as
satisfactory as any. Standard cases made in the dimensions given in
Section 145 are usually divided down the middle, at the back of each set
of shelves, by means of a wire-work grill. This does not obstruct
oversight, light or air, yet serves to prevent books on one face of the
standard from being accidentally or otherwise transferred to the
opposite face. There are points of safety, convenience and adjustability
about metal bookcases which make them preferable to all other forms.

[Illustration: FIG. 34.--Details of Lambert’s Adjustable Metal Shelving
(Section 149).]

=150.= A special form of this type of metal bookcase has been designed
for book-storage in small spaces, and as applied to the India Office
Library, London, and Bodleian Library, Oxford, has been found convenient
and economical. The same shelf adjustment is used, but the presses
instead of resting on the floor are swung from iron girders, so as to
slide easily whenever wanted. These presses are swung closely side by
side and drawn out, one at a time, as required.

A somewhat similar plan for increasing the storage capacity was
introduced into the British Museum many years ago, the chief difference
being that the sliding presses go face to face with the existing
standards, one here and there, instead of in solid rows as at the India
Office.

[Illustration: FIG. 35.--Metal Shelving, Patent Office Library, London
(Section 149).]

=151.= It is not proposed to describe every variety of iron or metal
bookcase which has been introduced, such as the Library Bureau, Smith,
Lawrence, Cotgreave, etc., and it will be sufficient to mention that in
Britain, Germany and America there are several interesting forms used.

=152. Special Bookcases.=--In Section 146 a form of special wall-case is
described which is suitable for storing folio and quarto volumes. In
very large libraries it may be necessary to provide additional storage
space for bound files of newspapers, extra large folios and prints.
Files of newspapers can be stored in a special form of double rack, as
illustrated in Fig. 36. As small libraries will bind only the files of
local papers, the provision by them of shelves for this purpose need not
be a very serious matter.

=153.= Large folio volumes are best kept flat on sliding trays or
shelves. When they are kept upright they are very apt to suffer through
the heavy leaves sagging and dragging at the binding. Valuable folios
should always be kept in flat positions. A suitable method of storage is
to provide a large double-sided case, with a sloping top, which can be
used for consulting the books. The shelves should be arranged to slide
out and in on runners, and each shelf may have a brass handle on its
fore-edge to enable it to be easily pulled out. The dimensions of such a
case will depend upon the number of folios to be stored and their size,
but the following illustration (Fig. 37) will be found suitable for all
ordinary purposes.

[Illustration: FIG. 36.--Rack for Bound Newspapers (Section 152).]

This case will store about 150 to 200 folio volumes, according to their
thickness, which is ample space for all ordinary municipal public
libraries. The shelves of this case should be covered on their upper
surfaces with leather or thick cloth. A similar style of rack can be
used for storing large collections of prints, the only difference being
that the prints would be kept in special boxes as described in Section
307, which would take the place of volumes.

=154.= In calculating the number of volumes which can be shelved in a
given space, the following general rules will be found fairly
accurate:--

Nine lending library books will occupy one foot run of space.

Eight reference library books will occupy one foot run of space.

Allowance must be made, in calculating from plans, for the space
occupied by uprights, etc., and care must be taken to reckon dwarf
bookcases only according to their capacity. If nine inches are allowed
as the average height of books, which will give eight shelves to a tier
seven feet six inches high, excluding cornices, plinth or thickness of
shelves, then a single-sided case of the dimensions shown in Section 146
will store 216 volumes in a lending library and about 192 in a reference
library. A double-sided case will hold 432 and 384 volumes respectively.

[Illustration: FIG. 37.--Section and Elevation of Case for Large Folio
Books (Section 153).]

=155. Racks for Filing.=--Wooden racks or iron-pipe racks may be used
for a variety of purposes, such as storing unbound newspapers and
periodicals, pamphlets, and all kinds of loose papers or bundles. Such
racks are best made in a light, open form, so as to reduce the
collection of dust to a minimum, while admitting air and light freely.

=156. Galleries.=--Galleries of iron are sometimes added to reference
libraries and in other departments to provide a means of reaching high
wall-shelves, and also to give additional accommodation for storage.
They are a feature of the large stack rooms of American libraries,
wherein the books are all massed together, gallery above gallery and
tier above tier. Unless there is some very strong reason, architectural
or otherwise, galleries should be avoided in every public library where
rapid service of readers is necessary. Save for storing little-used
stock, galleries are not recommended in any situation, unless the
pressure for book space is very great. When galleries must be provided,
care should be taken to provide adequate approaches. If a straight
staircase is out of the question, a circular iron one should be
provided, wide enough to enable an assistant to go up or down
comfortably with an armful of books. In some libraries the circular iron
staircases are more like exaggerated corkscrews than proper means of
getting up and down from a gallery or floor. It is much better to have
stairways in a single flight, which will allow of two persons passing
each other, and for this purpose they ought to be at least three feet
wide.

In libraries with bookcases of the uniform height of seven feet six
inches, long ladders will be unnecessary, but in cases where they must
be used, step ladders are preferable to rung ones. A light form of step
ladder which is used in many public libraries and shops is illustrated
(Fig. 38). For all practical purposes this ladder will be found ample.

[Illustration: FIG. 38.--Lattice-work Steps (Section 156).]

[Illustration: FIG. 39.--Short Steps for Low Shelves (Section 156).]

Short steps for enabling the upper shelves of seven foot six inch cases
to be scanned easily are made in various forms, some being folding and
others fixed. The variety as illustrated (Fig. 39) will be found useful.

[Illustration: FIG. 40.--Continuous Wooden Step and Handles, Hornsey
Central Library (Section 157).]

=157.= In some open access libraries it has been found advisable, in
cases where the top shelves are out of reach, to provide a continuous
fixed step of wood or iron at the base of each bookcase, to enable
readers to reach the upper shelves without using movable steps of the
sort figured above. A strong, wide iron rail projecting about four
inches or six inches from the case, about nine inches or twelve inches
above the ground, has been found useful, especially when associated with
a handle fastened to the upright at a convenient height above. The
illustration (Fig. 40) will give an idea of such a continuous step and
handle applied in wood.

[Illustration: FIG. 41.--Spring Step for Bookcases (Section 158).]

=158.= Detached steps secured to the uprights of bookcases, combined
with handles, are very often used for staff purposes in place of the
ordinary movable wooden steps or ladders. There is one form with an
automatic adjustment which enables the step to spring up flat against
the upright out of the way when not wanted as figured in illustration
(Fig. 41). It is not necessary to fit this into the uprights, and to
cut away the woodwork in order to let it into its place. There is still
another variety, used at Hull, Kilmarnock, etc., which is always in
position for use, but which also possesses an automatic adjustment
enabling it to be brushed aside harmlessly by anyone passing, and to
return to its “ready” position at once. This form can be attached to any
ordinary wooden upright by means of screws, without cutting away or
fitting. The handle supplied with this has a superior shape and grip
(Fig. 42).

[Illustration: FIG. 42.--Swinging Step and Improved Handle (Section
158).]

CHAPTER XII

FURNITURE

=159.= The effect of shabby fittings and furniture on the minds of
visitors is not such as will tend to the promotion of discipline, nor
will it instil respect for the library into the minds of ratepayers and
readers. A fine building, appropriately fitted up, will not only impress
the average visitor, but it will cause the citizens to take pride in the
library as a civic institution. A fine building shabbily fitted up
inside will probably have quite a different effect. While a strong
distinction is to be drawn between luxury and propriety in such matters,
a much better purpose will be served by procuring good and substantial
fittings and furniture than by wasting on extravagant exteriors most of
the money available for building.

[Illustration: FIG. 43.--Two-sided Desk Topped Table (Section 160).]

=160. Reading Tables.=--For general reading rooms the tables should not
be too long, nor, if readers are to sit on both sides, too narrow. A
table to accommodate, say, eight persons, four on each side, should be
8 feet long × 3 feet wide × 32 inches high. The rails of reading-room
tables should not be made so deep as to interfere with the comfort of
persons using them, and cross rails connecting the table legs near the
floor level should never be used, as these only serve as foot-rests. A
certain number of tables should be made with desk or sloping tops, as
shown in illustration (Fig. 43). Oak, walnut or other hard woods should
be used for library furniture. Pitch pine is not recommended, as it
invariably splits as the resin dries out.

[Illustration: FIG. 44.--British Museum Reading Table with Desk and Rack
(Section 161).]

[Illustration: FIG. 45.--Reference Room Table (Section 161).]

=161.= In reference libraries, especially in those designed for students
with open access to the shelves, quite a liberal space should be
allowed. It has not hitherto been the practice, save in large libraries
like the British Museum, to give reference readers as much table room
as is desirable, nor to give students the amount of isolation which they
require. The general policy has been to seat readers at long tables and
separate them from their opposite neighbours by means of a screen, as is
done at the British Museum, and in libraries like the Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York. This method, which is depicted in Fig. 44,
gives a certain amount of seclusion, but it does not provide a
sufficiency of room for books and materials. Then, of course, no
municipal library can hope to compete with the British Museum in the
provision of expensive furniture. To ensure that each student reader
will obtain a liberal share of room, combined with comfort and
isolation, a system of separate tables in the form illustrated (Fig. 45)
is strongly recommended, or some way which will secure the same
accommodation. The plan of making the table the unit of space instead
of the readers will automatically solve the problem of how much room to
give each reader.

[Illustration: FIG. 46.--Periodical Rack on Elevated Platform (Section
162).]

The table illustrated (Fig. 45) gives the following accommodation:--

Six square feet of free table-top with a sunk ink-well.

A back board six inches or nine inches high to prevent overlooking by
neighbours, and provide space for ruler and pen racks, shelves, clips,
etc.

A sloping writing desk can be added if required.

Shelves under the table for holding extra books, materials or an
overcoat.

An extension slide to pull out and form a book-rest or supplementary
table for papers.

In addition, if space permits, an umbrella holder can be fitted to the
left-hand support of the table, so that each reader will be isolated
and self-contained.

=162. Periodicals, Tables and Racks.=--The question of the methods of
displaying periodicals and magazines is discussed in Chapter XXXI., and
it is not necessary to consider the matter of policy here. Various kinds
of tables have been designed for displaying magazines in covers in a
fixed place, and for simply enabling them to be easily read in the
ordinary way. Where periodicals are kept in racks, tables in the forms
described in Section 160 will be found sufficient. In cases where the
tables have to perform the combined function of racks and tables, other
arrangements are necessary. There are many forms of rack-table, but only
three need be described. The first, which is used in several large
libraries, provides a large elevated rack above the table-top, on which
the periodicals are placed, so as to free as much as possible of the
table surface for readers. This is illustrated (Fig. 46).

[Illustration: FIG. 47.--Periodical Rack on Table Top (Section 163).]

In this form of table-rack the periodicals are not fastened to their
places, and, owing to the varied sizes of the periodicals in an elevated
position, they give a somewhat untidy appearance to a room.

=163.= A less conspicuous form, and one equally effective, dispenses
with the elevated platform, and the rack simply rests upon the table-top
as illustrated (Fig. 47). If necessary, the periodicals can be fastened
to the rack by means of cords or chains encased in rubber or leathern
thongs, and the contents of each table can be displayed upon an
adjustable titles list in the form described in Section 474, fastened to
the ends of the rack.

[Illustration: FIG. 48.--Reading Table with Partition for Titles
(Section 164).]

=164.= A remarkably effective form of periodical table, which has a
separate place and title for each, is shown in Fig. 48.

This makes effective division between readers seated on opposite sides
of the table, and tends to prevent conversation and the interchange of
periodicals. The periodicals can be fixed by means of chains or cords
if thought necessary. At Wolverhampton, Islington, Hammersmith, Croydon
and other places this plan of “tethering” magazines is adopted.

=165.= Periodical racks are made in a large variety of forms, and the
following illustrations are typical of most of the devices used (Figs.
49 and 50). Another kind often seen is the “Cotgreave.”

[Illustration: FIG. 49.--Periodical Rack with Magazines Resting on
Narrow Shelf (Section 162).]

A smaller rack for railway time-tables is illustrated on p. 162 (Fig.
51).

=166. Reading Easels.=--In connexion with these special tables,
book-stands or easels for keeping a number of books open at once will be
found useful. It often happens that a student desires to compare his
authorities, and an easy means of keeping several books open at a given
place is necessary. The book easels shown below are the best form yet
devised. Fig. 52, which is made entirely of metal, has the advantage of
leaving the table surface practically free and unobstructed, while the
automatic means provided for keeping books open at any place,
irrespective of the number of leaves, is of great utility.

[Illustration: FIG. 50.--Rack for Odd or Occasional Periodicals,
Finsbury Public Library (Section 165).]

Fig. 53, constructed of wood, is also a light useful article, but as it
rests the book close to the table surface more obstruction is caused,
while the leaf-holders are not automatically adjusting.

There are various other forms of wooden reading easels, but they are
light articles designed to fold up, and will not carry large reference
books with any great degree of security.

=167. Chairs.=--There is such an immense variety of library chairs that
the chief difficulty becomes that of selection. A strong chair with a
saddle seat fixed to a special rail instead of direct to the legs is
best, and in all ordinary situations arm-chairs are preferable, as they
give an automatic spacing of elbow-room which renders calculation
unnecessary. It is wise, however, to avoid a very wide arm-chair, and to
use small chairs only if space is limited to two feet per reader.

[Illustration: FIG. 51.--Railway Time-table Rack (Section 165).]

[Illustration: FIG. 52.--Metal Reading Easel (Section 166).]

[Illustration: FIG. 53.--Wooden Reading Easel (Section 166).]

=168.= Where the space between tables is very restricted the chairs
should be fastened to the floor, so that there can be no blocking of
gangways. One plan is that adopted at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow,
North Library, Fulham, and elsewhere, of having revolving arm-chairs
mounted on pedestals secured to the floor. These have the one great
disadvantage of being non-adjustable. Readers cannot pull them a little
forward or push them back, and thus such fixed chairs have the defect of
all fixed things--they cannot be moved to suit varying conditions.
Another form for a crowded situation is a small strong chair of good
design anchored to the floor by means of a stout cord (Fig. 54). Each
chair has a stout staple screwed under the seat in the centre, and a
similar staple is screwed into the floor at a suitable distance from the
table front, and corresponding in situation with the staple in the chair
seat when placed in position. Lengths of stout window cord are then cut
and provided with swivel hooks at either end, which are fastened to the
staples on the floor and on the seat, allowing a sufficient length of
cord to admit of a fair amount of play and movement when anchored. On
granolithic or other cement or concrete floors, fixed chairs cannot be
used readily.

This kind of anchorage allows of a chair being moved backwards, forwards
or sideways, and readers can get to and from their seats without
trouble. Arm-chairs are not recommended for this style of fastening.

All kinds of chairs should be shod with rubber or leather pads to deaden
the noise of movement on the floor. There are several varieties of such
pads to be obtained from furnishing firms.

[Illustration: FIG. 54.--Chair with Anchorage Attachment (Section 168).]

=169.= Hat rails of metal or wood are sometimes provided under all
chairs--a very necessary provision in wet weather. The Continental
system of uncovering the head when entering public buildings is not yet
very common in the United Kingdom, but readers should certainly be
encouraged to do so by having the means of bestowing their headgear
placed easily at hand. General hat, coat and umbrella stands or racks
are not popular in public libraries, and need not, as a rule, be
provided. But some kind of hat and umbrella holders should certainly be
provided in connexion with the chairs. A very good combination arm-chair
is shown in the accompanying illustration (Fig. 55). This provides hat
and umbrella accommodation, and may also have attached to the left, or
both arms, a folding wire-work drop holder, in which to place completed
papers, light books or other articles not wanted to litter the table-top
(Fig. 56). Of course, such chairs with these additional accessories
could only be used in situations where there was plenty of room. In many
cases umbrella rails are attached to every table, and this is usually
the best plan.

=170.= Every library should buy more chairs than are required. This will
enable the chairs to be removed for cleaning purposes in batches of a
dozen or more, their places being taken by the spare ones. This will
prevent the seating accommodation from being reduced during any cleaning
operations.

=171. Desks.=--For staff purposes ordinary school desks will be found
ample. These are provided with side flaps and a locking compartment. A
Canadian form with shelves and a lock-up desk flap, with pigeon holes,
suitable for going against a wall, is a useful type of desk for
assistants doing a special class of work, as the desk flap can be locked
back out of the way, and so protect the papers or work.

[Illustration: FIG. 55.--Chair with Hat Rail and Umbrella Holder
(Section 169).]

[Illustration: FIG. 56.--Chair with Folding Tray or Shelf (Section
169).]

=172.= For large libraries, where an elevated superintendent’s desk is
necessary, the combined desk and drawer cabinet used in the Mitchell
Library, Glasgow, has many advantages.

=173. Lecture Room.=--Furniture and fittings for children’s departments
and lecture rooms require special consideration. The former are dealt
with in Division XIII. In the lecture room the principal fittings are
the platform and the fittings connected with the use of the lantern.
Platforms should be wide, and should be as long as it is possible to
make them having regard to economy of space in the room. A height of
three feet is suitable, and the structure should be solid, so that it
may not echo or squeak beneath the tread, and a covering of some
sound-deadening material--thick cork-lino or cocoanut-matting--is
desirable. A counter or fixed table running along the front has been
found useful, and to this water, gas, and similar fittings may be
connected for use in science lectures; but this counter is not usually
required, and it may obstruct the screen and will certainly prevent the
use of the platform for dramatic and similar representations for which a
clear stage is necessary. Green baize hangings as a background and front
curtains of this material are very effective for several purposes. The
platform should so be placed that it can be reached by the lecturers
without the necessity of passing through the audience.

For lantern screen there is nothing better than a smooth wall finished
off in flat white, but where this is impossible a rigid is preferable to
a rolling screen as giving a surface free from folds and kinks. Screens
should be kept perfectly clean, as dirt injures the effect of slides
incalculably. The lantern itself should be of the electric arc variety,
as being easy to manage and always ready with little delay, especially
where the “direct” electric current is available. It is best installed
in a room outside, or a gallery closed in from, the lecture room, the
projection being made through an opening. An electric signal which
provides at the platform a push for the use of the lecturer, and sounds
a “buzzer” or flashes a small lamp in the operator’s apartment, is
probably the best form of lantern signal.

The chairs in lecture rooms should be as comfortable as means will
allow, and should be fitted with rubber tips to ensure quiet. Quiet
floor coverings should be used in the room, and, indeed, all fittings
and furniture should produce that ease of body which will allow the mind
to occupy itself exclusively with what is going on upon the platform.

DIVISION VI

BOOK SELECTION AND ACCESSION

CHAPTER XIII

BOOK SELECTION

=174. General Principles.=--Although a great number of articles and
papers have been written upon the subject of book selection, there still
seems room for some remarks upon the general question from a standpoint
somewhat different from the ordinary. Most of the articles which have
come under notice deal with the mere routine of book selection--how to
systematize the ordering of books; the work connected with preparing
them for public use; the bibliographical side; the question of
duplicating popular books; and other more or less mechanical aspects of
the matter. The philosophy of book selection and questions connected
with the policy of building up libraries have rarely been considered.

=175. The first point which occurs is the connexion between a library’s
income and its book-purchasing power. As, by law established, most
British library incomes are strictly limited, it follows that a similar
limitation must govern the supply of books, and that only a _selection_
of new books can be procured, old and out-of-print books taking their
chance. The very largest rate-supported libraries are bound by this
limitation to buy only a selection from the immense mass of books
annually published, and, even if such purchases amount to several
thousands of volumes, they represent only a _selection_. The smaller
libraries must of necessity make a selection within a selection, and it
follows that, in all cases of libraries supported by small incomes or
burdened by heavy charges for the repayment of loans or other purposes,
the selection must be carefully made if it is to be representative of
all that is best in ancient and modern literature. Another factor which
enters into the matter need only be mentioned in order to be dismissed:
that is the obvious unsuitability of a very large proportion of the
books annually published because of their form (pamphlets and tracts),
subject-matter (school-books, bibles, etc.), or special nature (local
lists, reissues, directories, etc.).

=176.= The fund available in most public libraries for the purchase of
books can be made the basis for a rough calculation showing at what rate
libraries of different sizes should grow. By reference to the tables in
Section 31 it will be found that the sum which can be annually expended
on books is limited in libraries of all sizes, and that the annual
additions must of necessity follow the same limitation.

=177.= The annual production of new publications in the United Kingdom
may be taken at about 10,620 volumes, including everything, and the
number of new books in this total may be averaged at about 8300 volumes.
It will thus be seen that the British municipal libraries must be
_selectors_ rather than _collectors_ of books, because the income of no
one of them is equal to buying more than a proportion of the 8300 new
books published annually in Britain alone. Some English public
libraries, because of their accumulations of old, useless and effete
books, resemble gardens choked with weeds; and their efficiency is
clogged by the necessity for storing and caring for books which are of
no value or interest. The presence of such books in a modern library
hinders effective use and administration, because they occupy space
urgently wanted for more useful modern books; they add enormously to the
cost of cataloguing and charging; and in other ways they use up the
resources of the library without adding to its public utility.

=178.= It may be taken as a somewhat strong statement, that there are
not more than 50,000 books, excluding duplicates of popular works and
those in more than one volume, worthy of preservation in any public
municipal library. The truth is that, of real, living works of literary
and human interest, there are perhaps not more than 20,000 in the
English language, but the larger figure is preferred in order to cover
the world’s literary output fully. Let anyone who doubts this try to
compile a list of even 5000 books of permanent literary or other
interest, in order to find what a difficult task it is. No doubt the
difficulty of selection is the main reason why some public libraries
grow up in a haphazard way, because it is a work which demands not only
persevering industry, but an encyclopædic knowledge of literature and
the contents of books. Nevertheless, this difficulty of selection, and
the limitation of the field of selection, are powerful reasons why
municipal libraries should abandon the museum or storage ideal, and go
boldly for making the workshop or practical utility ideal the one most
worthy of realization. In Chapter VIII. it has already been pointed out
to what extent British libraries have fostered indiscriminate
collecting, often at the expense of efficiency, while the workshop plan
of library has been comparatively neglected. Even if municipal libraries
had unlimited resources, the wisdom of indiscriminate collecting would
be doubtful; especially as many special libraries are doing the work.
Specialization should be the watchword of the future, owing to the
enormous literary activity of recent times, and the branch of
specialization which public libraries should adopt is careful
_selection_ of books and equally careful _rejection_ of all which have
outlived their day and purpose, or become “dull, stale and
unprofitable.” Public library buildings should be erected, not on the
principle of storing as many books as can possibly be collected in fifty
years’ time, but of restricting the book accommodation to the reasonable
limits which careful selection and cautious discarding will fix, and
increasing the space available for readers, and giving them only the
very best literature, imaginative or instructive, that the world has to
offer.

=179.= It is a hazardous undertaking to lay down any particular rules
for the formation of a British municipal library, and especially to
state what proportions each class of literature should assume. Equally
futile is it to take any figure as the average price which each volume
in a library should cost. Although 4s. 5d. has been adopted as an
average price, this must only be regarded as a mere basis for a
calculation which simply aims at being a suggestion. Practically every
public library differs in its needs according to its income and the
special industries and character of the people in the town where it is
situated.

=180.= Attempts have been made at various times by different authorities
to lay down the proportions of every class of literature which should be
represented in public libraries. The following figures are given for
what they are worth, and not by any means as a hard and fast guide to be
followed:--

PERCENTAGES OF CLASSES OF LITERATURE REPRESENTED IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES,
ETC.

Class 000 General Works 3
100 Philosophy 4
200 Religion 5
300 Sociology 7
400 Philology 4
500 Science 9
600 Useful Arts 9
700 Fine and Recreative Arts 7
800 Literature 28
900 History 8
Biography 8
Travel 8
---
100

There are one or two changes which modern practice will make probable in
these percentages, such as increases in the percentages of classes 5-7
and a decrease in class 8. The attention now bestowed upon technical
education and the universal provision of music texts will almost
inevitably increase these classes at the expense of some other classes.

=181.= Imaginative literature rightly takes first place in the
representation of classes, and when made up of Prose Fiction, Poetry,
Music and Painting, accounts for about 33 per cent. of the whole.
Although Bacon in his classification of human knowledge places
Imagination as represented by Poetry at the end of his scheme, thereby,
perhaps, indicating his opinion of its comparative importance, there can
be no doubt that as regards popularity, importance and longevity it
easily maintains first place in the minds and hearts of a majority of
the human race. Whose are the great names in literature? The
philosophers, or historians, or scientists? None of these. The
story-teller, the song-writer, the singer and the artist completely
overshadow all other kinds of literary and scientific genius, and
monopolize a foremost position of honour among mankind, because, after
all, they are the greatest teachers as well as the most capable
entertainers. Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Cervantes, Molière,
Balzac, Hugo, Scott, Dickens, Fielding, Thackeray, Burns, Byron, Milton,
Beethoven, Handel, Wagner, Titian, Raphael, Turner, Rembrandt, and so on
in endless variety, are infinitely greater and more treasured names to
thousands of human beings than any of the exponents of more formal and
exact knowledge. The story-teller and the singer will be remembered long
after philosophies, and systems of history and science are as mouldering
and forgotten as the ruins of ancient Babylon. The great majority of the
people of all nations will much rather sing with the singers than chop
logic with the philosophers, and this is at once a reason and
justification for imaginative literature occupying the leading place in
all public libraries. It has become the fashion for a certain section of
librarians, a few public men and a considerable number of newspapers, to
lament in doleful accents the popularity and preponderance of fiction
reading in all kinds of lending libraries. But surely Fiction, as the
most hardy and flourishing form of literary endeavour, which has been
built up by the contributions of some of the greatest minds of all
nations, cannot be denied its rightful place because certain
narrow-minded persons think it fashionable to denounce the whole policy
of public libraries? Whether they choose to do so or not matters very
little, since it is quite evident that imaginative literature is going
to survive, whatever happens, as it has done with extraordinary strength
and vitality, through ages of change and destruction; while
philosophical, political and social systems have appeared and
disappeared in endless procession. This is a reason why imaginative
literature should occupy a foremost place in public libraries, and the
theory of the survival of the fittest is amply proved by the vitality of
prose fiction, poetry and music, which entitles them to receive the
attention due to their importance in the regard of mankind.

=182. Best Books.=--A live library, in addition to the literary classics
in all departments, should only select the best and most popular books.
The question of selecting only the very best, or only what is in great
demand, should be compromised by always getting the best, with a
selection of the most popular, subject to the understanding that the
latter are to be discarded when their day is past. Every movement which
stirs the public mind and imagination produces a great crop of books,
but only a very small proportion of these survive or are worthy of
preservation. No one can argue against a moderate supply of such works
at the time when public interest is aroused, but objection may be raised
to the more ephemeral books of this kind being preserved long after all
interest in their subjects has waned. If a municipal library founded in
1750, and steadily collecting for 156 years, could be found, its
contents would be composed of enormous quantities of dead and forgotten
theology, history, biography, science, fiction and every other class,
which would not excite the slightest interest in the minds of five
persons in a thousand. The skimmings of such a library would no doubt be
valuable, and a fair proportion of it of interest and use to present-day
readers, but the bulk of it would be of no practical service to anyone.

=183.= The general public is comparatively indifferent to
bibliographical rarities, and books which are merely curious or scarce
should not be bought from the present restricted funds of British
municipal libraries. There is a certain advantage in making a small
special collection, on the museum plan, to trace and illustrate the
evolution and history of printing and book production from the original
manuscript forms, but the general connection of incunabula and rare
specimens of typography by modern municipal libraries is neither
possible nor desirable. There is infinitely more wisdom in spending £50
in a selection of modern works on technical subjects, which would be of
immense service to living persons, than in spending the same amount in
the purchase of a single rare Bible which will only appeal to a few
students of typography. Books must not be regarded as an investment on
which a profit can be made by a sale at some future date, because books
of bibliographical rarity and much monetary value bought from public
funds must remain public property, inalienable for all time. The books
bought for a public library should rather be regarded as machinery or
plant, to be renewed when necessary and kept thoroughly abreast of the
times.

=184.= Returning to the question of buying and preserving books of
temporary interest. There are hundreds of subjects which in their day
have excited great public interest, and in connexion with which an
enormous literature exists, but which have faded into comparative
insignificance with the lapse of time. Take subjects like the Jacobite
Rebellions, French Revolution, American Civil War, the Slavery
controversy, Crimean War or Disruption of the Church of Scotland. Every
one of these subjects was represented in its day by cart-loads of books
and pamphlets, but the whole of these have been sifted and epitomized by
later historians in works of permanent value, and municipal libraries
can simply buy these, and leave the preservation of the contemporary
literature, which ranks as original authorities, to the care of the
special libraries which exist for the purpose. The literature of the
Boer War is a case in point, as also is much of the literature of the
Great European War of 1914-1919 already. It is necessary for public
libraries, while public interest is keen, to select the best, or what
may seem best, from the mass of material pouring from the press, but
presently all this will be condensed into a few classics, giving in a
comprehensive and sufficient manner every fact of the slightest interest
to posterity, and then all the ephemeral works can be discarded in their
favour. What remains of any particular interest to students, or even
ordinary readers, from the huge literature which arose from the Crimean
War? Only Kinglake and perhaps two popular illustrated books. The same
holds good with all subjects which have created immense contemporary
literatures, and there need not be the slightest compunction about
discarding any book when its usefulness is past unless it takes rank as
a valuable original authority. At a later stage some suggestions on book
discarding or library weeding are given, which may prove helpful.

=185.= Book selection should be conducted upon the sound principle of
buying only the best representative works on all subjects, whatever may
be their cost or place of origin. A more haphazard and ineffectual
method of building up a public library than buying cheap series and
libraries of reprints can hardly be imagined. It is almost equivalent to
advising a committee to buy cheap books by the yard in order to fill the
shelves, and let the proper representation of great subjects depend on
chance. Books published in “series” or “libraries” are too often mere
commercial ventures of small literary or other value; and in the case of
editions of standard authors, such uniform series are often the worst
form in which a poet or novelist can be presented to a reader. They are
full of errors and omissions, and whether the series is devoted to art,
science, literature or history, it may be taken for granted that they
are simply temporary text-books which possess the doubtful advantage of
being bound uniformly, and the undoubted disadvantage of being often
uniformly erroneous and misleading. Of course this statement does not
apply all round, because there are several well-known series of works of
quite exceptional value. Connected with this a word may be permitted on
the nationality of text-books. Patriotism in literature and library
management may be a fine thing, but it must occasionally lead to sorry
results in a public library. The best and most recent scientific works,
whether on biology, geology or any other subject, should be bought
without regard to the nationality of the authors.

=186. Popular Books.=--The duplication of popular or temporarily popular
books is a policy to be adopted with the greatest of care. In some
libraries the plan of multiplying copies of every book which becomes
fashionable is carried to such an extreme that some injury must be done
to the general work of the library by unduly fostering one class of
literature at the expense of all the other classes. The practice of
adding six or more copies of a new novel has the effect of decreasing
the funds available for the purpose of buying other works, and it
certainly gives rise to misleading conceptions of the stock of books
possessed by the libraries. A reported stock of 5000 novels may easily
mean an actual stock of only 3000 different works in libraries which buy
three, six or twelve copies of a single popular work. This makes a vast
difference in the field of choice offered to borrowers, because, after
all, popular novels of the ordinary much-advertised class soon have
their little day, and the duplicates become dead stock. For this reason
caution should be exercised in the supply of extra copies of temporarily
popular books, and a good plan is to provide a special stock or
accessions book in which they can be registered and, when necessary,
written off without complicating the other records of the library.
These remarks apply almost exclusively to the duplication of novels and
magazines. There is less need to trouble about other classes.

=187. Replacements and Out-of-print Books.=--Replacement of worn-out
books is a recurrent, necessary and serious expense in most libraries,
and one which gravely reduces possible expenditure upon new books.
Before replacing an old, dirty or defective book it should be carefully
considered if it is worth retaining in the library. Closely connected
with the question of replacements is the matter of out-of-print books.

Most librarians in libraries of several years’ standing have been
confronted with the difficulty of obtaining copies of certain books
which have been allowed to go out of print by their publishers. The
number of such books is rapidly increasing, and among them are works
which have taken a recognized place in English literature, as well as
many others which have obtained a certain value by being enshrined in
the catalogues of hundreds of public and other libraries. In course of
time many of these books are worn out, and it becomes necessary to
replace them with new copies. It is then the discovery is made that
fresh copies cannot be obtained, and the librarian receives a long list
of books from his bookseller marked with the ominous sign “O/P.” A
temporary relief is sometimes obtained by advertising for second-hand
copies. Even these are becoming more difficult to procure, and in the
case of novelists like G. P. R. James, James Grant and Harrison
Ainsworth, sometimes only three-volume editions are reported.

It is not suggested that all out-of-print books should be reprinted, nor
do we suggest that the fact that a book has appeared in many library
catalogues is conclusive evidence of its permanence; but there are
certainly numbers of books which are frequently mentioned in other
books, or in the newspapers, which have been allowed to run out of
print; and the combined efforts of librarians might induce publishers to
republish these. Usually speaking, however, the fact that a book has
remained out of print for more than a year or two is evidence of the
absence of public demand for it, and seeing that novel-writing is
probably at a higher general level now than at any earlier period (in
spite of the lack of individual Fieldings or Jane Austens), we are of
opinion that such out-of-print books may be withdrawn from the library
records, and the gaps left made good by more modern works of equal merit
and greater popularity. After all, and especially so far as imaginative
literature is concerned--and these remarks apply almost exclusively to
that--it is no part of the work of the library to revive what public
opinion, the soundest _ultimate_ guide, has permitted to perish; more
especially as booksellers charge exaggerated prices for out-of-print
novels, whatever their merit may be. In the case of some of the older
books which form landmarks in literary history, it is absolutely
necessary to have well-edited modern reprints for the benefit of the
students who are being formed in every school in the kingdom.

Books which are purchased to replace worn-out copies need not receive
new numbers, but may be given the numbers of the books which they
replace.

=188. Doubtful Books.=--Censorship on books admitted into public
libraries has been exercised much more frequently and rigorously in the
United States than in the United Kingdom. Instances are common in both
countries of books being excluded for sectarian or political reasons by
Public Library Committees. Any action of this kind on the part of a
Public Library Committee should be confined to protecting junior readers
from coming into contact with demoralizing literature, and preventing
the library from becoming a dumping-ground for feeble and trashy books
of all kinds. No one can object to a committee electing to sit in
judgment on any book which may be thought to endanger public decency, or
inculcate ideas of morality counter to those generally adopted, but such
explorations in search of the improper should not be confined to
fiction. The question of buying certain _free_ classics, such as
Rabelais and Boccaccio, is quite another matter. All libraries ought to
possess them, provided reasonable means are taken to keep them out of
the hands of the immature reader. As regards what constitutes maturity,
every library authority will doubtless frame its own rules.

=189. Reference and Lending Books.=--A difficulty is sometimes
experienced in deciding for which department books of a certain class
are most suitable. About such quick-reference works as encyclopædias,
dictionaries, annuals, directories, atlases, large art works, etc.,
there can be very little doubt, but expensive scientific books, large
works of travel, theological and historical works of a certain kind
offer a problem much more complicated. As reference libraries are at
present constituted and used in many English towns, the plan of putting
all expensive books of whatever nature in the reference department
simply means that they are seldom used, and might as well not have been
bought. In properly conducted open access reference libraries, which are
liberally and intelligently conducted, a good deal may be said in favour
of placing such books there. They will at least be freely accessible
without the formality of readers having to make written application,
while the advantage of a reference book being always on the premises is
not to be overlooked. No harm can result from placing all kinds of
expensive text-books in the lending department, and if they are not on
loan they are always available for the use of any reference reader who
wants them. The advantage to a student of being able to take a recondite
and expensive text-book home with him for comparison with, and as an aid
to, his own books is undeniable, and it is the fact that, by
co-operation, the citizens of a town can thus procure otherwise
unattainable books, which makes the Public Libraries Acts so valuable,
and adds force to the plea for placing expensive works within easy reach
of the majority of readers. Local circumstances will in most cases
modify the conditions under which reference and lending libraries are
built up and differentiated. In some places there is no separation, save
in the catalogue, between the reference and lending libraries, and in
others both departments are not only kept apart, but subdivided into
open, special and store collections. All this is very much a matter of
administration to be settled by each responsible officer in accordance
with his or her knowledge of the particular local conditions. We deal
with this question more in detail in the chapters on the Reference
Library (Division XII.).

=190. Special Collections.=--The most necessary work of the library,
after it has formed its general collection, is to collect local
literature; this we deal with in a separate chapter (XXVIII.). Most
public libraries possess some kind of special collection in addition to
the purely local collection. Examples of these may be specified in the
Shakespeare and Cervantes collections at Birmingham; the Burns and
Scottish poetry collections at Glasgow; music, shorthand, Chinese books,
etc., at Manchester; fishes at Cheltenham; Welsh literature at Cardiff,
etc. The literature of special local industries should always be
collected. Representative works in foreign languages, particularly
French, German and Italian, should also be collected, in addition to the
Greek and Latin classics; and the large and more cosmopolitan cities may
endeavour to represent every foreign literary output so far as their
circumstances warrant and their finances permit them to do so.

=191. Sets of Periodicals.=--Some discrimination must be made in regard
to the collecting of periodicals. Larger libraries settle the question
by securing and preserving sets of all magazines of value which they can
accommodate; but obviously the expense of the practice, the ephemeral
character of much of this type of literature, and the large amount of
shelf space it requires, makes that practice impossible for any but the
largest libraries. Ephemeral, but otherwise wholesome, magazines may be
used unbound for issue in lending libraries to good purpose; or may be
bound and so used--but not replaced when they are worn out. Only
periodicals which have a _reference_ value should be retained in sets,
and then only where the geographical situation of the library warrants
that course. A smaller town near a great town library may reasonably
refer its readers to that library for sets of expensive periodicals. We
are led to this view by the facilities now at the disposal of librarians
through the Library Association. That body now publishes the _Subject
Index to Periodicals_, hitherto called _The Athenæum Subject Index_--an
invaluable and indeed indispensable tool for all librarians--and by an
arrangement with the Central Lending Library for Students, Tavistock
Square, London, W.C., any article recorded in the _Subject Index_ may be
borrowed for a payment of about fourpence. The _Index_, moreover, gives
a list of the principal periodicals, and is a rough guide to assessing
their permanent worth as well as an admirable key to their contents.

=192. Music=.--Nearly every public library of any importance has now
established a music collection, and the general experience is that it is
one of the most popular and appreciated sections in the library. The
provision should not at first extend to more than collections of
pianoforte, violin, organ and vocal music in the form of bound volumes;
operas, oratorios, cantatas and other vocal scores; the scores of
orchestral and chamber compositions; and text-books on theory, history
and various instruments. Single compositions in sheet form should be
very sparingly introduced, if at all, unless collections of the songs of
some of the best modern composers are formed and bound up into volumes.
A large stock of compositions in single sheets, however bound or
secured, would prove a great trouble in a public library. The
compositions of local composers should be collected, however, and bound
in volumes. In providing shelving for music, it is well to have special
cases with uprights only eighteen inches apart, as it is very difficult
to consult long rows of thin quarto books, when on shelves three feet
long, owing to the weight of the books. This applies to quarto and folio
books generally.

=193. Engravings.=--Save in book form, very few public libraries have
done much in the way of collecting engravings, prints and etchings,
unless they have been of local interest. Considerations of expense would
deter most British public libraries from attempting this kind of
collection, and it is rather a pity, because many prints and engravings
which illustrate historical events have immense practical value.
Portraits, too, are extremely valuable and useful, but as means are at
present provided, the whole matter is one of pure speculation and
sentiment. But perhaps the day will come when public libraries may be
able to collect specimens of the etched work of great artists;
engravings after the greatest masters; engravings and prints depicting
leading events in the national history; and pictures illustrating
costume, ceremonials, manners and customs, disappearing buildings, great
engineering works, topographical changes, etc. The value of these
graphic aids to the furtherance of knowledge is enormous, and it is a
pity some systematic effort cannot be made to record, preserve and index
them more generally and effectively than has been done in depositories
like the British Museum.

[3]=194. Photographs.=--Collections of photographs which deal with local
matters should be made by every public library (see Chapter XXVIII.).
Certain American libraries also collect photographs of great pictures
and those which represent various natural forms. Studies for the use of
artists are also collected, mounted on cards, and made accessible, and
some of these attempts to popularize art should be made in British
libraries. Photographs are comparatively cheap, and almost every kind of
picture and study can be obtained in this medium. What is particularly
required is some kind of practical list or guide, drawn up by an expert,
from which libraries could make their selections. A systematic list
covering the various arts of design, historical painting, sculpture,
architecture, etc., would be of great service. Photographs of great
public events, ceremonials, buildings, etc., and of eminent personages,
would have to be purchased according to means, and, as every one knows,
this might be made an endless matter. There is no reason, however, why
public libraries should not preserve good photographs of the most
eminent authors, artists, musicians, scientists, military commanders,
royal personages, etc. Portraits of such persons are not always easy to
find in books, when required, especially as the _A. L. A.
Portrait-Index_ is limited in scope; therefore a separate collection of
portraits in alphabetical order would be a valuable addition to a public
library. In this connexion it is useful to remove portraits of
celebrities, views, etc., from worn-out books and magazines, and
preserve them along with all other appropriate matter.

[3] The matters thus marked are dealt with more fully under the
Division on Reference Work, but are included here for the sake of
giving a complete conspectus of the material involved in
selection.--ED.

[4]=195. Lantern Slides.=--In libraries which possess lecture-rooms or
other suitable accommodation, it is often desirable to collect lantern
slides on such subjects as local topography and history, or on topics
which illustrate bibliographical and kindred subjects. These will be
found very useful, and as the collection increases, sets can be lent out
to societies or individuals who require them for lectures. The cost of
storing and cataloguing the slides is not great, and they are
undoubtedly a valuable addition to the pictorial side of literature.

[4] The matters thus marked are dealt with more fully under the
Division on Reference Work, but are included here for the sake of
giving a complete conspectus of the material involved in
selection.--ED.

[5]=196. Trade and other Catalogues.=--A most useful department, though
somewhat difficult to maintain, is a collection of the best and most
representative catalogues and price lists of all kinds of commodities.
Several points crop up in connection with the work of forming such
collections, and the question of policy is here perhaps the most
important. Many firms will not give their price lists; and it may be
considered invidious to select firms, thereby suggesting favouritism and
unfair advertising. In some industries prices, ideas and designs are
regarded as trade secrets, and doubtless jealousies might be stirred up
in some quarters. But the fact remains that illustrated catalogues of
books, furniture, ironmongery, machinery, pottery, art publications,
scientific apparatus, etc., are often more generally useful than
text-books or special trade and professional journals. Even pattern
books of wall-papers, bookbinders’ cloths, leather-work, typefounding
and so forth are of immense service to special students, and an effort
should be made to strengthen the literary side of suitable subjects by a
judicious selection of the best illustrated trade catalogues.

[5] The matters thus marked are dealt with more fully under the
Division on Reference Work, but are included here for the sake of
giving a complete conspectus of the material involved in
selection.--ED.

=197. Books for the Blind.=--Many libraries now store and circulate
books for the blind in the Braille and Moon types, and in this work some
of them have been aided by the expert advice and actual donations of
special societies interested in the well-being of the blind. There is
quite an extensive and rapidly growing literature for the blind in the
special raised type required for finger-reading, and a library of a few
hundreds of volumes makes quite an imposing show. The question of space
will arise in many places, because books for the blind are, as a rule,
only embossed on one side of each page, and, owing to this embossing and
the size of the type, some books make several thick quarto volumes. No
space could, however, be devoted to a more humane or valuable purpose
than the storage of books for the blind, and every encouragement and
support should be given to the movement; though it would undoubtedly be
the most effective method of ministering to the needs of the locality to
subscribe for a constantly changing supply of books to one of the
institutions for the blind which make a speciality of this kind of work.

[6]=198. Maps.=--In addition to all local maps and plans, old and new,
sets of the Ordnance and Geological Survey maps on the one-inch scale
should be added. Atlases will exist in the reference library as a matter
of course, but maps of the United Kingdom suitable for tourists,
cyclists, anglers, climbers, etc., should be added as freely as
possible.

[6] The matters thus marked are dealt with more fully under the
Division on Reference Work, but are included here for the sake of
giving a complete conspectus of the material involved in
selection.--ED.

=199. Discarding Effete Books.=--The question of periodically weeding
out a public library, with the object of keeping it always up to date
and also making room for fresh additional stock, has already been partly
discussed in Sections 107, etc., and 174, etc., and it is a most
important part of modern public library policy. The periodical
reprinting of class lists affords a valuable opportunity for considering
the claims of certain kinds of books to remain idle on the shelves,
where they not only fill the space which should be available for more
live works, but they obstruct the general work of the library. Every
public library receives at one time or another books which must for
reasons of policy be catalogued. Such books, for example, as are
donated, are expected to be placed in the library and duly catalogued.
There are generally hundreds of such books in every large library which
have no permanent value; and these, and also the mistaken selections of
committees and librarians, should be discarded as soon as possible.
There are also, of course, the books which go out of use automatically,
such as those noted in the subjoined Rules, and those others which
manage to slip into libraries when the custodian is dreaming of higher
things, or is misled by the erroneous titles adopted by authors. The
weeding-out process should be continuous, and when catalogues are being
reprinted, the books are being rearranged, or any kind of fresh movement
is being made, a specially favourable opportunity is afforded to prune
the growth of weeds which will somehow manage to infest the
best-regulated libraries in spite of every care. The sentimental museum
idea is, of course, responsible for much of the tendency to collect and
preserve everything, on the Byronic theory, no doubt, that

A book’s a book, although there’s nothing in’t,

and, as a library is a repository for books, then _all_ books should be
collected and preserved at any hazard or sacrifice, be they good or
bad.

=200.= RULES FOR DISCARDING USELESS BOOKS:

SCIENCE.--All general works which are not epoch-making, but merely
recapitulations of ascertained facts, should be discarded when twenty
years old. Care should be taken not to discard any book, however old,
which has not been efficiently superseded. All ordinary text-books of
every science, save mathematics and occult science, may be discarded
when twenty years old. Nicely illustrated textbooks, especially of
zoology and botany, should be discarded with much caution.

USEFUL ARTS.--The same rule applies to this class as to Science, save
that patents, specifications, recipes, books on household arts, and
all finely illustrated books should be retained.

FINE ARTS.--Books must be discarded very sparingly in this section.
Collections of engravings, finely illustrated books, and collected
music, not at all.

THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY.--Philosophical works, particularly systems of
philosophy, should never be discarded. Historical and explanatory
text-books may be discarded as they become superseded by later works.
Old theology, commentaries on the Bible, sectarian literature and
sermons should be discarded very freely. Theological controversies
should never be collected by general municipal libraries unless of
local interest.

SOCIAL SCIENCE.--This class requires frequent revision, especially in
the sections devoted to political economy, government, law and other
topics. Books on questions of momentary interest can be replaced by
historical résumés. Constantly changing subjects like law, government
and political economy should be kept up to date as much as possible,
and the historical record kept by means of recent histories. Questions
like parliamentary reform, slavery and chartism are illustrations of
once burning topics which may just as well be represented by a few
modern histories as by actual collections of the very voluminous
literature attached to each subject.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.--Old grammars may be discarded without risk,
and also ordinary school dictionaries. Books on literary history,
bibliography and librarianship are tools, and should never be
discarded.

PROSE FICTION.--Novelists mentioned in literary histories should never
be discarded. Minor novelists of all lands, who are not mentioned in
literary histories, whose works have remained unissued for a year or
two, should be promptly discarded. So, also, should merely topical
novels of no permanent interest, which libraries are often forced to
buy under pressure. Continuous popularity is a good reason for
retaining any novel, provided it is not immoral.

POETRY AND DRAMA.--Collective works should never be discarded unless
efficiently superseded. But poets and dramatists of a day who are no
longer read may be safely discarded, but no one who is named in
histories of literature.

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY.--Historical works which are mere résumés, and
not themselves original authorities, may be discarded with comparative
safety; but the matter of illustrations again applies here with
considerable force. Works of travel of the ordinary globe-trotting
description may be discarded when ten years old, along with all kinds
of guidebooks, save those which are local. But here, again, beware of
discarding illustrated books. Pioneer works of exploration should be
retained. Old gazetteers are, as a rule, lumber, but some of the
illustrated ones, like Lewis’ for Britain, may be retained for their
armorial illustrations. Histories which are literary classics, like
Hume, Robertson, Clarendon, should be kept, even if superseded by more
accurate modern works.

BIOGRAPHY.--Collected biography should never be discarded. The
biographies of nonentities in the individual biography class may,
however, be weeded pretty freely and frequently after they are from
forty to fifty years old.

MISCELLANEOUS.--Discard old encyclopædias with care; newspapers or
directories freely. Retain all local matter of this kind however. Be
extremely chary about storing inferior magazines of the miscellany
order. A long set of an old magazine of this kind is a positive
incubus, and most modern magazines of the snippet order are not worth
house-room. Wear them out in the reading rooms by all means, but do
not preserve them.

GENERAL.--All works that are defective or dirty should be discarded,
or at any rate withdrawn from general circulation. A book defective in
a plate or a section or two can sometimes be completed by an
application to the publisher for the missing part, which is usually
forthcoming at small cost. Dirty books are the bane of municipal
lending libraries, and a ruthless policy in regard to them is a public
economy. Especially does this remark apply to classic fiction: clean,
or fresh, copies should always be available, even if at the cost of
obtaining fewer works of inferior fiction. Many of the criticisms
levelled at libraries have been due to neglect of this matter;
sometimes due, we are sorry to say, to want of money to buy the
necessary replacements.

=201.= None of the foregoing recommendations for discarding, except the
last, applies to bibliographical rarities or curiosities; to works of
recognized literary merit which are mentioned in histories of
literature; to books which are of local interest; or to special
collections. They apply simply and solely to the rank and file of
literature, the 50 per cent. of the fruits of the press which become
stale through effluxion of time. The question of how to dispose of
discarded books can generally be decided by some local circumstance.
Discarded text-books of science are generally of little value to anyone,
and need not be preserved at all. But faded works of travel, history and
biography may find interested readers in workhouses, hospitals and
prisons. To these, or similar institutions, the discarded books of a
public library could be transferred. It is hardly necessary to point out
that books which are not good enough or fresh enough for a central
library, are not good enough for a branch library. Books proposed to be
withdrawn permanently should be submitted to the library committee, and
lists of the discarded books may be printed in the bulletin, if there is
one, or, failing that, in a separate form. It is useful that readers
likely to be interested should be afforded an opportunity of judging the
proposals and action of the library committee in its work of weeding out
the library. Any serious objection to a book being removed should be
considered, and nothing should be done without the utmost deliberation,
because, as yet, we have not achieved a public library _index
expurgatorius_ of books not worth preserving. When this comes, the task
will be immensely lightened. Books which are discarded should not be
permitted to leave the library unless stamped, to indicate that they are
rejected. A stamp with a movable dating centre should be used, with the
words,

“Public Library, Discarded,”

in a circle.

=202. Practical Methods of Selection.=--The number of books which have
been published to aid in book selection is somewhat large, but few of
them, save, perhaps, Sonnenschein’s publications and Nelson’s _Standard
Books_, make any attempt to indicate the best editions of particular
authors. It may be assumed that every entry in these lists of best books
represents a work which is recommended on account of its merit, literary
or otherwise. But something more than this is required by the librarian
who is faced with the task of building up a great modern library, and is
limited in his selection to books of the most enduring merit, and those
which most completely and accurately record the state of the science or
subject to which they are devoted. It is a very easy matter to simply
order _books_, like the millionaire who fitted up his library by the
superficial yard, thereby tempting a bookseller, entrusted with a large
order for books of a uniform size in fine bindings, to bind up some
hundreds of copies of a cheap “remainder,” in different covers, but with
varying titles, in order to provide in dummy form the necessary mileage
of books required. Public library formation can hardly be undertaken in
this happy-go-lucky manner.

=203.= The principal aids to the selection of new books are The Library
Association List of Best Books, which is an annotated, classified and
evaluated list published weekly in _The Athenæum_, and _The A. L. A.
Book-List_, which serves similarly for American books, and the journals
of various kinds, which review and advertise books as published.
Comparatively few of the literary journals review books in a manner
helpful to the would-be book-buyer, because they do not describe the
contents of them so much as criticize their literary style, production,
printers’ errors, etc. Generally speaking, a modern book review is what
it was in the old days of the _Edinburgh_ and _Quarterly_, simply a peg
on which to hang the reviewer’s opinions on the subject of the book,
and on which to display his knowledge and critical insight. Moreover, it
must be remembered that publishers advertise their wares in literary
journals, and that fact may, in some cases, not be without influence
upon the views of the critics. The subject of the book, its style of
treatment, scope, and details of its contents are left to be divined by
the reader. Some of the modern publishers’ monthly catalogues are much
more helpful than any journal or review, because they add brief
descriptive notes to each entry of a new book. A plain, practical note
outlining the principal contents and intention of a book is worth pages
of critical remarks to the librarian book-buyer. The following is a list
of the journals most used by librarians in selecting new books:

GENERAL:
Athenæum }
(Annotated) }
Literary World }
Publishers’ Circular } Weekly and monthly, most of
Saturday Review } them giving a summary list
Nation (London) } of new books, reviews, and
Spectator } advertisements.
Times Literary Supplement }
(Annotated) }
Bookman.
Bookseller.
Book Monthly.
A.L.A. Book List.
(Annotated.)
Nation (New York).
Publishers’ Weekly (New York).

SPECIAL:
Nature (scientific books generally).
English Mechanic (technical books)
Engineer (technical books).
Current Foreign books can readily be found in the lists
issued by Brockhaus, Hachette, Williams & Norgate,
Dulau, etc.

In addition to the very uncertain and unsatisfactory method of thus
choosing new books by their titles, because it amounts to very little
else, some arrangement is required whereby libraries can obtain
non-fictional books on view, so that they can be properly examined
before being ordered. Publishers are generally willing to submit new
publications to librarians through their booksellers, and visits to
large book stores should be made frequently. A good plan is for a public
library to maintain one or two subscriptions with a large commercial
circulating library, through which new books may be read or examined.

=204.= The best guides to the titles of old books, which, of course,
include modern books other than recent publications, will be found in
Appendix II., p. 507. Here again, no doubt owing to the largeness of the
field, notes in aid of choice are badly wanted. Nelson’s and
Sonnenschein’s books are the best in this respect, if the special
annotated lists in the latter are excepted.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=205. General:=

Bascom, E. L. Book Selection. _In_ A.L., Man. of Lib. Econ. Preprint
of chapter xvi., 1915.

Bisseker, H. (_Ed._). Students’ Library, 1911. Kelly.

Brown, J. D. The Small Library, 1907. Routledge.

Cutter, W. P. Report of the A.L.A. Committee on Book-buying. A.L.A.
Bulletin, vol. iv., p. 506. 1910.

Dana, J. C. Book Selection. _In his_ Library Primer, 1910, p. 43.

Fletcher, W. T. Selection and Purchase of Books. _In his_ Public
Libraries in America, p. 68.

Spofford, A. R. Book for all Readers, 1909. Putnam.

Wheatley, H. B. How to Form a Library, 1902. Stock.

=206. Special:=

Kroeger, A. B. Guide to the Study of Reference Books.

Coe, E. M. Fiction [With list of articles]. U.S. Education Rept.,
1892-93, vol. i., p. 933.

Great Fiction Question. Greenwood’s Year-Book, 1897, p. 107.

Library Association. Public Libraries and the Distribution of Embossed
Books to Local Blind Readers, 1913.

Richardson, E. C. Reference Books. U.S. Education Dept., 1892-93, vol.
i., p. 976.

For articles, see Cannons, G. 1-24, Book Selection.

CHAPTER XIV

ACCESSION METHODS

=207. Donations.=--The first British Public Library Act did not make any
provision for funds with which to buy books: it trusted entirely, with
the innocence of extreme youth, to the benevolence of donors. As these
somewhat rare persons did not respond in an encouraging manner, the Acts
were forthwith amended, and communities given power to purchase books
from such limited funds as were left after loans, the librarian’s salary
and the lighting bill had been settled. Although every library benefits
now and then from the generosity of donors of books and money, donations
cannot be regarded as a reliable source of a constant and liberal supply
of good and suitable books. Indeed, it may be asserted that more printed
rubbish is bestowed annually on public libraries than anything of a
useful or valuable sort. Touting for gifts is to be avoided. It is not
only undignified, but often results in failure and a certain loss of
status to the library which employs a general begging policy.

State papers and public documents are carefully preserved in many
libraries in the United Kingdom. Many of the best parliamentary papers
and reports can be obtained free on application to H.M. Stationery
Office in London, but other valuable public documents, such as some of
the Record Office publications, the Ordnance Survey, etc., must be
purchased. The parliamentary papers were not given free to public
libraries till after years of agitation dating from the time of Edwards
in 1850. A selection of these papers will be found sufficient for most
libraries, and this can be made from the lists published by H.M.
Stationery Office.

=208.= All donations, good, bad or indifferent, should be duly recorded
in a special DONATION REGISTER, and the donors should be thanked in the
usual manner, either by means of a special circular or post-card. For
the majority of donations a printed post-card of acknowledgment is
commonly used, and specially valuable gifts are acknowledged by special
resolutions conveyed in a handsome form. It would seem better, however,
if a letter-form of acknowledgment were generally used. Gratitude, even
for small gifts, costs little, and its expression frequently leads to
more valuable gifts. The usual wording for acknowledgments runs thus:

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. |
| |
| I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your gift |
| named below, and to convey to you the most cordial thanks |
| of the Library Committee. |
| |
| Yours faithfully, |
| |
| ............................_Chief Librarian._ |
| |
| ......................................................... |
| |
| ......................................................... |
| |
| ......................................................... |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 57.--Donation Acknowledgment (Section 208).

=209.= The ruling of a donation book (Fig. 58) will be found to answer
all ordinary purposes.

The donation number is a progressive number which should be given to all
gifts, particularly books, because, when pencilled on volumes which are
duplicates or not stocked for any reason, it is easy to ascertain their
history by turning up the number in the donation book. Most of the other
headings explain themselves. When books are added to the library as
donations it is well to carry into this record the accession numbers
given to them in the columns provided. In the “Remarks” column can be
entered any information as to the disposal of the gifts. In some
libraries a book is used which resembles a receipt book in having a
counterfoil and a tear-off sheet forming a thanks circular or
acknowledgment form. This style of book is less satisfactory than the
form of record given above.

<-----------------9″------------------><-------------9″-------------->
+----++------+------++---------++-----+--------++----------++--------+
| || |Date || || | ||Accession || | ^
|Do- ||Date |of Ac-||Descrip- ||No. |Name and||Number. || | |
|na- ||of Re-|knowl ||tion of ||of |Address ++-----+----++Remarks.| |
|tion||ceipt.|edg- ||Donation.||Vols.|of ||Lend.|Ref.|| | |
|No. || |ment. || || |Donor. || | || | |
+----++------+------++---------++-----+--------++-----+----++--------+ |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || |13″
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | |
| || | || || | || | || | V

FIG. 58.--Donation Book Ruling (Section 209).

=210. Readers’ Suggestions.=--There are comparatively few suggestions of
new books made by readers in public libraries, most of the
recommendations coming from the librarian and the committee. It is
customary to provide a book in which members of the public can enter
their suggestions, or slips as described in Section 48. Slips are
perhaps preferable to books, as they are more likely to be used by the
public and are handier to arrange. Failing them, an ordinary foolscap
folio book can be provided, ruled with columns across two pages showing:

FIG. 59.--Proposition Book Ruling (Section 210).

=211.= From the suggestions of the public and the committee and his own
study of reviews, catalogues, journals, etc., the librarian prepares a
list of book suggestions for the use of the committee, or special books
sub-committee, as the case may be. This list may either be entered and
kept in the suggestions book, or written out on separate slips (5 inches
× 3 inches), which can be afterwards used as a catalogue for staff use.
The latter plan is preferable as being more economical and convenient,
especially when worked in conjunction with suggestion slips, of the same
size, instead of a proposition book. Some committees require a
duplicated list of the suggestions to be prepared and circulated before
they meet in order that every member may have the opportunity of
examining it beforehand. In a few cases the librarian also (or as an
alternative) obtains all the books on approval from the bookseller, and
the committee chooses from direct examination of the books themselves.
This method involves extra labour, especially in large libraries, but is
very successful and well worth the trouble. When the list has passed the
committee, with whatever modifications they may have imposed, the books
can be ordered as described below in Section 213. These suggestions are
the main source from which the library is built up, and ought to be
prepared and examined with great care. Arising out of this part of the
subject is the question of buying books at sales. This is often done
through a bookseller or other agent, who receives a marked copy of the
catalogue, with the prices to be offered written against each entry, and
for his services in attending and bidding 5 to 10 per cent. is generally
allowed. Of course, at any book-sale in the same town as the library,
the librarian may attend, but an experienced agent is more likely to
avoid mistakes. Unfortunately few public libraries can afford to compete
with booksellers and private collectors in the saleroom, and practically
this source of accessions is not of much use to the majority of British
public libraries.

=212. Subscription Books.=--Sources of book supply in many libraries are
the works coming regularly as annuals, or from societies to whose
publications the library subscribes. Patents’ specifications,
parliamentary reports and other periodical publications also furnish a
constant, if somewhat irregular, stream of additions. There should be
some simple means of checking these annual and irregular publications,
and a series of cards, somewhat similar to those suggested for magazines
in Section 475, will be found very convenient. It is hardly necessary to
add that these check-cards should be examined regularly for overdues and
omissions. Societies which issue only occasional monographs are the most
difficult to trace and check. With annual publications of a definite
kind, such as _Whitaker’s Almanack_, there is no trouble whatever.

=213. Ordering.=--The routine of book ordering should be reduced to the
simplest possible system. There are plenty of elaborate methods designed
to find out and penalize defaulting assistants, booksellers, etc., but
they are not recommended. The very simplest plan is to place the
proposition slips, when dealt with by the committee, in a special tray,
or, better, drawer of a card cabinet, in a compartment marked “Books
passed by committee,” and then to enter them in an ordinary order-sheet,
of which a carbon copy should be taken, or which may be copied later.
These order sheets (8 inches × 10 inches) may be ruled thus:

FIG. 60.--Book-order Sheet (Section 213).

In the “Remarks” column of the duplicate copy can be entered the date of
receipt when a parcel of books is being marked off.

Libraries which use vertical and similar filing systems preserve carbon
copies of order lists and file them under appropriate headings, and
dispense with the ruled order sheet given above, merely accompanying the
lists with a general official order. Where a duplicated (cyclostyled,
mimeographed, etc.) list of suggestions is used for the committee, a
copy of this, with the committee’s adjustments, can be used as an order
list. The bookseller’s invoice and the books are checked by the
suggestion slips, and discrepancies of price or books not supplied are
revealed immediately. The use of books for entering lists, or for other
library record purposes, is gradually giving way to the more mobile and
economical systems to be obtained by the use of expansible files and
card indexes.

[Illustration: FIG. 61.--Book-order Tray (Sections 213, 214).[7]]

[7] This illustration is retained because it illustrates a
satisfactory method of guiding; but this type of tray is inferior
to a special drawer in an “administrative” card cabinet. In such a
cabinet drawers would be assigned to (1) “SUGGESTIONS,” which
would include the slips for all books noted by the librarian for
consideration; suggestions by experts; by staff; incomplete works,
etc.; (2) “COMMITTEE DRAWER,” containing books “Submitted to the
Committee,” and “Passed,” and “Rejected” (with reasons), or
“Postponed for further inquiries, etc.”; (3) “ORDER DRAWER,” with
guides showing “Ordered,” “Overdue,” “Not Supplied” (when O.P.,
Binding, Reprinting, etc., the reasons should be stated and
dated); and (4) “ADDITIONS,” containing the slips of books added
during the year, after the slips have been used in the cataloguing
processes. After a year the slips are worked into the Staff
Catalogue.

=214.= When the order has been placed with the bookseller, the slips
aforesaid should be transferred to a compartment marked “Books on
order,” and as the books are supplied they can be withdrawn and placed
in a compartment marked “Books for catalogue.” This will leave a residue
of overdue books, which can be overhauled at intervals, and, when the
books have been written for, transferred to a compartment marked “Books
overdue.” A simple form of tray is one divided by means of projecting
guides to indicate the contents of each compartment (Fig. 61).

This plan of keeping check of books on order, at every stage, will be
found much simpler, and more accurate and convenient than any system of
book-keeping.

=215. Accession Work.=--When a parcel of new books arrives from the
bookseller, or a monthly lot of donations is passed, it is wise to enter
each lot in a special book called the routine book, which will determine
the order of numbering, and give rough figures of cost and number of
additions to all departments. This book is ruled as shown in Fig. 62A,
and explains itself.

Each new book should be carefully examined for imperfections, etc.,
before being numbered. The books should next be arranged in order of
invoice or donation book, with the lending, reference, branch and
children’s books in separate lots.

=216.= The ACCESSION NUMBERS must next be applied, and it should be made
a rule in every library, whatever method of classification is adopted,
to give the books a progressive accession number irrespective of a class
number. A special book for recording these numbers can be obtained, one
each for the lending and reference libraries, ruled as follows:

+-----------+-------++--------------------------+---------+
|Progressive| Class || Author and Title. |Class or |
| No. |Letter.|| |Shelf No.|
+-----------+-------++--------------------------+---------+
| 1 | A ||Balfour. Manual of Botany.| 200 |
| 2 | || | |
| 3 | || | |
| 4 | || | |
| 5 | || | |
| and on | || | |
| to 50 per | || | |
| page | || | |
+-----------+-------++--------------------------+---------+

FIG. 62.--Accessions Number Book (Section 216).

This will show at a glance the next vacant number to be used, and also,
roughly, the total number of books in the library at any given moment,
when the withdrawals are counted off. The accession numbers should be
written on the back of the title-page of each book, and should also be
written against the entry on the invoice, and also, if a donation, in
the appropriate column of the donation book. In cases where the stock
book is also the order book, the accessions number book can be dispensed
with, and the accessions routine book used alone.

+------++---------+--------++----------++----------++
| || | || || ||
| || | First ||Accession || Number of||
| || Source: | Word || Number. || Vols. ||
| Date.|| Donor or| of || || ||
| || Vendor. |Invoice.|| || ||
| || | ++-----+----++-----+----++
| || | ||Lend.|Ref.||Lend.|Ref.||
+------++---------+--------++-----+----++-----+----++
| 1901 || | || | || | ||
|June 6||Tompkins |Balfour || 1-50|1-25|| 50 | 25 ||
| „ 12||Donations|See Book||51-56| .. || 6 | .. ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
| || | || | || | ||
+------++---------+--------++-----+----++-----+----++

+------++---------+--------++------------------++---------------++------+
| || | || || Replacements. || |
| || | First || Cost. || || |
| || Source: | Word || || || Re- |
| Date.|| Donor or| of || || ||marks.|
| || Vendor. |Invoice.|| || || |
| || | ++--------++--------++-----++--------++ |
| || | || Lend. || Ref. ||Vols.|| Cost. || |
+------++---------+--------++--+--+--++--+--+--++-----++--+--+--++------+
| 1901 || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
|June 6||Tompkins |Balfour || 7|10| 0|| 6| 5| 0|| 6 || 0|19| 0|| |
| „ 12||Donations|See Book||..|..|..||..|..|..|| .. ||..|..|..|| |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
| || | || | | || | | || || | | || |
+------++---------+--------++--+--+--++--+--+--++-----++--+--+--++------+

FIG. 62A.--Accessions Routine Book (Section 215).

=217.= According to the system of charging used, each book should be
dealt with further, as regards appropriating its equivalent card,
indicator book, or ledger page, as may be needful. Assuming that card
charging is the adopted plan, a specially made manila book-card must be
prepared, having the accession and class number and letter, and its
author and title written on its front surface, as below:

+----------------------------------------------+
| E 100·3. |
+..............................................+
| Balfour. |
+..............................................+
| Manual of Botany. |
+..............................................+
| |
+----------------------------------------------+
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+----------------------------------------------+

FIG. 63.--Manila Book-card.

This form of book-card may be ruled to take the borrowers’ numbers and
dates of issues, and is one of the main accessories of the card system
described in Sections 380, 381.

=218.= With indicators it is necessary to write the accession numbers on
to the indicator books or tabs according to the style of indicator used.
In forms such as the Elliot, the number is already fixed on the
indicator frame and requires no additional book tab or block. Other
processes connected with book numbering for shelving purposes are
considered in Chapter XXV.

=219.= The next process is the LABELLING of the books. Reference library
books are usually labelled on the inside of their front boards with the
library book-plate, which may be an artistic device, or a simple label
bearing the town’s arms and a few of the chief rules of the department
(Fig. 64). Some libraries add a label ruled in columns to show dates of
issue, but this does not seem particularly useful. Lending library books
are labelled with a label pasted down on the inside front board bearing
the chief rules for borrowers, and with a date label secured to the
front fly-leaf by means of a narrow line of paste on the inner edge.

FIG. 64.--Book Label with Abstract of Rules (Section 219).

This enables the label to be removed easily when stamped all over with
dates of issue. An ordinary form of date label is ruled in columns to
take the dates as shown in Fig. 65.

=220.= It is a very important matter, affecting not only libraries, but
general readers of all kinds, that books should be issued by their
publishers in a condition of readiness for immediate use. The absurd and
most inconvenient practice of publishing novels, reference books, and
indeed any kind of work, with uncut leaves, is one which causes more
waste of time and irritation than almost anything else in connexion with
books. A publisher may be justified in sending out special books in
limited editions with uncut edges and leaves unopened, but every other
kind of book should have its edges neatly and smoothly trimmed and its
leaves cut in readiness for the reader. It is cleaner and more
convenient, because nothing holds dust like the rough top and fore-edges
of books cut with a paper-knife, and for this reason alone it should be
made a penal offence to issue books with unopened leaves.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| TIME ALLOWED FOR READING. |
| |
| This book is issued for 15 days and must be returned on or before |
| the date last stamped below. If kept beyond that date, a fine of one |
| penny per week or part of a week will be incurred. |
| |
+----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |
| No person shall take out of any library any book for use in any |
| house in which there is a person suffering from infectious disease, |
| and no person shall return to any such library any book which has |
| been exposed to infection from any infectious disease, but shall at |
| once give notice to the Medical Officer of Health that it has been |
| exposed to infection and leave the book at the office of the Medical |
| Officer of Health or hand it over to any Sanitary Inspector acting |
| on his behalf, who shall cause the same to be disinfected and then |
| returned to the Library, or destroyed. |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 65.--Book Label for Dates (Section 219).

=221.= The STAMPING and CUTTING of the leaves of new books is the next
step in the preparation of books for public use, and as regards the
latter it is necessary to insist that the leaves should be cut close
into the backs of the books, and not left uncut to within half or
quarter an inch of the back, so that an ugly tear is made whenever the
book is fully opened. A half-cut book is an abomination not to be
endured.

Various kinds of stamps are used, ink, embossing and perforating. The
ink ones, usually applied with rubber dies, are not altogether
satisfactory when used with ordinary aniline endorsing inks, as they can
be erased. Printers’ ink is more satisfactory, but it takes some time to
dry, and requires metal stamps to make it work easily. The ink used by
the Post Office when applied with a metal stamp has been found
effective. But for their expense embossing stamps are most satisfactory,
and of the various kinds of these the perforating stamp formed like a
pair of nippers is the easiest to apply. Whatever kind of stamp is used,
it should be made in a circular shape, as in whatever position it is
applied it never appears to be upside down or uneven, as other shapes
too frequently do.

Every library should select certain fixed pages on which the stamps are
to be placed, and every title-page, first and last pages of text, and
all plates should be stamped. As a rule too much time is wasted in
stamping library books, and it will be found quite enough to stamp the
places indicated, and use a blind embossing stamp for the boards.

=222.= In certain books it is desirable to insert special labels for the
instruction of the staff and as a gentle warning to readers; for
example:

FIG. 66.--Warning Label.

This is especially useful in the case of books containing plates of art
subjects which are liable to theft or disfigurement. In reference books
with large folding maps or plates, the following label, which is
attached to each map or plate, has proved to be serviceable:

FIG. 67.--Map or Plate Label.

=223. Process Checking.=--Many libraries keep a complete check of the
processes through which a book passes from its receipt from the
bookseller to its issue to the public, in the form of a rubber stamp
which is impressed upon the back of the title-page, or at some other
convenient place in the book:

FIG. 68.--Process Stamp (or Label).

The assistant carrying out the process initials the appropriate blank on
the impression, and this protects the good assistant from blame for the
faults of the occasional careless one. What is more important, they show
anyone coming newly to a batch of books the stage that has been reached
in their preparation. Such stamps are readily applied and have justified
their use.

=224. Stock Book.=--This is the chief inventory or record of the books
contained in the library in every department, and should be ruled to
show the history of each book from its accession till its final
withdrawal. The intermediate renewals of worn-out copies need not be
shown in this book, as they complicate the record immensely, and there
seems no strong reason for doing more than noting the total number of
renewals in the Routine book, as already shown in Section 215. There are
many forms of stock books, but for ordinary British municipal libraries
the variety shown in the ruling on page 202 will be found, with its
accessories, sufficient for every purpose.

There does not seem to be any obvious advantage in the American plan of
printing the accession numbers progressively down each page, as this
renders it impossible to re-enter a new book which has been given a
withdrawn number, and there is a decided waste in using up from two to
a hundred lines for a single work.

=225.= The stock book now recommended can be adapted to any system of
classification, and when used in conjunction with the annual abstract
sheets, ruled as shown on page 203, the exact position of the stock can
be easily and correctly ascertained.

FIG. 69.--Stock Book.--Left-hand Folio (Section 224).

+-----+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------+------++------+
|Class|Binding.|Donor or|Date of | Price. |Special|With- || Re- |
| No. | | Vendor.|Receipt.| |Collec-|drawal||marks.|
| | | | | | tion. |Book. || |
+-----+--------+--------+--------+--+--+--+-------+------++------+
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |
| | | | | | | | | || |

FIG. 70.--Stock Book.--Right-hand Folio (Section 224).

=226.= Every book received into the library must be entered in the stock
book, and a separate book should be kept for the reference and lending
departments and for every branch. Provision is made in the ruling for
any needful cross-reference to the withdrawals book, and a column is
used for any remarks required to elucidate further the history of each
book. When a book is discarded it is entered in the withdrawals book,
and the page of this register is carried into the appropriate column in
the stock book against the original entry. The stock is balanced
annually by the withdrawals of the year being deducted from the total
stock as ascertained at the end of the previous year, plus all the new
additions. Withdrawn numbers should be applied to new books so as to
prevent blanks in the sequence, and such books must be entered in the
stock book in its chronological order, and cross-references made between
the new and original entries.

+-----++---------------------++-----++-------+-------++--------++----+
|Page.|| Classification. ||Total||Bought.| Pre- || Special|| |
| || ||Vols.|| |sented.|| Collec-|| |
| || || || | || tions. || |
| |+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++ || | ++--+--+--++----+
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
+-----++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++-----++-------+-------++--+--+--++----+
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |
| || | | | | | | | | | | || || | || | | || |

FIG. 71.--Abstract Sheet for Stock and Withdrawals Book (Section 225).

This will cause occasional irregularities in the progression of numbers
of the “Accession Number” column, but it is of much greater importance
not to allow extensive blanks to occur in this series of numbers, as it
will play havoc with the charging system later on. This method of
re-entering cannot be done with stock books having the accession numbers
ready printed, and librarians who use this form must make up their minds
to run a very irregular series of numbers.

The whole process can be simplified by the use of a loose-leaf accession
book, such as the “Kalamazoo” ledgers. As entries become congested by
the substitution of other books for those originally stocked, the
congested pages can be re-written as a whole. A register of discarded
books or withdrawals can be kept in a separate book--the superseded
loose leaves can be filed for the purpose--if it is thought desirable to
retain a record of books which have been and are no longer in the
library; but experience has not shown such a record to have any precise
or practical value.

As in many other branches of library work, the tendency in accession
work is to elaborate every process instead of simplifying it. The
simplest form of stock book is that in which a specially ruled
counterfoil is attached to the order forms and which only provides
columns for accession and class numbers, author, title and number of
volumes, publisher and price. After all a stock book need only be a kind
of record of origin, and not necessarily an epitome, of the catalogue
and classification. What a stock book is wanted for is to answer the
questions: When did a given book come; where did it come from; what did
it cost; how many books does the library possess; what are they about?
There are so many records which give other particulars, that it seems a
great waste of time to repeat a large number of the particulars given in
some stock books.

=227.= The withdrawals book is the necessary complement of the stock
book, and in it is entered every book permanently withdrawn from the
library for any reason. The ruling given below will show better than
description its scope and style:

FIG. 72.--Withdrawals Book (Section 227).

=228.= Opinion is divided upon the point, but usually in the enumeration
of the stock of a library no distinction is made between a book and a
pamphlet; every number represents a complete item, and the number of
pages or subject-matter does not enter into the question; and for
accession purposes a pamphlet is a book or work, whether it extends to a
hundred pages or consists of but four. The Library Association, however,
recommends that in presenting public statistics of stocks, as in annual
reports, there should be differentiation, and gives the following
definitions:--

“_Volumes_ mean books as they stand on the shelves. _Pieces_ mean
separate works or parts (each usually having a separate title-page to
itself, as with pamphlets, parts of periodicals, and the like); _Papers_
mean lesser items, usually with less than five pages, as broadsides,
cards, flysheets and prints; _Items_ mean volumes, pieces, papers,
lantern-slides, and generally all material constituting the library
stock, and issued to readers; _Works_ mean whole literary productions,
whether in several volumes or only one piece. Thus--ten pamphlets bound
together, with five broadsides at end, are one volume, ten works or
pieces, fifteen items. A dictionary in twenty volumes would count as
twenty volumes, pieces, and items, but one work, and in a sense one
book. Having regard to these definitions, care should be taken in
recording the number of volumes in a library, to reckon ten pamphlets or
parts as the equivalent of a single volume.”

Thus, if these definitions are used, it becomes necessary to indicate in
the stock book the nature of the work; and to differentiate, one or two
symbols, such as p.=pamphlet, and pr.=paper, may be used; but if “p.” is
written in the “No. of vols.” column to distinguish a pamphlet, that
will meet all usual statistical purposes.

=229.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dana, J. C. Accessioning Books. _In his_ Library Primer, 1910, p. 81.

Dewey, Melvil (_Ed._). Library School Rules, 1892.

Hitchler, Theresa. Accession Record, etc. _In her_ Cataloguing for
Small Libraries, 1915. A.L.A.

Hopper, F. F. Order and Accession Department. _In_ A.L.A., Man. of
Lib. Econ. Preprint of chapter xvii., 1911.

Jast, L. S. Accessions: The Checking of the Processes, 1909.

Roebuck and Thorne. Primer of Library Practice, 1914, chapters
ii.-iii.

Sayers and Stewart. Book Selection and Ordering; Stock Register. _In
their_ The Card Catalogue, p. 66.

For articles, see Cannons, G 25-38, Preparation of Books for the
Public, etc.

DIVISION VII

CLASSIFICATION AND SHELF ARRANGEMENT

CHAPTER XV

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

=230.= There is no more important factor in the success or failure of a
library than the classification of the books and other material which
form its stock. Some of its uses are obvious to all readers; it brings
the material on any subject together on the shelves and in the
catalogues, and thus enables both librarian and reader to find books
readily. It has perhaps more important uses, because it enables the
librarian, and, in open access libraries, the public, to see the
strength and weakness of the collection in various subjects; it,
therefore, is the only safe and certain means by which a collection may
be built up systematically, and may be increased. Moreover, it reveals
the obsolete books merely by bringing them into juxtaposition with books
which have superseded them. An imperfectly classified, or unclassified,
library resembles chaos as nearly as anything can do, and want of
classification renders the finest collection of books useless except to
those who already know all there is to be known of any subject in which
they may be interested, and who can therefore find the books by other
means. In short, classification is the primary key to the assembling,
finding, selecting and rejecting of books.

=231.= It does even more than this. A perfectly or logically constructed
classification shows not only all the books on a specific subject; it
also shows the books which are collateral, or which lead up to and away
from the books on the specific subject. It will readily be seen,
therefore, that the art of classification is one that must be understood
thoroughly by the successful librarian. Several text-books have been
written on the subject, and many articles have appeared advocating and
criticizing various systems. We can give here only a few leading
principles, and afterwards discuss the four or five schemes which have
received most general recognition from librarians.

=232.= A classification system is a schedule or chart of knowledge
arranged in some logical order according to a definite and invariable
principle. It may arrange knowledge by the historical, evolutionary or
some other and arbitrary principle, the choice of which is governed by
the rule that the order must be that which is likely to be most
serviceable to the users of the system. Special classifications, such as
would be necessary for arranging a collection devoted to anthropology,
or botany, or archæology, naturally arrange books by the principle that
will most clearly reveal their place in the progress of the subject
required; and such classifications are merely mentioned in passing.
General classifications, which are the business of the average
librarian, usually proceed in the historical or evolutionary order we
have mentioned. Their schedules consist of a number of general headings,
called main classes, which are divided by gradual steps in accordance
with the principle employed until specific headings are reached. Each of
the headings must be exclusive of subjects not falling into it. In order
to make this schedule of subjects practicable as a method of book
arrangement, it must be equipped with special “form” classes which
accommodate general works, or works of so composite a character that
they do not fall into any of the subject-classes; and which also
accommodate such aggregates of literature as poetry, drama, essays,
fiction, etc., which are arranged by the form in which the matter in
them is presented, and not by the matter itself. Further, it must be
equipped with a notation, or a shorthand sign for each of the subjects
in the schedule, which may be written on the backs of books and in
catalogues instead of the names of the subjects. And, finally, it must
have an index which forms a ready key to the tables of the schedule, and
is a convenient means of checking the placings of books.

=233.= The theory of classification is a subject for special study, and
there are rules of order, division, nomenclature, notation and indexing
which it is useful for a library student to master. As the ground has
been covered adequately by the text-books which are listed at the end
of this, we shall do better to refer the reader to these rather than to
enlarge this manual by attempting to traverse it.

=234.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, J. D. Library Classification and Cataloguing. 1912. Grafton.

Dana, J. C. Classification. _In his_ Library Primer, p. 84.

Edwards, Edward. Memoirs of Libraries, 1859, vol. ii., p. 761.

Graesel, A. Classification. _In his_ Bibliothekslehre. 1902.

Jast, L. S. Library Classification. _In_ Greenwood’s Year Book, 1900.
p. 21.

Richardson, E. C. Classification: Theoretical and Practical. 1901. Ed.
2, 1912. Scribner’s.

(Contains the best bibliography.)

Sayers, W. C. Berwick. Introduction to Library Classification. 1918.
Grafton.

---- Canons of Classification. 1915. Grafton.

---- Short Course in Bibliographical Classification with reference to
the Decimal and Subject Systems. 1913. Library Association.

For articles, see Cannons, H 1-108, Classification.

CHAPTER XVI

SYSTEMATIC CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES

=235. General.=--Quite a large number of classification schemes have
been devised by Continental, American and British librarians, in which
books are systematically arranged according to related topics, and
marked with a notation which enables any book or subject to be
distinguished by its number, for purposes of shelving, charging and
cataloguing. All the best known of such schemes are described in Brown’s
_Library Classification and Cataloguing_, London, 1912, and Richardson’s
_Classification_, 1912. It will be sufficient to name the methods of
Harris, Perkins and Smith, of America; Edwards and Sonnenschein, of
England; Bonazzi, of Italy; and Hartwig, of Germany, which, with the
well-known French scheme of Brunet, make up a very interesting
collection of international contributions to the classification of
books. None of these schemes has been adopted in more than one or two
libraries, so that their influence is not sufficiently widespread to
make any further description of their details necessary. It will be much
more helpful to librarians if the chief systems of classification are
mentioned which fulfil every requirement as regards notation and general
adaptability to library work, and have been put to the practical test of
application in a number of libraries. The systems in question are the
Decimal, Expansive, Library of Congress, and Subject, the last being
English and the three others American. They have all been extensively
adopted, and each exists as a separate printed work, with an index; a
vital part of any method of classification. Unprinted schemes, or those
of merely theoretical interest, have little practical value, and though
every librarian has his own ideas of classification, and generally
manages to graft them on to the scheme of some other person, and even to
nibble away at his original, it is the best and wisest course to adopt a
complete, printed and accessible scheme with as little modification as
possible.

=236. Decimal Classification.=--This, the most popular and widely
applied of all library schemes, was invented by Melvil Dewey in 1873-76,
and has been under revision constantly since, and is to-day in general a
very extensive and detailed scheme. As indicated by its name, the system
is divided into groups of ten, and from this results an admirable
notation of unlimited expansibility.

Its chief divisions are as follows:

000 GENERAL WORKS.

010 Bibliography.
020 Library Economy.
030 General Cyclopædias.
040 General Collections.
050 General Periodicals.
060 General Societies.
070 Newspapers.
080 Special Libraries.
090 Book Rarities.

100 PHILOSOPHY.

110 Metaphysics
120 Metaphysics: Special Topics.
130 Mind and Body.
140 Philosophical Systems.
150 Mental Faculties, Psychology.
160 Logic.
170 Ethics.
180 Ancient Philosophers.
190 Modern Philosophers.

200 RELIGION.

210 Natural Theology.
220 Bible.
230 Doctrinal Theology.
240 Devotional and Practical.
350 Homiletic, Pastoral, etc.
260 Church Institutions.
270 Religious History.
280 Christian Churches and Sects.
290 Non-Christian Religions.

300 SOCIOLOGY.

310 Statistics.
320 Political Science.
330 Political Economy.
340 Law.
350 Administration.
360 Associations.
370 Education.
380 Commerce, etc.
390 Customs, Costumes, Folklore.

400 PHILOLOGY.

410 Comparative.
420 English.
430 German.
440 French.
450 Italian.
460 Spanish.
470 Latin.
480 Greek.
490 Minor Languages.

500 NATURAL SCIENCE.

510 Mathematics.
520 Astronomy.
530 Physics.
540 Chemistry
550 Geology.
560 Palæontology.
570 Biology.
580 Botany.
590 Zoology.

600 USEFUL ARTS.

610 Medicine.
620 Engineering.
630 Agriculture.
640 Domestic Economy.
650 Communications.
660 Chemical Technology.
670 Manufactures.
680 Mechanic Trades.
690 Building.

700 FINE ARTS.

710 Landscape Gardening.
720 Architecture.
730 Sculpture.
740 Drawing, Decoration.
750 Painting.
760 Engraving.
770 Photography.
780 Music.
790 Amusements.

800 LITERATURE.

810 American.
820 English.
830 German.
840 French.
850 Italian.
860 Spanish.
870 Latin.
880 Greek.
890 Minor Languages.

900 HISTORY.

910 Geography and Description.
920 Biography.
930 Ancient History.
940 Europe. }
950 Asia. }
960 Africa. }
970 N. America. } Modern.
980 S. America. }
990 Oceanica and Polar Regions. }

This scheme is published separately as _Tables and Index of the Decimal
Classification and relative Index for arranging and cataloguing
Libraries, Clippings, Notes, etc._, by Melvil Dewey, Boston, and has
been largely expanded, with an elaborate additional apparatus of form
and relation marks, by the Institut International de Bibliographie,
Brussels.

=237. Expansive Classification.=--This system was devised by Charles
Amni Cutter, a well-known American librarian, and author of the code of
_Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue_, which has been a text-book for many
years. The Expansive Classification has not been adopted to any extent
in Britain, but is printed in a series of seven classifications of
progressive fullness, and completely indexed, and so becomes one of the
methods to be studied.

An outline of the scheme follows:

A Generalia

A General works
Ae General encyclopædias
Ap General periodicals
Ar Reference works
As General societies

B-D Spiritual sciences

B Philosophy
Ba-Bf National philosophies and Systems of philosophy
Bg Metaphysics
Bh Logic
Bi Psychology
Bm Moral philosophy
Br Religion, Natural theology
Bt Religions
Bu Folk-lore
Ca Judaism
Cb Bible
Cc Christianity
Cce Patristics
Ce Apologetics, Evidences
Cf Doctrinal theology
Ck Ethical theology
Cp Ritual theology and Church polity
Cx Pastoral theology
Cz Sermons
D Ecclesiastical history
Dk Particular churches and sects

E-G Historical sciences
E Biography and Portraits
F-Fz History
F Universal history
F02 Ancient history
F03 Modern history
F04 Mediæval history
F11-F99 History of single countries (using local list)
Fa-Fw Allied studies, as Chronology, Philosophy of history,
History of civilization, Antiquities, Numismatics,
Chivalry, Heraldry

G Geography, Travels

G11-G99 Single countries (using local list)
Ga Ancient geography
Gf Surveying and Map-making
Gz Maps

H-K Social sciences

Hb Statistics
Hc Economics
He Production
Hf Labour
Hi Slavery
Hj Transportation
Hk Distribution, Commerce
Hm Money
Hn Banking
Hr Private finance
Ht Taxation and Public finance
Hu Tariff
Hw Property, Capital
Hz Consumption

I Demotics, Sociology
Ic Crime
Ig Charity
Ih Providence
Ik Education

J Civics, Government, Political science
Ju Constitutions and Politics
K Legislation and Law
Kd Public Documents

L-Q Natural sciences

L General works, Metrics
_Lb-Lg_ _Number and space_
Lb Mathematics
_Lh-Lr_ _Matter and force_
Lh Physics
Lo Chemistry
Lr Astronomy
_M-Q_ _Matter and life_
M Natural history
Mg Geology, incl. Mineralogy, Crystallography, Physical
geography, Meteorology, Palæontology
My Biology
N Botany
Cryptogams
Phanerogams
O Zoology
Invertebrates
P Vertebrates
Pg Mammals
Pw Anthropology, Ethnology, Ethnography

Q Medicine

R-Z Arts

R General works, Exhibitions, Patents
Rd-Rg Extractive arts
Rd Mining
Re Metallurgy
Rf Agriculture
Rh Horticulture
Ri Silviculture
Rj Animaliculture
Rq Chemic arts
Rt Electric arts
Ry Domestic arts
Rz Food and Cookery

S Constructive arts, Engineering
Sg Building
Sj Sanitary engineering
Sl Hydraulic engineering
St Transportation and Communication

T Fabricative arts, Machinery, Manufacturing and Handicrafts

U Protective arts, _i.e._ Military and Naval Arts, Life-
preserving, Fire-fighting

V Athletic and Recreative arts, Sports and Games
Vs Gymnastics
Vt Theatre
Vv Music

W Fine arts, plastic and graphic
We Landscape gardening
Wf Architecture
Wk Casting, Baking, Firing
Wm Drawing
Wp Painting
Wq Engraving
Wr Photography
Ws Decorative arts, including Costume

X-Yf Communicative arts (by language)
X Philology
X Inscriptions
X Language
Y Literature
Yf English Fiction

Z Book arts (making and use of books)
Za-Zk Production
Za Authorship
Zb Rhetoric
Zd Writing
Zh Printing
Zk Binding
Zl Distribution (Publishing and Bookselling)
Zp Storage and Use (Libraries)
Zu Description (Zu Bibliography; Zx Selection of reading;
Zy Literary history; Zz National bibliography)

This scheme is published separately as _Expansive Classification: the
first six Expansions_, by C. A. Cutter, Boston, 1891, etc., and a
seventh expansion of the work is being issued under the supervision of
W. P. Cutter, nephew of the author, but no parts have been published for
several years.

=238. Library of Congress.=--This is the elaborate and detailed scheme
applied to the great Library of Congress, and is the work of its
classification department. Its outline (1909) is based upon that of the
Expansive scheme of Cutter which is shown above, but is varied to meet
what are thought to be the special needs of the American national
library. Each of the classes has been published separately in convenient
form with an index.

The main classes and divisions of the Library of Congress Classification
are as follows:

A General Works. Polygraphy

AC Collections. Series. Collected Works
AE Encyclopædias
AG General reference works (other than encyclopædias)
AI Indexes
AM Museums
AN Newspapers
AP Periodicals
AS Societies. Academies
AY Year-books. Almanacs
AZ General history of knowledge and learning

B Philosophy. Religion

B-J Philosophy
B Collections. History. Systems
BC Logic
BD Metaphysics
Introductions to Philosophy. Treatises
Epistemology. Theory of knowledge
Onotology
Cosmology.
Teleology
Philosophy of religion
BF Psychology
BH Esthetics
BJ Ethics

BL-BV Religion. Theology

BL Religions. Mythology. Cults
BM Theology. Generalities
BN Historical (Church history)
BQ Exegetical (Bible, etc.)
BS Systematic (Dogmatics. Apologetics)
BV Practical (Pastoral. Homiletics. Liturgies)

C History--Auxiliary sciences

CA Philosophy of history
CB History of civilization (general and general special only)
CC Antiquities. General
CD Archives. Diplomatics
CE Chronology
CJ Numismatics
CN Epigraphy. Inscriptions
CE Heraldry
CS Genealogy
CT Biography

D History and Topography (except America)

D General history
DA British history
20-690 England
700-749 Wales
750-890 Scotland
900-995 Ireland
DB Austria-Hungary
DC France
DD Germany
DE Classical antiquity
DF Greece
DG Italy

DH-DJ Netherlands
1-399 Belgium and Holland
901-921 Belgium
901-916 Luxemburg. Holland
DK Russia
100-400 Russia. General.
401-438 Poland
451-470 Finland
751-999 Russia in Asia
DL Scandinavia
1- 81 Scandinavia. General
101-296 Denmark
301-398 Iceland
401-595 Norway
601-996 Sweden
DP Spain and Portugal
1-462 Spain
500-902 Portugal
DQ Switzerland
DR Turkey and the Balkan States
DS Asia
DT Africa
DU Australia and Oceania

E-F America

E America (general) and United States (general)
F United States (local) and America outside of U.S.

G Geography. Anthropology

G Geography. Voyages. Travel (general)
GA Mathematical and astronomical geography
GB Physical geography
GC Oceanology and oceanography
GD Biography
GF Anthropogeography
GN Anthropology. Somatology. Ethnology. Ethnography, (general).
Prehistoric archæology
GR Folk-lore
GT Culture and civilization. Manners and customs
GV Sports and amusements. Games

H Social Sciences. General

HA Statistics
HB Economics, Theory
Economic history.
National production, economic situation (by countries)
HD Economic history. Organization and situation of agriculture
and industries
Land. Agriculture
Corporations
Labour
Industries
HE Transportation and communication
HF Commerce, including tariff
HG Finance
Money
Banking
Insurance
HJ Public finance
HM Sociology. General and theoretical
HN Social history. Social reform
Social groups
Family, marriage, women
Associations, secret societies, clubs, etc.
Communities: Urban, Rural
Classes. Aristocracy, third estate, bourgeoisie,
peasantry, labouring classes, proletariate, serfs
Nations. Races
HV Social pathology. Philanthropy. Charities and corrections
HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism
J Political science. Documents
1-9 Official gazettes
10-99 United States
100-999 Other countries.
JA General works
JC Theory of state
JF Constitutional history and administration. General
JK United States
JL Other American States
JN Europe
JQ Asia, Africa, Australia, and Pacific Islands
JS Local Government
JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration
JX International law
K Law
L Education. General works
LA History of education
LB Theory and practice. Educational psychology. Teaching
LC Special forms, relations, and applications
LD Universities and colleges
LE Other American
LF Europe
LG Asia, Africa, Oceania
LH University, college, and school magazines, etc.
LJ College fraternities and their publications
LT Text-books (general only; special text-books go with their
subjects, B-Z)

M Music
ML Musical literature
MT Theory

N Fine Arts. General
NA Architecture
NB Sculpture and related arts
NC Graphic arts in general. Drawing and design
ND Painting
NE Engraving
NF Photography (in art). _See_ TR
NK Art applied to industry. Decoration and ornament

P Language and Literature
Philology and Linguistics
PA Classical philology
1-199 General
201-891 Greek languages
1001-1151 Mediæval and modern
2001-2899 Latin language
PB Modern European languages. General works
Celtic language
Romance languages
Teutonic languages
General
Gothic
Scandinavian
PE English
PF Frisian
Dutch
German
PG Slavic languages
Lithuanian
Lettish
PH Finnish
Hungarian
Albanian
Basque
PJ Oriental languages. General works
Hamitic
Semitic
PK Indo-Iranian
Armenian
Caucasian
PL Languages of Eastern Asia, Oceania, Africa
PM Hyperborean languages
American languages

PN-PV Literary History. Literature
PZ Fiction

Q Science. General

QA Mathematics
801-999 Analytic mechanics
QB Astronomy
281-349 Geodesy
QC Physics
81-119 Weights and measures
801-999 Terrestrial magnetism and meteorology
QD Chemistry
901-999 Crystallography
QE Geology
_cf._ BG, GC
351-499 Mineralogy and petrology
701-999 Palæontology
QH Natural history
201-299 Microscopy
301-999 General biology
QK Botany
QL Zoology
801-999 General anatomy and embryology
QM Human anatomy
QP Physiology
QR Bacteriology

R Medicine. General
RA State medicine. Documents Public health
Medical climatology.
Hospitals
Jurisprudence
RB Pathology
RC Practice of medicine
RD Surgery
RE Ophthalmology
RF Otology. Phrenology. Laryngology
RG Gynecology and obstetrics
RJ Pediatrics
RK Dentistry
RL Dermatology
RM Therapeutics
RS Pharmacy and materia medica
RT Nursing
RV Botanic, Thomsonian and Eclectic medicine
RZ Miscellaneous schools and arts

S Agriculture. Plant and Animal Industry
General agriculture, soils, fertilizers, farm implements, etc.
SB General plant culture, including field crops. Horticulture.
Landscape gardening and parks. Pests and diseases
SD Forestry
SF Animal husbandry. Veterinary medicine
Fish culture and fisheries. Angling
SK Hunting. Game protection

T Technology. General
TA-TH _Building and Engineering Group_
TA Engineering. General. Civil engineering
TC Hydraulic engineering (harbours, rivers, canals)
TD Sanitary and municipal engineering
TE Roads and pavements
TF Railroads
TG Bridges and roofs
TH Building construction
9111-9600 Fire prevention, fire extinction
TJ-TL _Mechanical Group_
TJ Mechanical engineering
TK Electric engineering and industries
TL Motor vehicles. Cycles. Aeronautics
TN-TR _Chemical Group_
TN Mineral industries
TP Chemical technology
TR Photography
TS-TX _Composite Group_
TS Manufactures
TT Trades
TX Domestic science

U Military Science. General
UA Armies. Organization and distribution
UB Administration
UC Maintenance and transportation
UD Infantry
UE Cavalry
UF Artillery
UG Military engineering
UH Minor services

V Naval Science. General
VA Navies. Organization and distribution
VB Administration
VC Maintenance
VD Seamen
VE Marines
VF Ordnance
VG Minor services
VK Navigation
VM Shipbuilding and marine engineering

Z Bibliography and Library Science

=239. Subject Classification.=--This, the most recent British scheme, is
the work of the author of this manual, James Duff Brown; is a complete,
homogeneous, detailed and well-indexed scheme, and is selected for
notice as being generally applicable to British libraries of all kinds,
although it is not likely to oust the Decimal scheme from its priority
of place. It is based on the principle of placing all topics in a
logical sequence; of keeping applications of theory as close as possible
to the foundation theory; and of providing one place only for each
important topic. The complications and intersections of human knowledge
prevent anything more than an approximation to this ideal, but it has
been found in actual practice to be a classification scheme which works
easily and harmoniously.

The following extracts from its valuable introduction will give the best
view of the principles on which the system is based:

“THE ORDER OF THE MAIN CLASSES.--The reasons which determined the
adoption of a certain sequence of classes in this system may be briefly
set forth here, instead of any argument or attempt to justify the order.
The battle which has raged, and is still raging, among scientists, as to
the best and most desirable order in which to arrange the great branches
of human knowledge in order to produce a ‘hierarchy,’ must deter a
non-scientific classifier from arguing on such a complicated and
difficult topic. It will, therefore, suffice if I briefly describe the
main classes in their order and give reasons why they were assigned to
the places they occupy.

“A GENERALIA.--The divisions of this main class comprise most of the
rules, methods and factors which are of general application, and which
qualify or pervade every branch of science, industry or human study.
They are universal and pervasive, and cannot be logically assigned to
any other single main class as peculiar or germane to it.

“B, C, D PHYSICAL SCIENCES.--Matter, force, motion and their
applications are assumed to precede life and mind, and for that reason
the material side of science, with its applications, has been selected
as a foundation main class on which to construct the system.

“E, F BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE.--Life and its forms, arising out of matter,
occupy the second place among the main classes, and here are put
general biological theories and facts, followed by plant and animal
life, each in an ascending order from low to high forms of organization.

“G, H ETHNOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL SCIENCE.--Human life, its varieties,
physical history, disorders and recreations, follows naturally as a
higher development of plant and animal life, and completes the
biological chain.

“I ECONOMIC BIOLOGY AND DOMESTIC ARTS.--The applications of plant and
animal life to human needs, placed midway between the physical and
mental attributes of man as indicating the primitive exercise of mind,
and to assemble in one sequence the chief biological subjects. As a
matter of practical convenience, rather than logical necessity, it was
thought better to keep composite subjects like Agriculture, Clothing,
Foods, etc.--involving questions of origin, use and manufacture--all in
one place, close to the main classes from which they are derived, rather
than to distribute them more closely at Botany or Zoology.

“J, K PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION.--Mental attributes, order and beliefs of
human life, following naturally from its physical basis, and primitive
manifestation in the instinct of procuring food and clothing.

“L SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.--Social order and laws of human life.
Placed here because, although society or family and other tribal
organizations may have preceded religion, mind as embodied in philosophy
must have preceded both.

“M LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.--Communication and recording in human life.
The spoken, written and printed word, which grew as a necessity out of
the primitive operations of mind.

“N LITERARY FORMS.--The products of communication and recording in human
life in their more imaginative forms; placed here on the ground that
fable probably preceded more formal history.

“O-X HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, BIOGRAPHY.--The actions, records and
descriptions of human life and its dwelling-place. Arranged in this
order and at this place because of their intimate connexion. Geography,
although logically related to Physiography and Biography to Ethnology,
are, nevertheless, as a matter of practical utility, and because of the
literature actually existing, more naturally grouped here than
separated.

“The order of the classes may, therefore, be briefly described as
expressing:

1. Matter.
2. Life.
3. Mind.
4. Record.”[8]

[8] From _Subject Classification_, by James Duff Brown, 1906, pp.
11-13; second edition, 1914.

The only serious objection which has been urged against this scheme is
the inclusion of Education, Logic, Mathematics, and the Graphic and
Plastic Arts in Generalia. This course is, however, fully justified by
the somewhat amusing circumstance, that the critics are unable to agree
among themselves as to the exact logical place of any of the series.
While one insists that Logic should be placed in Philosophy, he is bound
to admit that it ought not to be separated from Mathematics, while on
the other hand he cannot allow arithmetic, book-keeping and geometry to
invade the sacred temple of the philosophers. Education is even a
greater stumbling-block. It is variously assigned to Psychology,
Sociology, Philology and Ethnology by different critics, and Fine Arts
is equally perplexing. In actual practice in a library, there is really
no inconvenience felt in connexion with the distribution of any of these
classes, and as they do not originate naturally from any of the other
main divisions, but qualify and pervade the whole of them like an
encyclopædia, or other general work, it will be found best to retain
them where they are. The other important features of this system are
described below.

THE CATEGORICAL TABLES form an important feature, whereby a separate
series of forms, phases and other qualifying factors are provided, which
can be applied to every subject, and so relieve the main tables from
congestion. They are applicable to the very largest libraries, and give
ample means of subdividing any topic, however large it may be. They can
also be used with other systems of classification, as they are
independent of the main tables and form a series of parallel numbers by
which the classification numbers can be themselves classified. For
example, a library may have 1000 books on a subject like Architecture in
general, to all of which the simple number B300 would be applied. By
adding the qualifying numbers from the Categorical Tables, which appear
after a point, and are invariably the same when applied to any subject,
the following sub-classification would result, which has the effect of
assembling all related forms of books together:

B300 Architecture, General
B300·1 -- Bibliography
B300·2 -- Dictionaries
B300·3 -- Text-books, Systematic
B300·4 -- -- Popular
B300·6 -- Societies
B300·7 -- Periodicals
B300·10 -- History

and so on.

If, in addition to those general works, the library possessed several
hundreds of books on Building Construction, B305, these would be
subdivided in exactly the same manner, as would also any subdivision of
the same topic, such as Foundations, Walls, Roofs, etc.:

B305·1 Building Construction, Bibliography
B305·3 -- -- Text-books, Systematic
B305·10 -- -- History
B329·1 Roofs, Bibliography

These categorical tables are therefore of universal application, and as
they contain nearly one thousand qualifying forms, phases, etc., it will
be seen that their use will greatly simplify the practical work of
classification.

As will be seen by the above examples, the symbols of the Notation are
perfectly simple combinations of letters and numbers. By treating the
numbers decimally, it is possible to intercalate as many new ones as
desired between any of the existing numbers, thus providing an infinity
of places.

The Index is very extensive in the number of subject-words it contains,
and comprises practically every topic likely to be encountered in
ordinary practice. The Classification Tables themselves provide places
somewhere for every remote subject, and the Introduction describes how
such out-of-the-way matters are to be treated.

It is impossible to set forth all the features of this system of
classification--its elaborate series of _biographical numbers_ for
arranging Fiction, Poetry and other alphabetical classes; its new system
of short _date-marks_; its rules for the _arrangement of special
subjects_, authors, etc.; and its notes on the simplification of the
whole subject of book classification. Reference can only be made to the
Summary Table of Main Classes for an idea of the size and style of the
book.

SUMMARY TABLE OF MAIN CLASSES, WITH ABRIDGED NOTATION

_Main Classes_

A--Generalia
B-D--Physical Science
E-F--Biological Science
G-H--Ethnology, Medicine
I--Economic Biology, Domestic Arts
J-K--Philosophy and Religion
L--Social and Political Science
M--Language and Literature
N--Literary Forms, Fiction, Poetry
O-W--History and Geography
X--Biography

A Generalia
A0 Generalia
A1 Education
A3 Logic
A4 Mathematics
A5 Geometry
A6 Graphic and Plastic Arts
A9 General Science

B, C, D Physical Science

B0 Physics, Dynamics
B1 Mechanical engineering
B2 Civil engineering
B3 Architecture
B5 Railways, Vehicles
B6 Transport, Shipbuilding
B8 Naval and Military science

C0 Electricity
C1 Optics
C2 Heat
C3 Acoustics
C4 Music
C8 Astronomy

D0 Physiography
D1 Hydrography, Hydrostatics
D2 Meteorology, Pneumatics
D3 Geology, Petrology
D4 Crystallography, Mineralogy
D6 Metallurgy, Mining, Metal trades
D7 Chemistry
D9 Chemical technology

E, F Biological Science

E0 Biology
E1 Botany
E2 Cryptogams
E3 Phanerogams
F0 Zoology
F1 Metazoa
F2 Mollusca
F3 Insecta
F4 Pisces (Fishes)
F5 Reptilia
F6 Aves (Birds)
F7 Mammalia

G, H Ethnology and Medicine

G0 Ethnology
G2 Human Anatomy and Physiology
G3 Pathology
G4 Materia medica
G5 Therapeutics
G6 Functions, Organs, Osteology
G7 Nervous system
G8 Sensory system
G9 Respiratory system
H0 Blood and Circulation
H1 Digestive system
H2 Urinary system
H3 Reproductive system
H4 Skin and Hair
H5 Parasitical and Infectious diseases
H6 Ambulance, Hospitals, Hygiene
H7 Physical Training and Exercises
H8 Field sports
H9 Recreative arts

I Economic Biology, Domestic Arts

I0 Agriculture, Dairy farming
I1 Veterinary medicine
I2 Milling, Gardening, Forestry
I3 Wood-working
I4 Textile manufactures
I5 Clothing trades
I6 Costume. Jewellery
I7 Vegetable and Animal products
I8 Foods and Beverages
I9 Gastronomy. Domestic economy

J, K Philosophy and Religion

J0 Metaphysics
J1 Æsthetics, Psychology
J2 Ethics
J3 Philosophy
J4 Theology, Religion, general
J5 Mythology, Folk-lore
J6 Church doctrines
J7 Fasts and Festivals
J8 Church Government
K0 Non-Christian churches
K1 Bible
K3 Christology
K4 Early and Eastern Christian churches
K5 Monachism
K6 Roman Catholicism
K7 Protestantism. Episcopacy
K8 Nonconformist churches
K9 Presbyterian and other churches

L Social and Political Science

L0 Social science
L1 Political economy
L2 Government
L3 Central and Local administration
L4 Law
L5 Trials. Actions
L6 Criminology. Penology
L7 Contracts. Property
L8 Commerce and Trade
L9 Finance

M Language and Literature

M0 Language, general
M1 Literature, general
M2 African Languages and Literature
M2-3 Asiatic Languages and Literature
M3 Malayan-Polynesian Literature
M4 European (Latin, etc.) Literature
M5 European (Teutonic)
M6 American
M7 Palæography. Bibliography
M8 Printing, Bookbinding
M9 Library economy

N Literary Forms

N0 Fiction
N1 Poetry
N2 Drama
N3 Essays and Miscellanea

O-W History and Geography

O0 Universal history
O1 Archæology
O2 Universal geography
O3 Africa, North
O4 Egypt
O5 East Africa
O6 Central Africa
O7 South Africa
O8 West Africa
O9 African Islands

P Oceania and Asia

P0 Australia
P1 Polynesia, Micronesia, etc.
P2 Malaysia
P29 Asia
P3 Japan
P4 China
P5 Farther India. Malay States
P6 India
P88 Afghanistan
P9 Persia

Q, R Europe (South, Latin, etc.)

Q0 Europe, general
Q1 Turkey in Europe
Q12 Turkey in Asia
Q2 Palestine, Arabia
Q3 Greece
Q4 Balkan States
Q5 Italy
R0 France
R6 Spain
R8 Portugal

S, T Europe (North, Teutonic, Slavonic)

S0 Russia in Europe
S15 Poland
S2 Finland
S25 Russia in Asia
S3 Austria
S34 Bohemia
S4 Hungary
S5 Switzerland
S6 Germany
T0 Netherlands
T1 Holland
T2 Belgium
T5 Denmark
T6 Norway
T8 Sweden

U, V British Islands

U0 Ireland
U2 Wales
U3 England
V0 Scotland
V5 United Kingdom
V6 British Empire

W America

W0 America, general
W02 Canada
W1 United States
W5 Mexico
W6 Central America
W63 West Indies
W7 South America
W72 Brazil
W76 Peru
W78 Paraguay
W8 Argentina
W83 Chili
W9 Polar Regions

X Biography

X0 Collective and Class
X08 Heraldry
X2 Portraits
X3 Individual Biography

=240. Adjustable Classification.=--The Subject Classification is the
second scheme invented by Brown which has achieved success. The earlier
scheme was the _Adjustable Classification for Libraries, with Index_,
London, 1898, and is interesting as the forerunner of the much larger
subject scheme. Only the main classes are given here:

A Science
B Useful Arts
C Fine and Recreative Arts
D Social Science
E Philosophy and Religion
F History and Geography
G Biography
H Language and Literature
J Poetry and Drama
K Prose Fiction
L Miscellaneous

This initial alphabetic notation is divided by a progressive numerical
notation, of which the following is a sample:

D Social Science

2-8 General
10-92 Manners, Customs, etc.
94-150 Political Economy
152-272 Government and Politics
274-354 Law
356-358 Commerce, Finance
400-424 Communications
426-484 Education

CHAPTER XVII

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

=241. Numbers.=--The class letters and numbers of all books should be
written in the inside, preferably on the back or front of the
title-page, and should also be carried on to the labels, book-cards and
all other records. On the outside the class letters and numbers may be
lettered in gilt or written on a suitable tag, which must be firmly
pasted on the back. The usual position for the tag is at about 1½ inches
from the foot of the back, as this gives regular and uniform marking,
which looks neat. Some librarians prefer a place at the top of the back,
as the arranging number thus becomes more prominent, and the tag at the
foot is more subject to handling. The diagram shows the two methods.

[Illustration: FIG. 73.--Lettering of Class Numbers (Section 241).]

=242.= In classification systems in which the class numbers are used for
charging and all other purposes it is necessary to provide a series of
elaborate auxiliary marks to distinguish book from book in the same
subdivision. Thus, in the Decimal scheme, 621·18 is the number for
books on boilers. If there are six books on this topic, some distinction
must be used in charging to enable the librarian to know which book has
been issued. Mr Cutter has devised a table for this purpose, which is
known as the “Cutter Author Marks,” by which surnames are arranged
according to their initials and qualified by a number thus:

Abbott = Ab2.
Acland = Ac6.
Cook = C77.
Cousin = C83.
Crabb = C84.
Gardiner = G16.
Gerry = G36.
Gilman = G42.
Shock = Sh8.

The six books on boilers would accordingly be distinguished by receiving
these author marks, and the numbers might become:

621·18 Ab2 Abbott on Boilers.
621·18 C83 Cousin „
621·18 G16 Gardiner „
621·18 Sh8 Shock „

In the Subject Classification these books when given the number for
boilers, C210, could be further distinguished by the numbers of the
biographical tables, thus:

C210
---- Abbott on Boilers.
3011

C210
---- Cousin „
3669

C210
---- Gardiner „
4565

C210
---- Shock „
7863

=243. Book and Shelf Marking.=--It is better to have the class numbers
stamped on the back of the book at once than to rely on tags or labels,
which have a tendency to peel off. In some open access libraries using
ordinary gilt lettering, a subsidiary marking has been adopted to
prevent misplacement and to aid replacement.

These marks are simple round spots of coloured enamel painted on the
backs of books, and they effectually prevent shelf being mixed with
shelf and tier with tier. There are eight shelves in a tier, and eight
distinctive colours are used, so that no colour is repeated in the same
tier, and they are varied in every succeeding tier, so that adjoining
shelves will not correspond in the colour of their marking. As a further
precaution, the class marks are placed at different heights on the backs
of the books in each tier, so that, even if a red-marked book from Tier
1 were placed among the red-marked books on Tier 3, there would still be
a distinction. Of course the same level is maintained for each tier, by
means of gauges, and the progression of colours is observed. When a book
moves forward to another shelf, the mark is painted over with the new
colour, and when the book is moved to another tier, the mark is
carefully scraped out and altered to suit the new location. As movement
is not extensive in ordinary libraries, this alteration is only an
occasional duty. The class numbers maintain the topic order on the
shelves, and so the most common method of open access shelf marking is
complete. It has been argued that the class letters and numbers are
all-sufficient to maintain order in a library which allows readers to go
to the shelves, but on this point experience varies. At any rate, there
is no harm in taking simple precautions of this kind, which certainly
possess the great advantage that if a book is misplaced it can be
noticed instantly and rectified. Uniform form marks require closer
scrutiny, the use of colours demands but a casual glance. In closely
classified libraries where there is no public access to the shelves,
simple class numbers ought to be sufficient for staff purposes. The only
additional point is that, perhaps, the accession numbers should also
figure on the backs of the books, especially if an indicator is used for
charging in the lending department.

COLOURS.

Tier 1. Tier 2. Tier 3.
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Blue Yellow Grey
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Red Mauve Buff
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Green White Blue
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Yellow Grey Red
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Mauve Buff Green
--------------- --------------- ---------------
White Blue Yellow
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Grey Red Mauve
--------------- --------------- ---------------
Buff Green White
--------------- --------------- ---------------

FIG. 74.--Colour Marking of Books.

[Illustration: FIG. 75.--Tier Marking of Books (Section 243).]

[Illustration: FIG. 76.--Shelf Front with Class Divisions and Number
(Section 244).]

[Illustration: FIG. 77.--Tier Guide showing Construction (Section 244).]

=244.= It is desirable that the arrangement of the shelves should be
made as clear as possible to the staff and to readers by means of
various guides, and these are particularly necessary in open access
libraries. The best general guide is a plan of the department showing
the disposition of the books in the cases, and indicating the sequence
of the classification by means of arrows. The plan of the Croydon
Central Lending Library may serve as an example. If the classes are
indicated chromatically: for example, 000 red, 100 blue, 200 yellow, 300
green, etc., the plan will be more easily followed. Such a plan, drawn
to a large scale, framed, and hung in a conspicuous position, will give
readers a valuable conspectus of the department.

FIG. 78.--Tier Guide showing Lettering of Front (Section 244).

In addition, a series of bold class labels at the top of each class, and
plenty of topic labels on the shelves, together with the progressive
class numbers boldly printed, and fixed to the end of each shelf, will
be found a great help to understanding the classification and finding
the books. Shelf topic and number labels can be printed by the staff
with an ordinary rubber-printing or sign-writing apparatus, and they can
be fixed to the shelves by means of the label-holders mentioned in
Section 249. For class numbers on the shelf-ends xylonite label-holders
will be found economical and convenient, as they can be cut into inch
widths. The above figure (Fig. 76) of a shelf-front with labels will
give some idea of the application of these marks. The class number of
the first or last topic only need be given. A method of guiding by tiers
instead of by shelves is described in _The Library World_ (Nov. 1904)
and is one of many experiments which have been made with shelf guiding.
The illustrations (Figs. 77, 78) will show much better than words the
appearance and possibilities of this system. Another form is illustrated
below (Fig. 79) and shows a class label for indicating the chief
contents of a main class. The illustration of an open access lending
library given opposite (Fig. 80) shows the system of press guides used
at the North Islington Library, which in practice has been found very
effective.

FIG. 79.--Class Guide (Section 244).

=245. Shelf Register.=--The shelf register is a record of the books as
they stand on the shelves, and is the main guide used in stock-taking
and otherwise checking the books. Cards are sometimes used for this
purpose, each work being entered on a separate card, the whole being
arranged in trays in the order of the classification.

[Illustration: FIG. 80.--Bookcase with Classification Guides and Shelf
Labels (Section 244).]

Another method is to use shelf-register sheets, which occupy very little
space, a single sheet being used for each class division or subdivision.
The sheet is headed, as shown in the subjoined ruling, with the class
letter and number, and the books in the section are entered in
author-alphabetical order to begin with, afterwards just as books are
added (Fig. 81). The narrow columns are reserved for checking the
shelves. The date of check is written at the top, and the presence of
the book indicated by a tick. In some open access libraries stock is
taken of the shelves twice a year by means of these sheets. Missing
books are not ticked, but noted in order that further search may be made
in the charging system and other records. When they turn up they are
ticked off. The sheets are collated periodically, and any books which
continue to be unaccounted for are noted and entered in a special book
ruled to show author and title, date missing, and having a column for
the record of any subsequent facts, such as its finding, replacement, or
other means of recovery.

<----------------------------------7″---------------------------------->
+------+-------+------------------+-++-----+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-----+
| Ac- | | |V|| | | | | | | | | | | | | E | ^
|ces- | | |o||Mar. | | | | | | | | | | | |100·3| |
|sion |Author.| Title. |l|| 6, | Dates of Check. | | |
| No. | | |s||1900.| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | |.|| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+------+-------+------------------+-++-----+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-----+ |
| 5,216|Balfour|Manual of Botany |1|| ✓ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|15,621|Henfrey| „ „ |1|| ✓ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5,111|Lindley|Elements of Botany|1|| ✓ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | |9½″
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | || | | | | | | | | | | | | | V

FIG. 81.--Shelf-check Register (Section 245).

=246. Dummies and Overflow Stock.=--Sometimes the library becomes
congested at certain places owing to limited space and rapid growth, and
if discarding is not resorted to some of the less popular, or old, books
must be removed to a supplementary store. There is scarcely a library
which does not possess a second classification stored apart, where such
crowded-out books are kept. On the shelf-register these books can either
be indicated by some such means as a red-ink cross, or they can be
removed from the original and entered on supplementary sheets. Dummies,
such as those described in Section 247, can also be used to show books
located elsewhere, especially in open access libraries, or lists can be
mounted on cards and kept beside each tier. The question of surplus
stock is one which ought to be dealt with on the broad lines of the
discarding policy discussed in Section 199, but, of course, an actual
division of stock caused by overcrowding must be treated as recommended
above.

Large and odd-sized books should be shelved in special presses, and
their place in the classification can be indicated by means of dummies,
as described below.

[Illustration: FIG. 82.--Shelf Dummy for Book Shelved out of Order
(Section 247).]

=247. Shelf Accessories.=--For the purpose of maintaining order on the
shelves and marking particular divisions or classes, various devices
have from time to time been introduced.

DUMMIES are used to indicate the temporary absence of books, or to show
that particular works, because of their large size, are located on some
other shelf. The simplest form of shelf dummy for classification
purposes is a block of wood about 7 inches × 5 inches × ⅝ inch, painted
white, or covered with white paper on the edge, and lettered with the
title of the book which it represents. The title may be written on each
of the seven-inch faces, in case the block gets reversed, and should
also bear a plain direction to the location of the book it represents
(Fig. 82). [A similar dummy, bearing the classification number and the
name of the division, serves as a good guide to the classification. The
block is inserted at the beginning of each new classification sequence;
and both in this case, as in that of the dummy that represents books,
the dummy is too unlike a book to be taken for anything other than a
guide.]

[Illustration: FIG. 83.--Millboard Dummy for Withdrawn Book (Section
248).]

=248.= For books temporarily withdrawn a piece of millboard covered
white on one side may be used in the form shown below (Fig. 83). This
should have the author, number and title of the missing book written on
the white side. One board of this sort can be used over and over again
for different books, by simply adding the new title and obliterating the
old one. This board can also be used instead of the block above
illustrated (Fig. 82) if space is a matter of moment.

The object of the tail in this form of board is to prevent the board
from disappearing behind or getting lost among the other books. When
placed between two books, with the projection overhanging the front of
the shelf, it will always stick out so as to be seen readily, while it
cannot very readily be pushed deep into the shelf because of the
projection.

[Illustration: FIG. 84.--Xylonite Label-holder (Section 249).]

[Illustration: FIG. 85.--Tongued Metal Book-rest (Section 250).]

[Illustration: FIG. 86.--Flanged Metal Book-rest (Section 250).]

=249.= LABEL-HOLDERS for keeping all kinds of classification or other
labels in place upon the fore-edges of shelves, close to the books which
they indicate, are made in various forms. An old form was made out of
tin or thin japanned iron, with a pair of flanges on the upper and lower
edges to take a card-label. This was screwed or tacked on to the edge of
the shelf and shifted when necessary. Another form of this holder is
made precisely the same as regards the turned-over flanges to form
grooves, but without the screw-holes, and has in addition a long
projection to slide under the books on the shelf so as to keep in place.
This can be moved easily, but it is very apt to be pulled out when books
are removed. A simple, effective shelf label-holder is made from strips
of transparent xylonite bent in a rectangular form, and pinned or
screwed to the under-side of the shelf as illustrated (Fig. 84). This
can be made to fit into shelves with either square or rounded edges, and
keeps the labels clean, as it covers them over. The advantage of this
form of label-holder is that it can be cut with a pair of scissors or a
knife to any size if wanted only for simple shelf or class numbers. It
is also easily adjusted or changed.

[Illustration: FIG. 87.--Combined Book-rest and Shelf Guide (Section
250).]

[Illustration: FIG. 88.--Yale Book-rest (Section 250).]

=250.= BOOK-RESTS AND SHELF GUIDES.--Practically every librarian born
before 1880 has invented a book-rest at some period of his career, and
there is consequently the less need for describing more than one or two
typical devices. The best-known form is the ordinary rectangular metal
rest, which is made in several styles in japanned iron. Fig. 85 is the
commonest form, though it is objectionable, because books are apt to be
impaled upon the sharp edge and damaged, and occasionally the rest
itself is lost. A better, though slightly more expensive, form is Fig.
86. By reason of the flanged side there is no danger of books being
damaged, and this side can also be used as a classification guide if
wanted to indicate where one class begins and another ends. A variation
of the dummy mentioned in Section 247 (Fig. 82) is a plain wooden block
mounted on metal angle pieces which can be made to act as a useful
label-holder in classified libraries. The illustration (Fig. 87) will
show the form of this device.

Another form of book-rest or support is sufficiently described by the
illustration (Fig. 88).

=251. Book-Stands and Carriers.=--For desk and table use there are two
very convenient and adjustable book-stands, which will be found useful
in public as well as private libraries. One is the American stand with
adjustable wire compartments, which is useful for keeping books handy
for desk use or for sorting out cards, etc.

[Illustration: FIG. 89.--Book-carrier hung on front of Bookcase (Section
252).]

[Illustration: FIG. 90.--Book-truck (Section 253).]

=252.= The other is the English adjustable book-stand which is largely
used for displaying and carrying about a few books for committee or
consultation purposes. As a table book-holder, this is probably the best
and strongest form ever invented. As shown in the illustration (Fig.
89), the uprights slide and firmly grip a large or small number of
books, according to the capacity of the holder. This contrivance has
been adapted as a library book-carrier, by having strong hooks attached,
which fit into staples affixed to the fronts or ends of bookcases. They
are very useful for classifying and arranging books awaiting replacement
or shelving.

There are other forms of book-holders and carriers with fixed upright
ends, but they are not so satisfactory as the adjustable forms
described.

=253.= In large libraries a book-truck will be found a useful appliance
for moving quantities of books about, either for purposes of service or
location or cataloguing. The design in Fig. 90 will explain this device
sufficiently.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=254. Author Marks:=

Brown, J. D. Author Marks and Symbols. _In his_ Subject
Classification, 1906, p. 26.

Cutter, C. A. Author Marks. _In his_ Expansive Classification,
1891-93, p. 139.

---- Three-Figure Alfabetic-order Table. Library Bureau.

Dewey, Melvil. Decimal Classification (last ed.), Intro. and Appendix.
Institut International de Bibliographie. Classification Décimale,
fascicule i.

Sayers, W. C. Berwick. Notation. _In his_ Introduction to Library
Classification, 1918, p. 68.

=255. Classification and Shelf Guides:=

Coutts, H. T. Classification and Shelf Guides. _In_ Stewart, J. D.,
_and others_, Open Access Libraries, 1915.

Sayers. Introduction, chapter xii. (_vide supra_).

Dewey, Melvil. Shelf List. _In his_ Library School Rules, 1892.

For Articles, see Cannons, H 96-108, Shelf Arrangement, etc.

DIVISION VIII

CATALOGUING, FILING, INDEXING

CHAPTER XVIII

CATALOGUING METHOD

=256. General.=--Of the interior administrative work of the municipal,
or even more of the university or institutional library, that which
occupies most time and thought is cataloguing. A catalogue is properly
defined as an explanatory, logically-arranged inventory and key to the
books and their contents, and differs from a bibliography in being
confined to the books in a given library. For its production wide
knowledge both of cataloguing rules and of general subjects is required,
and experience in ordinary reference work is essential. The staff,
therefore, to whom the cataloguing is entrusted should be highly trained
and well educated; that is to say, that part of the staff which deals
with the final processes in cataloguing--the choice of headings,
treatment of titles, annotation, selection of added entries, and the
filing of the finished material. In large libraries cataloguing staffs
are chosen with care, and cataloguing rooms are arranged for the work
with a careful regard to the value of natural lighting, of furniture so
arranged that the cataloguer has not to rise from his desk every time he
wishes to make a reference, and, indeed, with the object of producing
the best results at a minimum expenditure of energy. Even in the
smallest library, where the librarian does the cataloguing, a
preliminary attention to such matters as the construction of the
cataloguing table and its accessibility to the inevitable cataloguer’s
reference books, will save much labour hereafter. It may not be
superfluous to add that as cataloguing is exacting work, it is fatiguing
work, and no assistant should be kept at it without variation for a
longer time than he can remain mentally alert and fresh. Eye-strain and
fatigue mean inaccuracy, and at the best inefficient work, and seven
hours is a maximum that should not be exceeded.

=257. Kinds of Catalogue.=--There is no more important decision that a
librarian has to make than that of the form which the catalogue is to
take. A wrong choice here will produce months of labour to make good the
error. The choice will no doubt be influenced by the kind of public for
which the catalogue is required. The public may be general in character,
and within that somewhat vague definition may be artisan, or commercial,
or what not; or it may be special--with a large number of students. The
public a municipal library has to serve usually combines all these
elements; and in choosing the form of catalogue, a librarian may be
guided by the desire to serve them all, but to emphasize the educational
side of his work. The questions which a catalogue or catalogues may be
expected to answer are: what books has the library (_a_) by a given
author, (_b_) on a given subject, (_c_) having a given title. Most
catalogues may, by the addition of indexes, be made to yield this
information with varying degrees of efficiency. The various forms, and
examples of them, should be considered carefully before the choice is
made. Those most recognized are the _Author_ catalogue, the _Dictionary_
catalogue, the _Classified_ catalogue, and the _Alphabetical-Classed_
catalogue.

The _author_ catalogue is most valuable in the hands of literary men and
of experts, but is of very limited use to the reader whose knowledge of
authors is small. It is simply an alphabetical arrangement of author
entries of books, without any reference in that arrangement to their
subjects. The best examples of this form of cataloguing are the British
Museum _Catalogue of the Printed Books_ and the _Author Catalogue_ of
the London Library.

The _dictionary_ catalogue is the form most popular here and in America,
and, unfortunately, is usually the most defective. As its name implies,
it resembles the ordinary alphabetical arrangement of the dictionary,
and embraces in one alphabet entries of authors, subjects, titles, and
series. The principle of subject entry is that books are entered under
the specific subject, and not usually under broad headings; thus books
on Trees are entered under that word, and not, as in a classified
catalogue, under their historical, or logical, place in Botany. The
dictionary form is that most attractive to the general reader, and in
its ideal form is a remarkably effective instrument; that is to say,
when it analyses the subjects in books, and links all specific and
general headings by cross-references. The best examples are the Brooklyn
_Library Catalogue_ and the _Index Catalogue_ of the U.S.
Surgeon-General’s Library; and good English examples, which will repay
study, are the catalogues of Bishopsgate Institute, London, and of
Hampstead Public Libraries which seems to be modelled on the Bishopsgate
catalogue. Objections to the dictionary catalogue are that it gives no
connected view of any subject and of its collateral subjects, that it is
rarely cross-referenced adequately, that headings are chosen haphazard,
and, what is its chief objection, if it is printed it is out-of-date the
day after publication--an objection which does not apply so much to the
printed classified catalogue, as that lends itself to publication, and
to revision, a class at a time. Librarians using this form should base
their subject entries upon the _A. L. A. List of Subject Headings_
(second edition, 1912) or the _Library of Congress List_ (in progress,
issued in parts by the Library), as these will secure a choice of
recognized headings and save much labour in deciding between alternative
headings. The application of the Library of Congress list may be studied
in The Library Association _Index to Periodicals_ (1915-16), which is,
in the main, arranged upon it.

The _classified_ catalogue--the best accessible example of which is the
catalogue of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (1895-1902, supplements,
1902-06 and 1907-11), while good English examples are issued by The
Patent Office, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Islington (selected catalogue),
Bolton and Walthamstow--is gradually ousting the dictionary catalogue
from the favour of librarians. In this form books are arranged in the
order of the classification, in the perfect form in the strict order of
it, and under each specific heading the books can be arranged
alphabetically or (preferably) in chronological or inverse-chronological
order, or in the order which places the best book first. Such a
catalogue shows the whole “family” literature of every subject in a
logical progression, and is therefore much more valuable to the student
than other forms. It must, however, be equipped with author and subject
indexes to make it usable by ordinary readers who have not grasped the
scheme of classification; such indexes are usually placed at the end of
the catalogue, or class if the catalogue is issued in class lists, and
the catalogue is prefaced with an outline of the scheme.

The _alphabetical-classed_ catalogue is one in which the books are
arranged under specific subjects and the subject headings are arranged
in alphabetical order. Excellent examples of the method are the Library
Association _Index to Periodicals_ and (with briefer entries) the London
Library _Subject Index_, and the British Museum _Subject Index_. As the
last two examples show, this form is usually provided as an index to be
used in conjunction with a separate author catalogue, but complete,
individual catalogues have been produced in this form. Its advantages
are those accruing to the alphabet, rapid reference and easy
recognition; its disadvantages are the inevitable separations of allied
topics.

=258. Annotation, etc.=--In all forms of catalogue the difficulties
which have to be obviated are the lack of clearness of meaning in titles
and of information as to the qualifications of authors, the scope, size,
_format_, date and other features of books. These particulars can, and
should, be given as a rule under the principal entry of each book as
part of the main entry; but to amplify such information,
notes--technically called annotations--are now frequently provided. An
admirable conspectus of the art of annotation is available in E. A.
Savage’s _Manual of Annotation in Library Catalogues_, and the student
is referred to that work. Here it will be sufficient to say that
catalogue entries should be as full in bibliographical particulars as
the means of the library will allow, and that notes, which must be as
brief as possible, should elucidate obscure titles, show the
qualifications of the author, his method, elementary or otherwise, the
preliminary knowledge required for the reading of the book, its place in
the literature of the subject, and the presence of bibliographies,
glossaries, etc.; and should give, in the case of reprints, the date of
first publication, and in that of revised editions, the nature of the
revision or editorial additions.

=259. Form of Catalogue.=--Having chosen the manner in which his
catalogue is to be compiled, or, to adapt a term from classification,
its inner form, the librarian has an almost equally important decision
to make as to the manner of its outer form, or the way in which it may
be made accessible to his public. At one time every librarian aimed to
produce a printed catalogue as a matter of course and necessity, partly
because MS. forms were imperfect, and partly because the universal
prevalence of the barrier system made a key of which every reader could
have a copy an integral part of the charging. This view does not prevail
to anything like the former extent, and the complete printed catalogue
in book form is becoming less and less general. In some ways this is
unfortunate, because the printed catalogue has the indisputable value of
book-form, homogeneity, and convenience both for consultation and for
carrying about; besides, it is a valuable bibliographical tool for use
in all other libraries. At the same time, the great cost of the printed
catalogue, especially when issued complete in any of the alphabetical
forms, and the irritating fact that in a growing library it is
incomplete the day after it is published, have made it almost impossible
for public librarians to publish in this form. Complete printed
class-lists are a more satisfactory form, because each class can be
published separately and at such intervals as will distribute the cost
over several years; and revisions can be made in similar serial manner,
so that classes such as the Useful Arts, in which books most rapidly run
out of date or are superseded, can be more frequently revised than
others. Most classified catalogues are issued in this manner. But, in
spite of the admitted advantages of the complete printed catalogue in
book-form, the tendency is to depend upon complete manuscript catalogues
at the library, and to advise readers of additions by means of a
periodical library bulletin, by duplicated lists, by lists published in
the local newspapers, etc. The open access system has destroyed the most
immediate necessity for the printed catalogue--the choosing of books
from a stock which readers were unable to examine--and few libraries
which publish such a catalogue can hope to recoup even a substantial
part of the cost from sales. One or two libraries have a _selected_
printed catalogue, which contains the 10,000-20,000 invariable books in
the library--the classics in all branches of literature which readers
have a right to expect to find on the shelves--and depend upon MS.
catalogues for the stock as a whole.

=260. Card Distribution, etc.=--In using the term “manuscript catalogue”
we speak somewhat loosely, in that the term usually covers any catalogue
not in printed _book_ form; hence it covers slip, card, sheaf, placard
and various other forms in which individual entries may indeed be
printed. The most used of these is the card catalogue, in which each
entry of books is made on a separate card, and the cards are arranged on
their fore-edges in drawers or trays (but drawers preferably) in the
order that would be used in a book-catalogue. The merit of this system
is its infinite flexibility; for, as every book has its separate card,
cards for additions can be inserted without dislocating the order, and
the catalogue can be kept up-to-date always. Several of the great
bibliographical and cataloguing institutions have adopted this form, the
most important being the Library of Congress at Washington. This
admirable library not only prints its own cards, but offers copies for
sale to other libraries at a low cost. In 1914 these cards were
available for 650,000 titles, and to these additions of from 50,000 to
55,000 are made annually. As the cards are of standard size (5 inches ×
3 inches = 12·5 × 7·5 cm.) they can be used in any properly constructed
catalogue. Naturally there is an emphasis on American books, but
thousands of the cards apply to English books as well. Thus, for an
expenditure of about two cents per card, any library may have the cards
for its catalogues, and this is at a far smaller cost in labour and
money than any individual printed entry can be obtained by any library.
The backbone of the system is the “unit” card; that is to say, one card
is printed for a book and on it are indicated all cross-references,
etc., and extra copies of the card can, if it is thought necessary, be
purchased and placed under the headings indicated. The Library of
Congress issues advance proof sheets at a charge of $30 a year, which
may be cut up and mounted on cards as a staff catalogue, or as
suggestion slips, and from these may be learned the serial numbers by
which cards may be ordered. In the United States several of the great
city libraries act as depots for storing whole sets of the cards, which
librarians of other libraries may consult instead of proof sheets. This
card distribution method has thus been dwelt upon as it has as yet no
analogue in the United Kingdom, and it is to be hoped that some
judiciously chosen great British libraries may act as depots for Library
of Congress and other cards. Their use would save thousands of pounds to
British libraries, as well as set free for other library purposes the
hundreds of cataloguers in hundreds of different libraries who are all
engaged in the wasteful task of cataloguing the very same books. Other
libraries which issue printed cards are the Institute International de
Bibliographie at Brussels, the Concilium Bibliographicum, Zurich, the
John Crerar Library, Chicago, and Pittsburgh Library. About ninety per
cent. of the municipal library books in the United States are covered by
the Library of Congress cards; therefore a certain number of cards have
still to be made by the individual libraries; and in English libraries
practically all the card catalogues are so made. In some cases the cards
are made by mounting entries from the periodical list of additions or
bulletin, but usually the cards are written, hand-printed or typed. It
is obvious that some system of card distribution from an authoritative
centre is badly needed in the United Kingdom as a measure of mere
economy.

=261. Sheaf Catalogue.=--The second form of manuscript catalogue is the
_sheaf_, which may be described as a book-application of the principle
of the card catalogue. It consists of a sheaf or holder in the shape of
a book-cover which is fitted with locking rods designed to hold some 600
or 800 leaves. The leaves are separate individual pieces of paper cut to
a standard size and punched with slots and holes to accommodate the
locking rods of the sheaf. The sheaf is arranged on much the same plan
as the card catalogue, except that several books are entered on each
page as a rule, and when any page becomes congested it is re-written as
a whole. It will be seen that this is the loose-leaf principle, which
has largely become so prominent in business methodology; and, indeed,
the sheaf-catalogue was undoubtedly the forerunner of the loose-leaf
ledger. It has most of the advantages of the card catalogue, occupies
less space, and has the undeniable advantage of book form; but whereas
in the card catalogue there is little or no re-writing of entries, in
the sheaf catalogue this must be undertaken at intervals. Of course if
one page were devoted to each entry, as one card is so devoted in the
card catalogue, the merits of the systems would seem to be equal, except
perhaps that the card is of a more durable material than the paper used
in the sheaf. But either card or sheaf is infinitely superior to any
other form of MS. catalogue.

A reference only is necessary to other forms of MS. which have been
proposed from time to time, as none of them has been adopted by any
number of libraries. The very old libraries occasionally use a slip
catalogue; the Bodleian and British Museum, for example, paste slips
into volumes or guard books resembling large scrap-books in approximate
alphabetical order, and other libraries use similar methods. The system
is a good one in many respects; the public understands and likes it; but
the catalogue runs to so many large volumes that its accommodation would
be a serious matter for the ordinary library; and the congestion of
entries, with loss of all but approximate alphabetical order at most
letters of the alphabet, will be obvious. Adjustments will be explained
in the next chapter.

It is not the intention here to recommend any special method or form of
cataloguing; individual library systems have individual needs; and no
librarian should make so important a decision as to the character of his
catalogue without an examination of such catalogues as have been named
and described. Our next chapter will illustrate the physical forms of
catalogue sufficiently, we think, for most practical purposes.

=262. Codes and Rules[9].=--Whatever form of catalogue is chosen, the
main entry is practically the same for them all; that is, the author
entry; and a whole literature of cataloguing rules and codes now exists
which must receive careful attention. The principal of them are as
follows:

Bodleian Library. Rules for the Author Catalogues of Printed Books and
Printed Music. _See_ Supplement to the Staff-Kalendar, 1911, etc.

British Museum. Rules for Compiling Catalogues in the Department of
Printed Books, 1906.

Cutter, C. A. Rules for a Printed Dictionary Catalogue. 4th ed.,
Washington, D.C., 1904.

(The most complete and detailed work on the subject.)

Quinn, J. H. Library Cataloguing, 1913. Truslove & Hanson.

(The best English text-book for beginners, but limited mainly to the
dictionary form, which the author prefers.)

Brown, J. D. Library Classification and Cataloguing, 1912. Grafton.

(More advanced and comprehensive than Quinn, and is illustrated
freely.)

Dewey, Melvil. Library School Rules: 1, Card Catalog Rules; 2,
Accession Book Rules; 3, Shelf List Rules. 5th ed. Boston: Libr.
Bureau, 1905.

(With 52 facsimiles of sample cards.)

Jast, L. S. Classified and Annotated Cataloguing: Suggestions and
Rules. _See_ Library World, vi. 3, 1898-1900. Abridged in Library
World, v. 7, 1906.

Linderfelt, K. A. Eclectic Card Catalog Rules: Authors and Titles.
Based on Dziatzko’s Instruction, compared with the Rules of the
British Museum, Cutter, Dewey, Perkins and other authorities. Boston:
C. A. Cutter, 1890.

(An invaluable reference book.)

New South Wales. Sydney Public Library. Guide to the System of
Cataloguing the Reference Library: with rules for cataloguing. By H.
C. L. Anderson. 4th ed. 1902. Sydney: Gullick.

Perkins, F. B. San Francisco Cataloguing for Public Libraries: A
Manual based on the System in use in the San Francisco Free Public
Library. S. Francisco: C. A. Murdock, 1884.

Hitchler, Theresa. Cataloguing for Small Libraries. Ed. 2, 1915.
Chicago: A.L.A.

[9] Foreign codes which deserve mention are:

_Italian_: Fumagalli, Giuseppe. Cataloghi di Biblioteche, e Indice
Bibliographia: Memoria. Firenze: G. C. Sansoni, 1887.

_German_: Instructionen für die Alphabetischen Kataloge der
Preuszischen Bibliotheken. Zweite Ausg., 1908. Berlin: Behrend,
1909.

_Austrian_: K. K. Hofbibliothek. Vorschrift für die Verfassung des
Alphabetischen Nominal-Zettelkatalogs der Druckwerke. Hrsg. von
der Direction. Mit zwei Beilagen, einem Sachregister und 500
Beispielen. Wien: Selbstverlag der K. K. Hofbibliothek, 1901.

_Spanish_: Junta Facultativa de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos.
Instrucciones para la redacción de los catálogos en las
bibliotecas publicas del estado. Madrid: Tip. de la Revista de
Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos, 1902.

=263. Anglo-American Code.=--While the study of the above codes and
elucidations is a necessary preliminary to the best cataloguing work,
they all lead up in general to the Anglo-American cataloguing code,
which made its first appearance in 1908,[10] and at the time of writing
(May 1919) is again under revision. It is a useful and happy example of
co-operation between the two principal library societies of the world,
and may be said to have laid the foundations of all future cataloguing
method. It consists of definitions; 174 substantive rules, with
variations where the two countries could not agree, and where some
recognized authority such as the Library of Congress differed from the
rule recommended; and appendices on abbreviations, transliteration, and
sample catalogue cards illustrating the rules. A digest and criticism of
these rules, which are too many to be copied here, will be found in
Brown’s _Library Classification and Cataloguing_, and will serve to show
the skeleton of the entries they provide, and will be serviceable to the
student who reads it in connexion with the Code itself. The main feature
of the Code is fulness of entry, involving various repetitions in
places; for example, the author’s name, which is used as the heading, is
also repeated in the title.

[10] _Cataloguing Rules: Author and Title Entries._ Compiled by
Committees of the American Library Association and the Library
Association. English edition, 1908. (Out of print, 1919.)

LECKY, WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE. The American Revolution, 1763-83;
being the chapters and passages relating to America from the author’s
_History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, by William Edward
Hartpole Lecky. . . . Arranged and edited, with historical and
bibliographical notes, by James Albert Woodburn. . . .

Added entry: Woodburn, James Albert.

The example will give an idea of the general treatment of a book and of
the use of punctuation. The three dots have a “separating” purpose
merely. Rules that differ from some in fairly general use are: 23, which
prescribes that authors shall be entered in full and in their vernacular
form with certain exceptions; 25, which enters compound names under the
first part of the name and refers from the other part,--thus:
Burne-Jones, Sir Edward, _not_ Jones, Sir Edward Burne-; and in
particular 33, which enters a nobleman under his family name and refers
from his titles,--thus: THOMSON, WILLIAM, _1st baron Kelvin_; LUBBOCK,
JOHN, _1st Lord Avebury_. Authors who have changed their names are
entered under the earliest form, but the later name is added to the
entry,--thus: SMITH, HANNAH, _afterwards_ Hesba Stretton; and married
women are treated similarly. Pseudonymous authors are entered under
their real names when they are known, with references from the assumed
names.

It will be clear that, in view of the impossibility of printing the
Anglo-American Code in this chapter, it will be futile to give an
alternative Code in a manual which deals with the general activities of
the profession. A brief Code did appear in the last edition, which was
practical and simple, and reference may be made to that, but it is
strongly to be suggested that all future catalogues should be
accommodated to the A.-A. Code in order that uniform methods of entry
may be perfected, catalogues may become more generally understandable,
and a formidable obstacle to co-operative cataloguing be removed.

=264. Bulletins.=--Since about 1894 a number of libraries have issued
periodical magazines, or bulletins, in which are printed lists of new
books, reading lists on special subjects, notes on the work of the
libraries, and other matter likely to be of use and interest to library
readers. The first use of such a magazine is to supply readers with a
regular supplementary catalogue of all book additions; a second purpose
is to publish notifications of new rules or alterations in the working
of the library; and a third may be to issue information about the work
accomplished by the library. The greatest amount of space, therefore,
should be allotted to the description of new books, and annotations
should be supplied liberally to the entries which require them. The
magazine has the advantage over ordinary supplementary catalogues in
that it is issued regularly and frequently; and it has a valuable
purpose in supplying printed entries by means of which the card or sheaf
catalogue can be kept up-to-date effectively. Copies of the magazine can
be printed on thin paper (preferably bank paper) on one side only, and
the entries can be cut out and mounted on cards or slips and inserted in
the standard catalogue of the library, whatever form it may take.
Emphasis may be laid upon the special catalogues or reading lists which
can conveniently be published by this means. A special catalogue is
usually a classified list of entries on the subject chosen in ordinary
catalogue form, of which several good examples appear in the Norwich
_Readers’ Guide_. A reading list has a directive purpose; it is in a
much freer form as a rule, selects the best books on the subject, and
indicates the order in which they may be read most profitably, with
qualitative and elucidatory notes. Examples of such lists appear in
several American library bulletins, and examples readily accessible are
those in the Croydon _Reader’s Index_, a sample from one of which is
subjoined:

=DARWIN AND THE EVOLUTION THEORY=

=PART 1. INTRODUCTORY COURSE.=

For those who are unable to read very widely in the theory the
following are suggested, in the order given, as sufficient for giving
an accurate and fairly complete view of the question.

=Saleeby’s= “Organic Evolution,” a simple but interesting intro. to
the subject

=C=[11] 575

=Romanes’s= “Scientific Evidences of Organic Evolution” is also a
brief statement of the primary factors of the theory

=CST= 575

=Clodd’s= “Story of Creation” is a popular but more extensive study of
the whole question of evolution

=CST= 575

=Wallace’s= “Darwinism” should be read as a direct intro. to Darwin’s
own works. Embraces researches made between 1872 and 1889, and answers
objections; it is popular in method

=CST= 575

=Darwin’s= “Origin of Species” is the epoch-making work in which, in
1859, he first fully expounded his theory of the mutability of species

=CST= 575

His “Descent of Man,” 1871, is an account of further experiments, and
more careful in style

=CT= 575

=Huxley’s= “Man’s Place in Nature” may be read as a suppl. to Darwin,
as the work of a brilliant independent critic

=CST= 573

=Romanes’s= “Darwin and after Darwin” carries on the theory to 1890. 3
v.

=C= 575

=Haeckel’s= “Evolution of Man” contains the view of the theory of the
first of German biologists. Principally a study of embryology. 2 v.

=C= 575

=Weissmann’s= “The Evolution Theory” is the latest re-statement of the
whole subject (1904). Is popular, and contains a study of the author’s
germ theory. 2 v.

=C= 572

If the reader is unable to spare time for reading all the above,
Romanes’s “Scientific Evidences” and Wallace’s “Darwinism” are perhaps
the most useful to the beginner.

[11] =C= = Central, =R= = Reference, =S= = South Norwood, and =T= =
Thornton Heath, the Libraries possessing copies.

=PART 2. A MORE COMPLETE COURSE.=

=BIOGRAPHY.=

See =Francis Darwin’s= “Life and Letters of Charles Darwin.” 3 v.,
1887

=CS= B

The official life, by his son; it contains an autobiographical c., and
is “at once a biography, an autobiography, and the history of a great
idea.”

And its complement, =Darwin’s= “More Letters.” 2 v.

=CST= 575

A record of his work, in hitherto unpublished letters. V. 1 deals
almost entirely with evolution.

See also the popular biographies:

=Bettany’s= “Life of Charles Darwin” in the “Great Writers” ser.

=C= B

And =Grant Allen’s= “Charles Darwin” in the “English Worthies” ser.

=CST= B

Also “MEMORIAL NOTICES: REPRINTED FROM ‘NATURE,’” 1882

=CSTR= B

Appreciations and criticisms of his work in geology, botany, zoology,
psychology, and other branches of thought, by Huxley, Romanes, Geikie,
and Dyer.

=WORKS.=

1839 =Darwin’s= “Journal of Researches into the Natural History and
Geology of the Countries Visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle’
[1832-36],” 1889

=CSTR= 508.3

This v. and the two succeeding ones were the outcome of a government
scientific expedition round the world during which D. was naturalist.
The results of the voyage were considered “the most important of
recent years,” and “it is impossible to overrate the influence of the
voyage on D.’s career. He left England untried, he returned a
practised and brilliant geologist. And above all he came back full of
the thoughts of evolution.”

The general appearance of the additions catalogue as it appears in these
bulletins may be gathered from the two following examples:

=Philology.=

=Wright, Joseph.= Primer of the Gothic Language: containing the Gospel
of St Mark, selections from the other Gospels, and the Second Epistle
to Timothy: with grammar, notes, and glossary. 1899. (Clarendon Pr.)

=R= 439

Author was deputy prof. of comparative philology, Oxford Univ., and
ed. of “The English Dialect Dict.” (=R=q 427). Bibliog. of works on
Gothic, 2 pp.

_225 =bb=_

_6060_

=Natural Science.=

=Ellis, David.= Medicinal Herbs and Poisonous Plants. _Illus._ 1918.
(Blackie)

=CST= 581.6

Author is D.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.S.E. Elementary botanical descriptions of
British plants, including herbs imported or collected for the
herbalist. Notes concerning cultivation, source of supply, present and
former price, and other commercial details, are given of the more
important British drug plants.

_615_

_2349_

=Gerhardi, C. H. W.= Electricity Meters: their construction and
management: a practical manual for central station engineers,
distribution engineers, and students. _Illus._ 1917. (Benn)

=CR= 621.3

Author is chief of testing dept., Metropolitan Electric Supply Co.,
London. Alphabetically arranged descriptions, under classified heads,
of the principal meters in use to-day. Latter portion of v. is devoted
to testing arrangements and apparatus, meter testing, fixing, reading,
cleaning and repairing, and book-keeping.

_19843_

=Mackenzie=, _Col._ =J. S. F.= Wild Flowers, and How to Name Them at a
Glance without Botany. _Illus._ (Holden) =CST= 580

Deals with some 300 of the larger and more common wild flowers,
without technical terms, and uses identification methods described as
similar to those employed by the police in identifying people.

_33549_

=Stanley, W. F.= Notes on the Nebular Theory in Relation to Stellar,
Solar, Planetary, Cometary, and Geological Phenomena. 15 + 259 pp. 31
_Illus._ 8¼ ins. × 5½ ins. 1895. (Paul, Trench, Trübner). =CSTR=
S70(016)

Author (1829-1900), (F.R.A.S., F.G.S., etc.), scientific instrument
maker and educationalist, was a South Norwood resident, a local J.P.,
and founder of the Stanley Technical Trade Schools, South Norwood.

_523.1 Gift from Mrs Cushing_

_19840_

=Useful Arts.=

=Jennings,= A. S. =Painting= by immersion and by compressed air. 1915.
_Ill._ [698]

22216

A detailed technical treatise on the methods and appliances for
“spraying” paint, lacquer, enamel, varnish, etc., and painting by
immersion. By the process of “flowing on” it is stated that a complete
coat of enamel can be given to the body of a four-seated touring car
in two minutes.

=Jex-Blake=, A. J. =Tuberculosis:= a general account of the disease,
its forms, treatment, and prevention. 1915. [616.995]

22158

=Kean=, F. J. =Petrol engine.= 1915. _Diagrams._ [621.434]

22217

Each part of the engine is dealt with in a separate chapter. The
two-stroke engine receives a chapter to itself. Liquid fuels are very
briefly covered in four pages. The appendix deals with engine
troubles, their causes and cure.

=Kingsbury=, J. E. =Telephone= and telephone exchanges: their
invention and development. 1915. _Ill._ [621.385]

22207

An attempt has been made in this work so to relate the inventions and
developments in the telephone field that the record may constitute in
effect a short history of the telephone industry and an expression of
its main principles.

=Lange=, K. R. By-products of =coal-gas= manufacture; _trans._ from
the German. 1915. _Ill._ [665.7]

22037

_Contents_: Introduction; Purification of coal gas; Coke; Gas-tar; Gas
liquor; Treatment of the gas purifying agents; Treatment of cyanogen
sludge; Treatment of crude liquors; Treatment of ammonium thiocyanate,
etc.

=McCormick=, W. H. _Electricity_. _Romance of Reality Series._ 1915.
_Ill._ [621.3]

21858

=Martin=, Geoffrey. =Chlorine= and Chlorine products. _Manuals of
Chemical Technology IV._ 1915. _Ill._ [661.3]

22159

Includes the manufacture of bleaching powder, hypochlorites,
chlorates, etc., with sections on bromine, iodine, hydrofluoric acid;
with a chapter on “Recent oxidizing agents” by G. W. Clough.

=Martin=, Geoffrey, _and_ =Barbour=, William. Industrial =nitrogen
compounds= and explosives. _Manuals of Chemical Technology III._ 1915.
_Ill._ [662]

22160

A practical treatise on the manufacture, properties, and industrial
uses of nitric acid, nitrates, ammonia, ammonium salts, cyanides,
etc., including most recent modern explosives.

The cost of such bulletins varies according to style, variety of types
used, etc., and rarely can it be recovered from sales. Some bulletins
are wholly or partly supported by advertisements, and when these are
included it is better that they should be on separated pages at the
beginning and end, and not, as is sometimes done, inserted in irritating
manner amongst the library matter.

=265. Preparation of Catalogue Copy.=--The quickest and most economical
method of preparing catalogue copy for the printer is to do it as
perfectly as possible, according to set rules of typing or handwriting,
punctuation, type-marking, and revision. Irritations innumerable pursue
the librarian who allows copy to go to the printer which leaves anything
to the imagination or discretion of that too often unjustly abused
person; printers’ corrections are an alarming addition to the cost if
they have not been anticipated; and what is and what is not a correction
has always been a matter upon which author and printer have rarely seen
eye to eye. If the copy is fool-proof and composition-proof the chances
of corrections are reduced to the minimum, although it is impossible to
remove them entirely.

Separate entries should be made for each book on slips, of uniform size
to permit of rapid arrangement; and in most cases the 5 in. × 3 in.
paper slips used for suggestions will serve, although where annotation
is used to any extent the size is rather too small for type- or
hand-written entries. On these the entries are made according to the
rules in force, and if hand-written, they should be according to a
standard hand-writing. The models given (Fig. 91) are the best forms of
hand-script that have yet been devised, and every beginner in
cataloguing should be required to learn their use. If the slip is ruled
horizontally, with two vertical lines (a double margin) at the left side
of the slip, it will be easier to regularize every entry by commencing
the leading word or name at the first vertical line, the title at the
second, and leaving a horizontal line blank between the title and the
annotation. Every type distinction should be indicated according to the
standard rules for marking printing copy (see Brown’s _Library
Classification and Cataloguing_, p. 256, “printer’s corrections,” which
apply to the preparation of copy as well as to its correction). Finally,
all copy should be checked microscopically before it is sent to the
printer, even if it has been written by the librarian himself or by the
chief cataloguer. The slips should be arranged in order and numbered, or
they may be mounted on sheets of paper in columns of about ten or
twenty, in order to prevent loss. Two proofs at least should be required
from the printer, the first in slip, or galley, form, the second in page
form; it is better to have three proofs, especially if the catalogue has
elaborate type distinctions, employs many abbreviations, etc. Moreover,
the most minute reading of proofs is necessary. It is really wonderful
to what an extent errors creep into proofs, and the practice of the
printer’s reader who went over every page of proof however perfect until
he _did_ find an error, although it is a counsel of perfection, is
suggestive of what may be expected from the reader of catalogue proofs.

A B C D E F G H I J
K L M N O P Q R S
T U V W X Y Z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n
o p q r s t u v w x y z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

FIG. 91.--Hand-Printing for Catalogues (Section 265).

=266. Printing Specifications.=--Hints on printing specifications
relating to catalogues can be gained from Philip’s _The Production of
the Printed Catalogue_ and from Quinn’s _Library Cataloguing_, but the
specifications there given must be adjusted to the special kind of
catalogue proposed. An excellent practical method of obtaining estimates
of cost is to have specimen pages printed of the body of the catalogue
and the indexes, exactly of the required model, spaced out with the
number of lines per page. If the manuscript copy is not ready, estimates
can be obtained from the printers per page, according to the specimen
pages, and this is a fair way of tendering. If the copy is ready,
estimates should be obtained for the whole job, including covers, in the
style of the specimen pages. A printer can soon tell how much print a
manuscript will run to, especially if the copy has been prepared in a
uniform manner, with ten or twelve slips mounted on the folio. A clear
understanding as to payment for corrections and additions to proof
should be reached before the tender is accepted.

=267. Co-operative Cataloguing.=--Efforts have been made from time to
time to obviate the duplicating of cataloguing work that occurs all over
the country, and in every country, and brief reference should be made to
these. The principal is the Library of Congress card-distribution
system, to which detailed reference has been made. In Great Britain
various attempts have been made, but chiefly in the form of annotated
and classified lists of new books, which it was expected that libraries
would transfer to their own catalogues. Such lists were issued in _The
Library World_ in 1901, but were discontinued for lack of support. Later
the Library Association issued such lists in _The Library Association
Record_, but in recent years this work, which is still done by members
of the Association, is published in the form of weekly lists in strict
catalogue form (Decimal classified, and annotated) in _The Athenæum_;
and _The Librarian and Book Selector_ publishes monthly annotated lists
which are classified by both the Decimal and Subject classifications. In
America, _The A. L. A. Book-List_, _The Wisconsin Library Bulletin_, and
_The Ontario Library Review_ all provide similar lists. Any of the
entries in all of these is suitable for cutting out and mounting on
cards or slips for insertion in existing catalogues.

Other kinds of catalogue co-operation are those in which more than one
library has joined in the issue of a catalogue to cover the stock of all
in certain subjects. A small example was the _Union Class-List of the
Libraries of the Library and Library Assistants’ Association_, 1913; and
larger examples are the _Classified Catalogue on Architecture, etc., in
the Principal Libraries of Manchester and Salford_, 1909, which was
edited by Henry Guppy and Guthrie Vine for the Joint Architectural
Committee of Manchester; and the Newcastle _Classical Catalogue_, 1912,
which contains certain periodicals and books in the Armstrong College
Library, as well as those in the Public Libraries. The most recent
examples are series of class-lists on important subjects such as
Internal Combustion Engines and Aeronautics, both 1918, issued by the
Committee on Joint-Technical Catalogues, Glasgow, which bring together
titles from the libraries of eighteen institutions in that city,
indicating the location of the various books by abbreviations added to
the entries, as:

Cassier’s Engineering Monthly. E. Kp. L. Ml. P. Pp. S. St. U.

Many schemes for a national central co-operative catalogue have been
drawn up, and lie buried in the pages of library periodicals, until some
future time when the benefits of such work will be realized and
recognized in this country.

CHAPTER XIX

MECHANICAL METHODS OF DISPLAYING CATALOGUES

=268.= We have dealt already with forms of catalogue to some extent, but
the five chief methods of displaying manuscript catalogues merit a more
detailed consideration and illustration. It is needless to attempt to
describe every device which has been introduced for the purpose of
displaying catalogues and providing for additions and expansion, and we
shall limit our selection to those which are best known, most effective
or most used. The five chief methods are the Page, Card, Sheaf, Placard
and Panoramic, a nomenclature suggested in an article which appeared in
1893 in the _Library_, pp. 45-66.

=269. Page Catalogues.=--The most elementary form of the page catalogue
is the ordinary manuscript book, with stepped thumb-index or simple
alphabetical division of the leaves, so many being allowed for each
letter of the alphabet. This is an unsuitable variety for a public
library, and should not be used for cataloguing purposes.

The British Museum public catalogue consists of large guard books, in
which printed or manuscript slips of book entries are mounted on the
tough cartridge paper leaves, so as to leave space for additions. When a
page becomes congested, the slips can be lifted by means of a
paper-knife, as they are secured only at the ends, another leaf can be
inserted on the adjoining guard, and the old and additional slips can be
redistributed over the whole of the newly created space. This catalogue
represents but one alphabet, or copy of the catalogue, in some hundreds
of volumes, and each volume only holds a small portion of the alphabet,
as from Bal to Bec. One copy of the catalogue thus serves many readers
at one time. By distributing the entries over a number of volumes,
congestion is less likely to occur than in catalogues complete in
themselves in one or two volumes.

[Illustration: FIG. 92.--Catalogue Shelves, British Museum (Section
269).]

A variation of this system of guard book is to be seen in some public
libraries where the whole of the catalogue is mounted in one volume. A
number of copies of this style of page catalogue must be provided to
meet public needs, and it is, on the whole, a less serviceable and much
more expensive form than the catalogue on similar lines spread over a
number of volumes. A good example of this kind of page catalogue is to
be seen in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, where it exists in the form of
huge guard books displayed on special stands.

=270.= To overcome the difficulty of inserting additional leaves at
pleasure in page catalogues, various kinds of adjustable albums, with
movable leaves, have been introduced. At the Bibliothèque Nationale, in
Paris, and elsewhere a catalogue is used consisting of thick, hinged
leaves, punched at the back and laced into the boards, or secured by
means of a screw fastening.

[Illustration: FIG. 93.--Adjustable Screw Binder (Section 271).]

=271.= Another variety of this French binder designed to secure
adjustability of leaves is that shown below in the illustration (Fig.
93), wherein the leaves are clamped by the pressure of two wooden slats,
which are drawn together by means of two or more endless screws turned
by a key.

For this kind of binder it is necessary to notch the leaves to
correspond with the screws.

The principle of the sheaf binders (Section 282) can also be applied to
page catalogues, and very successful page books have been made up from
the form illustrated in Sections 286-87. The most recent methods of
loose-leaf ledgers have also great possibilities for catalogues, and are
probably to be preferred to any book manuscript type other than the
sheaf.

The whole of the devices just described are so arranged that leaves can
be inserted, to a more or less limited extent, at any point. The British
Museum type does not provide for unlimited additions, nor for any
subsequent division of volumes, without much trouble and rebinding. The
French and other adjustable leaved binders do allow for unlimited
insertions, subject to the condition that the matter mounted on the
pages must be redistributed. In an adjustable book new leaves can be
inserted at any place till the volume is full, and then the contents may
be divided and two books used, this subdivision and spreading being
continued as the entries increase in number.

=272.= A form of page catalogue combining the powers of inserting new
leaves at any point, and moving single entries about without having to
paste them down or lift them up, is called the Rudolph Indexer. It
consists in its book form of thick cardboard leaves, to which metal
flanges are secured, down each margin. Each leaf is provided with a
double-hinged fastening, which enables it to be hooked on to any
adjoining leaf, so as to form a volume of any desired thickness, to
which a pair of covers can be attached. The catalogue entries are
written or printed on narrow cards, and these are slipped under the
flanges, which secure them by either end. Fig. 94 shows at a glance the
appearance of this form of page catalogue.

[Illustration: FIG. 94.--Rudolph Indexer Book (Section 272).]

=273.= There are certain advantages claimed for page catalogues which
may be enumerated here. The chief is that a large group of entries can
be scanned with one sweep of the eye, thereby facilitating the rapid
finding of any particular entry. Another is that, being in book form, it
is more easily manipulated than other forms of catalogue. Its
comparative cheapness is sometimes put forward as an advantage over
other forms, particularly cards, but on this point it is not wise to
assume cheapness where so much time and labour are necessarily involved.
As regards the claim to rapidity in turning up entries because a whole
page is exposed at a time, there are considerable doubts as to its
soundness. General experience of such catalogues as the British Museum
is that, owing to the number of entries, the occasional congestions and
disorders where double columns of entries exist, it is more difficult to
find a given entry than in the case of cards or slips properly guided
and in accurate alphabetical order. This point may be further
illustrated by the case of men or women who are not adepts at using
alphabetical lists, and who turn up a particular word in a dictionary
with much difficulty and loss of time.

[Illustration: FIG. 95.--Card Catalogue Cabinet with Sliding Extension
Runners (Section 275).]

=274. Card Catalogues.=--The card-index is the invention of librarians,
and is perhaps the most important contribution to method that commerce
owes to them. Cards for library cataloguing purposes were used in France
in the middle of the eighteenth century; they were used in Trinity
College, Dublin, early in the nineteenth century; and in 1852 they were
introduced into the Bank of England for commercial indexing. The plan of
keeping cards or slips on edge in boxes or drawers loosely, thereby
giving unlimited means of expansion and intercalation, must have
occurred to many minds as the best means of maintaining perpetual
alphabetical order. Single cards not attached in any way, save
temporarily, possess unlimited powers of movability, and can be arranged
in any kind of order when assembled in numbers, because each card can be
taken away or moved about or fresh cards added at any point in a series,
without upsetting any adjoining card, or interrupting alphabetical
order.

The cards, when arranged in alphabetical order, are separated into small
divisions by means of projecting guides, on which are printed subject or
author or other words or class numbers, which serve the same purpose as
the running catch-words of a dictionary, only they are much more
effective, because more conspicuous. They are secured by means of a rod
which passes through holes punched in the lower part of the cards, and
the rod is either locked or screwed into the back or front of the
drawer.

=275.= The usual plan is to store the cards in the drawers of a cabinet,
marking the contents of each drawer plainly on the outside. Fig. 95 is
an illustration of a card cabinet, showing the usual guides and sliding
runners to enable the whole extent of a drawer to be pulled free of the
cabinet for purposes of examination.

[Illustration: FIG. 96.--Cabinet of Card Trays (Section 276).]

[Illustration: FIG. 97.--Sideless Card Catalogue Tray (Section 276).]

=276.= Another form, which is illustrated above (Fig. 96), shows
various improvements, including an adjustable angle-block, for
supporting the cards at a suitable angle for easy consultation: this can
be screwed up tight at any point in a drawer, so as to hold a smaller or
larger number of cards in place; a special form of rod on which the
cards are strung or filed, easily removable, but still capable of
safeguarding them against misuse or misplacement; a special automatic
catch at the front of the drawer to prevent it being pulled out
accidentally, but which does not prevent any drawer from being taken
away from the cabinet if required. Another important improvement
introduced in 1902 was the modification in the sides of trays, whereby
the woodwork was cut down so as to lighten the tray and enable the cards
to be handled from the sides as well as the top. This variety is known
as the “Sideless Tray” (Fig. 97).

=277.= The card catalogue in cabinets of fixed drawers is not, in some
ways, such an effective arrangement as detachable trays or drawers
stored in a suitable rack or cabinet. The fixed-drawer plan has various
disadvantages, chief among which is the serious one that a single person
consulting a cabinet may monopolize from 6000 to 10,000 entries,
according to the number of drawers forming a tier. Where there are four
to six drawers in a tier it is impossible to adjust them so that both
tall and short persons will find them equally accessible; and only a few
persons can use the catalogue at one time, as two persons will
practically cover up three tiers, thus in some cases cutting off from
other users at least 20,000 or more entries. There is also the
difficulty of filling up application forms for books, as no proper
writing surfaces are available, although some modern cabinets have a
horizontal shelf which slides in and out as required from the centre or
from beneath the cabinet, as shown in Fig. 95. In addition there is the
difficulty of obtaining a good light on the lower drawers, and the large
amount of space occupied by a large cabinet. To meet these difficulties
card cabinets should be placed most carefully so that the person of
average height can consult all drawers without trouble; and the
extension shelf just mentioned should be provided; or, the cabinets
should stand upon a table the top of which projects in front of them
sufficiently to permit of drawers withdrawn from the cabinet being
placed upon them. This shelf or table provides the desired writing
surface; and small paper note-blocks on which readers can note catalogue
particulars are part of the table equipment.

When printed entries are mounted on blank cards, it is advisable to
“guard” them, in order to balance the additional thickness of the upper
part, which causes bulging, by pricking the fronts of the cards, or
embossing them by means of a blunt awl, thus:

| Embossed Hole Embossed |
| dent dent |
| |
| ● ○ ● |
+----------------------------------------------+

A similar result may be obtained by pasting strips of paper of similar
quality to that on which the printed entries are mounted on the lower
part of the back of the card.

=278.= Various kinds of trays, described and figured below, are intended
to replace the “cabinet” system; but it is clear that if every drawer is
easily detached from a cabinet and if suitable table space is available
their advantages are more theoretical than real. A good form, which is
well safeguarded and not too heavy or clumsy, will be found in a tray
which is provided with all necessary accessories in the form of
locking-rod, guides, adjustable angle-block, outside label-holder, and
felt pads to prevent it from scratching table-tops or other furniture.
This kind of tray can be kept in racks of a convenient size, and users
can remove it to a table for consultation.

[Illustration: FIG. 98.--Cards for Bonnange Catalogue Trays (Section
279).]

=279.= A French form of card-catalogue tray was invented by Mr F.
Bonnange, of Paris, in 1866, and improved in 1874. In this, the method
of securing the card differs from the rod threading through
perforations, as in English and American models. The cards are hinged,
and have shoulders formed in the slightly thicker lower portion, as
shown in the illustration (Fig. 98), which is also slotted to clear the
fastening. The hinged cards shoulder into side grooves formed in the
wooden trays, and the slotted portion is placed astride a powerful
endless screw, which traverses the tray from end to end, and carries a
suitable block which acts as a travelling clamp. The screw is worked by
means of a key, and when turned to the right the block travels forward
along the screw till the cards are all firmly clamped between it and the
end of the tray; when turned to the left the block travels back and so
releases the cards to enable insertions to be made. The upper portion of
the cards being hinged, and consequently free of the block, are not
clamped, and can be turned over readily for purposes of consultation.
Guides, alphabetical or numerical, may be inserted either above or at
either side of the cards.

[Illustration: FIG. 99.--Bonnange Card Catalogue Trays (Section 279).]

=280.= An Italian card tray on a somewhat similar principle to this was
invented by Mr A. Staderini, of Rome, in 1890. It differs from the
Bonnange tray in having a sliding-block gearing with a ratchet which is
fastened along the bottom and made to engage or disengage with a key.
The cards are similar in principle to those of the Bonnange system, save
that the lower hinged half is not slotted. The illustration (Fig. 100)
will explain better than words the appearance and other accessories of
this tray.

[Illustration: FIG. 100.--Staderini Card Trays and Hinged Card (Section
280).]

Both the Bonnange and Staderini methods share in common an advantage of
some importance, viz., the clamped lower portion of the card forms a
counterfoil to show what has been taken, should a card by accident or
design be removed or torn off. The accession number or brief title of
the book can be written on the clamped portion of the card, and so will
safeguard against loss and imperfections. This is an advantage not
possessed by any of the ordinary card methods, because when cards are
torn from the rods they leave no trace, and become lost for ever,
leaving it very problematical whether a catalogue is perfect or not.

=281.= A card catalogue on a somewhat similar principle to the French
and Italian forms just described is known as the Duplex Card Catalogue,
and was invented in England to enable both sides of the cards to be
used, thereby considerably enlarging the capacity of the catalogue,
while materially reducing its bulk. It is fitted with falling ends which
act as angle-blocks; a travelling angle-block can be adjusted and locked
at any point; a locking-rod for threading the cards upon in order to
secure them; and xylonite label-holders. The cards are larger than
ordinary catalogue cards, and instead of being hinged are simply creased
at a short distance above the rod holes. This gives a slight bulge and
enables the cards to have the necessary play. The trays are held
lengthways in a position parallel to the body, instead of at right
angles as in the case of ordinary trays, and the cards or leaves are
simply turned over like those of a book.

An extended, illustrated study of the whole of card-cataloguing
methodology is Sayers and Stewart’s _The Card Catalogue_.

[Illustration: FIG. 101.--Duplex Card Catalogue (Section 281).]

=282. Sheaf Catalogues.=--The sheaf catalogue is not so widely used as
the card system in Britain, but, as we have shown, it has exactly the
same advantages as regards the power of expansion and intercalation. It
aims at combining the advantages of both book and card catalogues, by
dividing the catalogue into handy sections so that the maximum number of
readers can consult it at one time; providing means for continuous
expansion in alphabetical order; safeguarding the contents of sections;
reducing the amount of storage space occupied; and enabling users to
handle and turn over the catalogue like the leaves of an ordinary book.
The introduction of ordinary paper slips, which can be used in any
typewriter, which can be easily stored in various forms of binders in
book form, and which can be added to in manuscript without undoing the
holder, is a real economy in library administration which has not
received the attention it deserves. While 1000 entries in a card
catalogue will occupy from 750 to 840 cubic inches of space, the
sheaf-holders most in use will not take up more than fifty-six cubic
inches of space for the same number of entries. The writing surfaces are
also much larger.

[Illustration: FIG. 102.--Leyden Slip Holder (Section 283).]

=283.= The slip catalogue known as the Leyden, from its first use in the
University Library of Leyden, in Holland, in 1871, consists of bundles
of slips, notched as shown in the illustration (Fig. 102), and secured
by means of cord or catgut. The outer boards are hinged, and notched to
correspond with the slips, and the cord is tied firmly round the volume
and into the slots, so as to bind the whole. These Leyden holders are
only adapted for private or staff use, and must be kept in very thin
sections, as the volumes get more loose and insecure the thicker they
are made. As a means of holding any kind of temporary slip, this is,
however, a useful device.

[Illustration: FIG. 103.--Volume of Staderini Sheaf Catalogue (Section
284).]

=284.= A much more mechanically perfect slip catalogue-holder is the
screw-binder invented by Mr A. Staderini, of Rome. It comprises a fixed
back and boards, to which two iron screw-bolts are attached. On these
the slips, which are perforated to correspond with the bolts, are
threaded, and the books are secured by means of brass screw-caps which
fasten the boards to the bolts, and so make the volume rigid and the
slips secure. These volumes are numbered and kept in pigeon-holes, which
bear the volume numbers and letters denoting the section of the alphabet
contained in each sheaf (Figs. 103-104).

[Illustration: FIG. 104.--Staderini Sheaf Catalogue in the Victor
Emmanuel Library, Rome (Section 284).]

=285.= A “sheaf”-holder on exactly the same principle, but with a
different and neater fastening, was invented in 1891 by Mrs
Sacconi-Ricci, of Florence. This holder also fits into numbered
pigeon-holes, and consists of perforated slips threaded on to two
upright rods, which are kept in place by means of a sliding bar which,
when screwed into place, locks the slips and boards into one compact
volume (Fig. 105).

[Illustration: FIG. 105.--Sacconi Sheaf Catalogue (Section 285).]

[Illustration: FIG. 106.--Adjustable Sheaf Catalogue, Clamp Fastening
(Section 286).]

=286.= The most used and oldest of the British sheaf catalogues is the
“Adjustable Catalogue-Holder,” which was invented about 1892. This has a
flexible leather back, and the slips are bound and unbound by the
contracting and expanding action of two cylindrical screws, turned by
means of a metal key. It is not necessary, as in the case of all other
sheaf-holders, to undo this one in order to remove the slips when
additions are being made, the loosening of the screws being all that is
necessary. The slips are punched at the back edge with bayonet-shaped or
keyed slots, which give sufficient holding power when the screws are
tightened to clamp the boards and slips into one solid and firm volume.
The book numbers, if written on the clamped portion of the slips, will
remain in the sheaf if entries should be wilfully torn out, and no
catalogue could be rendered imperfect without the knowledge of the
librarian. Xylonite label-holders are attached to the back of this form
of sheaf, which enable contents labels to be changed at will, without
pasting or damaging the back. A rack or pigeon-holes can be provided in
which to store these sheafs in numbered, alphabetical or class order.

[Illustration: FIG. 107.--Adjustable Sheaf Catalogue, Open for
Consultation (Section 287).]

[Illustration: FIG. 108.--Adjustable Sheaf Catalogue, Open for making
Additions with Cradle and Key (Section 287).]

=287.= The most recent form of catalogue sheaf is that illustrated in
Figs. 107-8. It differs from the adjustable in having a rigid back, and
but one screw. In other respects it is perhaps easier to manipulate than
the binders just described.

The holder consists of a strong wooden back to which two stout covers
are attached by means of hinges, specially designed to guard against
injury to the covers. Within the holder a special form of brass
screw-fitting is mounted, upon which the slips are threaded, so that
when the covers are closed the whole sheaf is firmly secured by means of
a special screw. A few turns of the key suffices to lock or open the
holder.

FIG. 109.--Front of Sheaf Catalogue Author Slip (Section 288).

FIG. 110.--Reverse of Sheaf Catalogue Author Slip (Section 288).

=288.= A very good way of maintaining a sheaf catalogue for public use,
especially in open access libraries, is to provide a sheaf or sheaves
for each class of literature, and to enter the books in class order,
using both sides of the slips for entries of small topics. These
sheaves can be kept on the shelves with their classes. To this an author
and title index can be provided in one alphabet, each author being kept
on one slip or more, and both sides of the slips being used to ensure
economy of space, and enable readers to find at once any particular
book. Thus, on the front of the slip an author entry might appear as in
Fig. 109, while on the back, or reverse side, the titles would be
continued as on Fig. 110.

FIG. 111.--Sheaf Catalogue Title Slip (Section 288).

The matter of strict alphabetical order in such index slips is of little
consequence, owing to the concentration of entries which enables a
consultor to note the contents with one sweep of the eye.

Title entries can be done in similar fashion, the leading word being
used as the index or catch-heading, as in Fig. 111. Here, again, strict
alphabetical order need not be maintained, owing to the comparatively
small compass in which the entries are displayed.

FIG. 112.--Sheaf Catalogue Subject Slip (Section 288).

The classified sheaves can be kept in the same manner, or, if it is felt
that a separate slip should be written for each book, to ensure strict
order, this of course can be done. But it is at best doubtful if this is
necessary save in very large subjects. For example, entries like the
above are quite easily discovered (Fig. 112).

Where annotations on a large scale are employed, it is best to make use
of a separate slip for each entry.

[Illustration: FIG. 113.--Adjustable Placard Catalogue (Section 289).]

In all kinds of sheaf catalogues a fair margin should be allowed round
the entries, to preserve them against finger-marks.

The slips are punched so as to secure absolute uniformity in size and in
the position of the holes. The hole being made in an oval form allows
the slips to be easily threaded on, or removed from the screw-fitting.

The special construction of the holders prevents the slips from sagging
or drooping at their free ends, a fault observable in both the Staderini
and Sacconi forms. It is usual to “guide” all forms of sheaf or slip
catalogues, by boldly writing catchwords on both outer corners of each
leaf (see Figs. 109-10, 112), and indicating the contents by means of
the xylonite label-holders on the backs.

The whole subject of sheaf-cataloguing methodology is explained and
illustrated in Stewart’s _The Sheaf Catalogue_.

=289. Placard Catalogues.=--The most ordinary form of placard catalogue
is a manuscript or printed list of books on a large sheet or sheets,
which is framed and hung on the wall where readers can see it. There are
several varieties of these framed lists, which are used chiefly for
lists of additions. A form giving the power of moving single entries has
been devised in England which is better than anything else usually seen.
This consists of a frame with a movable back, on which vertical xylonite
slips are fastened in such a way as to form long columns with flanged
sides. Under the flanges can be slipped pieces of cardboard the width of
the columns, which slide up and down in the length of the column as
required. The titles of new books can be written on these cards and
arranged in any order. If blank cards are left between every letter of
the alphabet or every class, additional entries can be added at any
moment. If several frames are used, some hundreds of new books can be
catalogued, and when full the entries can be transferred to the printed
bulletin, or otherwise utilized, to free the frames for further
additions. The illustration given above will show the nature of this
adjustable accessions catalogue, which corresponds in principle with the
adjustable Periodical List.

=290. Panoramic Catalogues.=--Several methods have been proposed or
devised for displaying catalogue entries on an endless chain in a
panoramic or continuous form, but none of them has been generally
adopted.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (CHAPTERS XVI.-XVIII.)

The principal literature of the subject of cataloguing has been
mentioned in the text, and much of the best, more recent writing is in
periodicals; moreover, every general work on libraries has a chapter or
more on the subject. The following is offered as a selection of the
literature in separate form:--

=291. General:=

Bishop, W. W. Practical Handbook of Modern Library Cataloguing, 1914.
Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.

Delisle, Léopold. Instructions Elémentaires et Techniques pour la Mise
et le Maintien en Ordre des Livres d’une Bibliothèque, 1910.

Thorne, W. B. First Steps in Library Cataloguing, 1917. L.A.A., Series
8.

Wheatley, H. B. How to Catalogue a Library, 1889. Stock.

=292. Codes, Rules, etc.:=

Aberdeen University Library. Condensed Cataloguing Rules, 1914.

New York State Library School. Fellows, J. D. Cataloguing Rules: for
the Course in Elementary Cataloguing, 1914. Library School, 36.

Wisconsin University Library School. Turvill, Helen. Cataloguing
Rules, 1912.

=293. Annotation:=

Savage, E. A. Manual of Descriptive Annotation in Library Catalogues,
1906. Grafton.

Sayers, W. C. Berwick. First Steps in Annotation in Catalogues, 1918.
L.A.A., Series 9.

=294. Children’s Catalogues= (see also Division XIII.):

Sayers and Stewart. Catalogues for Children: with a Code of Rules,
1905.

=295. Subject Headings:=

A.L.A. List of Subject Headings for use in Dictionary Catalogues. 3rd
ed., by M. J. Briggs, 1911.

Mann, M. Subject Headings for use in Dictionary Catalogues of Juvenile
Books, 1916. A.L.A.

Library of Congress. Preliminary List of Subject Sub-divisions, 1910.
Edited by J. C. M. Hanson.

=296. Card Catalogues:=

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Rules for Filing Cards in the
Dictionary Catalogues, 1917. Sayers and Stewart. The Card Catalogue,
1913. Grafton.

=297. Sheaf Catalogues:=

Stewart, J. D. The Sheaf Catalogue, 1909. Grafton.

=298. Co-operative Cataloguing:=

Jahr, T., and Strohm, A. J. Bibliography of Co-operative Cataloguing
and the Printing of Catalogue Cards: with References to International
Bibliography and the Universal Catalogue, 1850-1902. 1903.

=299. Cataloguer’s Reference Books:=

New York State Library. Selections of Cataloguer’s Reference Books in
New York State Library, 1903.

See also Brown’s Library Classification and Cataloguing and Stewart’s
Sheaf Catalogue.

For articles, see Cannons: I, Cataloguing.

CHAPTER XX

FILING AND INDEXING

=300. General.=--Although the library invented the card index, it may be
confessed that in this country the library has not yet realized the
possibilities of its own invention, even if it is convinced of its
complete desirability. We make no question, however, of the fact that
such methods as card-indexing and its derivative, vertical filing,
become more necessary every day if the librarian is to handle with any
degree of success the multiplicity of documents, prints, papers and
other disparate matter which form so important a part of the stock of a
really living library. Since the publication of the second edition of
this MANUAL the whole matter has made such advances that a complete
reversal of many of the statements and recommendations made in it is
necessary. The general indexing and filing problems before the librarian
are these:

1. Borrowers’ register.

2. Stationery and supplies register.

3. Correspondence filing and indexing.

4. Indexing of minutes.

5. The filing of clippings.

6. The filing of broadsides, prints, photographs, maps, lantern
slides, negatives.

7. The filing of deeds.

8. The filing of pamphlets.

As the index is the key to the filing system, we will treat of filing
methods first.

[Illustration: FIG. 114.--Folder for Vertical File.]

=301. Vertical, and Loose=, _versus_ =Other Methods.=--Any rigid method
of filing becomes confused and time-wasting. For example, the old method
for correspondence sent out was to copy it in a letter-book which was
equipped with a thumb-index. As all letters so copied were placed in
the book in chronological order, it necessarily happened that
correspondence with a given person or on a given subject was found in
several separate places in the book; and, although the letters received
which occasioned the correspondence could be pasted into the letter-book
against the replies, no connected view of the correspondence could be
gained without several references. The letter-book method served its
purpose for a long time, and has been preserved owing to the
conservatism which is a British characteristic and to fear of loss,
misplacement, or inaccurate record being made. Experience proves,
however, that loss and misplacement can easily be prevented, and
accurate record of letters is equally possible, when filing by flexible
methods is used. Moreover, the principle of classification--alphabetical
or subject--is the foundation of successful filing which admits of rapid
reference and completeness; for it is beyond question desirable that all
correspondence, documents, etc., relating to any given matter, should be
kept in one place only. For example, the bookbinding transactions of a
library involve correspondence with several bookbinders, specifications,
instructions, orders, incidental correspondence respecting defects,
errors, etc.--and all this material should come together for the simple
reason that it is used together. To ensure this the material must be
filed individually as a general rule; that is to say, in such a way that
additional material can be inserted. There are various methods: the
Stolzenberg file, for instance, and other files which resemble it. These
are generally folders of stout manilla, having two flexible prongs
inside at the fold which penetrate and fold over the margins of the
papers and so hold them in place; and when an insertion is made the
prongs are lifted and the new paper fitted into position. More recent is
loose filing in folders in which the material is not secured in any way,
and insertions are therefore possible without obstruction of any kind.
All folders are filed in drawers, in cabinets as a rule, and the average
office desk is now equipped with drawers for vertical filing. An
illustration of a folder and filing cabinet will show better than much
description what we have in mind (Figs. 114, 115).

[Illustration: FIG. 115.--A Drawer of a Correspondence Filing Cabinet.]

In these folders correspondence and other documents are filed together
with the carbon copies of replies. The carbon copy of a letter is, of
course, an exact facsimile of it made at the one original operation of
writing or typing the letter; it is thus an exact record, and additions
or corrections are easily visible.

=302.= The arrangement of correspondence, etc., is a matter upon which
opinion differs, but except for general correspondence, which may be
filed alphabetically in folders--one or more folders as required being
devoted to each letter of the alphabet--it is generally found that a
classified arrangement is to be preferred. Even in the alphabetical
folders an expansible number should be given to each folder in order
that it may be indexed briefly and clearly. For the classification of
correspondence several schemes have been devised; that, for example, in
the latest edition of Dewey’s _Decimal Classification_ is full, flexible
and practical; and perhaps that which is most used is L. Stanley Jast’s
_Decimal Classification of Library Economy and Office Papers_, 1906
(revised 1907). The main divisions, a subdivision, and a section of the
complete tables will enable us to illustrate its use (see p. 284).

_Main Divisions._

0 General.
01 Librarian. Personal.
1 Legislation. Founding. Classes of Libraries.
2 Extension work.
3 Building.
4 Government and Service.
5 Executive.
6 Accession. Description. Conservation.
7 Departments.
8 Publications.
9 Other.

_Main Sub-Divisions._

4 GOVERNMENT AND SERVICE.
41 Council.
42-3 Committee.
44-5 Staff.
46 Rules and regulations for readers.
47
48 Relations with other Corporation Committees.
49 Relations with other Corporation Departments.

5 EXECUTIVE.
51-2 Finance.
53 Stationery. Supplies.
54
55 Communication. Correspondence.
56-8 Office.
59

_Section of Complete Tables._

42 COMMITTEE. TRUSTEES.
421 Election. Co-opted Members.
422 Powers.
423 Standing Orders.
424 Chairman.
4243 Matters to be submitted to Chairman.
4245 Vice-Chairman.
425 Clerk.
426 Minutes.
427 Notices of Meeting.

428 Agenda. Notices of Motion.
4285 Attendances.
429 Next Meeting.
4291 Reports. Returns.
4292 Periodical (fortnightly, monthly, or quarterly).
4294 Annual.
4295 Next Annual.
4296 Special.

43 SUB-COMMITTEES.
431 Finance.
432 Officers.
433 Books.
etc. etc.

FIG. 115A.--A Specimen of the Jast Classification of Library Economy
(Sections 302-03).

=303.= Everything that comes into the library or goes out of it, except
the actual books, will fit into such a classification, and may be
numbered and indexed by it. All correspondence is marked boldly with the
number of the division to which it belongs, and is filed in the folders
which bear the number. The folders are numbered on the projecting edge
of the broader flap, as shown in Fig. 114, and are arranged numerically
according to the notation order. It may be objected that this method
separates letters from one correspondent who may write at various times
or on various subjects; but experience proves that except in few cases,
such as are provided for under 55, where general correspondence is
arranged alphabetically under the names of the writers, the questions
the file is required to answer are not answered in terms of names of
correspondents; moreover, the alphabetical name index, which is an
indispensable accompaniment of the method, brings together all
references to letters from any given correspondent. The index should be
on cards, and should give the name and address of the correspondent, the
classification number of the subject, and the dates of the letters
received or dispatched (see Fig. 116).

Not only does this index serve as a key to the correspondence file
(Section 302); it may contain, without prejudice to its value, all
addresses which the librarian deems it expedient to keep, with telephone
numbers, telegraphic addresses, and cable codes where necessary.

It will be obvious that a classified file of this kind will accommodate
all other documents and lists--book-lists, reports made on subjects or
departments, minutes, and in fact any miscellaneous papers whatsoever.

=304.= The effectiveness, and indeed safety, of any individual indexing
or filing system depends upon the care with which it is manipulated in
order that misplacements of papers or cards may not occur. The fear of
carelessness or ignorance on the part of assistants has caused some
librarians to prefer an alphabetical system of filing. When this is so
it should be alphabetical by subjects, except in the case of general
correspondence which deals with no particular subjects. Library
communications are frequently of this general nature, but the vital
letters are upon subjects; for example,

Exhibitions,
Lectures,
Readings,
Story Hours,

are headings taken at random for which folders would be included. In
arranging courses of lectures, for example, a librarian may write and
receive any number of letters; and he wants them together as
a rule and not in the alphabetical order of correspondents. This
alphabetical-subject system requires an index to such folders as do not
come under general correspondence; folders coming under the latter would
be most useful in a sequence separate from the subject folders, but such
separation is not essential.

+----------------------------------------------+
| |
| SMITH, H. J., & SONS, LTD. |
| 147A PATERNOSTER ROW, |
| LONDON, E.C.2. |
| |
| _’Phone_--London Wall 6692. |
| _Code_--A.B.C. |
| |
| 1919. |
| 623--14 My. |
| 623--9 Je. |
| 631--18 Jy. |
| etc. |
| |
+----------------------------------------------+

FIG. 116.--Address, and Correspondence, Index-Card.

=305.= If either of the two methods outlined is deemed too
complex--neither is so really--the old theory that “the only natural
arrangement for letters is an alphabetical one” will rule the choice of
method. This simply means arrangement alphabetically by the name of the
correspondent, and in this method the file is self-indexing to the
extent of the names. If it is made the rule to place letters from
institutions under the names of such institutions, and to insert, where
necessary, in strict alphabetical order slips of paper to hold all
cross-references from the names of officers, there will be no need for
further indexing. If topical indexes are required they can be compiled
on 8vo slips, the subject word being written boldly on the top of the
sheet, and the names of the writers on the topic in alphabetical order
below. These slips can take their place in alphabetical order among the
letters.

=306.= All working correspondence files should be weeded out at
intervals to remove matter of transient interest and to relieve
congestion. The librarian should at the first mark such papers as are to
be filed--much correspondence is merely formal, and has no information
value, and need not be filed even temporarily; but it is better to file
everything and to weed frequently than to lose any important document by
initial carelessness. When weeding out, the matter of merely temporary
interest may be destroyed; and that which it is desired to keep may be
transferred in strict order to filing boxes, or another storage filing
cabinet, thus leaving the current files free from any but current
matter.

[Illustration: FIG. 117.--Storage Box for Pamphlets, Letters, etc.
(Section 306).]

=307. Prints, Photographs and Maps.=--Unframed, unmounted “illustration”
material, in which are included prints, illustrations, photographs,
maps, and broadsides, requires separate and careful filing. In the first
place it should be, so far as possible, mounted on “nature,” “sultan
mecca,” or similar mounts of uniform size. This applies particularly to
prints and photographs, and is the best means of ensuring their
preservation and ease in handling and consulting them. They then need
close classification by one of the existing systematic schemes to line
on so far as may be with the classification of the books; and it is
often necessary to expand a classification considerably to differentiate
the almost innumerable sub-topics which may form the subjects of
pictures. Such expansion is skilled work and should be done only by an
expert classifier. An examination of the classification proposed for
local photographic surveys in Gower, Jast and Topley’s _The Camera as
Historian_, 1916 (Sampson, Low), will show how minute a classification
photographs demand. Each mount should bear a label, in the top left
corner preferably, giving the class-number, the subject, and other
particulars (see the sections on Photographic Surveys, =433=, etc.). The
filing may be in classification order in boxes which will lie flat on
the shelves; and the most economical boxes are those made of the
stoutest material compatible with lightness, such as cardboard covered
with rexine, pegamoid cloth, etc.; heavy boxes of wood are awkward to
handle and should be avoided. Better than boxes, because of the ease of
consultation and insertion permitted, is a vertical file in drawers. In
this the prints are inserted loosely like cards in a card-index, and no
lifting and little handling are necessary to find any given print. For
vertical filing the mounts should be the stoutest available, and a
further protection is to use folders to hold groups of prints--one to a
topic as a rule. The projecting edge of the folder may bear the topic
number.

=308.= Maps do not fit readily into the vertical system, and are
troublesome material as a rule. Several solutions of the map-filing
problem have been suggested--rolling them and inserting them in tubes in
a cabinet on the principle of the umbrella stand; mounting them on
spring rollers and fixing them over bookcases where they can be drawn
down to be consulted exactly as a blind is drawn; and an ingenious
method devised by Mr G. T. Shaw, and described in _Public Libraries:
their Organization, etc._, 1918 (Library Association), is worth
examination. For the many small maps that all libraries possess, flat
filing in such boxes as Fig. 118 depicts is probably the best. Single
sheets of the Ordnance Survey, or other similar maps which are much
handled, should be mounted on linen or some similar material, and an
additional protection from tearing is to bind them with tape, which may
be done by folding the tape over the edges and running them round with
an ordinary sewing machine.

[Illustration: FIG. 118.--Box for Filing Prints and Maps (Section 308).]

=309. Newspaper Clippings.=--The vertical file is an excellent
instrument for dealing with newspaper clippings. These, in the case of
matters of temporary interest, may be dropped into classified folders.
For clippings which it is desired to keep, it is better to provide a
mount, which may be of paper of sufficient substance to bear them, and
paste them down, writing in the top left corner the class-number,
subject, source and date of the clipping. The older methods of filing
clippings in newspaper-cuttings books, or in any form of guard book,
have the disadvantage of inflexibility, want of rational means of
indexing the contents, and occasion reference in course of time to
several volumes for matter on any subject.

=310. General.=--For most filing purposes quarto folders, to accommodate
quarto papers, which file in standard-sized drawers, are sufficient; but
both drawers and folders can be obtained in foolscap and other sizes.
And notwithstanding our advocacy of the loose method of filing, there is
much to be said for such files as the Stolzenberg for papers which have
an invariable chronological appearing and are valuable in that order;
because the file, having the apparatus already described for securing
and binding the papers, has the never-to-be-discounted virtue of book
form. Such papers are minutes, periodical reports on special
departments, financial analyses, book-lists, etc. Moreover, although the
standard Stolzenberg cabinet accommodates its folders in horizontal
fashion, the latter are also suitable for filing vertically in the
drawers recommended for general purposes.

=311. Lantern Slides and Negatives.=--Modern libraries collect and
preserve, occasionally even make for their own use, lantern slides and
negatives. The method recommended for storing these is precisely
similar to that for prints; that is to say, in drawers in cabinets of
suitable dimensions. Such cabinets are made by several firms
specializing in photographic apparatus; and drawers can be obtained of a
size to accommodate either slides or negatives. Without being dogmatical
upon the point, it may safely be said that the best arrangement of
slides is a classified one in drawers, the classification number being
written on a label on the mount of the slide and on the top edge of the
binding. If the slide is made from a negative in the possession of the
library the number of the negative should also appear on the mount.

=312.= Negatives require more careful treatment, as the film is subject
to damage if unprotected. They are also generally larger than lantern
slides; and separate cabinets, or separate drawers, are desirable to
hold them. A useful method is to insert each in a small manilla folder
bearing the number on its edge, which number should also be written in
ink (white is best) on the corner of the negative. Negatives may be
arranged by accession numbers, as they are rarely wanted more than one
at a time; and the slide catalogue will refer from slide to negative, as
well as be a direct reference to the latter.

=313.= The index or catalogue of slides may be on cards arranged as a
rule by titles or subjects, as the photographer or slide-maker’s name is
rarely wanted. The following example of a card shows the title, source,
location, and classification number of a slide and the number of its
negative:

FIG. 119.--Lantern-slide Index Card (Section 313).

Slides which form lecture sets and are invariably used together, may be
filed as sets, in spite of the fact that the others may be classified.
After all, the rule of classification itself is that things used
together must be placed together.

=314. Indexes.=--Probably no work demands the use of indexes so
imperatively as library work. The catalogue is merely an extension of an
index, and the borrowers’ register (which is dealt with in Section 366,
etc.) is in its most convenient form merely an index. We have already
dealt with the indexes for correspondence, lantern slides, etc., and it
will be more convenient to deal with the indexes to prints and maps in
Sections 438, etc. Here we can mention only one or two administrative
indexes, with the general remark that the methods described are not to
be regarded as stereotyped, but are merely suggestions which librarians
may adapt to their special needs.

THE CARD DIARY.--A useful little card index is one which may go on a
desk, and is guided with the days of the week, and has such other guides
as “This Week,” “To-day,” “Next Week,” “Miscellaneous matters,” etc.,
which serves as a reminder to its user. Behind the appropriate guide are
filed cards referring to the matters which are to be dealt with at the
time indicated. These card-diaries are commonly known as “ticklers,” and
can be a most effective aid to methodical administration.

STATIONERY AND SUPPLIES INDEX.--It is an important matter, especially in
large libraries, to be able to put hands immediately upon any article of
stationery or other supplies. The old, haphazard plan of thrusting
supplies in cupboards with wooden doors, and trusting to luck or memory
for finding them again, is too leisurely a method for the busy modern
librarian. All storage cupboards or presses should have glazed doors.
This simple precaution has the effect of inducing tidiness on the part
of the staff, and the prospect of slovenly arrangement is reduced to a
minimum. The next process is to decide upon a method of indexing which
will offer the greatest facilities for rapidly finding any given
article. In the _Library World_ for July, 1899, Mr Jast describes a
graphic method of achieving this end. He provides a series of cards of
uniform size, one or more for each article indexed, according to the
need for indexing them more than once in the alphabet. On these cards he
draws a rough diagrammatic elevation of the cupboard or other place of
storage, as illustrated (Fig. 120).

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fine Receipt Books. Office Desk. |
| +------+------+---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| +------+------+---------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |
| | | | | X | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
+--+------+------+---------+---------------+---------------+--+

FIG. 120.--Supplies Location Card (Section 314).

On this is indicated at the top left-hand corner the class-number, and
name or nature of the supply, and at the opposite corner its location.
When a supply is stored away in this receptacle one of the blank cards
representing it is headed as described, and the exact place where the
articles are stored is indicated by a cross marked on the diagram, as
shown above.

Of course, every separate receptacle must have its own series of
specially drawn cards. The index is made by arranging these cards in the
alphabetical order of the names of the various articles. Any one wanting
a new fine receipt book, and not knowing where to find it, would look up
this index under the word “Fine” and there he would find the card which
indicates not only the receptacle where these books were stored, but
also the exact position. This card may be combined with the inventory
card described in the next chapter (Section 327).

Another plan would be to mark every cupboard or other receptacle with a
letter or number. As these places would have glass doors, if they had
any at all, there would be no necessity to mark separate shelves or
pigeon-holes further. It is not always possible, or even desirable, to
fix the location of supplies beyond the main receptacle. A reference to
a cupboard is quite near enough for any one having eyes in his head. To
these various receptacles an index on cards or slip books as before can
readily be made. The card should bear the name of the article at one of
its top corners, and on the opposite corner the number or letter of the
place where it is to be found. If necessary the remainder of the card or
slip can be used for setting out the dates and quantities of successive
orders of the article. This will be found a very useful form of
inventory.

=315.= The indexes of minute books are usually kept in the books
themselves and not separately. If a thumb index has not been provided, a
few pages, say, twenty-six, may be reserved at the beginning or end of
the book, in which an alphabetical sequence can be spaced out in pencil.
It is equally clear, for all the reasons given in favour of the
individual entries, that cards permit, that these indexes may be made on
cards.

FIG. 121.--Withdrawals Card (Section 316).

=316. Withdrawn Books.=--The card is a useful medium for recording
withdrawals, and furnishes ample room for particulars (see Fig. 121).

=317. Stock-taking Results.=--Books missing at stock-taking are
conveniently indexed on cards (see Fig. 122).

The back of the card indicates the dates at which examinations were
made of the various places where the missing book might be traced (see
Fig. 123).

FIG. 122.--Card for Missing Books Index (Section 317).

+------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|Shelves | | | | |
+------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|Repairs | | | | |
+------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|Recasing | | | | |
+------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|Binding | | | | |
+------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|Withdrawals | | | | |
+------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
|Reference | | | | |
+------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

FIG. 123.--Card for Missing Books Index, Back (Section 317).

=318. Other.=--Other indexes which have been found of value are a
general administrative index, with sections allotted to suggestions for
activities; information given from the libraries, and not given (a most
important matter as revealing deficiencies needing remedy); the location
and distribution of keys when the latter are in the hands of several
people; classification decisions; and, indeed, there is no limit to the
use of the card index as an administrative tool. One simple and
invaluable index in libraries where lectures are given is a Lecturers’
Index, with guides for Offers, Next Series, Current Lectures, Past
Lectures, behind which are placed cards bearing the names and addresses
of lecturers, the titles and other particulars of their lectures, dates
of delivery, etc. The mere indexing of such materials affords many
suggestions and reduces lecture-organization to a very simple process.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=319. Literary Indexing:=

Clarke, A. L. Manual of Practical Indexing, 1905. Grafton. New York
State Library. Wheeler and Bascom, E. L. Indexing: Principles, Rules
and Examples, 1905. Bulletin, 94, Library School, 19. Ed. 2; revised,
1913. Bulletin, 354, Library School, 33.

Petherbridge, Mary. Technique of Indexing, 1904. Secretarial Bureau.

Wheatley, H. B. How to Make an Index, 1902. Eliot Stock.

---- What is an Index: Notes on Indexes and Indexers, 1878. Index
Society Publications.

=320. Commercial and Library Indexing:=

Byles, R. B. The Card Index System. Pitman.

Kaiser, J. The Card System at the Office, 1908. Vacher.

---- Systematic Indexing, 1911. Pitman.

Sayers and Stewart. The Card Catalogue, 1913. Grafton.

=321. Filing:=

Cope, E. A. Filing Systems: Their Principles and their Application to
Modern Office Requirements. Pitman.

Dana, J. C. American Library Economy [Various Sections, particularly
v. i., pt. 5, sec. 3, Picture Collection; pt. 6, Art Department; v.
ii., pt. 1, Colour and Position Filing; pt. 18, sec. 1, The Vertical
File (revised ed. entitled the Information File); etc.], 1909.
Woodstock, Vermont: Elm Tree Press.

Jast, L. S. A Classification of Library Economy and Office Papers,
1907. Grafton.

For articles, consult Index of Cannons under Indexing and Filing.

DIVISION IX

MAINTENANCE AND ROUTINE WORK

CHAPTER XXI

STATIONERY AND RECORDS

=322. Forms and Blanks.=--Most of the important forms and blanks have
already been described and figured under the different departments to
which they refer, and this section will, therefore, only deal with a few
general forms. NOTEPAPER of various kinds should be provided, some in
the ordinary business size, some post quarto, and some foolscap folio.
On each of these sizes the usual heading should be printed, with the
arms and name of the town, librarian’s name, and any other information
thought necessary. All ordinary correspondence can be carried on with
the business size, but official and complimentary letters should be
written on the larger sizes. ENVELOPES to suit the various sizes should
also be procured, and it is a good plan to stock some large-sized manila
envelopes for sending off large documents, reports, etc. These can be
had in a variety of sizes, and some of them have clasps instead of
gummed flaps, which make them very useful for temporary filing purposes.
Gummed postal WRAPPERS should also be stocked in a fairly large size,
and LABELS for sending off parcels, with the name of the library boldly
printed on them, will be found very useful.

=323. Writing Materials.=--INKS are manufactured in such a variety of
kinds and colours that choice is made difficult. A good black ink should
be procured, and also a bright red colour. Copying ink is not necessary
even where press letter-copying is employed, as ordinary blue-black ink,
if not blotted but allowed to dry naturally, will make perfectly good
press copies. Care should be taken not to dry the tissue-paper leaves of
the letter book completely when making copies. Other colours of inks,
such as green, violet, etc., can be obtained if wanted for special
purposes. INK-WELLS should be got in the modern reservoir form, with a
constant level dipping place. Ink kept in such receptacles never gets
thick or dirty, and the pen is never overcharged or underfed. These
ink-wells with rubber tops can be obtained for about one shilling each,
but for staff and committee use a better variety should be ordered as
the rubber degenerates quickly under the chemical action of the ink.
Ink-wells should preferably be associated with pen-_racks_ rather than
with pen-trays. A rack sorts the pens and pencils out automatically in a
visible order, while a tray wastes a large amount of time annually,
owing to the groping and examining and fruitless fumblings necessitated
before the right pen or pencil is found among its fellows. One pen one
place, is a good motto for any librarian. Of course the FOUNTAIN PEN
removes a great deal of the waste of time and trouble inseparable from
ink-pot filling, pen selecting, pen dipping, etc., and every librarian
ought to have one as part of his ordinary equipment. There are various
sorts in the market, but the higher priced ones are, as a rule, the only
reliable ones, and the cost is an investment on which a return is soon
made. STYLOGRAPHIC PENS are very useful, but because of their tendency
to spoil good handwriting, they are not so satisfactory as fountain
_pens_, although they are much cheaper. For staff use in the numbering
of book labels, charging, etc., stylographic pens would be found very
useful, and every library of reasonable size should stock a few.

PENCILS for public use should be the ordinary cedar ones at about 5s. a
gross. For note-book copying purposes a Rowney “H” pencil, retailing at
twopence, will be found of great value, as it does not “set off” like
the ordinary “H-B.” A hard pencil lasts much longer than a soft one, it
does not require pointing so often, and the fact just mentioned, that
writing done by its means does not blur or “set off” is an advantage not
to be despised. Red and blue crayon pencils should be kept for checking
purposes. Ordinary pen-holders and hard and soft pen-points are
occasionally stocked in public libraries, as well as pencils, to lend
out to the readers. Where this is done a certain amount of loss will
have to be faced, as pens and pencils both disappear in the most
mysterious ways. It is, however, a very great convenience to provide
pens, especially in reference libraries fitted with special
reading-tables provided with sunk ink-wells.

Blotting paper, foolscap paper ruled faint, scribbling pads, and common
white paper in sheets about 15 inches × 9 inches for mounting slips,
should be provided among the writing materials of a library.

=324. Library Stationery Cabinet.=--It is needless to set out in more
detail the various desk accessories and miscellaneous stationery
required in a library, and an enumeration of the minimum contents of a
stationery cabinet, which ought to be had for every library will
suffice. A cabinet of this sort could be made up in various sizes and
prices, like medicine chests, and would be found much more useful than
the random method of buying articles at present in vogue.

STATIONERY CABINET

Paper clips.

Stationery case. For holding a supply of envelopes, note-paper, etc.
(large sizes).

Numbering machine (five figures).

Rubber dating stamps, with loose type and with band-changing
apparatus.

Rubber printing outfit.

Nest of drawers, twelve in cabinet.

Cash-box.

Paper fasteners, corner clips, wire clips and brass clips.

Red tape, several spools (for documents only).

Pins.

Hand-rest for writing.

Tape measure or good two-foot rule.

Waste-paper basket.

Dispatch basket (wicker), for holding documents.

Letter scales, weighing to eight pounds.

Scissors.

Paste in bottles.

Rubber bands, assorted.

Rubber erasers.

Call bells, for public or office use.

Gummed labels, assorted sizes.

Sealing wax.

Twine of various thicknesses.

Ruled quadrille or squared paper (for planning).

Tracing paper or linen.

Case of mathematical instruments.

Paper knives.

Bone folders.

Leather book-carrying straps.

Reading and magnifying glasses.

Key rings and labels.

Writing pads or tablets.

Manuscript books of various sizes, 8vo, 4to, folio, for odd record
purposes.

etc. etc.

=325.= The typewriter and its accessories are to be taken for granted in
all libraries; and in connexion therewith its own special stationery,
typewriting carbon, and stencilling papers, inks, etc. Most libraries of
even medium size now employ a skilled stenographer who acts as secretary
to the chief librarian, manages the correspondence filing, the
duplicating work, copies catalogue cards, etc. The best typewriter is
the cheapest machine in the long run, and it should be equipped with
carding and tabulating apparatus. Those which have more than one fount
of type, as roman and italic, large and condensed types, have much to
recommend them. A duplicating machine is an invaluable accessory. For
small libraries the flat stencil-duplicating machine, such as the
Gestetner, will suffice, and probably the best copies of smaller work,
card forms, etc., are obtained by this means. But for circulars,
book-lists, programmes and other matters of which many copies are
required a cyclostyle is desirable. By its means topical reading lists
and the many circulars which a live library desires to issue almost
every week can be prepared and circulated widely with the utmost
dispatch. Such a machine is one of the best investments a library can
make.

+-------+----------------+------------+---------+-----------+
| Date. | Description. | Price. | Vendor. | Location. |
+-------+----------------+---+---+----+---------+-----------+
| | | £ | s.| d. | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |

FIG. 124.--Inventory Book (Section 326).

=326. Records.=--An inventory should be kept of all supplies ordered,
with dates and quantities, and a very good plan is to use the cards
described at Section 327. These could be ruled in a series of columns to
show dates, quantities and prices, and kept in a box which would serve
the double purpose of inventory and supplies index. But there are other
supplies besides stationery, etc., and these would have to be added. An
inventory should be kept of all movable property belonging to the
library, such as furniture, pictures and other articles. It could be
ruled as shown in Fig. 124.

=327.= The following is a good and simple method of keeping an inventory
of supplies, and providing for their automatic renewal. Thin slips on
tough paper are ruled and printed as in the examples shown (Figs.
125-6).

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| PAPER |
| |
| DESCRIPTION--Foolscap, ruled faint and margin. |
| |
| LOCATION 4--2. Sample 359 |
| |
+---------+-------------------+---------------++--------------+
| Date. | Quantity. | Vendor. || Price. |
+---------+-------------------+---------------++----+----+----+
| 1906. | | || | | |
| April 6 | 2 Reams (A 6) | Wicer 8/6 || -- | 17 | -- |
| | | || | | |
| Oct. 20 | 2 „ (A 59) | „ 8/6 || -- | 17 | -- |
| | | || | | |
| 1907. | | || | | |
| April 15| 2 „ (A 165) | Nobbs 8/- || -- | 16 | -- |
| | | || | | |
+---------+-------------------+---------------++----+----+----+

FIG. 125.--Front of Inventory Slip.

+---------+-------------------+---------------++----+----+----+
| | | || | | |
| | | || Price. |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
| | | || | | |
+---------+-------------------+---------------++----+----+----+

FIG. 126.--Back of Inventory Slip.

This inventory does not prevent supplies from running out suddenly, and
thereby producing undesirable misunderstandings. There are many ways of
effecting this check, all more or less satisfactory, but none, perhaps,
is quite so certain as an actual material check upon the running-out of
supplies. In addition to the inventory it is necessary to establish an
“emergency-supply” cupboard, safely locked up, and in it to place a
small stock of everything which is liable to run out. Thus, if two reams
of foolscap arrive, a five-quire packet must be taken from it,
separately parcelled up, and deposited in the emergency-supply
receptacle. Attached to this emergency bundle should be a luggage label,
or other conspicuous tag, bearing the words “Foolscap, ruled faint,
order No. 69, Stock exhausted. . . .” The blank space is for the date
when the emergency supply is transferred to the ordinary stock cupboard.
In course of time the accessible stock is used up, and the person who
removes the last sheet, or the one who next goes, discovers the
shortage, and is forced to ask the key-keeper of the emergency cupboard
for the reserved stock. This is produced, the label is dated and handed
to the person responsible for ordering a fresh supply.

=328.= All general library KEYS may be assembled on a special key-board.
This should consist of a large board fitted with the necessary number of
hooks, one for each key or group of keys, and a proper descriptive label
and number should be pasted under each hook. The keys should be numbered
and labelled to correspond, with ivory labels attached by rings to every
key. In addition an alphabetical list should be fixed to the door of the
key-board, so as to facilitate finding. In some libraries the
departmental heads and assistants are provided with a master-key to all
internal doors which concern them; but keys which give access to the
building as a whole should be limited to the chief librarian and the
chief caretaker. A large building requires many keys, and a card-index,
entering of the name of each key and the person who holds it or its
location, is a useful method of checking the safety of keys. When keys
are removed from the building, they should be insured with one of the
key insurance or registry offices.

There are several minor matters of routine or arrangement not dealt with
in other places. Dusting is usually underdone in British libraries. For
one thing there is rarely a sufficient supply of cloth dusters; often a
dirty one, stowed away in a drawer, is all the provision for a large
library. Clean dusters should be attached by means of rings or clips to
every bookcase and cupboard throughout a library, and the staff should
be required to use them on every possible occasion. Certainly a book
should never be handed to a reader in a dusty condition, as not only may
the reader be offended, but he must inevitably transfer the dust from
the outside to the inside of the book in handling it. There would be
much less dust among book-shelves if a liberal supply of dusters were
allowed and constantly used. When books are being dusted systematically
a large tray or box of wet sawdust should be provided. Into this the
books should be dusted by means of a brush.

It is also a good plan, whenever possible, to take very dusty books out
to the open air, and smartly beat them together, two at a time. This
drives the dust out more effectually than anything else. Vacuum cleaners
which work by means of suction are sometimes useful in cases where large
accumulations of dust require to be removed, and not simply
redistributed, but a powerful variety is necessary as the smaller vacuum
cleaners remove the top layer of dust as a rule, and leave a solid
substratum. Wood block and linoleum covered floors when treated with wax
polish do not require to be scrubbed, and the surface remains smooth,
and cleaning is reduced to a minimum. There are various floor
preparations which are said to be effectual in keeping down dust, but
most of them produce discoloration in the course of time, and periodical
scrubbings should be arranged to restore the original colour of the
flooring.

CHAPTER XXII

BOOKBINDING AND REPAIRING

=329. General.=--Public library binding is an art by itself, and is
quite distinct from ordinary commercial bookbinding on the one hand, and
artistic binding on the other. A binding which is strong enough to
withstand the handling of its owner and his friends, and beautiful
enough to please the taste of the fastidious amateur, may be practically
useless in a position where it may have to endure the handling of
hundreds, or even thousands, of different persons, all of whom are not
equally educated in the proper use of books. A public library book
requires to be bound neatly and strongly, with particular regard to the
integrity of the stitching rather than to its mere covering, although
this has to be considered in the case of much-used reference books.

=330.= For public library work only good binders who are experienced in
this particular class of bookbinding should be employed. In many cases,
especially in small towns, the work turned out by local binders is about
as bad as it can well be, and just as likely to lead to the rapid
destruction of books as to their preservation. Cheapness does not in
this matter necessarily mean economy, nor is good workmanship often an
accompaniment of low prices. It may be said generally that library
binding is one of the items of maintenance which no library can _afford_
to have done cheaply and badly. It is much better, in the long run, for
a library in a small provincial town to send its work to a recognized
bookbinder in a large town, and even to pay carriage both ways, than to
depend upon the local bookseller or stationer, who only knows about the
casing of magazines. A good binder will bind a book in a manner which
will enable the boards to outlive the leaves, while a poor workman will
require to have his work done over again very soon, if, meanwhile, his
rough and unscientific methods have not tended to shorten the existence
of the book.

=331.= The question of binding books from the sheets, or rebinding
cloth- and paper-board books in leather, before putting them in
circulation, has been much debated, though it is really not a very
formidable or difficult matter after all. As no one can foretell with
certainty whether or not any given book is going to be popular and much
used, it is manifestly a mistake to have any book re-bound, or specially
bound from the sheets, until this very important point has been
ascertained. Time alone can determine whether a book is going to be
popular, and for this reason there seems little economy or gain in
specially binding new books at the outset. Books in publishers’ cloth
bindings, when printed on paper of fair quality, will often circulate
from twenty to forty times before attaining a condition which requires
re-binding, and when strongly and properly rebound in leather or other
boards will outlast the book. Some claims have been advanced with regard
to the durability of various styles of binding, but it is impossible to
ignore the fact that it is the paper of the book and not the covers of
the binding which forms the weak point.

The Great War has rendered this paper problem an acute one. For a few
years before 1914 librarians had induced a few publishers to produce
some classes of books on a superior paper, and in a reinforced
binding--that is, one according to the Society of Arts and Library
Association recommendations--but the war conditions not only stopped all
this, they prevented the importation of paper and paper-materials. Hence
the most appalling rubbish was made to serve the purpose of book-paper,
with disastrous results for almost all books published from 1915-19. Few
books published in that period are in materials that will last without
any particular use for a decade, and far fewer will stand the handling
of public library readers or bear re-binding in any material heavier
than cloth. The public acquiesced in these materials as a war necessity;
it has yet to be seen if the publishers, having found the public
apparently contented with them, will persist in their use when they
become cheaper. Every effort must be made to prevent it.

Dirt is also as potent a factor as rough usage in shortening the life of
a book, and it really matters little what kind of special materials or
stitching are employed since no book’s existence can be prolonged beyond
a certain term of years when dirt and inferior paper are such important
elements in the matter. There are other factors in the question of
binding from sheets, and one is the difficulty of obtaining the
necessary copies from publishers. Another is the fact that some cheap
novels cannot be had in quires at all, and, consequently, any advantage
which may result from unused sheets giving a better and firmer hold for
stitching cannot be obtained. The durability of new books re-bound in
special materials has been somewhat exaggerated, and librarians and
committees should first adopt the ordinary method of allowing use to
determine the books which require re-binding. But experiments should
also be tried with special re-binding and other plans in order to
ascertain what is best; and a good general rule will probably emerge--no
book should be bound so well that the cover is in excellent condition
long after the inside has been worn beyond redemption.

=332.= It would be a valuable concession if publishers would issue some
copies of every novel by well-known authors, printed on specially tough
paper, and bound according to the specification given in Section 341.
This would meet every need which exists for specially bound copies of
popular books, and give the much more valuable advantage of editions
printed on paper which is not mere rubbish.

=333. Home Binding.=--The question of establishing a bookbinding plant,
for the purpose of conducting binding on the library premises, is one
which affects only the large libraries of the country; but large towns
with a number of branch libraries may find it both economical and
advantageous to establish binderies, if not for extensive operations in
the binding of books, at least for their repair and re-casing. At
Portsmouth, Hull, Bristol, Brighton, Bournemouth and elsewhere home
binderies more or less extensive have been established, and the
experience gained in these places seems to vary considerably.

The advantages accruing to the home bindery are obvious, apart from that
of the convenience of having the work done on the library premises; the
librarian can select only the best materials and can supervise the work
at every stage of the processes. Librarians who have established such a
department are convinced not only of its convenience but also--a much
more important point in present circumstances--its economy. When it is
remembered that much other work than the actual binding and re-casing of
books, such as illustration-mounting, ruling, magazine cover-making,
etc., may be carried out in the home bindery, there is much to be said
for it; but until the experiment has been carried much further home
binding is not advocated save in the larger libraries. A joint-stock or
cooperative bindery could be worked by the London Metropolitan Borough
Libraries with considerable prospects of success and economy, but in
isolated provincial towns the plan is not so feasible.

=334.= Repairing departments stand upon quite another footing, and here
there is safe ground for experiment with every prospect of success. At
Glasgow, Manchester, Croydon, Islington and other places, small
repairing plants have been in operation for some time with good results.
At all the places mentioned women workers are employed, who repair and
re-case books, stitch pamphlets in covers, and even bind less important
books which are not likely to be greatly used. Lettering and numbering
can also be done, a useful branch of the bookbinder’s art, carried on at
a considerable number of libraries. A repairing plant such as is used at
Croydon costs less than £30, while the wages of a repairer may range
from 40s. weekly. Materials also run into a certain sum per annum,
according to the nature and amount of work done.

=335.= Finishing, which includes lettering and numbering, can be done by
members of the library staff, although instruction is sometimes
difficult to obtain owing to trade jealousy and the regulations of most
polytechnic schools, which, though supported by public funds, deny
instruction to any save those actually engaged in particular trades.
Perhaps the day will come when library schools, such as that about to be
established in London at University College, will include this subject
when dealing with bookbinding, typography and all allied practical arts.
A complete finishing plant, including sets of numbers and alphabets, can
be purchased at a sum which even small libraries can afford. The
satisfaction of accomplishing on the premises the work of class
lettering and numbering, which requires both care and neatness, is
great. At any rate, inquiry should be made by librarians into the
possibilities of establishing a finishing department, especially in
cases where a systematic classification is used.[12]

[12] _See_ “Specification for the fittings of a small bindery,” by F.
J. Williamson, in _Leather for Libraries_, 1905.

=336. Materials.=--For public library purposes book-covering materials
should be of the most durable sorts, and it is not wise to employ many
different varieties either of cloths or leathers. Ordinary binders’
cloth is nearly as satisfactory as anything else for preserving its
colour, lettering and defying the pernicious effects of gas-laden
atmospheres and extremes of temperature. It will not stand much
handling, however, and is very liable to wear out at the corners and
joints. Nevertheless, for little-used collections of pamphlets, sets of
local publications, and other matter which merely wants binding for
appearance’s sake and storage purposes, ordinary binders’ cloth is
strongly recommended. Smooth varieties are preferable to rough or
patterned kinds, as being less liable to harbour dust. Apart from
ordinary binders’ cloth, the best known varieties are linen cloths,
buckrams and Pegamoid and Rexine cloths. Pegamoid and Rexine cloths are
treated in a special way with some preparation of celluloid to render
them impervious to dirt and moisture. For novels and other short-lived
books these cloths are worth a trial, as they cannot be regarded as
expensive. At any rate, experience has proved that these materials will
outlast any novel which may be re-bound in them, and, after all, that is
as much as can be expected of any binding. Leather should rarely be
placed upon little-used books, and many libraries which hitherto used it
for long sets, have discarded it in favour of legal buckram, or such a
material as Winterbottam’s washable cloth. A certain amount of handling
is necessary for the preservation of most leathers, as the animal grease
from the hands is a preservative, and they deteriorate if this is not
forthcoming.

=337.= The principal leathers used for public library bindings are
pig-skin, persian and levant moroccos, and roan. Calf, russia and other
fancy leathers should not be used, as they turn brittle under the
influence of heated and dry air, and crumble to pieces. Apart from this,
they are costly and otherwise unsuitable for public library purposes.
The leathers recommended should be used according to the books which
they have to cover, and the following list will give an idea of the best
classes for which to use each kind:--

Levant morocco, or real morocco, made from goat-skin. This material
should be used for very valuable books which require a handsome and
dignified binding. It is very durable, but expensive for ordinary
work.

Persian morocco, made from sheep-skin, is not so dear or so good as
levant morocco, but is a durable and satisfactory leather if a good
quality is procured. It should be used for popular books in the
non-fictional classes of the lending department. Heavy books can be
bound in this leather, but pig-skin is better. The more it is handled
the better it wears and keeps its condition.

Roan is a kind of inferior sheep-skin, with a different grain and
surface from Persian morocco, and is a useful and cheap leather for
certain classes of books, such as the less popular works of travel,
science, theology, fiction, etc. Books up to the crown octavo size can
be half-bound in this material at prices ranging from 1s. 6d. to 2s. a
volume. Heavy books are not recommended for binding in this leather.

Pig-skin is the strongest leather of all, and also the most durable
for much-used heavy books; but librarians should make certain that
real pig-skin is supplied, and not some wretched imitation. The price
of pig-skin is rather more than good Persian morocco. All reference
works, such as dictionaries, atlases, directories, and other volumes
which are being constantly handled, may well be bound in this.

All leathers specified for bookbinding should be of the acid-free
description recommended by the Society of Arts Committee (1898-1900) and
the Sound Leather Committee of the Library Association. Sumach-tanned
leathers are now to be had with a special guarantee from the makers.

Other binding materials, such as vellum, parchment, canvas and patent
leathers of various kinds, are seldom required in libraries, and need
not be considered further. Preparations for spreading on books to
protect them may also be passed over, and also the continental and
American habit of covering all books in manilla or other paper covers of
uniform colour. Most of the so-called leather “preservatives” are
hurtful rather than helpful, but it may be observed that some leather
bindings which get dry and worn will improve if treated with ordinary
vaseline. It should be rubbed well and plentifully into the texture of
the leather with the fingers, and when it has soaked in, should be wiped
with a soft cloth. Vaseline is as good as any patent or other
preservative for reviving decaying and shabby leathers of all kinds,
although it dries quickly, and furniture polish has also been
recommended. As regards covers, the time has not yet come when the
individuality of a book, as issued by its publisher, or given by its
appropriate library binding, requires to be hidden under a paper mask.

=338. Class Colours.=--In systematically classified libraries there is a
certain amount of advantage to be gained by re-binding each class of
books, as required, in some appropriate colour. When open access to the
shelves is also granted, there is a very considerable aid to the
maintenance of order given by the use of distinctive class colours.
Thus, Science may be light brown or fawn colour; Fine Arts, orange;
Social Science, light green; Theology, etc., black; History and Travel,
dark green; Biography, maroon; Philology, light blue; Poetry, red;
Fiction, dark brown; and Juvenile, yellow; and so on to any degree. A
variation of this plan is to vary the colours for authors, binding each
distinctively; this gives a not unpleasing variety to the shelves and
has a certain arranging value.

=339. Lettering and Numbering.=--When lettering and numbering have to be
done apart from the re-binding, they can be executed by the staff after
a little practice, as pointed out in Section 335. The object of
lettering is to facilitate the finding of books, and for this reason it
should be clear and bold. It is also possible by means of a little
variation to obtain a certain amount of class-guiding in the system of
lettering, and it should be made an invariable principle in every public
library to adopt a certain order of particulars on the backs of books,
and stick to the order. Too often this important matter is left to the
fitful fancy of the binder’s finisher, with the result that very
frequently the author’s name appears in all the panels in rotation. The
series of suggestions given in Fig. 127 for dealing with each class is
offered as a basis on which any librarian can build a system of his own.
The letterings are arranged to provide for titles, authors, volume
numbers, class numbers, and dates of publication when necessary. Class
letters and numbers occupy one definite place on each book, which is not
subject to variations in height when appearing on books of different
sizes. The markings here figured for the backs of books are arranged so
that titles occupy the leading panel in all classes and thereby
correspond with the great majority of the books as issued by publishers.

[Illustration: FIG. 127.--Specimens of Class Lettering and Numbering
(Section 339).]

The chief points to emphasize in these suggested letterings are that the
class letter and number should always occupy the same relative position
irrespective of the size of the volume, namely, about two inches from
the foot, and that alphabetical classes like Fiction, Poetry and Essays
should be boldly lettered with the first three letters of the author’s
surname, or numbers from an author table, while _Individual_ Biography
only should be similarly marked with the surname letters of the
_subject_ of the biography, but not the author, save in the case of
autobiographies, letters, etc. If it should be thought necessary to add
the accession numbers, they can be placed out of the way in the top
half-panel, as shown in No. 7, while shelf colours for open access can
be added at the points suggested in Section 243.

[Illustration: FIG. 128.--Specimens of Class Lettering and Numbering
(Section 340).]

=340.= The principal alternative method is that mentioned in the chapter
on classification (Section 241), where the book is lettered in
accordance with what is thought to be the natural process in arranging
and finding books. Thus a book is arranged on the shelves first by its
class, second by its author, third by its title, except in the case of
individual biography, where the name of the biographee takes the panel
which in other books is devoted to the author, and the author takes the
panel below the title. Fig. 128 will indicate sufficiently the
appearance of such a lettering scheme, and will show how it subordinates
ordinary usage to library purposes, especially in the third example.

No. 3 brings Dowden’s book into the group of Shakesperian books, and
shows the spelling of the name preferred in the catalogue for the
heading; and No. 4 shows the method of indicating both the real name of
the author, which is the catalogue heading and arranging name, and also
the author’s pseudonym.

=341. Specification.=--Whether or not library binding should be done by
tender, which in practice means giving the work to the lowest bidder, is
a question which different places must settle in different ways.
Sometimes tenders are insisted upon by the municipality for all work
done with public funds. It must be recognized, however, that binding is
a very varied matter, some books requiring special treatment, and that
binders are equally varied in their ability to do special work. The best
results can only be obtained if the librarian has power to send certain
classes of work to the firms best qualified to deal with them. So far as
general binding is concerned, the present-day combination of
master-binders has levelled up prices until every binder quotes
practically the same figures; so there does not seem much to be gained
by tenders, except that legal formality which is so much approved by
public authorities. If it is used, bookbinding specification should
include every point which has any bearing on the cost, finish and
workmanship of the books. The specification of the Society of Arts and
that drafted by Mr Douglas Cockerell are very good, and many of their
points could be included in a specification for library binding. As
requirements differ in every library, it is impossible to attempt the
drafting of a model specification which will meet every case, but the
details set out in the following draft may prove useful and suggestive:

DRAFT BOOKBINDING SPECIFICATION.

To the Public Libraries Committee

of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Date. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gentlemen,

. . . . . . undertake to bind books for the. . . . . . . . . . Public
Libraries Committee in the manner specified below, at the prices
stated in the annexed schedule, for one year from. . . . . . . . . .
to. . . . . . . . . . .

All books to be well beaten or rolled, and care taken to avoid set-off
of ink in new books.

To be sewn one-sheet-on, on strong tapes; the first and last sheets to
be enclosed at back in linen strips. All sections broken at the back
to be enclosed in linen strips, and neatly overcast, not less than
four stitches to the inch, before being sewn to the tapes. Four tapes
to be allowed for crown 8vos; other sizes in proportion. The tapes to
be firmly secured between the back and front boards, which must be
carefully split to receive them.

In leather-bound books, the backs to be made close and flexible,
without bands, save in cases to be separately notified, but with blind
fillets in imitation of bands. Leathers as specified in schedule, with
smooth cloth sides to match colour of leathers.

SCHEDULE OF PRICES

+-------------------------++------+-------+-----+-----+------+------+
| Sizes. ||Half |Half |Half |Half |Best |Best |
| ||Levant|Persian|Pig- |Roan.|Linen.|Ordi- |
| ||Moroc-|Moroc- |skin.| | |nary |
| ||co. |co. | | | |Cloth.|
+-------------------------++------+-------+-----+-----+------+------+
| Fcap. 8vo (6¼″ × 4″) || | | | | | |
| Crown 8vo (7″ × 4½″) || | | | | | |
| Post 8vo (8″ × 5″) || | | | | | |
| Demy 8vo (9″ × 6″) || | | | | | |
| Medium 8vo (9½″ × 6″) || | | | | | |
| Royal 8vo (10″ × 6½″) || | | | | | |
| Imperial 8vo (11″ × 7½″) || | | | | | |
| Quarto (11″ × 8½″) || | | | | | |
| Folio (13″ × 8″) || | | | | | |
| || | | | | | |
+-------------------------++------+-------+-----+-----+------+------+
| |
| _Prices of other sizes to be in proportion._ |
| |
| Extras: |
| |
| Per inch for folios over thirteen inches. |
| For lettering large initials in classes 800 and 920 . . . per |
| hundred. |
| For mending torn or broken leaves. |
| For guarding plates in linen or jaconet, per dozen. |
| For mounting and dissecting maps, etc., on fine linen, per sq. |
| foot. |
| . . . For extra thickness, if books more than half the |
| width of boards. . . . |
| |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

In cloth- or pegamoid-bound books, the backs to be made open, with
suitable linings. Edges to be very carefully cut, sprinkled and
burnished, but only when the margins are not too small; otherwise to
be left with proof and top edge only smoothed.

End-papers to be of stout, coloured, marbled or printed paper, with at
least one white leaf before and after the printed matter. (Or as an
alternative--the special library end-papers to be used in all books
re-bound, etc.)

Linen or other strong cloth joints in all books.

Lettered in gold with author’s name, title, class numbers, initials,
etc., as per separate diagram showing arrangement of lettering for
each class. The colours of leathers and cloths for each class to be
as specified in the diagram. The order of lettering and colours to be
maintained unless altered by the instructions, and class letters and
numbers to be placed at a uniform height of two inches from the foot
of each book, irrespective of size.

Include all wrappers, cancelled matter, and advertisement pages of
certain magazines at the end of volumes, in their published order.

All materials used to be of the best quality, and the work done
carefully and promptly. Deficiencies and irregularities in books, if
any, to be reported to the librarian.

Each lot of binding to be finished and returned within . . . . . . . .
weeks from the date of order.

Should there be any extras chargeable beyond those provided for in
this specification, they must be reported to the librarian before the
work is proceeded with.

Samples of the manner in which . . . . . . propose to bind books in
accordance with this specification are sent herewith.

Signature of firm.

...................

FIG. 129.--Binding Sheet (Section 342).

Some libraries use vellum instead of leather corners, while others have
the corners of the leaves neatly rounded like a pack of modern playing
cards, and some have the boards rounded to correspond. It is a good plan
to have the corners of the leaves slightly rounded, but added corners of
vellum often result in the roughing-up of the cloth which fits down to
their edges, and there is no great benefit arising from the rounding of
the corners of the covers. Other points will doubtless arise in the
practice of every library, and these must be provided for as thought
best. Metal corner-pieces let in between the split boards are not
recommended.

+-----------+---------+----------+------+---------+---------+
|Progressive| Date of | | | | Date |
| No. |Despatch.|Lettering.|Class.|Material.|Returned.|
+-----------+---------+----------+------+---------+---------+
| | | | | | |
| 1 | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------+---------+----------+------+---------+---------+
| | | | | | |
| 2 | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------+---------+----------+------+---------+---------+
| | | | | | |
| 3 | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------+---------+----------+------+---------+---------+
| | | | | | |
| 4 | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------+---------+----------+------+---------+---------+

FIG. 130.--Binding Order Book (Section 342).

=342. Records and Checks.=--When a lot of books for binding is sent out
it must be accompanied by a set of instructions to the binder, and a
copy of this must be retained at the library as a record and to check
the books when returned. The most usual plan is to send out a binding
sheet, ruled as in Fig. 129, on which are entered the particulars of the
books requiring binding. These particulars are also entered in a binding
book, ruled exactly the same as the sheets, and in the last column of
this the books are marked off as returned. This result, and an actual
facsimile copy, may be obtained by using a duplicating book, the sheet
sent to the binder being so perforated as to be easily removable. The
double copying involved in making out two separate sheets is thus
avoided. It is usual to make the binder’s messenger check over and sign
for every lot of books at the end of the page. Another method, which
possesses the advantage of enabling the binder to distribute the work in
his workshop, and makes every book carry its own instruction, is as
follows: Procure a large book of perforated slips, with a counterpart
page, unperforated, behind every page of slips, in the style of a
manifold order book. Have these pages ruled as in Fig. 130, and
progressively numbered.

Or separate order slips, as under (Fig. 131), can be used, and their
purport briefly entered in a binding book ruled to show title, class and
date returned, with a column for a consecutive number, which of course
would be written on the corresponding slip.

+-------------------+-------------------+
| No. | Date sent |
+===================+===================+
| LETTERING |
+---------------------------------------+
| TITLE |
| |
+---------------------------------------+
| AUTHOR |
| |
+---------------------------------------+
| VOL. No. |
| |
+---------------------------------------+
| CLASS No. |
| |
+=======================================+
| Material |
| |
| |
| |
+---------------------------------------+
| Other instructions |
| |
| |
+---------------------------------------+

FIG. 131.--Binding Order Slip (Section 342).

When an order for binding is being made up each book is entered on a
numbered slip, pen-carbon or other copying paper being placed between
the slips and the counterpart below. Dates can be stamped to save time.
The slips are then detached and placed in the books to which they refer.
An ordinary order form is then made out in some such terms as:

Mr.................... will please bind as per contract and separate
instructions the ............ books sent herewith, comprising numbers
......... to ............

The binder’s messenger can sign the book on the last counterfoil, in a
form like this:

Received on .......... from the ................ Public Library ......
volumes for binding.

Or a rubber stamp with these words and blanks can be used. The object of
the progressive number is to afford a ready means of identifying
instructions and ascertaining in an easy manner the number of books
bound in any one year. These numbers may also be written in ink at the
end of the letterpress of each book, as a means of ascertaining how
often any book has been re-bound. The price, if carried into the column
reserved for the progressive number in the counterpart, will also be a
useful record to keep. By simply referring to the progressive numbers it
is possible to ascertain the price paid for successive re-bindings, and
to keep a check on the whole of the work.

=343.= Repairs should not be entered in this book. It is better to use
an ordinary order sheet and copy it in the press order book. It can be
headed:

Mr............ will please re-case the following books:

Mr............ will please repair the following books, as per
instructions added to each:

=344. Miscellaneous.=--Tape or ribbon BOOK-MARKS are sometimes placed in
public library books, but a much more obvious and useful plan is to
print a special book-mark with a folding-over tab, which can be placed
in _all_ books which are issued, and not confined simply to those which
are re-bound. A good form of marker can have one or two pointed rules
for the due care and preservation of books printed on a conspicuous
part.

Some enterprising firms give away book-marks of various kinds, many
publishers insert advertising cards which serve as markers, and
occasionally an advertising agent will supply a library with book-marks,
and pay for the privilege, on being allowed to use some part of it for
advertisements from which he draws the revenue.

=345.= Special END-PAPERS have been introduced in a few libraries to be
placed in re-bound books. They serve the purpose of an ownership mark
more effectually than a book-plate, but, of course, they can only be
used in the books which happen to require re-binding. The Croydon
end-paper is quite an elaborate design, giving compartments showing the
arms, monogram and a view of the town hall. End-papers of this kind are
a luxury which few public libraries can afford.

=346.= An effective way of placing an indelible mark of ownership upon a
public library book is to impress a blind stamp upon the outside front
board. This can be done by means of a screw-press and a special die, and
need not cost more than £10. Any member of the staff can impress such a
stamp, and it is better than confining this mark of ownership simply to
books which have been re-bound. A circular stamp is best, as it will
always appear straight.

=347.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bailey, A. L. Library Bookbinding, 1916. H. W. Wilson Co.

Chivers, Cedric. The Paper of Lending Library Books: with some remarks
on their binding, 1909.

Cockerell, D. Bookbinding and the Care of Books, 1901.

Coutts and Stephen. Manual of Library Bookbinding, 1911.

Dana, J. C. Notes on Bookbinding, 1906.

Graesel, A. Library Binding. _In his_ Bibliothekslehre, 1902.

Johnston, D. V. R. Library Binding. U.S. Educ. Rept., 1892-1893, vol.
i., p. 907.

Leather for Libraries, 1905.

Philip, A. J. The Business of Booklending, 1912.

Society of Arts. Report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding,
1905.

Stephen, G. A. Commercial Bookbinding, 1910.

For articles see Cannons, K 1-21, Bookbinding.

DIVISION X

RULES AND REGULATIONS

CHAPTER XXIII

RULES AND REGULATIONS

=348. General.=---A public library is an institution based upon broad
lines of mutual co-operation, in which every citizen has equal rights,
and in which the rules should be drafted to protect the common
proprietary rights, without penalizing any section of the community.
Hence the liberal attitude which recognizes that the whole purpose of
librarianship is to get books used must be brought to the drafting of
rules. Fortunately this attitude is becoming more common, if it is not
universal, and the whole tendency of modern public library work is to
break down all barriers between the readers and the freest use of books.
Indeed, it is better to lose a few books yearly than to protect them
from the very few dishonest people who may live in the community by
means which militate against the liberty of readers.

=349. Hours.=--The number of hours during which municipal libraries
should remain open to the public will vary according to the local
conditions, staff and funds of every town and district. In small places,
with scanty populations and little libraries with but one attendant, a
few hours open at night on several days in the week, according to
requirements, will serve every practical purpose. In towns of a fair
size, of say from 10,000 to 30,000 people, the reading rooms should be
open all day uninterruptedly from 10 to 9 or 10, but the lending library
need only be kept open from 10 to 2 and from 5 to 9. In large towns of
over 40,000 inhabitants, the libraries should remain open all day from
early morning till late at night--say from 8 A.M. till 10 P.M. for
newsrooms; 9 A.M. till 10 P.M. for reference libraries; 10 A.M. till 9
P.M. for lending libraries; and 4 till 8 P.M. for juvenile departments,
if any. There should be no interruptions, at any rate so far as
departments other than the lending library are concerned, to these
services, either in the way of half- or whole-day closing to suit the
staff, or any irregularity in hours. The public library is a bureau for
the supply of information, and should be found open at any time in a
working-day, during which people are likely to use its resources. In
large towns there is no necessary connexion between the public hours and
the staff, and in an important matter of this kind, which affects the
convenience of hundreds of people, the policy of employing extra
assistance, in order to keep the library open all day and every day
without overworking the staff, should not be questioned. It may be
argued that if one town of a certain size can keep its public libraries
open all day and every day (save Sundays and holidays, of course), every
similar town and all larger ones can easily do likewise. But, as may be
seen by reference to Greenwood’s _British Library Year Book_, 1900-1901,
this is not invariably the case. A careful and well-constructed
time-sheet will often get over difficulties which may seem to arise from
under-staffing or other conditions. There have been, and possibly still
may be, libraries in which, largely because of badly constructed
time-sheets, the assistants are given only one evening off weekly, and
work from eight to nine hours daily, although the library is closed for
a half-day every week, and thus both assistants and public are
incommoded.

At the same time, to dogmatize upon the question of hours is unwise, as
local circumstances condition the question so much. Moreover, the recent
movements in the industrial and commercial worlds are in the direction
of reducing working hours, and most people are now at liberty before 7
P.M., a fact which does away with the _necessity_, if not the
convenience, of keeping libraries open to the late hours until recently
in vogue. Again, a suburban library, with a population which returns
from a neighbouring city in the evenings, has need to be open later than
one, say, in the city itself. The whole matter is one of public
convenience, and if it is remembered that to have the library used to
its fullest limit is the ideal, the hours will be chosen well. At the
same time, there are always readers who prefer to use the library in the
last hour of the day, whatever that hour may be. If the closing hour is
nine, they will arrive at 8.45; if eight, at 7.45, and so on; it is a
curious, not uncommon human trait, which may be borne in mind when hours
are being arranged.

=350. Age Limits.=--There are wide differences in the practice as
regards the limit of age from which persons are allowed to use the
libraries, but within recent years the opinion on this point has
undergone considerable change. Formerly persons under eighteen and
sixteen were forbidden the use of public libraries; now such high limits
are very uncommon, though fourteen is still frequently seen in the rules
of otherwise progressive libraries. Of course, local conditions must
receive due consideration in this matter, though it is difficult to
think of any circumstance which calls for any distinction being made
between children of twelve and those of fourteen years of age. There are
hundreds of bright, intelligent lads and girls of twelve who are the
equals in knowledge and ability of their fellows of thirteen and
fourteen years of age; in fact, children do not fit, intellectually,
into age-compartments; their capacities are surprisingly individual.
What seems reasonable is the entire abolition of age limits in lending
libraries, subject to the reservation that the librarian should have
discretionary power to refuse to issue books to any child unable to read
and write. Failing this, the limit might be fixed at twelve where there
are no separate juvenile libraries, but reduced to seven where such
departments exist. There is a certain amount of trouble and
inconvenience to adults resulting from admitting very young children,
especially in open access and other libraries without separate juvenile
accommodation, and this would be partly met by the compromise proposed.
Separate children’s libraries are the solution of the difficulty, and,
when these can be provided all round, the age limit downwards can be
abolished so far as they are concerned, while the limit for the adult
library can be raised to twelve or fourteen. But adequate provision
should be made for interchanging, and all necessary facilities provided
for enabling intelligent young people under the limit to procure
suitable more advanced books if desired, and also for allowing adults to
revive their youth by allowing them access to the works of Ballantyne,
Henty and other authors.

=351.= As regards age limits in reference libraries and reading rooms,
there is more to be said for keeping them high than in the case of
lending libraries, especially when there are separate children’s rooms.
But, generally speaking, there is no strong reason for excluding
well-conducted boys or girls from a popular reading room, whatever their
ages may be, provided they do not come during school hours, or do not
otherwise make the library a place in which to hide from some duty. In
some libraries, with age limits of twelve, fourteen or over, it is the
practice to turn away younger children from news and reading rooms in
cases where they are accompanied by their parents or elders. This is an
abuse of a rule which was only intended to protect readers from the
noisy incursions of irresponsible youngsters, who are wont to stray into
public places out of sheer devilment, or accident, or excess of
curiosity. To apply this rule to children in arms, or youngsters
accompanied by and in charge of their elders, is simply officialism
calculated to injure the popularity and prestige of municipal libraries.
The age limit for a reference library designed for students, with open
access to the shelves, should be fixed at fourteen or sixteen, with
discretionary power to the librarian to grant permits to any studious
youngster under that age. Where access to public reading rooms and
juvenile departments is easy, there seems no good reason for throwing
open the reference library to all and sundry, unless under the
safeguards suggested.

=352. The Borrowing Right.=--There are several points in connexion with
the borrowing rights of various classes of citizens which it is
desirable to notice, especially as they have much bearing on the
question of a library’s popularity and good management. In some towns
the borrowing right is strictly confined to ratepayers or residents in
the library district. Employees who live outside the district are
excluded, but for what particular reason it is difficult to understand.
An employee contributes directly to the material well-being of the
district in which his work lies; he contributes indirectly but
substantially towards the rates; he spends most of his waking and all
his working hours in the district; and in other ways he is as much a
citizen as the resident who works outside the district and only sleeps
in it at night. It is impossible to discover any reason for the
distinction made between employee and resident in some places, and it
may be pointed out that plenty of large towns grant the borrowing right
to employees without the slightest inconvenience, difficulty or
injustice to anyone. A further wise liberality permits borrowing
privileges to all non-resident scholars and students at schools or
similar institutions in the town. Similar arguments apply in favour of
such an arrangement, and these young folks are usually readers of a
valuable type.

=353.= Teachers and others engaged in educational work should be dealt
with as generously as possible, and should be lent as many books as they
need at a time for purposes of their work. From six to twelve works are
frequently required by a teacher in preparing a subject, and he should
be allowed to have them, the most liberal interpretation possible being
given to this privilege. Obviously no teacher should be permitted to
make his needs an excuse for borrowing batches of current and popular
works to the detriment of other readers, but it is better to risk even
this than to fail him in what may be an important matter. A teacher
reaches farther than the average individual.

=354.= Another regulation which tells against the interests of municipal
libraries is that in which every intending borrower, ratepayer or
otherwise, is required to obtain the signatures of one or two registered
ratepayers as guarantors before a ticket will be issued. It is not
necessary to imagine reasons for this very serious obstacle to intending
borrowers. Since many large and small towns dispense with this
precaution in the case of ratepayers, and allow non-ratepayers and
compounding householders to have tickets on the guarantee or
recommendation of one ratepayer or on leaving a small deposit, there is
no reason why this elaborate double guarantee should not be abolished
all round. The time will doubtless come when guarantees of all kinds
will be abolished and suitable recommendations substituted.

There are other antiquated and needless restrictions in connexion with
the borrowing right which need not be specified at length, but are
grouped together here as examples of bad rules for which there is little
justification.

1. The illegal charge of 1d. or 2d. for tickets or voucher forms,
still levied in some places in defiance of the Public Libraries Act,
1892, Section 11, Sub-section (3); and various judicial decisions.

2. Requiring more than three days’ notice before issuing a borrower’s
ticket. (In some places borrowers are required to wait for a week or
fourteen days from the date of lodging their application for tickets.)

3. Limiting the time for reading books to less than fourteen days.

4. Refusing to renew books by post-card, letter, telephone, or
messenger, and requiring that the actual books shall be brought back
to be re-dated.

5. The imposition of fines amounting to more than 1d. per week or part
of a week for overdue books. (In certain libraries, some of which are
not pressed for funds, the exorbitant fine of 1d. per day is imposed
for overdue books, with a time limit of seven, ten and fourteen days.
This question is further considered in Section 355.)

6. Refusing to exchange books on the same day as that on which they
are issued. (As the books which are brought back for exchange are
usually those which the borrowers have read previously, there seems
little need for such a disobliging rule.)

7. Refusing to issue books on the same day as that on which they are
returned to the library. (A common practice in the old-fashioned
libraries, worked by means of charging ledgers, but still found in
several much more up-to-date libraries. The same craze for tantalizing
the public has in a minor degree infected some open access lending
libraries which will not re-issue returned books until they have been
replaced on their shelves by the assistants.)

8. Charging borrowers 1d. or 2d. as a penalty for losing their tickets
and requiring them to be re-issued. (Query, a contravention of the
Act.)

9. Disallowing the use of ink for copying purposes in all
circumstances.

10. Allowing only one volume at a time to borrowers.

11. Restricting the number of books which a reference reader may have
at one time.

=355. Fines and Penalties.=--So long as the present rate limitation
remains as fixed by successive Acts of Parliament, fines will continue
to be levied in British municipal libraries. There is no doubt that the
small incomes realized in most public libraries from the niggardly
provision made by Parliament is one cause of the efforts made in many
cases to increase funds, by imposing fines of varying degrees of
severity upon the borrowers from lending libraries. This is, indeed, the
principal reason, though it is said that, but for penalties of some
sort, books would never be returned at all. There may be some truth in
this, as regards a small proportion of borrowers, but the experience of
Manchester and some American towns where no fines are imposed rather
modifies the statement as to the supposed disastrous effects of
non-fining. This, like many another question, is one on which the
inexperienced theoretical objector appeals to his imagination for
details of all sorts of hardships, inconveniences and dangers arising
as the result of abolishing fines. Every argument is directed towards
showing how the library would suffer, and incidentally it has been
mentioned that, perhaps, the undue retention of a popular book would
prove highly inconvenient to other readers who wanted it. These matters
need not be discussed, since it must be obvious that popular books can
always be duplicated to a certain extent; that more diligence can be
exercised in the tracing, pursuit and ingathering of overdue popular
books; and that there are methods of punishing hardened delinquent
borrowers of this kind, by suspending their tickets, as is done at
Manchester without serious results. But it is quite evident that in
Britain fining for overdue books will be maintained until it is declared
illegal--and no doubt, with bye-laws not legally confirmed, it is a
doubtful practice, in England at all events--or Parliament has removed
the rate limitation or provided other means of financial assistance,
without all this scraping, pinching and doubtful means of increasing
funds. What is suggested is more latitude in the imposition of fines,
and a less eager desire to make money over the business than is implied
in such fines as 1d. a day, and fines of two, three, four and five cents
as charged in some American libraries. No library has a right or any
need to make a profit out of such a transaction as fining for overdue
books, and it would be better to make a uniform charge of 1d. per week,
or portion of a week, for books retained over a fortnight, when not
renewed by postcard or otherwise.

=356. Holiday and Sunday Opening.=--Whether libraries are to be opened
or not on public holidays and Sundays is largely a matter for local
option. In some places libraries have been experimentally opened on
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS on the sentimental plea that many persons are unable to
use them at any other time, and the result has been anything but
encouraging. In other places, like seaside and holiday resorts, they
have been opened on such holidays, with decided advantage to trippers
seeking shelter from inclement weather. Generally speaking, all
libraries should be _closed_ on public holidays, on the grounds that a
general holiday should be generally observed as such, and that people
are much better in the fresh air than sitting indoors in libraries or
anywhere else on such occasions. If any exception to this were made it
would be to open only on wet and stormy public holidays, but always
except Christmas, and, in the case of Scotland, New Year’s Day. The
public holidays in Britain are too few and far between to effect any
radical influence upon libraries or readers.

=357.= As regards SUNDAYS, conditions are rather different. To begin
with there are more of them, and they come at regular intervals. But
unless the need for Sunday opening can be demonstrated by a satisfactory
result derived from a series of trial openings, it is better for the
libraries not to be opened as a mere concession to the views of certain
societies, or the supposed utility of the movement to people who are
alleged to be unable to come on week-days. If experiment proves that
Sunday opening is meeting a real need, open the libraries by all means,
but not otherwise. As a compromise it is suggested that if Sunday
opening is decided upon, the reading rooms only should be open between
the hours of 3 and 9 P.M. on every Sunday between October and May
inclusive. There is little need for Sunday opening in warm
weather--people are much better out-of-doors--especially if, as is
usually the case, attendances fall off greatly.

Should the Sunday opening question become a burning one in any town,
arrangements might be made to open the reading room and reference
library, provided at least 500 citizens take out tickets as an earnest
of their intention to use the library. It is doubtful if in any town
Sunday opening has been limited to students and other inquirers, but it
would form a reasonable manner of settling a difficult question should
opinion be sharply divided.

As regards ways and means of carrying on the business of a public
library on holidays and Sundays, special arrangements must be made, both
as regards the necessary attendants, heating, lighting and cleaning.

=358. Enforcement of Rules.=--There is nothing in the original English
or Irish Acts which gives power to enforce rules and bye-laws, but in
the Act of 1901 such may be obtained provided the rules are approved by
the Local Government Board. In the Scotch Act very full provisions are
made for the confirmation and enforcement of bye-laws. Clause 22 of the
Act of 1887 reads: “It shall be lawful for the committee to make
bye-laws for regulating all or any matters and things whatsoever
connected with the control, management, protection and use of any
property, articles or things under their control for the purposes of
this Act, and to impose such penalties for breaches of such bye-laws,
not exceeding £5 for each offence, as may be considered expedient; and
from time to time, as they shall think fit, to repeal, alter, vary or
re-enact any such bye-laws, provided always that such bye-laws and
alterations thereof shall not be repugnant to the law of Scotland, and
before being acted on shall be signed by a quorum of the committee, and,
except in so far as they relate solely to the officers or servants of
the committee, such bye-laws shall be approved of by the magistrates and
council, or the board, as the case may be, and shall be approved of and
confirmed by the sheriff of the county in which the burgh or parish, or
the greater part of the area thereof, is situated.” Provision is also
made for advertising and giving due notice of intention to adopt the
bye-laws.

=359.= It should be stated, however, that there are quite a number of
cases in which magistrates’ decisions in England have upheld the rules
of Public Library Committees with regard to recovery of fines for
overdue books, the value of books lost and guaranteed, and on other
points. In some of these cases it has not been held or suggested that
guarantee or voucher forms should be stamped as agreements, or that any
limit under £5 should be placed on the amount of the guarantor’s
liability. Nevertheless, a value limit of £1 or £2 might be placed upon
a guarantor’s liability, and that will dispose of the awkward point as
to the agreement being stamped.

=360. Draft Rules and Regulations.=--These draft rules are based upon a
careful examination of the principal bye-laws adopted by many of the
principal libraries in Britain and the United States, with certain
modifications to harmonize them with certain leading principles
advocated throughout this book. No two places are exactly alike in all
their circumstances and local conditions, so that no library is likely
to adopt these rules exactly as they stand. But they contain suggestions
which may be found useful in drawing up and adopting a series of
suitable rules, and enabling most vital points to be met. Some
libraries have an enormous number of rules, amounting in some cases to
fifty or sixty items, but many of these are quite unnecessary and need
not be considered. The draft rules drawn up by the Local Government
Board may be obtained if thought needful; but they are printed
separately in the _Library Association Record_, 1903, p. 28. The fewer
and simpler the rules the more likely are the people to read and observe
them.

LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

RULES AND REGULATIONS

GENERAL

1. The Liberton Public Library is a society established for purposes
of literature and science exclusively. The librarian shall have the
general charge of the library, and shall be responsible for the safe
keeping of the books and for all the property belonging thereto.

2. The library is supported in part by a rate levied in accordance
with the Public Libraries Acts and in part by annual voluntary
contributions of money and gifts of books and periodicals. The library
committee shall not make any dividend, gift, division, or bonus in
money unto or between any of the members.

3. Admission is free to all parts of the library during the hours of
opening, but no person shall be admitted who is disorderly, uncleanly
or in a state of intoxication. Smoking, betting and loud conversation
or other objectionable practices are also forbidden in the rooms or
passages of the library.

4. The librarian shall have power to suspend the use of the ticket of
any borrower, and refuse books or deny the use of the reading rooms to
any reader who shall neglect to comply with any of these rules and
regulations, such reader having the right of appeal to the library
committee, who shall also decide all other disputes between readers
and the library officials.

5. Readers desirous of proposing books for addition to the library may
do so by entering, on slips (_or_ in a book) kept for the purpose, the
titles and particulars of publication of such books, which will then
be submitted to the committee at their first meeting thereafter. All
suggestions on management to be written on slips or sent by letter to
the committee.

6. Any person who unlawfully or maliciously destroys or damages any
book, map, print, manuscript or other article belonging to the
libraries shall be liable to prosecution for misdemeanour under the
provisions of 24 & 25 _Vict., c. 97, An Act to consolidate and amend
the Statute Law of England and Ireland relating to malicious injuries
to property_, 1861. The provisions of the statute entitled 61 & 62
_Vict., c. 53, An Act to provide for the punishment of Offences in
Libraries_, 1898, shall also apply.

REFERENCE DEPARTMENT

7. The library and reading room shall remain open on week-days from 9
A.M. till 10 P.M. (and on Sundays, from October to May inclusive, from
3 to 9 P.M.), but shall be closed on Christmas Day (New Year’s Day),
all public holidays, and such other days as the committee may from
time to time appoint.

8. Every person on entering the reference library shall sign his or
her name, with the correct address, in a book kept for the purpose.
Anyone giving a false name or address shall be liable to prosecution,
and shall not afterwards be allowed to use the library.

9. Every person before leaving the room shall return the book or books
consulted into the hands of the librarian or his assistants, and must
not replace books taken from the open shelves, but leave them with the
assistant at the exit.

10. Any work in the lending department, if not in use, excepting
Fiction, may be had on application at the reference library counter
for perusal in the reading room, but on no account must such books be
taken from the room.

11. Illustrations of all kinds may be copied, but not traced, save by
permission of the librarian. Extracts from books may be copied in
pencil. The use of ink is only permitted at certain tables which are
reserved for the purpose. Certain works are only issued after a
written application to the library committee.

LENDING DEPARTMENT

12. The lending library is open daily for the issue and receipt of
books every week-day from 10 A.M. till 9 P.M., but shall be closed on
Sundays, Christmas Day (New Year’s Day), all public holidays and such
other days as the committee may from time to time appoint.

13. Books shall be borrowed for home reading only by persons rated,
resident or employed in the Borough of ..........., or qualified by
Rule 18.

14. All persons whose names appear on the current Roll of Electors of
the Borough, or in the local directories as residents, may borrow
books on their own responsibility, after filling up an application for
a borrower’s ticket, on a form provided for the purpose.

15. Other residents, and non-resident employees in the borough, over
twelve (fourteen) years of age, may borrow books, but must first
obtain a guarantee (or recommendation) from a duly qualified person,
as defined in Rule 14, and must sign an application for a borrower’s
ticket, on forms to be provided by the librarian. But no such
guarantor shall be allowed to assume responsibility for more than
three other persons, unless by special arrangement with the committee,
and in no single case shall his or her liability exceed £2 per person
guaranteed.

16. Any person resident or employed in the borough, unable to obtain
the signature of a qualified resident as a guarantee, may borrow books
on leaving a deposit of 10s. with the librarian. The guarantee of the
recognized head officials of Government departments, Friendly
Societies and similar organizations may be accepted at the discretion
of the Committee in lieu of an ordinary guarantee, for persons who are
employed in the district.

17. The Application and Guarantee Form, duly signed, must be delivered
to the librarian, and if, on examination, it is found correct, the
borrower’s ticket will be issued three days (_or_ at once) after
(excluding Sundays), but will only be delivered to the borrower in
person. This ticket will be available at the central library or any
branch or branches.

18. In accordance with Section 11 of the Public Libraries Act, 1892,
the committee will lend books to persons, other than those duly
qualified under Rules 13-16, who pay an annual subscription of 7s.
6d.; but such borrowers must conform, in every respect, to all the
rules of the library, and shall have no privileges other than those
possessed by the other borrowers.

19. The committee shall issue additional tickets to readers, available
for all classes of literature save Fiction. Any duly enrolled borrower
may have one of these extra tickets on filling up an application form
as for an ordinary ticket. School teachers may have more than one
ticket of this class on application to the librarian.

20. All tickets and vouchers must be renewed annually, each ticket and
voucher being reckoned available for one year from date of issue.[13]

[13] In some libraries the practice has arisen of making tickets
permanent, as long as the holder resides in the district, without
renewal annually. In place of renewal, a revision takes place, to
ensure accuracy of addresses, etc.; where this is so, Rule 20 is
unnecessary.

21. The borrower must return each volume lent within fifteen days,
including days of issue and return, and shall be liable to a fine of
1d. per week or portion of a week for each volume lent, if not
returned within that period, but the issue of a book may be renewed
for a further period of fifteen days, dating from the day of
intimation, on notice being given to the librarian either personally
or in writing, and no further renewal will be allowed if the book is
required by another reader. Books which are much in demand may,
however, be refused such renewal at the discretion of the librarian.

22. Each volume on return shall be delivered to the librarian or his
assistant, and if on examination it be found to have sustained any
damage or injury, the person to whom it was lent, or his or her
guarantor, shall be required to pay the amount of damage done or to
procure a new copy or series of equal value, and, in the latter case,
the person supplying the new copy shall be entitled to the damaged
copy or series on depositing the new one.

23. Borrowers who are unable to obtain a particular non-fictional
book, and desire that it shall be retained for them on its return,
must give its title, number, etc., to the assistant, and pay 1d. to
cover cost of posting an intimation that it is available for issue;
but no book will be kept longer than the time mentioned in the notice
sent. Novels cannot be reserved under this rule.

24. Borrowers are required to keep the books clean. They are not to
turn down or stain the leaves, nor to make pencil or other marks upon
them. They must take the earliest opportunity of reporting any damage
or injury done to the books they receive, otherwise they will be held
responsible for the value of the same.

25. If an infectious disease breaks out in any house containing books
belonging to the library, such books are not to be returned to the
library, but must be handed over to the Medical Officer of Health or
any sanitary officer acting on his behalf. Until such infected house
is declared free of disease by the Medical Officer of Health, no books
will be issued from the libraries to any person or persons residing
therein. In similar circumstances non-resident ratepayers or employees
must return their books to the Medical Officer, and cease to use the
libraries till their residences are certified free from infection.

26. Only actual borrowers who are enrolled on the register of the
library shall have the right of direct access to the book-shelves, but
their representatives may be admitted at the discretion of the
librarian or his assistants. To prevent disappointment, these
representatives should come provided with a list of several
book-titles and numbers.

27. Any change in the residence of borrowers or their guarantors, or
notice of withdrawal of guarantee, must be intimated to the librarian
within one week.

28. Borrowers leaving the district or ceasing to use the library are
required to return their tickets to the librarian in order to have
them cancelled; otherwise they and their guarantors will be held
responsible for any books taken out in their names.

29. No person under twelve years of age shall be eligible to borrow
books or make use of the adult library, except by the librarian’s
permission.

GENERAL READING AND MAGAZINE ROOMS

30. The general reading room shall remain open on week-days from 8
A.M. till 10 P.M., and the magazine room from 9 A.M. till 10 P.M. (and
on Sundays, from October to May inclusive, from 3 to 9 P.M.). Both
rooms shall be closed on Christmas Day (New Year’s Day), all public
holidays, and such other days as the committee may from time to time
appoint.

31. No persons under twelve years of age, unless accompanied by their
parents or elders capable of controlling them, shall be allowed to use
these rooms, except by permission of the librarian or his assistants.

32. Any persons who use these rooms for purposes of betting, or who in
any way cause obstruction or disorder in these or any other rooms or
passages of the libraries, are liable to be proceeded against under
the provisions of 61 & 62 _Vict., c. 53, An Act to Provide for the
Punishment of Offences in Libraries_, 1898.

33. Readers in possession of newspapers or other periodicals must be
prepared to resign them to any other reader who may ask to peruse
them, ten minutes after the request has been made through one of the
library staff.

JUVENILE ROOM

34. The juvenile reading room and library shall remain open from 4
till 8 P.M. daily on Monday to Friday inclusive, and from 10 A.M. till
6 P.M. on Saturdays.

35. The admission is free to every boy or girl under (twelve) fourteen
years of age residing in the Borough of . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
who is able to write and read; but they must obtain a guarantee (or
recommendation) from their parents or school teacher as to good
behaviour and safe return of all books.

36. Only one book per week will be allowed to each borrower.

37. Application for tickets admitting to the reading room must be made
at the library.

There are certain admonitory rules which are best displayed in frames in
placard form, such as: SILENCE IS REQUESTED; NO CONVERSATION ALLOWED; NO
DOGS ADMITTED; CYCLISTS ARE REQUESTED TO KEEP THEIR MACHINES OUTSIDE THE
BUILDING; PLEASE WIPE YOUR BOOTS; NO ADMISSION THIS WAY; NO SMOKING
ALLOWED; and so on. Some of the general rules would be much more
effective if displayed in this form.

=361. Notes on Rules.=--1 and 2. These rules are included for the
purpose of qualifying for the certificate of exemption from income-tax
and local rates, as described in Sections 37-40.

15. In some libraries the guarantee of responsible heads of large
government and other departments is accepted for all the employees, and
secretaries of associations and school teachers have also been accepted.
In the first case the association has become responsible for all its
eligible members, and signs through its secretary. In the second case
the teacher assumes responsibility for all his eligible pupils. It
should be understood that a teacher’s guarantee does not involve the
teacher in financial responsibility, but is an indication of his opinion
that the applicant may benefit by the use of the library, and usually
includes the assumption that he will use his moral influence to secure
the due care and return of books. Some libraries have abolished the
guarantee for non-ratepayers.

16. DEPOSITORS should be treated as ordinary borrowers, and their
tickets and numbering should go through the same routine. The money
received from deposits may either be paid into the bank and repaid as
wanted by depositors from petty cash, or held by the librarian and
repaid when called up. Deposit money of this kind when paid into the
bank tends somewhat to complicate and falsify the accounts by recording
receipts which do not belong to the library, and inflating the petty
cash expenditures, but borough accountants regard it as orthodox
book-keeping as a rule. The practice differs in all places as regards
this point, and the librarian may keep a separate account of these
moneys, whether paid into the bank or not.

18. Under the powers conferred by the 1892 Act, many public libraries
now permit persons residing outside the district who are not otherwise
qualified to become borrowers on payment of an annual subscription,
ranging from 5s. to 10s. The money received from this source should be
paid into the subscriptions account at the bank, and a proper receipt
given to the subscriber, showing how long the subscription is current.

21. The RENEWAL OF BOOKS is generally allowed without question, if no
inquiries for them in the interval have been recorded. In other cases,
such renewals must, of course, be refused, unless the books are not
returned, in which case nothing can be done. Here again the eternal
fiction question arises, and there are reasonable doubts if the right of
renewal should be allowed in the case of recent popular novels. With
classic fiction and other books it is quite another matter, and students
should be allowed to renew within all reasonable limits, and by any
reasonable means--post-card, telephone, message or other--providing that
readers give the necessary particulars. A form of renewal slip is used
at some libraries which may be useful. Copies are taken away by any
borrower who thinks he may require them, and if he desires to renew a
book, he simply fills up a slip and sends it by hand or post to the
library. The assistant then picks out the charge from the charging
system, inserts the renewal slip in the pocket, and re-issues it under
the current date. The renewals may be picked out and sorted in one
sequence behind a special guide, so that when a book is returned which
has not been re-dated, it is easy to find it; or a “dummy” book card may
be inserted in order under the original date of issue bearing a
reference to the date of renewal--this is perhaps the more effective
method. Renewals should count as re-issues, and a record should be made
of the issue of all books which are thus renewed.

+--------------------------------+
| _Book No._ |
+--------------------------------+
| _Issued_ |
+--------------------------------+
| _Renewed_ |
+--------------------------------+
| _Fine_ |
+--------------------------------+
| This Ticket should be returned |
| when renewing the Book. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
+--------------------------------+
| LIBERTON |
| PUBLIC LIBRARY. |
+--------------------------------+

FIG. 132.--Renewal Slip (Section 361 (21)).

23. The practice of RESERVING BOOKS has been adopted in many libraries,
and within certain limits it is useful. The chief points connected with
the matter are whether all books should be reserved, and how many orders
for the same popular book should be booked at once. As regards the first
point, it is wise to exclude current popular, but not classic, fiction
from the operation of the rule, partly for the reason that in this class
duplicates of popular novels are generally stocked, and also because it
is necessary to restrict as much as possible any privilege which may
seem to favour one class to the exclusion of another, as there is no
doubt that the charge of 1d. will practically exclude many poor people
from participating in this method of book-reservation. It is simple to
make a rough distinction between classic and current fiction, by adding
the classic symbol (some arbitrary sign) to the class-mark of all books
which have been published more than ten years. Such works are not
necessarily classic, of course, but all that is contemplated is to
prevent the holding-up on reservation lists of the latest works. As
regards the second point, librarians will have to exercise a nice
discretion as to how many readers they will place on the rota at one
time, as it is quite conceivable that to reserve any popular work twenty
or thirty times ahead is simply to cut it off from general circulation
for an indefinite period. In the case of very popular books, the
possibility of buying a special copy for reservation should be
contemplated. As regards the method of working the system of reserving
books, the usual plan is to sell a post-card to the borrower, who
addresses it to himself and enters the name of the book wanted. These
post-cards are then returned to the librarian, who arranges them in
order, and, as the books are stopped on return, sends out the post-card
next in order. A usual form for the post-card is as follows: “Please
note that the book ............................. reserved by you, has
now been returned, and will be kept for you till the evening of
..........................” The assistant fills in the date by which the
book should be claimed. Of course, borrowers who fail to claim miss
their turn. A separate register of these reserved books can be kept in
addition to the cards, if thought advisable. A receipt should, of
course, be given for each post-card, and in some libraries the numbers
of the books reserved are written on the counterfoils.

25. INFECTIOUS DISEASES NOTIFICATION.--Authorities differ greatly as to
the power of books to carry and disseminate disease. American and
English bacteriologists, after exhaustive researches and tests, declare
that dirty books cannot convey infection, whilst German and French
scientists are not so sure. The latest tests and theories are negative.
Infection is conveyed in a wet state from the patient to another person,
and it is affirmed that when contagious matter has dried it is
innocuous. It is, therefore, clear that the conditions under which books
may carry disease rarely, if ever, occur. As library assistants are
continually turning over, handling and inhaling the dust, etc., from
lending library books without observed ill results, it may be assumed
that the danger of infection, if it exists at all, is greatly
exaggerated. But as the public mind is somewhat excited over this
question, it is necessary for library authorities to take steps to
reassure the people that everything is done to prevent disease being
communicated through the medium of library books. The Public Health Acts
are quite clear on the point that persons suffering from infectious
diseases, or in charge of other persons so suffering, are liable to
penalties for lending any article; and this would cover the case of a
library which re-issued a book which came from an infected house. The
practice should therefore be for the local sanitary authority to seize
all library books found on disease-infected premises, and simply destroy
them after due notification to the library authority. A further
notification should be sent to the library when the house has been
disinfected and declared free from disease, as in the meantime the
librarian has stopped the issue of books to persons in the
disease-stricken house from the date of the first intimation. There are
various forms of notice used for notifying when and where disease breaks
out, and what books are destroyed, and also for declaring the infected
house free from disease. As regards the disinfection of books by means
of fumes, etc., the opinion is that it cannot be properly done without
destroying the bindings, and it is best to take the extreme course in
view of the public fears. As regards the cost of replacing such
destroyed books, the local sanitary authority can be called upon to do
this under the provisions of the Public Health Acts, 1901, but unless
the annual loss is very great, it seems hardly advisable to raise the
point. In small places or towns with very limited book funds, the
sanitary authority should certainly be asked to replace all books which
are destroyed. It is a wise plan to keep a separate record of books
which are destroyed in the interest of the public health. This need not
note any further particulars than the dates, titles and numbers of
books, and cost. A column can be reserved for remarks.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

=362. Rules:=

Brett, W. H. Regulations for Readers. U.S. Educ. Rept., 1892-3, vol.
i., p. 939.

Dana, J. C. Public Service. _In his_ Library Primer, p. 122.

Library Hours. Greenwood’s Year Book, 1900, p. 236.

=363. Sunday Opening:=

Barnett, Canon. Sunday Labour in Public Libraries, etc. Greenwood’s
Year Book, 1897, p. 102.

Cutler, M. S., Mrs Fairchild. Sunday Opening of Public Libraries. U.S.
Educ. Rept., 1892-3, vol. i., p. 771.

Greenwood, T. Sunday Opening of Public Libraries. _In his_ Public
Libraries, 1894, p. 458; _and statistics_ in the British Library Year
Book, 1900, p. 236.

=364. Infectious Diseases:=

Books as Carriers of Disease. Library J., vol. xxi., p. 150.

Johnston, T. The Replacement of “Infected” Books. Library W., vol.
iv., p. 6.

Rivers, J. Do Public Library Books spread Disease? L. W., vol. vii.,
p. 143.

Willcock, W. J. Notification of Infectious Disease and the Public
Library. L. W., 1899, p. 89.

=365. Open Access:=

_See_ Manual of Library Economy, 1903, pp. 445-68, for discussion of
policy and list of articles on the subject.

Stewart, J. D., and Others. Open Access, 1915.

For articles see Cannons, E 45-48, Rules and Regulations, Hours,
Sunday and Holiday Opening; E 107, Loan Period.

DIVISION XI

THE LENDING, OR HOME READING, DEPARTMENT

CHAPTER XXIV

THE REGISTRATION OF BORROWERS

=366. General.=--By a tradition now firmly implanted in the mind of the
public, and nourished by journalists, the lending department is the most
prominent feature of the public library. The average public criticism,
favourable or otherwise, is almost invariably based upon lending library
statistics. This is probably because the average person knows the
library as a place from which he may “take out” books. In a treatise for
librarians the inadequacy of this view need not be stressed, although,
as in many matters connected with their calling, librarians are not
unanimous as to the relative value of their departments, some exalting
one or other at the expense of the rest. There are, however, clear
principles which have a fairly general acceptation. The main one is that
in libraries which are in fairly close proximity to much greater
libraries, it is wise to place more emphasis on the lending than on the
reference department. It would be an unjustifiable duplicating of
expense for a library, for example, within a mile or two of the British
Museum, to attempt the hopeless task of rivalling it in the provision of
expensive reference works; while on the other hand it would be justified
abundantly in providing the finest possible lending library. Even here
dogmatism is to be avoided, because the habits of populations in what
appear to be exactly similar localities may differ greatly. Where, for
example, a city working population living in a large suburb returns
rarely or not at all to the city in the evenings, there may be a real
demand for a reference library. Only experience, which bears in mind
the general principles stated, can resolve which policy it is best to
follow.

On account of its prominence and the numerous opportunities for good
work it affords, the lending library deserves the utmost care in its
planning and administration, and the simplest and freest methods
compatible with reasonable care for the safety of the books are the
best. All the considerations we have described as to book-selection and
weeding-out, etc., apply with particular force in this department; and a
careful study should be made of the various methods of issue described
in the next chapter before one is chosen, as a wrong choice may inflict
much hardship on readers and later involve changes which will be most
expensive; in fact, the converting of a lending library from one system
to another is probably the most costly operation in which it can be
involved. The staffing of the department requires just as much
consideration as that of any other, and the all too frequent and often
unavoidable practice of employing the youngest boys and girls at the
charging counters or desks is much to be deprecated even when it cannot
be altogether avoided.

=367. Voucher Forms.=--There are all kinds of voucher forms in use in
the municipal libraries of the United Kingdom, ranging in size from
foolscap folio to post-card. These vouchers are the forms on which
borrowers apply for tickets entitling them to use the library, and they
are the basis of the necessary registration of borrowers which all
libraries must perform. It is not needful to describe more than one
form, because it is gradually being adopted, with variations to suit
different localities, as the standard system of the country. The legal
questions connected with the validity of certain forms of guarantee are
also beyond the scope of this section, because judicial rulings have
been obtained on all kinds of forms, and the only point requiring
consideration, that of the amount of the guarantor’s liability, has
already been discussed.

A form of voucher which can be used as a movable card (5 in. by 3 in.)
is preferable to a large slip, which requires binding in volumes, or
other special means of preservation; and the style of cards given in
Figs. 133-136 will be found satisfactory.

These voucher cards should be printed on a stout material, which may be
of a different colour for each type of reader--burgess, non-burgess,
student, etc.--and handed free to any person entitled to borrow books.
When returned filled up, they are duly examined to ascertain if the
applicant is duly qualified, and when this is done the card is filed,
after it has been numbered from the number book, and the borrower’s card
made out. The space in the top left-hand corner is to hold the
borrower’s name, boldly written in as a catch-word for alphabetical
arrangement. The No. . . . space at the top right-hand corner is for the
borrower’s progressive number. The Date. . . space at the bottom
left-hand corner is the date of application, which also becomes the date
of expiry two years later. The Elector’s Roll. . . space at the bottom
right-hand corner is for the number on the current electors’ roll. It is
a useful thing to mark this roll with the numbers of the cards of any
borrowers for whom a ratepayer may be guarantor, in all cases where a
limit is put to the number whom one person may guarantee. There is
generally plenty of marginal space for this purpose.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| ........................................ _No._ ..................... |
| |
| LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARIES. |
| |
| _This voucher, properly filled in, entitles the reader to a_ GENERAL |
| TICKET, _and, if desired, a_ NON-FICTION TICKET, _which are valid |
| for two years from date of issue._ |
| |
| I, the undersigned, being a Burgess of the Borough of Liberton, |
| hereby make application to the Public Libraries Committee for a |
| Ticket, entitling me to Borrow Books from a Lending Library, and I |
| hereby undertake to replace, or pay the value of any Book belonging |
| to the Corporation of Liberton, which shall be lost or injured by |
| me, also to pay all Fines, and all expenses of recovering same, in |
| accordance with the Rules, by which I agree to be bound. |
| |
| _Name in full_ ..................................................... |
| If a Lady, state if Mrs or Miss. |
| |
| _Residence_ ........................................................ |
| |
| _Date_ .................... _No. on Electors’ Roll_ .............. |
| |
| _If the Applicant requires the second Ticket (on which only works |
| that are not Fiction may be drawn), the following should be |
| signed:_: |
| |
| I desire to receive a Non-Fiction Ticket ........................... |
| _Signature._ |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 133.--Voucher for a Ratepayer Applicant (Section 367).

=368.= The following are satisfactory examples of vouchers for
non-ratepayers and non-resident students and employees (see Figs.
134-6):

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| ......................................... _No._ .................... |
| |
| LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARIES. |
| |
| _This voucher, properly filled in, entitles the reader to a_ GENERAL |
| TICKET, _and, if desired, a_ NON-FICTION TICKET, _which are valid |
| for two years from date of issue_. |
| |
| I, the undersigned, residing in the Borough of Liberton, hereby |
| apply to the Public Libraries Committee for a Ticket (or Tickets), |
| entitling me to borrow books from a Lending Library, in accordance |
| with the Rules, by which I agree to be bound. |
| |
| _Name in full_ ..................................................... |
| Ladies please state if Mrs or Miss. |
| |
| _Residence_ ........................................................ |
| |
| _Occupation_ .................. _Age_ ........ _Date_ .......... |
| |
| _If the Applicant requires the second Ticket (on which only works |
| that are not Fiction may be drawn), the following should be signed_: |
| |
| I desire to receive a Non-Fiction Ticket ........................... |
| _Signature._ P.T.O. |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 134.--Front of Voucher for Non-Ratepayer Applicant (Section 368).

In some libraries the guarantee form has been entirely abandoned in
favour of a recommendation which carries with it no explicit liability
for losses.

The vouchers for non-ratepayer applicants should be dealt with in the
same way as those for ratepayers, viz., checked with registers and filed
in the alphabetical order of surnames, after tickets have been made out
and an entry made in the number book.

=369.= It will be seen that the vouchers illustrated permit any borrower
who desires it to acquire a non-fiction or duplicate ticket in addition
to a general ticket. The more general practice has been to require a
separate voucher to be filled up (and guaranteed in the case of
non-burgesses) for every such ticket. In this case the voucher requires
no separate wording, but the word “Duplicate” or “Non-Fiction” stamped
boldly across the ordinary voucher is sufficient to indicate the
difference. But there seems no special advantage in making the applicant
go through this double process. The same holds good with regard to
vouchers for those who make a deposit in lieu of obtaining a written
guarantee, or who subscribe in terms of Rule 18. The words DEPOSITOR OF
. . . . . . or SUBSCRIBER OF . . . . . . and the date can be written or
stamped on the back of the card. Of course there is no reason, beyond
avoiding a multiplicity of cards, why a library should not provide
separate forms for every class of applicant, with differently coloured
cards, etc., but it seems unnecessary, unless there are special local
circumstances to be considered.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| I, the undersigned, being a Burgess of the Borough of Liberton, |
| that I believe the Applicant named over to be a person to whom Books |
| may be safely entrusted for perusal; and I hereby undertake to re- |
| place or pay the value of any Book belonging to the Corporation of |
| Liberton, which shall be lost or injured by the said Borrower; as |
| also to pay all Fines incurred under the Rules, and all expenses of |
| recovering the same. |
| |
| _Name in full_ ..................................................... |
| Ladies please state if Mrs or Miss. |
| |
| |
| RESIDENCE .......................................................... |
| _Write legibly in ink._ |
| |
| |
| _Occupation_ .............................. _Do not fold this Card._ |
| |
| The Guarantor’s name must appear on the current Burgess Roll, |
| failing which, the production of the last receipt for payment of |
| Poor Rate, or a lease showing the occupancy of a whole premises, or |
| a rent book showing the occupancy of a whole premises, will suffice. |
| The guarantee lasts two years, unless previously withdrawn in |
| writing by the Guarantor. |
| |
| _Ward_ .................... _No. on Burgess Roll_ .............. |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 135.--Back of Voucher for Non-Ratepayer Applicant (Section 368).

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| N |
| O |
| N |
| - ............................................ _No._ ......... |
| R |
| E LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARIES. |
| S |
| I _This voucher, properly filled in, entitles the reader to a_ |
| D GENERAL TICKET, _and, if desired, a_ NON-FICTION TICKET, _which |
| E are valid for two years from date of issue_. |
| N |
| T I, the undersigned, being a scholar/employee in the Borough of |
| Liberton, hereby apply to the Public Libraries Committee for a |
| S Ticket (or Tickets), entitling me to borrow books from a |
| T Lending Library, in accordance with the Rules, by which I agree |
| U to be bound. |
| D |
| E _Name in full_ .................................... _Age_ ..... |
| N Ladies please state if Mrs or Miss. |
| T |
| _Residence_ ................................................... |
| O |
| R _School or place_} |
| _of Employment_ }............................ _Date_ ......... |
| E |
| M _If the Applicant requires the second Ticket (on which only |
| P works_ _that are not Fiction may be drawn), the following |
| L should be signed_: |
| O |
| Y I desire to receive a Non-Fiction Ticket ...................... |
| E _Signature._ |
| E |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 136.--Front of Voucher for Non-Resident Student or Employee; the
back is the same as in Fig. 135.

=370. Tickets.=--Various forms of borrowers’ tickets are used with
indicators and card charging, but only the kinds most commonly used need
be described. One form is shown below (Fig. 137) for libraries in which
borrowers retain their tickets when they have no books on loan. They are
made with cloth backs to fold across, and the one with the clipped
corner is a good form to adopt for students’ or extra tickets available
for non-fictional works only. The variety shown is not ruled to hold a
record of the numbers of books which are borrowed upon it, as it does
not seem necessary to keep such a record. To keep it involves a great
deal of work, and the information it affords, being practically confined
to what type of book an individual reads, is rarely wanted. As a check
on lost books it may have some value, but that has no relation to the
cost of keeping it.

This ticket can be used with any kind of issue method, and it is
therefore noted here and not with other cards among the charging
systems.

+-----------------------+
| 1 |
+-----------------------+
| H. C. RHODES, |
+-----------------------+
| 3 MAFEKING AVENUE. |
+-----------------------+
| =Borrower’s Card.= |
+-----------------------+
Fold > |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
+-----------------------+
| LIBERTON |
| PUBLIC LIBRARY. |
| ---- |
| This Card to be given |
| up when a Book is |
| borrowed. |
| ---- |
| TO BE RENEWED BEFORE |
| _6th June, 1921._ |
+-----------------------+

Ordinary Ticket.
Blue-lined Cloth.

+---------------------+
| 81 \
+-----------------------+
| H. C. RHODES, |
+-----------------------+
| 3 MAFEKING AVENUE. |
+-----------------------+
| =Borrower’s Card.= |
+-----------------------+
Fold > |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
+-----------------------+
| LIBERTON |
| PUBLIC LIBRARY. |
| ---- |
| This Card to be given |
| up when a Book is |
| borrowed. |
| ---- |
| TO BE RENEWED BEFORE |
| _6th June, 1921._ |
+-----------------------+

Extra Ticket.
Yellow-lined Cloth.

FIG. 137.--Borrower’s Card (Section 370).

=371.= The plan which we have assumed to exist of issuing DUPLICATE or
STUDENTS’ tickets available for non-fiction works only, in addition to
an ordinary ticket available for all classes of literature, first became
popular in Britain in 1893, and arose out of a suggestion made by Mr J.
Y. W. MacAlister at the Library Association Conference at Aberdeen. In
America this is generally known as the “Two-Book System,” and it became
very widely adopted after 1894. Indeed, American libraries are most
generous in their lending; many libraries lend as many as ten books at a
time; and one or two have recently (1919) invited borrowers to take at
any one time “as many as they like.” The advantage of this
indiscriminate freedom is not quite obvious, and, owing to their more
limited stocks, it would be impossible in most British libraries. There
are decided advantages in the plan of allowing borrowers to have two
books at a time, and there is no doubt it greatly enhances the value of
the public library to many people. As indicated by Rule 19, Section 360,
special privileges are recommended to be extended to school teachers,
who ought to be allowed any number of books, within reason, required for
their special and important work of education. There is no objection to
allowing special privileges to all earnest students engaged on special
lines of research, provided no injustice is done to the general work of
the library or to students similarly engaged. Certainly it is better to
lend a real student half a dozen or more books at a time than to have
these books lying idle at the library. Of course, in libraries with more
readers than books, if there are any, extra tickets will require to be
issued with caution, but in all large libraries the privilege can be
extended without fear or hesitation.

=372. Registration.=--All borrowers’ tickets should be numbered in a
progressive series, and the same number should be given to the same
borrower as long as he or she remains connected with the library. This
prevents overlapping and the clumsy method of numbering continuously up
to a certain limit and counting off the early numbers; a doubtful way of
ascertaining the total number of actual borrowers at any given time. The
ruling of a number register in book form is shown in Fig. 138.

+---++------------+------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|No.|| 1901. | 1902. |1903.|1904.|1905.|1906.|1907.|
+---++------------+------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| 1 ||H. C. Rhodes|H. C. Rhodes| | | | | |
| || June 4 | June 6 | | | | | |
| 2 ||P. Krüger✓ |J. Burns | | | | | |
| || June 4 | July 10 | | | | | |
| 3 || | | | | | | |
| 4 || | | | | | | |
| 5 || | | | | | | |
| 6 || | | | | | | |
| 7 || | | | | | | |
| 8 || | | | | | | |
| 9 || | | | | | | |

FIG. 138.--Borrowers’ Number Register (Section 372).

In this each borrower is entered as he joins, receiving the first vacant
number, which is also carried on to his voucher and ticket. The column
is chosen which represents the year in which his ticket expires, and
against the number is written the borrower’s name, and under it the
month and day when the ticket expires. The holder of a given ticket can
be ascertained very rapidly by this method, and time-expired or dead
ticket-holders can be counted off without trouble. But it is necessary
to mark or qualify the entries in order to do this. An easy way to
indicate an expired ticket is to mark the register with a blue tick (✓)
as shown in Fig. 138 (No. 2). These expired numbers should be given to
new borrowers, so as to keep the register filled up and complete, and at
the end of a given period, when it is time to ascertain the number of
“live” or actual ticket-holders, it is only necessary to count the blue
ticks, and deduct their total from the last number of the series, in
order to obtain the exact number of current borrowers. A number register
book ruled as shown in Fig. 138 will last for many years. It is not
necessary to print the progressive numbers or years, and it will
facilitate counting operations if fifty numbers are allowed for every
page. Duplicate or special ticket-holders numbered in a separate series
should be entered in a special book, and juvenile ticket-holders can be
treated in a similar fashion.

=373.= To prevent the possibility of a number of tickets being obtained
by the same individuals, all tickets should be registered and made out
at one library of a town, but, of course, issued from the library at
which the application was made, and such tickets should be made
interchangeable. There does not seem to be any advantage attached to
separate branch registration, and certainly there is much loss of good
service when residents are confined to the use of a particular branch.
The residents in a town are entitled to use any of the libraries, and a
central registration of borrowers is therefore essential.

=374.= When the borrowers’ vouchers have been duly checked, numbered,
and the tickets have been written out, they should be filed in
alphabetical order of the borrowers’ surnames in properly guided trays
(or, better, card cabinets), supplied with all necessary angle blocks,
etc., as in the case of charging and card-catalogue trays and cabinets.
These form the alphabetical index to the borrowers, while the borrowers’
number register supplies the numerical side. Thus any question regarding
borrowers can be answered without delay. It is not necessary to keep an
alphabetical index of guarantors if the electors’ roll is marked as
previously suggested.

=375.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dana, J. C. (_Ed._). The Work of the Registration Desk. _In_ Mod.
American Lib. Econ., 1908.

Stewart, J. D., and Others. Open Access Libraries, 1915.

For articles see Cannons, E 111, Registration of Borrowers.

CHAPTER XXV

ISSUE METHODS

=376.= In modern library practice, methods of book-registration
involving the use of ledgers or day-books have now been entirely
abandoned, save in a few proprietary and subscription libraries. It
will, therefore, be needless to describe charging systems so generally
discarded, and it will suffice if reference is made to the first edition
of this work, in which many forms were illustrated and explained.

=377.= The great objection to all charging ledgers in book form was
their want of movability and adjustability. The entries when once made
were fixed, either in a running sequence under a date of issue, a
borrower’s name, or a book’s title. If, for any purpose, it should be
desirable to manipulate the entries, in order to secure greater
accuracy, or some definite record of a special kind, the book ledgers
did not lend themselves to this sort of treatment. There was no kind of
movability possible, and questions which might be answered readily
enough if entries were movable and separate, could not be put to any
issue record in volume form. Chiefly because of this, the slip or card
methods of charging were introduced, which enable registration to be
conducted in a variety of ways for different purposes. It is impossible
to say when or where cards were first introduced, but as they have been
used for commercial purposes for years before the public library system
was established, it follows that many minds must have discovered the
utility and convenience of movable entries. There are many varieties of
card or slip charging in existence, and innumerable methods of working
or applying them. Movable entry systems are in every respect the most
interesting, not only because they present greater possibilities to the
ingenious mind, but because they are more scientific and more natural.

=378.= There have been numerous systems devised for recording issues of
books from public libraries, but in none have so many variations been
introduced as in the great group using cards as a basis. There is hardly
any limit to be put to the variety of ways in which cards can be used;
and, without describing every system in detail, it will nevertheless be
interesting to select and describe typical plans from among the more
practical varieties, as representative of each particular group. The
fundamental idea of all card systems of charging is that each book or
volume shall be represented by a movable card, which can be stored in
various ways when the book is on the shelf, and used to register or
charge the book, when issued, to its borrower.

=379.= When cards are used as movable entries, there is no need to keep
a column for showing date of return; and, before describing a method of
working, the following specimen ruling for a card is given:

+------------------------------------+
| =F 9432= |
| HOPE |
| |
| Prisoner of Zenda |
+========+=========+========+========+
| 8276 | Jul. 19 | 2641 | Nov. 6 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |

FIG. 139.--Book Issue-Card (Section 379).

The first and third columns may be used for the borrowers’ numbers, and
the second and fourth for dates of issue, as shown above, or all four
columns may be used for borrowers’ numbers. The backs of the cards may
be ruled the same, without the heading. These cards are kept in a strict
numerical order of progressive numbers in trays or drawers. When a book
is chosen by a borrower, the card representing it is withdrawn from its
place, the borrower’s number and date of issue entered, the date of
issue stamped on the date label of the book, and the transaction is
complete when the book-card is placed in a tray, or behind a special
block bearing the date of issue. At the end of the day the cards are
all sorted up in numerical order, as far as possible, the statistics
made up from them, and they are then put away in the dated issue trays,
or behind date blocks in drawers. When a book is returned, its date and
number direct the assistant to the exact number of the book-card, which
is withdrawn, and at leisure replaced in the main sequence. No other
marking off is necessary, and the book is immediately available for
issue. Overdues gradually declare themselves, as day after day passes,
and the cards for books in circulation diminish in number as returns are
made. This is card charging of a simple kind, which is rarely used
nowadays, as in cases of overdues, queries, etc., it necessitates
reference to the borrowers’ register, and such references are always a
nuisance; but it forms the basis of all the more elaborate scientific
systems.

=380.= The pocket system of card-charging is that most used in the
United Kingdom, not only as a separate method, but also frequently in
connexion with, or as an adjunct to, indicators. This is a loose pocket
system in which each book is represented by a manila card (about 4 × 2
inches) ruled on both sides to take borrowers’ numbers and dates of
issues. Every borrower is represented by a card of a similar kind, but
one inch shorter (see Fig. 140). When a book is issued its card is taken
from the tray, and, with the borrower’s card, is placed in a loose
manila pocket, the date of issue is stamped on the date label inside the
book and the borrower receives the volume. It is customary in most open
access libraries to hand the borrower his card when his book is
discharged. If he does not want another book at the moment he retains
his card for the future, but if he does want another he selects one in
the usual way, and hands it and his ticket to the assistant at the exit
charging wicket, where the charge is made very rapidly by simply
selecting the book-card and “marrying” it with the borrower’s card in a
loose pocket. In some libraries the charges thus made are simply sorted
by book numbers and arranged behind projecting date guides in the issue
trays. In others this is postponed till the book numbers have been
carried on to the book-cards. Whatever method of registration is adopted
the ultimate result is that a complete charge is got by mechanical
means, which obviates the need for writing at the moment of issue. The
plan of keeping the book-cards in pockets inside the books has been
adopted in some libraries, but of course this destroys the value of the
system as an indicator to the staff of books in and out. At the same
time, in open access libraries particularly, it facilitates service at
the moment of issue. The conjoined cards of this loose pocket system
appear as in the diagrams on page 355 (Figs. 142-3).

=381.= The following diagrams show one of the principal systems of card
charging now used in British libraries. Each book has a small triangular
pocket inside the front board, in which is placed a small book-card (2 ×
1⅛ inches) of manila, on which is written the class number, author and
title of the book it represents. In cases of duplicate copies it is
advisable to write the accession number on the book-card to facilitate
stocktaking. Each book also has a date label inside the front board
facing the book pocket (Fig. 141).

+---------------------------+
| 4622 A 32 | } Book-card
| BALFOUR | } projection.
+---------------------------+
| 5916 30 Mar., 1908 | }
| RICHARD GARNETT, | }
| 1 Museum Street. | }
+---------------+ | }
{ | \---+------+ }
{ | \ | | } Borrower’s
{ | \ | | } card
{ | \+------+ } projection.
{ | \ | }
{ | \ | }
{ | \----+ }
{ | \ | }
Pocket. { | \ | }
{ | \ | }
{ | \|
{ | | }
{ | | }
{ | | } Pocket.
{ | | }
{ | | }
{ | | }
+---------------------------+

FIG. 140.--Book and Borrower’s Cards combined in Pocket (Section 380).

Each borrower has a neat linen-covered or other card bearing the name of
the library, the name, address and number of the borrower and the date
when the card was issued, or better, when it will expire, if periodical
renewals are demanded. When a book is issued, the borrower hands his
card and the book chosen to the assistant, who takes the book-card from
the book pocket and places it in the pocket of the borrower’s card,
stamps the date of issue or return on the date label and issues the
book. The charges are then arranged in trays as described below, and
thus give a perfect record without writing.

----------------------------------+
|
|
+-------------+ |
| E 100·3 | |
| BALFOUR | <------- Book-card.
| BOTANY | |
| | |
+----|___ | |
| `---.__ | |
| `. | |
| \| |
Book }--> | \ |
Pocket.} | \ |
| \ |
| + |
| ! |
| | |
+---------------------+ |
|

FIG. 141.--Book Pocket and Card.

=382. Charging Appliances.=--An important part of a card method is the
tray for holding and displaying the cards, and of this there are a
number of kinds in use in libraries using indicators and in those
working without them. For many reasons, but above all for economy of
space, it is best to use a comparatively small-sized charging card, the
advantage being that all the accessories, such as trays, guides, etc.,
are correspondingly small, cheap and easily handled.

<---------- 1¼″ ----------->
+--------------------------+
| | ^
| Watson | |
| (John) | |
| | |
| 30 Thornhill Square. | |
| | |
| 5963 | |
| | |
| 30th Sept., 1906. | 3″
| | |
+--------------------------+ |
| | |
| BOOKTON | |
| | |
| PUBLIC | |
| | |
| LIBRARIES. | |
| | |
+--------------------------+ V

FIG. 142.--Borrower’s Card with Pocket.

+--------------------------+
| |
| Watson |<--{ Borrower’s
| (John) | { Card.
| |
| +------------------+ |
| | E 100·3 |---|<--{Book-
| | | | {Card.
| | Balfour | |
| | | |
+---+------------------+---+
| |
| BOOKTON |
| |
| PUBLIC |
| |
| LIBRARIES. |
| |
+--------------------------+

FIG. 143.--Borrower’s Card and Book-card conjoined.

=383.= A standard size of card tray made of wood is shown in Fig. 144.

This tray (_b_) is provided with a rod (_a_) for securing the guides
(_e_) in a continuous slot (_c_) at the bottom, to carry and secure the
slot-fastening (_f_) of the guides (_e_). It has cut-away sides to
facilitate the handling of the cards; a back slide or block (_d_) to
retain the cards at any convenient or required angle; angle-bars and
catch-pieces of brass (_g_ and _h_) to secure a series of trays firmly
in place, and prevent upsetting or knocking about. For every kind of
card charging, whether in connexion with an indicator or without, this
style of single tray, capable of indefinite expansion, is preferable to
drawers or frames divided into compartments. Each tray will hold with
its guides approximately 1000 cards, and, when divided up into hundreds,
any number can be found quite rapidly.

[Illustration: FIG. 144.--Elevation and Plan of Card-charging Tray
(Section 383).]

=384.= The guides are generally made of steel, enamelled and figured, or
from vulcanized fibre, xylonite or aluminium, bearing the numbers
stamped upon them. Every charging system of this kind should have a set
of nine guides for each thousand numbers, numbered simply 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, or having the hundreds running progressively throughout,
100, 200, 300, 400, etc. There should also be at least two complete sets
of date guides, numbered from 1 to 31 inclusive, a set of alphabetical
guides (for unclaimed borrowers’ cards) from A to Z, and the
miscellaneous guides for fines, marked 1d., 2d., 3d., 6d., etc.,
“Overdues,” “Renewals,” “Guarantors Notified,” etc. All these are
necessary for working card-charging as described in this Chapter.

=385.= It is advisable to provide a card-sorting tray, which may be a
simple rack divided into narrow compartments representing thousands. The
compartments need not be more than an inch wide, as the cards can lie
just as easily on their edges as flat, and with greater economy of
space. Where fiction is kept in a separate series of trays, or the
book-issue cards are classed, then, of course, some modifications will
be required both in book-issue and sorting trays.

[Illustration: FIG. 145.--Card-charging Trays in use (Section 378).]

=386.= The indicator, as a library tool, is almost entirely an English
appliance, and it is somewhat curious, considering their love for, and
extensive use of, mechanical contrivances, that American librarians have
never taken kindly to it. Various abortive experiments have been tried
at Boston and elsewhere with indicating devices of several patterns, but
the almost universal opinion of American librarians is against
indicators in any shape or form. This holds good as regards colonial and
foreign libraries generally, though one or two Canadian and Australasian
libraries have adopted indicators of an English design. In England, on
the contrary, the invention of these appliances has gone on
unremittingly for sixty years, and there are about twenty different
varieties, each possessing its own merit or ingenuity.

=387.= An indicator is a device for indicating or registering
information about books, in such a way that it can be seen either by the
staff alone, or by the public and staff both. The information usually
conveyed to the public is some kind of indication of the presence or
absence of books, and the methods of accomplishing this almost
invariably take the form of displayed numbers, qualified in such a way
as to indicate books _in_ and _out_. Thus, small spaces on a screen may
be numbered to represent books, and their presence in the library
indicated by the space being blank, or their absence from the library
shown by the space being occupied by a card or block. Or, colours may be
used to indicate books in and out, or a change in the position of the
block representing a book. No doubt the idea of the mechanical indicator
was early evolved from the needs of the first public libraries. The
first practical application of it was in 1863, when Mr Charles Dyall,
then Librarian at the Hulme Branch of the Manchester Public Libraries,
had one made for actual use by the public and the staff. This seems to
be the very earliest English indicator, and Mr Dyall is entitled to full
credit as the pioneer inventor.

=388.= The ELLIOT INDICATOR, 1870, is very fully described in a pamphlet
entitled “A Practical Explanation of the Safe and Rapid Method of
Issuing Library Books, by J. Elliot, inventor of the system.
Wolverhampton, 1870.” This pamphlet gives diagrams and descriptions of
the Elliot Indicator in substantially the same form in which it exists
at the present day. The numbers are alongside the ticket shelves or
spaces, and a specially thick borrower’s ticket is used with coloured
ends to show books out and overdue. The indicator is a large frame,
divided into columns by wide uprights carrying 100 numbers each, which
correspond with the little shelves, formed of tin, dividing each column.

There are 100 shelves and numbers in every column, and the indicator is
made in several sizes, according to the width of the borrower’s card
used. The public side is covered with glass. The method of working is
simple. The borrower scans the indicator till he finds the space
opposite the number he wants vacant. This indicates that the book he
wants is in, and he then hands his ticket to the assistant, stating the
number of the book he requires. The assistant enters the book number and
date of issue in the borrower’s card, and inserts it in the indicator in
the space against the number. The book is then fetched, and before issue
it is registered on a specially ruled day-sheet, by means of a stroke,
to record the day’s circulation for statistical purposes. When the book
is returned its number directs to the space on the indicator occupied by
the borrower’s card, which is withdrawn and returned to the owner, when
all liability for fines is cleared. Overdues are detected by means of
differently coloured ends to the borrowers’ cards, or the periodical
examination of the indicator. This indicator, which occupies a very
large amount of counter-space, has been, or is, in use at Wolverhampton,
Newcastle-on-Tyne and Paisley.

+-----+----------------------------+ { Space
| 491 | |<-{ for
| +----------------------------+ { Ticket.
| 492 | |
| +----------------------------+ { Ticket in
| 493 | ########################## |<-{ space,
| +----------------------------+ { indicating
| 494 | | { book out.
| +----------------------------+
| 495 | |
| +----------------------------+
| 496 | |
| +----------------------------+
| | |
+-----+----------------------------+

FIG. 146.--Diagram of Elliot Indicator (Section 388).

[Illustration: FIG. 147.--A Library Indicator, as seen from the side of
the public.]

=389.= COTGREAVE INDICATOR, 1877.--This indicator is that which has been
most used in this country, and was the invention of Alfred Cotgreave,
then Librarian of the Wednesbury Public Library, in 1877. An account of
its structure and working from one of the descriptive circulars issued
in connexion with it will enable anyone to gather a good idea of its
appearance and use:

“It consists of a wooden or iron frame, fitted with minute zinc shelves,
generally 100 in a column. Upon each of these shelves is placed a small
metal-bound ledger (3 inches × 1 inch), containing a number of leaves,
ruled and headed for the number of borrower’s ticket, and date of issue,
also date of return or other items as may be required, numbered or
lettered at each end, and arranged numerically in the frames. One part
of it is also lettered for entries of date of purchase, title of book,
etc. The metal case has turned-up ends, and the numbers appear on a
ground coloured red at one end and blue at the other, one colour showing
books _out_, the other books _in_; other colours may be used if
preferred. The _out_ numbers can be covered altogether with a date slide
if required. The change of colour is effected by simply reversing the
ledger in the indicator frame. The public side of the indicator is
protected by glass.

“The _modus operandi_ is as follows: A borrower having chosen a book
from the catalogue, consults the indicator, and finding the required
number to be on _blue_, denoting _in_, asks for the book corresponding,
at the same time tendering his library ticket. The assistant withdraws
the indicator ledger, makes the necessary entries, inserts borrower’s
ticket, and reverses the ledger, which then shows the _red_ colour,
signifying _out_. He then hands out the book asked for. The borrower’s
ticket will remain in this number until he changes his book, when his
ticket will, of course, be transferred to the next number required, and
the returned number will be reversed again, showing by the _blue_ colour
that the book it represents is again _in_, and is immediately available
to any other reader requiring it. The entries need not be made at the
time of issue, but may stand over until a more convenient time.

“When a book is not required the ticket is returned to the borrower, and
acts as a receipt, exonerating him from liabilities.”

There are many ways of working this indicator in order to obtain certain
records or notifications of overdues, and nearly every library has some
modification of its own.

It is not necessary to trace the history of the indicator in any further
detail, because, with one exception, the forms described comprise all
that have been introduced to any extent in English public libraries.

=390.= Another indicator which has been introduced to some extent was
invented in 1894, and has several features which may be described here.

It consists of a series of wooden blocks, each of which is numbered with
250 numbers in gilt figures, and each number has a slot under it large
enough to hold a book-card with red coloured or white ends, bearing the
same number as the slot. These blocks can be built into columns of 1000
with the numbers running consecutively, the whole being lodged in a
glazed frame. This indicator differs from other varieties in having the
numbers qualified by the red or white line of the card under the numbers
to indicate books _in_; when the slot is blank, the book is _out_. “The
withdrawal of the book-card is the method of indicating books out, and
it is the union of this card with the borrower’s card which forms the
basis of the subsequent registration. When a book is issued the
assistant withdraws the card from the recorder and places it in the
reader’s ticket, which is formed like a pocket, fetches the book, stamps
it with the date of issue, and so completes the transaction at the
moment of service. Afterwards, the readers’ pocket tickets containing
the book-cards are assembled and arranged according to classes in
numerical order. They are then posted, by book and reader numbers only,
on to a daily issue sheet or register, and the date of issue is stamped
on each book-card, if this has not already been done at the moment of
service. The conjoined book- and reader-cards are then placed in a tray
bearing the date of issue, in the order of classes and book numbers, or
in one series of book numbers as may be needful.” In other respects this
charging system resembles the card methods described in Section 380.

=391.= The only other indicator which is designed on an entirely
different principle from any of the foregoing is the Adjustable
Indicator proposed by the author in a paper read before the Library
Association in 1895, and published in _The Library_ for 1896, with
illustrations. This was a practical proposal for an adjustable indicator
in which its size should be limited by the number of books in actual
_circulation_, and not by the number in _stock_. There is a very
important point here, as a library with a stock of 30,000 volumes would
require an indicator occupying about thirty-eight feet run of counter
space. If it never had more than 4000 volumes out at one time, these
could be shown on the limited indicator above named within a space of
not more than six or eight feet. This is a most important question, and
it is inevitable that, in many libraries where conditions and feeling
are opposed to progressive changes, this continual growth of indicator
space will force library authorities into the serious consideration of
less crowded methods.

=392.= On the principle of limiting the indicator to one particular
class of literature, several varieties have been introduced at Brighton,
Wimbledon, Glasgow and Lewisham. So many libraries now use indicators
for Fiction only that there is some advantage in having special
appliances for the purpose. The Glasgow indicator consists of a series
of detached columns with adjustable number-blocks representing the
books, arranged so that insertions can be made at any point. The
Lewisham or Graham indicator is an alphabetical one, and consists of an
ordinary pigeon-holed frame, into which fit small numbered blocks of
wood or metal bearing the names of authors and similar blocks with the
numbers of their works. The chief advantage of this form is that it is
self-contained, and requires no key to enable borrowers to ascertain
what are the titles of books indicated _in_. A simple reference to the
author’s name in the ordinary catalogue enables this to be done. An
indicator on similar lines has been invented by Cotgreave, who applied
the idea to a magazine indicator.

+---+----------------+
Out .. | ● | ARGOSY. |
|---+----------------+
In ... | ○ | ART JOURNAL. |
+---+----------------+

FIG. 148.--Diagram of Periodicals Indicator (Section 393).

=393.= Indicators are occasionally used for recording and indicating the
issue of the parts of periodicals, both in lending libraries and
reading-rooms. The reading-room indicator simply shows what periodicals
are in use or available, in cases where they are kept behind a barrier
instead of being spread over tables or racks. There are examples of this
indicator at the Public Libraries of St Saviour’s, Southwark, and
Finsbury. The principle is simple. The titles of magazines are mounted
upon narrow blocks of wood, arranged loosely in columns so as to be
adjustable, within a glazed frame. The back of this frame is open to the
staff only. Against the end of each title a hole is drilled to take a
round peg which is coloured black at one end and white at the other. The
white ends are shown when a magazine is _in_, and when it is issued the
peg is reversed to show the black end. This indicates _out_.

=394.= As a substitute for indicators, and an approach to open access,
many libraries provide a show-case for new books on the lending library
counter, to enable readers to see the additions as they are made. In
some libraries these show-cases are not glazed on the public side, so
that the readers have the additional privilege of examining the new
books as well as merely seeing them. Certain libraries, like Birkenhead
and St George’s-in-the East, Stepney, have whole departments of books
arranged behind wire or glass within seeing distance of the readers, and
they have the option of choice by bindings and titles, which, if not
much better, is as good as choosing from catalogue entries, and at any
rate gives the semblance of freedom and closer touch with the books.

=395.= At one time a considerable controversy, often conducted with
surprising feeling, raged in England over the respective merits of
indicator and open access methods. This continued from about 1894, when
James Duff Brown inaugurated the safe-guarded open shelf plus
card-charging method at Clerkenwell (now Finsbury Central) Library. His
liberalizing action necessarily threatened the property of those who
owned indicator patents--some of them librarians unfortunately--and an
astonishing number of objections to each method were then discovered by
the advocates of either (some of them honest). The younger librarians
will have none of this controversy. It is a purely impersonal question
as to which is the better system, and the gradual extension of the open
access system seems to have settled the matter in its favour. It is
clear that with advancing education the public will question the right
of the libraries to erect barriers, however ingenious and practical,
between the books and their readers. All that it seems necessary to say
here is that librarians should be able to examine both systems in actual
working, study the results obtained, and form their own conclusions
without having their integrity or morality challenged because of their
conclusions.

=396.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, J. D. Charging Systems. _In his_ Library Appliances, p. 20.

Dana, J. C. (_Ed._). The Charging System. _In_ Mod. American Lib.
Econ., 1909.

Plummer, M. W. Loan Systems. U.S. Educ. Rept., 1892-1893, vol. i., p.
898.

Stewart, J. D., and Others. Open Access Libraries, 1915.

Vitz, C. P. P. Loan Work. A.L.A. Man. of Lib. Econ., Preprint of
chapter xxi., 1914.

For articles see Cannons, E 84-106, Lending Library Methods.

CHAPTER XXVI

BOOK DISTRIBUTION

=397. Branch Libraries.=--Branch libraries are included in this
division, because as a general rule they are principally lending
libraries with a reading-room attached, and rarely possess reference
departments. Every large town extending over a wide area must sooner or
later face the question of establishing branch libraries, not only as a
convenience to the public, but as a relief to the central library. No
rule can be laid down as to the distance which any reader should be from
the nearest branch or other library. It is one thing to make a
symmetrical plan on paper, showing a central library with a ring of
branches situated at regular distances, and so placed as to bring every
reader within one, half or quarter of a mile of the nearest library, but
it is quite a different matter realizing this ideal. Topographical
difficulties arise; the matter of density of population must be
considered; and, to crown all, sites or suitable premises cannot always
be obtained at, or near, the places selected, as the ideal spots. For
these reasons regular spacing can rarely be achieved in the provision of
branch libraries.

[Illustration: FIG. 149.--Quick-reference Collection, Glasgow.]

=398.= A branch library differs from a delivery station in being, to
some extent, a miniature central library, carrying its own stock of
books, and having its own reading-room accommodation and magazines. A
delivery station need not necessarily have a stock of books, beyond
those sent in response to applications, and it would have no
reading-room whatsoever. Branches and deliveries are often confused, no
doubt because both provide for book distribution, but beyond this common
feature all resemblance ceases. The question of the amount and kind of
accommodation which it is desirable to provide depends entirely upon
funds, conditions and requirements. For most situations in which
branches are necessary, such as the suburbs of large towns, the minimum
provision should include a lending department, and general reading-room
for periodicals. Very occasionally a reference department is provided,
but few systems will bear the cost of providing more than one such
department, and that at the central library; but every branch should
have a collection of quick-reference books which answer everyday
questions and afford such information as is needed in every library.
Such a collection does not necessarily require a separate room, because
that requires special oversight, but it is better to place it in a
convenient recess of the reading-room or vestibule, where it is under
the observation of the staff, and where it is not necessary for the
reader to pass through the wickets or other barriers of the lending
department in order to make use of it. All kinds of extra features can
be added to these provisions, if necessary, but these will depend upon
funds; but a lecture room is especially valuable in a branch, as it is
usually in an area ill-provided with such accommodation and one in which
lectures, exhibitions, etc., can be given most profitably. Modern
experience also advocates children’s departments at branches, as the
suburbs are the nursery districts of most towns, and therefore the most
fruitful opportunities for work with children are afforded in them. Some
of the branches at Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Croydon,
Coventry, Edinburgh, Bristol, Islington, Lambeth, Sunderland and Fulham
are models of what such establishments should be.

=399.= It is impossible to lay down any rules for guidance as regards
the financing of branches, beyond the general recommendation that they
should never be developed at the expense of the central library. It is
better to have one efficient library in a town than several inefficient
ones, as is the case in some towns where this wholesome principle has
been forgotten or ignored. Librarians are justified in taking a strong
stand upon this point against the unreasonable demands of ward committee
representatives, who are sometimes bent upon getting everything they can
for their own particular district irrespective of the claims of the
system as a whole. Separate account should be kept of all moneys
expended upon each branch. Receipts should also be separately accounted
for, and the central library should receive a daily or weekly statement
of all cash intromissions, issues, occurrences, etc. Such statements can
either be rendered upon specially ruled sheets or post-cards, or kept in
books according to some such form as shown in Fig. 150. All forms,
books, etc., at the branch should correspond with those of the central
library, and everything affecting administration stated throughout this
book applies, though in a modified degree, to branch work.

=400.= In the selection of books for branches the same principles should
be applied as previously advocated, namely, the endeavour to get a high
average of quality and utility in the literature added and the
determination to discard useless books when the time comes. But an
effort should be made to vary the contents of branch libraries so as to
obtain as catholic and representative a stock as possible. With Fiction,
of course, this is not so easy, especially in the case of popular novels
by well-known writers, but in other classes this can be done frequently.
For instance, if the north branch has So-and-So’s _Chemistry_, there is
no reason at all why, all things being equal, the south branch should
not have Someotherbody’s _Chemistry_ and the east branch Someone-else’s.
Of course it is assumed that these are all text-books of fairly equal
merit. As every library should possess a union catalogue showing the
whereabouts of every book in the library system, and as borrowers’
tickets should be interchangeable all over the town and not limited to
one particular library, this arrangement of different books on similar
subjects widely enlarges the borrower’s field of choice. If the central
and branch libraries are all interconnected by means of the telephone,
as they ought to be, a borrower at the north branch can ascertain if
Someotherbody’s _Chemistry_ is available without going himself, and can
easily arrange by waiting a day or shorter time to have the book
delivered at the nearest branch. At Croydon a system of interchange
effected by means of the municipal tramways, which carry parcels of
books free, reduces the waiting for a book at another library to about
thirty minutes. Such systems of interchange are a great convenience in
many cases, and place the entire resources of the library at the command
of readers, no matter where they may live.

+-----------------------------------------------------+
| |
| LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARIES. |
| |
| NORTH BRANCH.--REPORT. |
| |
| Date........................ |
| |
| |A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|J|K|L|| Total. |
| Lending Issues . | | | | | | | | | | | || |
| Reference Issues . | | | | | | | | | | | || |
| +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++---------+
| | | | | | | | | | | | || |
| +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-++---------+
| |
| Receipts from Fines |
| |
| „ „ Catalogues, etc. |
| |
| Books asked for |
| |
| Books wanted from Central |
| |
| Supplies wanted |
| |
| Callers and occurrences |
| |
| Signed.................... |
| |
+-----------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 150.--Branch Library Return (Section 399).

=401. Delivery Stations.=--A delivery station is a place which may or
may not have a small deposit collection of books--generally not--and is
meant to supply readers in thinly populated districts and to be the
forerunner of an orthodox branch to be established when the district
develops. Such stations are usually a post-office, school, police
station, or shop, which may be induced to carry out the necessary
charging, etc., sometimes at a small remuneration. At the very best a
delivery station in a town is but a makeshift substitute for a branch,
and, from the borrowers’ point of view, does not afford a very
satisfactory or expeditious service. If books which are wanted are not
_in_ at the central library, considerable delay and trouble are caused.
Borrowers are compelled to make out long lists of the books they desire
to read, and as often as not these are all out at the central store. As
delivery stations seldom carry a stock of books from which an
alternative choice can be made, borrowers are driven to the task of
making out new lists or taking anything the delivery attendant can get
by telephone, if there is this kind of communication, which is not
generally the case; and as delivery stations are frequently managed by
any untrained person obtainable, the reader gets very little help in
solving real difficulties. Apart from all this, a day must elapse, as a
rule, before any book wanted can be obtained, even if it is available,
and for these reasons the establishment of book-delivery stations is not
advisable save in remote and inaccessible parts of a large town, when
every other method of giving a local service has been found
impracticable. A highly organized system of delivery stations with
frequent motor deliveries might, however, be made effective in scattered
suburbs, but although such a system has been suggested, we have no
record of a successful British example.

=402. Travelling Libraries.=--Of much greater importance are travelling
libraries, which can be made to serve every purpose of delivery
stations, with the great additional advantage of furnishing, in part,
the same alternative selection of books as a branch library affords.
These libraries are much used in the United States, and take the form of
boxes of books numbering from fifty upwards, which can be deposited at
fixed points in towns and rural districts, where borrowers can attend
and make a choice of reading matter. Boxes of books by this plan can be
sent to the care of responsible persons in all parts of a town, and
these persons can undertake the local delivery and collection of the
books, either for a small fee or as voluntary sub-librarians. Various
kinds of records are necessary to keep track of the boxes and their
contents and where and to whom they travel. Until lately very little of
this kind of work had been done either in the United Kingdom or America,
although the Americans are gradually developing systems of rural
travelling libraries and town “home” libraries. The travelling libraries
of the States of New York and Wisconsin form a most interesting study,
as also do the “home” libraries of the city of Boston. Lately this
matter has been given a considerable impetus through the Carnegie United
Kingdom Trust, which has established experimental rural library schemes
in various parts of the kingdom in connexion with County Councils and,
more infrequently, suitable municipal centres. Scotland, Ireland, and
Wales, the counties of Dorset, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire,
Cumberland and Westmorland have all such schemes in operation or have
undertaken them. These have a central deposit library and circulate
boxes of books at frequent intervals to the villages and towns in the
area, in which the clergy, teachers and others act as honorary
sub-librarians. In this way the people who are not at present touched by
the public libraries are being brought into the fold. The matter is in
the experimental stage, and is jeopardized by the fact that, in England
at least, the County Councils have no express powers to provide
libraries; but results of the most promising kind have already been
obtained, and the day is no doubt at hand when the traditional idea of
the function of a public library as a store from which literature is
doled out to the people, _if they know what they want_, will be
superseded by a very pronounced missionary spirit, and an endeavour to
make known in every possible way the value of all kinds of books to all
kinds of people.

=403. Subscription Departments or Book Clubs.=--In some of the older
municipal libraries subscription departments or book clubs have been
established, as a means of increasing the stock of a library, without
much expense. Such departments exist at Bolton, Burton, Dewsbury,
Dundee, Elgin, Leek, Tynemouth, Wednesbury and Workington. They are
operated as follows: For a certain annual subscription any library
reader or townsman may join this select library. From the subscriptions
so received, supplemented in some places by occasional grants from the
rate, new books are bought, generally in accordance with the wishes of a
majority of members, but on this point practice varies. For one year
these books are at the service of subscribers only, who borrow them in
the usual way, for a fortnight or other periods according to
circumstances. At the end of the year each book is transferred to the
public library, and becomes the property of the library authority for
the use of all borrowers. Where the selection is made with discretion,
this may seem an economical way of obtaining books for a public library,
and there is much to be said in its favour in present circumstances; but
objections have been raised. Public libraries, it is argued, have no
right to set up a privileged class in this way, especially as it is
probable that the subscriptions cannot pay all the cost of service,
lighting, housing, etc.; thus a proportion of the cost of maintenance
falls on the library funds, and it is doubtful if in the end there is
much gain in receiving as a _quid pro quo_ a number of stale and,
perhaps, not very judiciously selected books; and, further, public
libraries have no right to compete with private and commercial
subscription libraries for the sake of ministering to the few people who
can afford the luxury of a select public library to themselves.

=404.= Another form of subscription is occasionally indulged in by
public libraries. By paying a certain subscription to large commercial
libraries, like Mudie’s, they are entitled to borrow so many volumes at
a time, and these are re-issued to the borrowers in the ordinary way,
the library being responsible for losses. In small libraries this is
often an economical way of obtaining the temporary loan of copies of
expensive books for which there is a large transient demand, and in this
way the people have immediate access to books which might otherwise
never be bought, or only obtained in second-hand form long after their
interest had faded. The only trouble about this arrangement is that it
depends upon the mood of the said commercial libraries for its
continuance. To what extent these would endure a constant drain from a
hundred or so municipal libraries remains to be seen, as also does the
problem of how they would meet the demand when it attained large
dimensions. At one time certain of the London commercial libraries
absolutely refused to lend books to public libraries on any terms. Now
they are more complaisant.

=405. Inter-Library Exchanges.=--This is a method of book distribution
which has not been tried to any extent among British municipal
libraries, and some organization would be required to place it on a
working basis. Briefly, the idea is to enable a public library which has
not got a particular book, to borrow it from some library which has,
assuming all the responsibility for its safety and due return; and
making its own arrangement with its borrower for the cost of carriage.
This kind of exchanging could be managed better in London than
elsewhere, but it could be applied to any group of libraries, such as
those of Lancashire, Wales, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, etc. Each
exchanging library would require to possess a complete set of class
lists and bulletins, or other catalogues, of all the other libraries,
and when a demand was made for a book which was not in its possession,
the assistant could look through the catalogues of the other libraries
till he found a copy, and it could then be written for, the borrower
paying all resulting expenses. Of course, this arrangement would only
apply to non-fictional works. There would be an undoubted advantage,
too, if such a privilege could be obtained for public library borrowers
from some of the older proprietary libraries with huge stocks of
practically unused books which municipal libraries would not buy in the
ordinary course. Arrangements whereby books from special scientific or
other libraries could be borrowed for the use of local borrowers would
also be an arrangement, could it be managed, which would benefit a
greater number of students and other persons than at present. But, of
course, there would be very serious difficulties in the way of inducing
the owners of valuable special libraries to lend books for the use of
strangers introduced by municipal library authorities. Meanwhile,
because of these difficulties thousands upon thousands of valuable and
useful books are lying idle and neglected in every part of the country,
a waste of power which it is sad to contemplate.

A modification of this idea is the arrangement now made between a few
towns whereby readers from the one who are visiting the other, who have
been vouched for as being in good standing by their own library, are
permitted to borrow books from the library in the town visited. Such an
arrangement exists between Brighton and Croydon, Waterloo has a similar
scheme, and possibly other places, and these have given much
satisfaction. The main difficulty is that few inland libraries can give
a full return to libraries in pleasure or health resorts, but perhaps
too much emphasis should not be laid upon the necessity for an absolute
return of service.

REFERENCE LIST OF AUTHORITIES

=406. Branch Libraries:=

Cole, G. W. Branches and Deliveries. U.S. Educ. Rept., 1892-1893, vol.
i., p. 709.

Eastman, L. A. Branch Libraries and Other Distributing Agencies.
A.L.A. Man. of Lib. Econ., Preprint of chapter xv., 1911.

Hutchins, F. A. Travelling Libraries, 1902. (A.L.A. Tract, No. 3.)

For articles see Cannons, D 13, Branch Planning; F 1, Methods; L 67,
Books; F 2, Delivery Stations; F 4, etc., Travelling Libraries.

DIVISION XII

THE REFERENCE DEPARTMENT

CHAPTER XXVII

GENERAL REFERENCE LIBRARY METHOD

=407. Character and Scope of the Department.=--The reference library is
the communal study, bureau of information, and muniment house, when it
is developed to its full possibilities. A definition of reference work
turns upon a definition of a reference book to a large extent, and it is
not easy to give more than an approximate one. A reference book is one
which is consulted to obtain some particular fact or matter from it and
not one that is read through as a whole. All works in dictionary,
encyclopædic, chronological, periodical and similar forms are of this
character. But any book which may be consulted in the way indicated is
also legitimately a reference book. Further, all literary and graphic
material which may so be consulted, whether in MSS., printed,
photographic or other form, is rightly a part of such a library. The
encyclopædic work is therefore the basal stock of the department; and
standard treatises on every branch of literature, whether in actual
reference form or not; the definitive editions of the classics, as for
example the Variorum Shakespeare, must be included. Transient or
permanent small reference material, such as pamphlets, magazine
articles, broadsides, news-clippings, trade catalogues, illustrations,
maps, etc., should all find a place in it; in fact, much of the most
valued information work is done with the aid of such small material;
important facts are frequently found in seemingly insignificant
material; and the work of bringing it in relation to other similar
material is one of the first-class services of the reference library.

From such a statement of the nature of the stock the purpose of the
department may be deduced. Primarily, as its name implies, it is a place
where references to books are made; but, although this is primary, it is
too limited a statement of the functions of the department. In it
continuous reading, research, and prolonged study are all carried on,
and if a library does not provide facilities for these it is to that
extent inefficient. These considerations give rise to certain necessary
arrangements, the first of which is freedom of access to quick-reference
material.

[Illustration: FIG. 151.--The Mitchell Library, Glasgow. A recent large
reference library, with a great central reading-room, and several
special departments.]

[Illustration: FIG. 152.--Plan of Islington Reference Library.]

In the arrangement of the library building it is essential that the most
quiet part of the building which is accessible to the public should be
devoted to the reference department. It should be a room which in its
design and proportions is dignified, and produces by these things and
its furnishing and decorations an atmosphere conducive to mental
tranquillity and study. It is impossible to define such an atmosphere,
but it exists in all really successful reference libraries, and these
may be studied at most of our great cities and towns, as at Bristol,
Birmingham, Liverpool, in the British Museum, and elsewhere. The
decorations, for example, if there are any beyond the merely
architectural, such as painted ceilings, walls, etc., should indeed be
artistic, but are appropriate only when they are restrained,
inobtrusive, and do not divert readers from the main purpose of the
room or encourage visitors to come merely to stare at them. Some
reference libraries, built on ecclesiastical models, have stained-glass
windows which are beautiful features, but the same principles apply in
this form of decoration.

=408. Furniture.=--The library furniture must depend upon the size,
shape and lighting of the room, but the alcove system, as it exists at
the Bodleian and similar older libraries, has never been surpassed from
the point of view of _study_, although it is possibly not so good as the
rotunda of the British Museum, or that of the Library of Congress, and
the Picton Reading Room at Liverpool, for merely reference purposes.
Again, the alcove system occupies more space than one in which the cases
are fixed against the walls and arranged in other parts of the room to
secure the maximum of shelf accommodation. As regards tables and seating
accommodation the older reference departments in municipal libraries has
usually been defective in that they merely allowed seats at long tables,
with about twenty-four inches of sitting space and a half of a two- or
three-foot table in front, often with provision, equally scant, for a
reader to sit opposite. The reference reader requires not only
isolation, to a considerable extent, as is provided at the British
Museum, but plenty of space in which to spread out his books and papers.
Moreover, nothing is more disconcerting and uncomfortable to a reader
than the unpleasant proximity of other people, and no student or reader
who makes extracts, or has to wrestle with obstinate facts in history,
science or philology, can do so if he is environed by others similarly
or otherwise engaged, at very close quarters. This is recognized in the
British Museum and similar libraries, where each reader has what is
virtually a desk to himself so constructed as to secure the maximum of
privacy. The provision of small, self-contained separate tables as
described in Section 161 is probably the best that can be made. These
not only give plenty of space at the top, but also provide a definite
amount of space for books, etc., under the tables themselves. For the
consultation of elephant folios and similar very large books the special
slope outlined in Fig. 33 and described in Section 153 is a reasonable
and necessary provision. One or two large flat tables for use in special
cases are also to be desired.

[Illustration: FIG. 153.--The Islington Reference Library. Note the
special tables.]

=409. Access.=--For successful reference work a certain measure of open
access is essential, and is allowed by most libraries which otherwise
are arranged on the closed system. The British Museum, Birmingham and
other large reference libraries allow readers free choice from a
selected assortment of books, numbering from a few to 20,000 or more
volumes, of quick-reference character, including atlases, gazetteers,
dictionaries, directories, encyclopædias, codes, etc., which answer
everyday questions and which are wanted without delay. These, in
themselves, form a fairly considerable reference library, and that fact
should be recognized when the question of access is under consideration.
Other libraries allow freedom of access to nearly the whole collection;
but none allows it to the whole. There are in many libraries unique
books, records, and other works to which access is wisely limited, in
the interest of their preservation as records and from other points of
view. These, however, form an infinitesimal part of the stock of average
municipal collections. All it is wished to emphasize here is that open
access without any formality whatever should be allowed to the obvious
quick-reference works of the kind enumerated above. A much-occupied
business man who wants an address, the definition of a word, or a cable
code is not likely to endure the bother of filling up application forms
patiently; and to insist upon it may mean the loss of the patronage of a
valuable class of the community. For the general part of the reference
library where open access is in vogue admission is usually gained by
signing the visitors’ book. Such signing has not definite safeguarding
value, but is to some extent a moral check upon would-be defaulters, and
is useful as a means of registering the number of readers. The plans
given in Chapter VII. give some idea of the disposition of the ordinary
reference library, and no one plan can be called the best. All that can
be affirmed positively is that ample reading space should be allowed,
that good light, natural and artificial, and ventilation, ease of
administering the stock, close classification and the fullest
cataloguing possible should be aimed at. The commonest error, as we have
hinted, is crowding and insufficiency of seating accommodation. A
well-administered reference library creates its own reading public, and
accommodation which may be ample at the opening of the library often
proves in a few years to be inadequate.

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| CAREVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY. |
| |
| REFERENCE DEPARTMENT. |
| |
| No Book must on any account be removed from this room, or |
| transferred to other readers. |
| |
+----------+-----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Book No. | Author and Title of Book. | Initial of Assistant. |
+----------+-----------------------------+-----------------------+
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
+----------+-----------------------------+-----------------------+
| |
| Name of Applicant............................................. |
| |
| Address....................................................... |
| |
| Date................................... |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 154.--Reference Library Application Form (Section 409).

Where access to shelves is not allowed, and application forms are used,
it is customary to supply blanks similar to that shown in Fig. 154, on
which particulars of the book wanted are entered. In some libraries
these slips are placed on the shelves in the place of the books issued,
and remain there till the books are replaced. To ascertain that no books
are missing an assistant examines the shelves every morning, and notes
any slips still remaining which represent books issued on the previous
day. To facilitate this operation a differently coloured slip may be
used on alternate days--white to-day, blue to-morrow--so that on a white
day the presence of a blue slip will instantly draw attention to a
misplacement or a missing book. In other libraries the slips are filed
near the point of issue, and remain there as a check against the shelves
and the readers until the books are returned. Some libraries return the
slips to the borrowers as a receipt, and compile their statistics from
the books; others retain the slips and make up their statistics from
them. Some libraries also insert an issue label in the inside front of
each book, which is stamped every time the book is issued, and thus a
record is made of a book’s popularity or otherwise, which should prove
useful when discarding has to be considered. Application forms, or for
that matter signatures in visitors’ books, are no protection against
thefts of books. Readers have simply to give a false name and address,
and walk off with any book they please, if they intend theft.

=410.= It is the common practice in open access reference libraries to
have notices displayed of this nature:

Or, they may be required to return them to the assistant; in any case it
is better for readers not to return them to the shelves personally.
Either of the methods recommended enables the staff to make records of
the use of books. The consultations can be entered up in a rough-ruled
and classified book kept for the purpose, and the staff can replace the
books at once. It will be recognized that complete statistics are
practically impossible in open access departments, because only books so
left on the tables or taken to the tables can be counted; but much
valuable work is done by readers in the shape of rapid consultations at
the shelves with immediate replacing of the volumes consulted.

Whatever may be his general method, the wise librarian will never limit
a reader to one or any number of books at a time. Sometimes a dozen--we
have known fifty--books are required to settle a comparatively small
point. They are forthcoming in a good reference library. Students of
recognized regularity may even be released from overmuch form-filling;
fifty forms for the fifty books we have named would be an interminable
demand.

=411. The Stock.=--The building-up of a reference stock demands the
highest skill and prevision in the librarian. The purpose which it is
intended to serve must be clearly before his eyes, and this may, and
does, differ with differing places. A library in a distinctly commercial
and industrial area faces needs obviously different from one in a purely
residential area. But in all libraries every kind of dictionary and
encyclopædia, general and special, philological, technical, scientific
and historical, is a prime requisite. On these the stock will be
balanced with a view to procuring the best and latest statement of
knowledge in every field. This end the too-often neglected
bibliographical collection subserves. Every general and special
bibliography from the British Museum catalogue to the small select
catalogues issued by local libraries, every index, every special
catalogue, indeed every catalogue within reason of other libraries which
a librarian can procure, is a necessary tool in building up the
collection and in tracking information when it is complete. There have
been many select bibliographies, but there is still room for many more.
The average bibliography of a subject is not selected; it aims at
completeness, and seems to assume that its users are people who want to
spend a lifetime on the subject. There are such, no doubt, but to the
average reader it presents a formidable if not paralysing array of
entries. What is needed, both from experts and from libraries, is a
series of very brief lists which contain only the best books given in
order of their value, comprehensiveness, historical character, and so
on. Knowledge of bibliographies and the methods of using them is the
chief part of the equipment of the reference librarian.

In this work there are two ideals, as was shown when the general
question of book selection was under consideration: one the museum
ideal, in which every kind of book of every age is collected; the other
which limits the stock to books of proved or probable utility to the
population served. The former is the business of the national libraries
and those of the great centres of population, such as Glasgow,
Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, etc., and to a
certain extent those which are at great distance from such large
centres; and special libraries within their own fields should be
exhaustive. But this ideal is not for other libraries, except in so far
as it applies to the local collection; that should contain everything of
whatever value. Otherwise the live book is what is wanted. The ordinary
reference library should therefore be revised periodically, obsolete and
dead stock should be discarded, and no book should be included because
it does not appeal to lending library readers or has been received as a
gift for which there seems to be no other depository--these are
emphatically books to be excluded. With these general provisions a brief
survey of the principal requirements of the stock may have its uses.

[Illustration: FIG. 155.--The Picton Reading Room, the Central Reference
Library of Liverpool.]

I. Quick-reference works of every type.

II. Bibliographies, general and select, and catalogues of every type.

III. The best editions of the classic authors in every language.

IV. The most comprehensive compendiums and treatises on every subject.

V. All material on the predominating local industry.

VI. All books, pamphlets, and all other literary, pictorial and
graphic matter relating to the locality. This will be dealt with more
fully in considering the Local Collection.

VII. Permanent files of at least _The Times_, and all local
newspapers; and temporary files of other newspapers most in demand.

VIII. Sets of periodicals, as indexed in the Library Association
_Index of Periodicals_. This is a rather large business, and should be
attempted only by libraries that can afford the cost. Others should
elect to keep only those of such character as to add permanently to
the book-strength of the library, and to use the Periodicals Loan
Library, which is worked in conjunction with the _Index of
Periodicals_, for other periodical material. All periodical indexes,
whether general, as Poole’s, _The Review of Reviews_, _The Athenæum_,
and The Wilson Company’s, or particular, as _The Times_, the indexes
to _The Quarterly_, _The Edinburgh_, etc. The value of these in large
libraries is obvious; it is not always so clearly recognized that they
have even a greater value for smaller libraries as clues to accessible
material which may not be in their stocks. In any case the Library
Association index should be taken.

IX. The publications of the major learned and scientific societies, as
the Royal Society, the Royal Geographical, the Historical and similar
societies. These present knowledge well in advance of that contained
in books as a rule.

X. Clippings from newspapers and periodicals which have definite
facts, in addition to those contained in books, and on current
happenings of moment, matters of “useful” character (the day to day
changes in rationing rules, etc., during the war are a case in point)
and similar material having an immediate, and real, if transient
value.

XI. Government publications, which in most libraries may be selected
after a brief interval. Many of the reports of commissions, surveys,
etc., have a high permanent value.

This conspectus is not necessarily complete, nor is all the material
named of equal value or equally in demand; but every librarian should
review these headings in relation to his reference department. To place
rigid limits upon the stock is absurd, seeing that utility and not
mathematical or other precision is the object of the work. If,
therefore, a librarian finds some other special field of material is
demanded he should add it without hesitation if he is convinced that the
demand is not frivolous or very restricted. For example, to add an
expensive and recondite (say) archæological treatise in Modern Greek at
the behest of one reader is a case in which his decision might wisely be
for refusal.

=412. Classification.=--In its classification the reference library
presents more physical problems than the lending library. The most
minute classification is the best undoubtedly, and this should be used;
but the size problem is a real one. While the greater number of
reference books are of octavo size, quartos, folios, and even larger
books are many. They cannot stand together in class sequence without an
impossible loss of space. The simplest method is to have three
sequences, for octavos, quartos and folios respectively, in
appropriately sized shelves, in three different parts of the room. But
this means various journeys across the room when all the books on a
subject are required. The distance is abbreviated if the octavos,
quartos and folios follow one another in each class. A third method
which has proved most successful is to divide every tier (which is
presumed to have adjustable shelves) into three parts and to run three
parallel sequences in each, the octavos occupying the top part, the
quartos the middle, and the folios the bottom. The parallel can be only
approximate, but it is sufficiently close for the reader or the staff
to review any subject completely and readily. With any of these methods
broken order may be resorted to if it is thought well. The arranging of
all quick-reference books in a separate complete sequence nearest the
entrance or the place of service is a case in point; and special
separate classifications may well be given to periodicals, to local
literature, to the predominating industry, and so on without limit.
Again, convenience is the supreme law.

[Illustration: FIG. 156.--The Main Reading Room of the Royal Society of
Medicine, a modern open access reference library.]

=413. Cataloguing.=--The catalogue of the department should aim at the
maximum of fulness and be in as many forms as are necessary to bring out
the entire resources of the department; there should be no retrenchment
of time or labour in producing the best here, as a small collection of
books adequately catalogued will give greater service than a larger one
catalogued poorly. It is not an unfair paradox to say that the smaller
(within reason) a reference library is the more detailed should be its
catalogue. This being so, whatever kind of catalogue may publish the
basal stock, the general current needs of the library can be kept
supplied only by a card or slip catalogue of unlimited expansibility.
The reference catalogue, even for books already in stock, can rarely be
complete, and any fixed form of printed catalogue, unless it is
supplemented by a MS. catalogue, will soon fail signally as a guide to
the collection. As to the cataloguing form, experience proves that a
mere author catalogue has a very limited value in reference work. It
should be provided in some form, of course, but for one reader who
inquires for a book by its author, a score require something about
subjects, usually specific subjects such as the Horse, Verdun, Violin
strings, Election Law, Tithes, Date of a Battle, Arms of Sussex,
Birthplace of Douglas Haig, Words of a Poem, etc. There must therefore
be some form of subject catalogue, and there is much virtue in the fully
classified card or sheaf catalogue, with author and subject indexes.
These, if carried out efficiently and minutely, will do the work that is
required. By fulness of entry we mean that titles should be abbreviated
as little as is possible within common-sense limits; that all
bibliographical particulars, number of volumes, size, pagination, date,
illustrations, maps, diagrams, glossaries, indexes, bibliographies and
date and places of publication (except when London) should be indicated.
Moreover, annotations of obscure books, and indicating sequences,
commentaries, missing parts, and so on, are of special value here. Added
entries may, and should, be carried as far as the cataloguing resources
of the library allow, all books of composite character, miscellaneous
works, transactions, many periodicals, etc., being analysed and
displayed in the catalogue under their class headings. It is also most
useful to collect in the catalogue references to bibliographies of all
kinds contained in works which are in the lending library. For examples,
the Home University Library and the Cambridge Manuals of Science and
Literature are not books to be found in the average reference library,
but they contain excellent little select bibliographies which the
reference librarian will find useful, and an entry of each of these
should be made. Every item which goes into the library should be
catalogued, pamphlets and excerpts from other works, however small,
included, if it is intended to preserve them, as well as maps.
Photographs and prints probably need a separate catalogue, as certain
considerations, dealt with later on, enter into their cataloguing, but
in a card catalogue provision can be made for nearly every kind of
material. Temporary material may be entered on a coloured card, which
permits of rapid revision of the entries.

[Illustration: FIG. 157.--Reading Table, Chair, and Accessories, Royal
Society of Medicine.]

=414. Pamphlets.=--Pamphlets and magazine excerpts form a large part of
every reference library and are often difficult to deal with
effectively. When not bound in volumes, they may be stitched in manila
wrappers, and stored in boxes of various sizes, such as 8vo, 4to, etc.,
of the kind specified in Section 306. Each pamphlet should be lettered
on the side of its wrapper, with its author, title, date, class letter
and number and accession number. The collection might be commenced with
an 8vo box for each class, and gradually extended from this nucleus as
the stock increased, the contents of boxes being divided and subdivided,
and placed in new boxes with changed lettering. As these would be
arranged in class order, there would be no more difficulty in finding a
single pamphlet than in finding a book. With miscellaneous collections
of pamphlets bound in volumes, the best plan is to renumber them in a
progressive series, and carry the volume number against the catalogue or
other entry. It is not advisable to run more than one series of numbers,
and if by chance a collection is acquired which is already numbered,
these should be covered over with the continuation numbers of the
library’s own progressive series. On the whole it is better not to bind
pamphlets, partly owing to their miscellaneous nature, which prevents
any real classification or even approximate subject order in the volumes
composed of them, partly because of their very temporary value as a rule
and because of the impossibility of inserting new ones into bound
volumes. A student or discoverer frequently advances his first
conclusions in a pamphlet, and sooner or later these are superseded by
books, and many pamphlets are merely statements of views upon political
and other questions of much immediate but usually quite passing
interest. In the average library they become dead stock in a few months
or years. Pamphlet collections should be weeded out more frequently than
book collections.

=415.= The vertical file is the most adequate method of dealing with
cuttings, broadsides and similar separate matter. If the folders are
closely classified, the ordinary printed index to the classification
scheme used is a fairly good key; but a slip index of some kind will
exhaust the file better and accelerate reference. If a brief index entry
is made before the cutting is dropped into its folder, in some such form
as follows, the work will not be unduly burdensome:

FIG. 158.--Clippings-index Slip (Section 415).

=416. Accessories.=--Every means of comfort and every reasonable aid to
study should be given to readers. We have dealt with reading tables. The
chairs deserve almost equal consideration. They should be comfortable;
an arm-chair is better than other forms. The view at one time expressed
that seats without backs in some way induced to mental alertness was
that of some stupid theorist; as a matter of fact ease of body is
essential to elasticity of mind. Chairs should have rubber tips or
silent castors to prevent the nerve-racking scritching which moving
chairs too frequently make, but when metal castors are used they should
not be of the slippery variety that slides readers unexpectedly on to
the floor. Reading stands with clips for holding books open should be on
every table, or provided in sufficient numbers to meet all probable
needs. At certain tables the use of ink should be permitted, and
blotting pads, ink, pens, etc., should be provided. Tracing may be
permitted from most illustrated books, prints, etc., but as a protection
a sheet of xylonite should be available and the reader be required to
interpose it between the copy and his tracing paper. Sheets in several
sizes should be kept for use with books of different sizes. Rulers, [T]
squares, a map measurer, a reading glass, compasses, etc., may all
reasonably form part of the equipment and be lent on request. Scrap
paper for notes, both at the catalogues and at the tables, is another
reasonable provision, as is a small stock of foolscap which readers may
purchase at cost price. Some libraries have the rule that letters must
not be written in the room, and it has its uses, as cases are not
unknown where nomadic business men, election agents, etc., have
monopolized tables for hours or days for the distinctly non-literary and
non-library purpose of addressing circulars; but the writing of
occasional correspondence, if it does not exclude other readers from the
writing tables, may safely be winked at. Other libraries do not allow
the reading of other books than those from the shelves in the
department, but the absurdity of such a rule, if carried to its logical
conclusion, is patent. It may not be superfluous to add that every
reference library should be equipped with a stand for hats, coats and
umbrellas, but readers may be warned by notice that the library does not
accept responsibility for their safety.

All the forces of the library stock in all departments should be at the
disposal of the reference reader; thus any book in the lending
libraries, except perhaps current novels of the popular kind, which may
be on the shelves, should be allowed to be requisitioned, as also should
any newspaper, periodical or other material in files which may not form
part of the department. A good plan in open access libraries is to give
the reference reader a pass admitting him to consult the lending library
catalogues or shelves, but after he has selected books from them to have
them brought from the lending library by the staff. Such uses of lending
library books should count as reference consultations.

=417. The Lending of Reference Books.=--Whether or not reference library
books should ever be lent away from the building is a question upon
which librarians are sharply divided. It is argued that a reference
library is a place where a reader has a right to expect every book in
stock to be available at all times, and this is a reasonable theory.
That reader, however, is a hypothetical person as a rule, and too rigid
a policy of refusal has some disadvantages. Experience tells every
librarian what books ought not to be lent in ordinary circumstances, if
in any; and these are quick-reference books of all kinds, and any book
the loss of or damage to which would be irreparable. Occasionally,
however, a real student really requires the home use of a reference book
which is not in everyday demand, and the library would suffer little and
might gain much by lending it. If the ordinary loan periods are thought
to be inadmissible, much can be said for lending over week-ends or at
hours when the library is inaccessible to readers. It is a question
which every librarian must settle for himself. In one successful
reference library which lends, when a reasonable cause is shown, every
book not excluded by the exceptions just named, and has done so for
twenty years without the least inconvenience, a form of application,
which is also a charging form, is used. This is a card 6 inches × 5
inches, which folds in the middle and files as a standard-sized
catalogue card (3 inches × 5 inches):

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| _Purpose wanted for_ ............................................ |
| _Why Book cannot be studied in Library_ ......................... |
| |
| (Do not write below this line.) (See inside.) |
| |
| Allowed to be returned within ............ days. |
| (_Signed_) .................... _Chief Librarian._ |
| |
| If application is not signed request is disallowed, in which case |
| explanation is enclosed. |
| |
+----------------------------(_Fold._)------------------------------+
| |
| _Date_ .............. |
| |
| APPLICATION FOR BORROWING A REFERENCE BOOK FOR HOME |
| READING. [See Special Notice inside before filling up.] |
| |
| _Name_ ......................................................... |
| _Address_ ...................................................... |
| _Occupation_ ................................................... |
| _Book Required: Author_ ........................................ |
| _Title (brief)_ ........................................ |
| _Class No._ ..................... _Time required_ ...... |
| (Do not write below this line.) (See over.) |
| _Issued_ ........... _by_ ......... _Rtd._ ....... _by_ ......... |
| |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 159.--Application for Loan of Reference Book (Section 417).

One side of it is worded as shown above, and the other side, to which
the attention of the applicant is specially directed, is worded as
follows:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| SPECIAL NOTICE. |
| |
| As every book removed from the Reference shelves may mean incon- |
| venience and disappointment to some other reader, _a reasonable |
| case must be made out for permitting it to be taken away_. Such |
| a vague indication as “reading” is not sufficient. Quick- |
| reference books, such as encyclopædias and dictionaries, very |
| expensive or rare books, and books in constant demand, will not |
| be issued under this regulation. |
| |
| The applicant must be a resident in the Borough, and if not of |
| some standing or sufficiently known to the Librarian or his |
| Staff, should be prepared with some recommendation from a clergy- |
| man, head teacher, or other person of standing in the Borough. |
| Should the application be granted, _failure to return the book |
| within the time allowed_ may entail the refusal of all further |
| applications. |
| |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 160.--Application for Loan of Reference Book (back) (Section 417).

When the applicant is unknown to the staff and the conditions required
in the last paragraph on the form are not fulfilled, a separate slip is
handed to the applicant, which reads as follows:

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| _Re_ APPLICATION FOR BORROWING A REFERENCE BOOK FOR HOME READING. |
| |
| The Librarian regrets that he is unable to accede to the |
| accompanying request without a signed recommendation from a |
| clergyman, head teacher, or other person of standing in the |
| Borough. |
| |
| Every facility, however, will be accorded for consulting the book |
| in the building. The Reference Library is open each week day from |
| 9.30 A.M. to 9 P.M. |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 161.--Refusal Form: Loan of Reference Book (Section 417).

When the book is unsuitable for lending purposes another slip is used:

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| _Re_ APPLICATION FOR BORROWING A REFERENCE BOOK FOR HOME READING. |
| |
| The Librarian regrets that he is unable to accede to the |
| accompanying request, as the book applied for-- |
| |
| a quick-reference book; |
| very expensive; |
| is rare; |
| in constant demand. |
| |
| Every facility will be accorded for consulting the book in the |
| building. The Reference Library is open each week day from 9.30 |
| A.M. to 9 P.M. |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 162.--Form showing Reason for Refusal (Section 417).

The application forms, when completed and allowed, are filed
alphabetically under the name of the borrower. There are so few of them
(probably a dozen weekly) that any other form of charging has been found
to be unnecessary. The assistant concerned in the work examines the file
weekly, and books overdue are written for immediately. Borrowers guilty
of retaining reference books beyond the allowed time are denied the
privilege of borrowing thereafter.

=418. Staff.=--It is fair to say that there are too few reference
librarians in this country; that is to say, persons who, in addition to
ordinary scholarship and library technique, have trained specially in
bibliography, the drawing out of readers and information-hunting.
Perhaps as a result of the library schools now in course of organization
a race of such useful librarians will arise. The staffing of the
reference library is perhaps the greatest difficulty a librarian has to
overcome. In the larger libraries the department is in the control of
experts, or at any rate of the most efficient workers on the staff, but
in smaller towns it falls to the keeping of an assistant, often a
different person every day or even shift, who can be spared from the
general staff; indeed, in some libraries reference work is so small that
this is all that can be afforded. In such circumstances the best work is
out of the question. The reference reader demands skilled attention.
Libraries catering for a learned or special clientele have their own
special problems; but the ordinary civic library has, in addition to
numbers of such clients, the average man and woman to deal with who are
not only unskilled in the use of books, but have also some difficulty in
making known their actual needs. It is obviously beyond the power of a
boy or girl assistant to draw out of these readers the exact nature of
their difficulties; that is a task requiring address, sympathy and tact,
which experience alone gives. In small libraries the librarian himself
may consider it a privilege to work at busy times in this department; it
will be well worth his while. The qualifications a reference librarian
should aim to possess are a complete library technique, an intimate
knowledge of the sources of information and of his stock, and a certain
missionary spirit which loves knowledge for its own sake. In addition he
must have sympathy with all classes of inquirers and be able to suffer
fools gladly. On the technical side he will find in certain little books
a good elementary grounding; among them is Hopkins’s _Reference Guides_,
Kroeger’s _Guide to Reference Books_, and so on. All juniors in a
reference department should go through a course based upon these, and
courses in practical book-selection and bibliography. No question should
be regarded as trivial; it is no part of the librarian’s duty to assess
the value of any information asked; and patience even beyond what may
seem reasonable limits is an everyday requirement. For example, the
question once asked, “On which side of Cromwell’s nose was there a
wart?” seemed frivolous enough, and it involved the consulting of dozens
of books; but it proved to be wanted for the identification of what is
believed to be a unique death mask.

=419. Records.=--All information the sources of which were not obvious
should be recorded on cards, together with the sources from which it was
given, in order that similar search may not be necessary when it is
required again. Carbon copies of all special lists of books compiled
should be filed for future use. Failures of the library are most
important as showing deficiencies in the collection, and questions which
could not be answered should always be recorded. When a reference
library cannot supply information from its own resources, it should
endeavour to find what neighbouring library can supply it, and either
direct the inquirer there, or, better, borrow the book required. Mutual
co-operation of this kind between libraries is easy to arrange, and few
librarians do not recognize its value. It should always be borne in mind
that to turn a reader away empty is a loss of prestige to the library,
while a reader well served and satisfied is a potential friend and
probable patron afterwards.

=420. Special Library Collections.=--In the average town it should be
the endeavour to concentrate all the special libraries of institutions
and societies in the reference library. It is obviously an uneconomy for
special collections to be locked up for the greater part of the week in
the private rooms of institutions and societies when they may be made
available all day and every day to the members of these societies and to
the general public in the municipal reference library. These bodies may
often be induced to deposit their collection if some simple arrangement
is made by which books may be lent as required to their members and may
be available to everybody for reference purpose when not so lent out. By
this means a useful reinforcement of the stock is made at the expense of
shelf-room and administration only. It is usual to catalogue such
collections exactly as other parts of the stock, but to add some
individualizing symbol to the class-mark to show its ownership.

=421. Information Bureaux.=--Among the many possibilities of the
department we shall confine ourselves in this chapter to its use as an
information bureau, leaving such important considerations as the Local
Collection, and its auxiliaries Regional and Photographic Surveys, and
Commercial Libraries for treatment in separate chapters. The information
desk or bureau is the name given to the department of the work which
lays itself out to answer inquiries for business and other people. It is
primarily quick-reference work and is done in proximity to the
quick-reference collection. But it goes further in the direction of
supplying such current information as the present population of the
town, its rates, etc., the addresses of burgesses, the latest Derby
winner, the cable code used by this or that firm, the plays available at
the theatres, the social or other events of this, next or last week, and
indeed any useful or convenient information whatsoever. Much of the
material needed is in the quick-reference collection, much must be
clipped from the newspapers, and some--as, for example, the programmes
of local societies--must be sought for at first-hand. It may be objected
that this information may, to an extent, be found in newspapers by the
inquirers themselves. Admitted; but they have not always the required
newspaper at hand, and the information bureau is always there. Briefly
indexed vertical files, within hand-reach of a public telephone, are the
means of working such bureaux. The telephone is essential to real
success, and inquiries by telephone should be invited. Where there are
commercial libraries in connexion with the library system, much of this
work may be done in them, but there is, as the examples given above
show, a large amount of work that can be done outside their field; and a
ready and efficient information bureau is a real asset to any town.

=422. Indexes of Readers.=--Another useful work that in large libraries
may properly be relegated to the cataloguing department may be conducted
in smaller ones by the reference staff. This is the supplying of firms
and individuals with lists of books of use in connexion with their
industry or study. Some libraries supply such people with a small card
catalogue of the whole of their subject as it is represented in the
libraries, and send cards regularly for entries of additions. Other
forms of catalogues can be used, of course, for this purpose. In
conjunction therewith, and as a useful adjunct to other work, it is a
good plan to make card entries of the special subjects affected by
individual readers under the names of the subjects, and to advise the
readers by post-cards of all additions made in those subjects.

=423.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bodleian Library. Manual for Readers and Visitors, 1912.

Dana, J. C. Library Primer, chapters xii.-xiii.

Hopkins, F. M. Reference Guides that should be Known, 1916.

John Rylands Library: A Historical Description of the Library and its
Contents, 1906.

Kaiser, J. B. Law, Legislative and Municipal Reference Libraries,
1914.

Koch, T. W. Library Assistant’s Manual, 1913.

Kroeger, A. B. Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books. Ed. by
I. G. Mudge, 1917.

Library of Congress. Manual. _In_ Report of the Librarian, 1901.

Lowe, J. A. Books and Libraries: A Manual of Instruction in their Use,
1916.

Marcel, Henry, and Others. La Bibliothèque Nationale, 1907.

New York State Library. Material for a Course in Reference Study,
1903.

Peddie, R. A. The British Museum Reading Room, 1912.

Rawlings, G. B. The British Museum Library, 1916.

Richardson, E. C. Reference Department. A.L.A. Man. of Lib. Econ.,
chapter xxii., 1911.

Small, Herbert. Handbook of the New Library of Congress, 1901.

Stewart, J. D., and Others. Open Access Libraries, 1915, chapter ii.

Ward, G. O. The Practical Use of Books and Libraries, 1917, 2 vols.

Wiswell, L. O. How to Use Reference Books, 1916.

For articles see Cannons: E 79-83, Reference Rules, Management and
Policy, etc.; D 7, Planning; L 66, Books for Reference Libraries.

CHAPTER XXVIII

LOCAL COLLECTIONS

=424. General.=--Of the departments of reference, other than the general
working department, prior consideration may be given to the Local
Collection on the ground that every municipal public library must have a
collection of this kind. At any rate it should have as complete a
collection as possible of material relating to its town. County
collections are a much more serious matter and should only be attempted
by towns of county rank, or the town in each county where the majority
of the population is. There is hardly a county in England which can
support two county collections, because rival collections are mutually
inimical, and their competition for certain items causes the price of
the latter to increase absurdly. The town is another matter. The one
place where copies of books, pamphlets, photographs, etc., relating to a
town ought to be found is its public library; and there are several
principles, warnings and suggestions that may be enunciated in connexion
with the work. The relative value of the material to be collected is
hardly a matter for the librarian; often most despised material has
great value when brought into relation to other material. The best
general principle is: “Get everything and leave its evaluation to
posterity.”

=425. Material collected.=--Primarily the words local collection are
co-extensive with local bibliography. This last term, however, is too
narrow, and the broad headings embraced by the collection may be set
out, and then considered in detail. These are:

(_a_) Printed records.
(_b_) Written records.
(_c_) Pictorial records.
(_d_) Engraved records.

All or most of these are found in every local collection, and their
statement immediately raises the question: Can pictorial records,
although undoubtedly a part of local history, come into the province of
the library? Are they not rather in that of the art gallery? Similarly
are not engraved records (bronze coins, tokens, rubbings of monumental
brasses and seals) better placed in the museum? It may be urged that the
art gallery is concerned with art, the museum with science, and the
library (in this connexion) with history. Pictures and engraved articles
are not collected by the librarian because of their artistic
qualities--in fact, many of his most cherished possessions are artistic
atrocities--but because they are records. On this argument a good case
can be made for their retention in the library. No doubt, where a town
has the three institutions named, and where the local collecting spirit
is at work in each, and is definitely co-ordinated, it would be wise and
economical to sub-divide the field; but where there is only the library,
there can be only one principle, and that the one already
emphasized--”get everything.”

=426.= When we come to consider the printed records of any locality, we
are surprised at their extent. These, again, can be set out in a brief
tabular form:

A. Books _of_ the locality.

1. By local authors.
2. Locally printed.
3. Newspapers and periodicals.
4. Public material: parliamentary, legal, etc.
5. Public material: municipal.
6. Trade material.
7. Programmes: theatre, cinema, music hall, concert hall, etc.
8. Posters.

B. Books _on_ the locality.

1. Topography.
2. History.
3. Biography.
4. Public material: parliamentary, legal, etc.
5. Novels, poems, and plays with local setting.
6. Newspaper and periodical references.

These headings cover a wide area, but the presence of every form of
material named is desirable in the local collection.

=427.= For the purposes of the local collection an author may be defined
as 1, a writer who is born, and educated in whole or part, in a town, or
whose family is indigenous in it; 2, residents of some years’ standing
or whose works reflect the locality; 3, authors of utterances or
writings made in, or upon, or addressed to the locality; 4, public men,
officials, etc.; 5, any minister, public speaker, etc., who holds office
or meetings in the town; 6, all local bodies, public or private--the
municipality, churches, societies, clubs, etc.; and 7, all local
tradesmen--catalogues, etc.

It is a prime duty of every public library to collect locally printed
books; the _lacunæ_ in our national bibliography have been lamentable in
the past in regard to locally and privately printed books, owing to the
lack of such collecting, and they are not likely to decrease if this
duty is not vigorously undertaken by the librarian of to-day. The search
must be specially eager for the privately issued volume, but however
limited the author intends his circulation to be, he is usually quite
persuadable as far as a copy for the local collection goes. Local
newspapers, it is obvious, are material of cardinal value. Every one of
them must be collected, bound, and to some extent indexed. And similar
if somewhat lesser value attaches to every periodical whatsoever--be it
the issue of a sect, school, institution, trader, party, club, or any
other body--published in the town. It is a curious fact that few
libraries possess, for instance, sets of the various church magazines.
These are, usually, of course, made up of a London-published religious
periodical inset in sheets dealing with the particular church that
distributes them. The inset may be discarded, but the local part should
certainly be collected from every such periodical issued locally. Few
records are more important than this.

The local collection must certainly include all local acts, bye-laws,
orders in Council that have a local bearing. It is remarkable how many
of these there are for even supposedly insignificant areas.

Novels and other imaginative literature, which have a local setting,
come clearly into the collection. It is a curious fact that the modern
novel of this character is frequently missed. It seems all the more
important to collect it when we know that the average “selling life” of
a six-shilling novel is about six weeks, and its public life quite often
not much longer. Only the local library can--or ought--to save much of
this fiction and imaginative writing.

References to the district in outside newspapers and periodicals should
always be kept. Even when they are founded on the material in the local
newspapers they are usually coloured by the outside view, or are in
better perspective than the local writer can bring to bear upon whatever
is under discussion.

=428.= The basic records of a town, and, therefore, from the point of
view of the local collection, its most important, are its written ones;
and in these, generally speaking, libraries are most deficient, for the
obvious reason that the ordinary municipal library is a newcomer, and
that in modern days the printed record has largely superseded the
written one. Not altogether, however, as we shall see. Written records
are almost of as many types as are the printed--there are parliamentary,
municipal, parochial, private business and personal manuscripts, of
which every librarian should strive to obtain possession. A copy of the
Domesday Book for his area, albeit impossible, except by successful
burglary of the Public Record Office, would be a desirable beginning to
the collection. After that, we may tabulate a list of the classes of
written material which should be sought:

1. Parochial Records: Tithe Registers, Parish Registers, Rate Books.
2. Municipal Records: Rate Books, Assessment Registers, Minute Books.
3. Private business records: Leases, indentures, agreements.
4. Manuscripts, autographs, etc.

Parochial registers of all kinds, tax books, etc., were until
comparatively recent years kept in the charge of the Church. Modern
vicars have, as a rule, little interest in them, and are often willing
to hand them over to the public library. Such books have an obvious
value in resolving the whereabouts, rateable value and occupants of
various types of property; and very interesting questions may be settled
by their means. The actual parish registers--of births, marriages and
deaths--are another matter, and the originals cannot, we believe, be
transferred to the library. In some cases the staffs of libraries have
obtained permission to transcribe these verbatim, and have actually done
so.[14] It is undoubtedly a useful work, but scarcely comes into the
province of the librarian as such; his work is to collect existing
material, not to create material, although there are infrequent
exceptions to the rule. In general we must wait until one of the
publishing societies produces these registers, and in the meanwhile
refer inquirers to the Church. All we need to emphasize here is the fact
that for centuries the corporate life centred in the Church, and it is
to the Church that we must look for our primary written records.

[14] At Walthamstow this was done by a member of the Libraries staff.

We reach somewhat surer ground when we endeavour to collect municipal
records. The older municipalities--Coventry, Stratford-on-Avon,
etc.--have had some regard for their records, and have at least
preserved them. Modern municipalities preserve them, too--that is to
say, theoretically. A visit to the basement or attics of the average
municipal building is, however, a woeful experience for the collector.
Usually, in cob-webbed chaos, he will find the records that in a century
(or much less) will have immeasurable interest for the student of local
affairs. There are written minutes as distinct from printed ones of
municipal committees, rate, assessment, receipt, wages, work, and
numerous other books to be found in the confusion. It is not always easy
to persuade the people concerned to hand over these books, and indeed
the more recent of them probably ought not to be handed over; but a
little persuasive tact has in more than one case secured the right of
the librarian to take charge of and to classify and catalogue them.
Sometimes limitations are placed upon their use (for example, books of
the last ten years may not be exposed to general consultation), but in
any case they ought to be secured for the collection if it is in any
way possible. The records, it must be mentioned, are voluminous and
bulky, and if in addition to the right of custody the municipality can
be induced to provide a room for their reception, the relief will
generally be a welcome one.

In some ways the most attractive of written records, the most human, are
the private ones; and these are also the most difficult to obtain.
Leases, wills, agreements, indentures, and similar deeds are naturally
not stored systematically anywhere in the average town, and they must be
searched out. Old inns are likely places, as are old solicitors’
offices, and auctions sometimes bring them to light. There are, of
course, dealers who specialize in them, and most desirable deeds have
been obtained cheaply from London dealers. Such documents throw more
light on the changes, customs, and language of a locality than do any of
the more formal records mentioned above.

Local literary manuscripts, autographs, manuscripts of local authors,
letters, and similar written documents are so obviously desirable that
more than a mention of them is superfluous; but we want, in this
connexion, to urge that to-day will very quickly belong to the past, and
that the collection of these things from the hands of living men is to
be desired. When a librarian receives a letter from the mayor, a
prominent alderman, or similar local celebrity, he does not as a rule
think of it as something to be preserved in the local collection. Why
not?

=429. Pictorial and Graphic Material.=--In recent years librarians have
given systematic attention to the collection of pictorial records,
although, indeed, they have long been recognized as a part of the
collector’s province. These naturally divide into:

1. Painted records.
2. Prints.
3. Photographs.
4. Maps.

(We think we can extend the word “pictorial” to cover maps.) The
presence of painted records may be questioned, but their value as
records is undoubted, seeing that they give colour, atmosphere, and have
other interpretative values which are absent from the more meticulously
accurate photograph. Local prints and photographs should be collected
without special regard to their artistic value; record is always the
motto of the collector, not beauty, however much we may desire it
personally. Care should be taken to secure photographs in a permanent
process, but it is better to have them in the more evanescent processes,
and to take special care of them, than not to have them at all. All
gas-light photographic prints (with a distinct preference for
platinotype, bromide and velox papers in this descending order) are
practically permanent; but the finest photographic paper extant will not
endure direct sunlight everlastingly. The question of the treatment of
prints and photographs generally, however, deserves separate treatment,
and here we are concerned only with what should be collected. The
pictures, then, must represent distinctive things, interpretative of the
life of the district. Pictures of individual flowers, which grow
anywhere, trees which are not peculiar to the place, “pretty bits” which
might be matched in any place in the kingdom, are of little or no value.
Omitting these inessential things, practically everything else from the
portrait of the Member of Parliament to that of the local amœba comes
within the scope of the collection. The cheapest print from the cheapest
periodical need not be despised. It may serve its turn.

=430.= Special endeavour should be made to secure a complete set of the
maps of the region covered. In spite of the conventionality and
inaccuracy of many early maps they are our original source of
information on many points vital to the collection. For some counties
the maps have been scheduled with exemplary thoroughness, and by basing
his collection on one of these schedules the collector will be helped
greatly, seeing that the old cartographers usually worked on several
counties, and the map bibliography of Yorkshire, for example, may be
expected to furnish useful clues to the maps of Kent. Old gazetteers,
topographies, histories, encyclopædias and periodicals of general scope
often contain maps, and the least prepossessing of such works should be
consulted in order to obtain them.

=431.= Engraved records are fewer than any previously mentioned. They
include local seals, crests, coins and tokens, and similar articles.
Tokens, it may not be generally known, were coins, usually having the
values of a farthing, a halfpenny, and a penny, which local traders were
permitted to issue to supply the scarcity of a small coinage from the
national treasury. These were issued mainly from the sixteenth to the
eighteenth centuries and generally had a local exchange value only,
although a number were accepted in many counties. Clearly these tokens,
which often carry the trade marks, signs, etc., of the trader issuing
them, are a valuable and interesting part of local material. The
Coventry Public Libraries possess what we believe to be an unique
collection of tokens relating to that city. Various local medals should
also be sought.

=432. Sources of Supply.=--There is something trite and unoriginal in
the discussion of the methods of obtaining books for the local
collection, but perhaps something useful may emerge from a
recapitulation of the principal ones. So far as the municipal library is
concerned, the common method must be by purchase, although much will be
secured from private generosity when the collection has become known. It
is important, in our opinion, not to leave the collection unmentioned in
the annual estimates; a definite appropriation should be made for it,
the amount of which will of course depend upon the resources of the
library and upon the area covered. We have found at Croydon, where the
collection covers extra-metropolitan Surrey, that much may be done on an
appropriation of £35 a year. This need not be spent entirely upon the
collection, nor should the collecting be limited to the purchasing power
of this sum, but it seems to be very desirable to have money so
ear-marked in order that attention may be focussed upon the collection
as an important part of the activities of the library.

It is also essential, if the collection is to be successful, that the
librarian should have discretionary power in the spending of the
appropriation. Local literature disappears with a rapidity that is
sometimes astonishing, and keen collectors on making discoveries in the
catalogues of booksellers and dealers, usually secure the coveted books
by telephone or telegram. The library would be a greatly handicapped
competitor if the sanction of the libraries committee had to be awaited
before purchases could be made. In some towns the discretionary power is
vested in the chairman, and where he is immediately accessible to the
librarian there are distinct advantages in this method, especially if he
is sympathetic. It is a good axiom for the librarian to avoid
responsibilities which can judiciously be distributed!

A certain amount of judicious advertisement of the needs of the library
is desirable in this matter. Care should be taken that a note to the
effect that local material is purchased should appear in Clegg’s
_Directory of Booksellers_, and in other similar publications. On the
notepaper of the library some such note as the following might be given
in small type: “The librarian will be glad to hear of written or printed
material relating to Selsey, either as a gift or for purchase.” This is
especially useful, as the notepaper circulates mostly in the district
itself, where much literature may be hidden, unvalued and neglected,
which its owners would willingly add to the collection. With the
directory entry before him the bookseller will generally report
individual items, but in any case he will send his catalogues, and these
must be perused diligently. As a rule the bookseller is sufficiently
master of his business to enter likely material, under county and town
headings, but not infrequently books which have a local appeal appear in
other parts of the catalogue. In this work the librarian will naturally
and wisely make use of his whole staff, and every inducement should be
held out to assistants to help in the discovering of local material and
to make suggestions for the extension of the collection. Generally,
however, little inducement will be needed, as library workers as a whole
are both keenly interested in and proud of the local collection.

Other sources of supply may be dealt with briefly. Donations will
account for many of the most curious and useful, and these are best
induced by exhibitions of material from the collection, by references
made to the collection in books in the lending library (a slip can be
inserted in all topographical books, for example, calling attention to
the existence and scope of the collection), and by paragraphs, articles,
etc., built up from local material, which may appear in the public
press, and which the local press is only too glad to publish.

=433. Photographic Surveys.=--The current pictorial records, the
photographs, can usually be obtained, by the expense of much energy and
little money, through a Photographic Survey Society. As this matter has
just lately received systematic and authoritative treatment,[15] it is
unnecessary here to enlarge upon it further than to say that a
photographic survey society is usually a band of photographers,
professional and (mainly) amateur, who make photographic records in a
systematic manner of a particular district, its history, antiquities,
natural features, architecture, industries, current activities, and, in
fact, everything that presents or interprets its life. Such societies
are increasing in number, and have a social side in the shape of
photographic excursions, reunions, etc., which make them rather more
than gatherings where the cacophanous jargon of the dark-room pervades
everything; hence they band together many people who are interested in a
district and the preservation of its memories. As a rule the whole of
the work of the survey, except the cataloguing and classifying--which
are the business of the librarian--is done by members of the survey. The
library usually supplies mounts, storage and cataloguing requisites.

[15] Gower, H. D., Jast, L. S., and Topley, W. W. _The Camera as
Historian: A Handbook to Photographic Record Work._ 1916. Sampson
Low.

=434. Regional Surveys.=--Similarly, but more recently, regional (or
civic) survey societies have come into existence, which parcel out
certain local areas, and study everything in them, from their geology to
the last manifestations of the human intellect working in them, and
record the results on maps.[16] Thus maps of the local strata,
water-bearing beds, flora, rainfall, industries, old inns, milestones,
boundary marks, and so on, have been made for the circle of twenty
miles, centering in Croydon. This is a new form of work of the utmost
value for providing data of current utility, and for preserving the
record of local features. Such societies are already recognizing that
the municipal reference library is the natural storing-place of such
material.

[16] See _Library World_, vol. xix., pp. 32-34.

=435. Cost.=--Naturally the most important factor in collecting is the
price of the material collected. This, not remarkably, often gives us
considerable pause, as the present-day cost of local literature does not
seem to bear any relation to its original cost; and to appraise the
value of manuscript material, deeds and similar matter, is almost
impossible. Scarcity and competition are the two factors in creating
prices. In local literature the demand can be controlled if librarians
do not traverse other fields than their own district in making their
collection. A little consultation with brother librarians should bring
about a workable division of any given county, with the result that the
individual collection would be satisfactory, and the duplication of
effort and expense would be avoided. Only the very large towns should
attempt county collections. Moreover, this avoidance of competition
would lessen the demand for the same book, and so help to bring down its
market value. The competitor who can completely out-distance the average
library is the keen private collector with a generous purse and
unlimited leisure. In his case the librarian can only hope that his will
contains a clause in which his collection and the library are in happy
juxtaposition. With relation to actual buying, it is a good axiom never
to purchase anything except “on approval.” It is really wonderful how
attractive a commonplace and almost valueless item can appear to be in
an agent’s catalogue. In few cases this “sending on approval” is refused
by booksellers, but the majority are only too glad to do it, especially
if the prospective purchaser undertakes to pay postage both ways in the
event of rejecting the material. By this means large bundles of stuff
which have only a nucleus of useful matter can be weeded out, and the
price arranged according to the result. This is particularly desirable
when dealing with deeds, which often prove to be incomplete, or of far
less interest than (say) the entry, “Forty Surrey Deeds, 1542-1816,”
would imply. One does not suppose that dealers in these things are one
whit less honest than other men, but their prices are often in the
region of the absurd. If the collector has reason to think that this is
so, he should make a reasonable offer for the books he wants, and it
will generally be found that the bookseller is amenable to this sort of
argument. Naturally we are speaking of the general items for the
collection. In every district individual items have a definite high
value which cannot be reduced, and it is the lot of most local
collectors to be compelled regretfully to pass by, as beyond their
means, many things that they would gladly possess.

=436. Mounting of Prints, etc.=--It remains to devote some attention to
the mounting, cataloguing and storage of material. Books and pamphlets
are treated as in the general library, as are broadsides, cuttings and
similar separate material. The photograph may be treated in various
ways. At Birmingham, for example, the prints are mounted, and stored in
what are virtually loose-leaf albums, which permit perfect
classification and the insertion of any new photograph without
dislocation. The more usual method is to mount the photographs on a
uniform size mount--17 in. by 13½ in. for large prints, and 12½ in. by
10½ in. for smaller (and the great majority of) prints have been found
satisfactory. Nature papers of double strength have been used, and every
effort should be made to secure an acid-free paper. When it is obtained
the prints should be fixed by the dry-mounting process, if possible;
nearly all adhesives have injurious chemical action upon photographic
papers. The mounted prints and photographs are stored in boxes such as
that shown in Fig. 118, or in the drawers of a vertical file.

=437. Classification.=--The classification of the local collection
demands a much closer arrangement than any general scheme provides. Up
to the present most librarians have constructed one for their own use;
and there are two methods. One, and that most readily used, is a
topographical arrangement with a subject sub-arrangement; the other is
the converse--a subject arrangement with topographical sub-division. The
choice may be determined by the answer the reader gives to the question:
Which are users more likely to want--

1. The churches of a county or town as a whole? or
2. Material, including the church, relating to a town (in a county) or
parish or ward (in a town)?

The topographical arrangement of (say) a county survey is usually
secured by adding to the subject number the number of the square on the
key Ordnance Survey map of the county. That is, when the main
arrangement is subjectival. When it is topographical the ordnance number
precedes the subject number. A detailed example of the working of a
local collection classification is given in Gower, Jast and Topley’s
_The Camera as Historian_.

Every mount should bear upon it a label showing particulars of the
subject, number, photographer, process, date, etc. This goes well into
the left-top corner. The example given is that of the Surrey
Photographic Survey. A similar label with the necessary adaptations is
advisable on all prints which are not the property of such Surveys. In
the case of surveys the label is filled in by the photographer, except
the space for the class-mark, and the upper part is detached by the
Survey Secretary and is pasted up in a guard-book to form his record.
Only the label within the thick squared lines is affixed to the mount.

FIG. 163.--Label of Photographic Survey Prints (Section 437).

=438. Cataloguing.=--The cataloguing of the local collection should, of
course, follow the code in general use; but certain amplifications are
desirable. The size, pagination, date of publication, town of
publication, and the names both of printer and publisher (if they are
different) should be given. Omissions from titles should be as
infrequent as possible, and when made should be indicated. The object is
to make this catalogue as fully bibliographical as possible.

=439.= The cataloguing of prints is a fairly simple matter if treated in
common-sense fashion. Inquirers only occasionally require the works of
artist or photographer in connexion with such prints as are stocked by
libraries. A subject-index appears to be the best form, with a local
index; thus

+-----------------------------+
| |
| GOLF COURSE, REIGATE. 263.5 |
| |
+-----------------------------+
1
+-----------------------------+
| |
| REIGATE. GOLF COURSE. 263.5 |
| |
+-----------------------------+
2

FIG. 164.--Print-index Slips (Section 439).

are a sufficient cataloguing of a particular print. All the detail
beyond that can be found on the prints, which themselves are in their
arrangement a classified catalogue. Of course special prints would go
under the artists’ names, or under their titles if their value warranted
that course. Usually it does not.

=440. Maps.=--It is appropriate to deal with maps here, as the largest
number of maps will probably be local ones. The classification methods
suggested for prints apply to maps as well; that is to say, the
predominating arrangement should be topographical, and the
sub-arrangement subjectival, and the ultimate arrangement may be
chronological. Thus a map of the geology of a particular town would
arrange--

Class No. of Town. | Geology No. | Date.

=441.= The cataloguing of maps may follow the Anglo-American rule, which
runs:

Enter maps under the cartographer. If the name of the cartographer is
not found, enter under the publisher; thus:

GREGORY, C. C. M’Millan’s map of New Brunswick. Drawn by C. C.
Gregory. Scale of statute miles _ca._ 8 to the inch.

JOHNSTON, W. _and_ A. K., _pub._ Johnston’s commercial and library
chart of the world on Mercator’s projection.

This simple rule needs some amplification for a large collection of
maps; and the following simple rules have been found to be satisfactory:

1. The _Arrangement_ of entries is in chronological order, and where
two entries occur under one date they are arranged alphabetically by
the _heading_.

2. _The Name adopted for Heading_ is that of the cartographer where
found; where the cartographer is not found, the publisher, or
engraver, or title (in this order) forms the entry word.

3. The unit of _Scale_ wherever possible should be the inch.

4. Give the _Size_, measured from one inner margin to another,
vertical measurements first, to the nearest quarter-inch below the
actual size.

5. The _Date_ of arrangement is that printed on the map; but modern
maps illustrating places at a past period in history arrange under the
period, the publication date being added to the entry merely as
information. Undated maps from atlases or other works take the date of
the work in which they appear.

All catalogues so arranged require topographical and subject indexes.

The filing of maps was dealt with in the chapter on Filing and Indexing.

=442. Deeds.=--Deeds are difficult to handle and store because of their
shape and size, the seals attached to them, and for other reasons. For
ordinary purposes flat filing in boxes similar to those used for maps
will serve. The cataloguing of deeds has been variously done, but for
local purposes a topographical arrangement, with a chronological
sub-arrangement, is recommended. Examples of typical entries may be
given:

=Bagshot.=

1715 21 June (i. George I.). LEASE OF COTTAGE AND LAND. BAGSHOT. From
Walter of Busbridge to Grayham of Bagshot, 99 years at 4/- per ann.
(consid. £24.3.0.).

dS69(333)

Cottage, barn, and 3a. land. Special condition under penalty of
forfeiture of lease if broken.

“And goeing with sd. John Walter his heirs and assns. to the Eleccon
of the sd. Co. of Surrey att any time when any Eleccon for Knights of
the Shire shall be held, _and vote for_ such person as the said John
Walter his heirs, exors., admors., and assignes shall direct. . . .”

=Beddington.=

1490 2 July (v. Henry VII.). BOND FOR £500 (Latin). From James and
Richard Carru [old spelling of Carew] to John Iwardby and Chris.
Troppenell.

dS655(333)

Securities: The manors of Bedyngton, Bandon and Norbury; and other
lands and tenements in Bedyngton, Croydon, Streteham, Bristowe
[Burstow] and Horne; and the manor of Maitham in Kent.

Such a catalogue must be equipped with a name index at least, and an
index of places is also desirable; these may be combined in one
alphabet.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=443. Local Collections:=

No monograph. For articles see Cannons: G 56, Local Collections and
Surveys; G 59, Maps; I 17, Cataloguing Rules; H 78, Classification; L
45, Bibliography.

=444. Photographic and Regional Surveys:=

Gower, Jast, and Topley. The Camera as Historian: a handbook for
survey or record societies, 1916.

Fagg, C. C. The Regional Survey and Local Natural History Societies.
_In_ South-Eastern Naturalist, 1915, p. 20.

Westell, W. P. The New Doomsday. _In_ My Life as a Naturalist, 1918.

For articles see Cannons: I 24, Cataloguing; H 85, Classification,
etc.

CHAPTER XXIX

LIBRARIES OF MUNICIPAL REFERENCE

=445. General.=--It is appropriate to devote a brief space to the
consideration of reference libraries of municipal material, because the
Library Association has affirmed the desirability of such libraries;
although, so far as this country is concerned, the matter is in the
prospective stage rather than that of accomplishment. In various
Canadian and American cities such libraries exist and have proved their
utility.

Municipal history would probably furnish many examples of independent
attempts to solve similar local government and administrative problems,
all conducted without that reference to one another which is implied in
organization, and without full profit being derived from the successes
or failures of former workers. It is true that before carrying out
schemes appeal is made by municipalities to their official experts; but
the experience of the latter, however wide, is usually circumscribed,
and they can add to it only by personal visits to and correspondence
with, similar experts. This limited knowledge, and the expenditure of
time and money, could be avoided by any municipality which possessed an
organized library of reference material.

It is, as we have shown, the business of every library to preserve in
its local collection all publications of the authority to whom it
belongs. The value of this limited work is obvious, but it does not
necessarily demand a special department. When, however, an attempt is
made to collect every kind of material, manuscript, printed, pictorial
and statistical, which is likely to throw light on problems of local
administration, including the municipal literature issued by other
authorities, the task becomes so large that a separate and
self-contained department must be devoted to it.

=446.= In almost every municipal office there is to be found a smaller
or larger collection of the more obvious technical books for the
reference use of its staff. Such books are treatises on engineering
details, accountancy, and the Town Clerk has usually a small collection
of acts, manuals, and other literature bearing upon municipal law. The
collections are rarely if ever large enough to possess a representative
and co-ordinate character, nor are they easily available for the whole
of the staff of the local authority or for members of the town council
and the public. There is a certain wastefulness in this method of
providing books. One or two of the greater towns have more general
municipal collections; Glasgow is an example; but there is no town in
the United Kingdom which possesses a systematically arranged and
professionally administered municipal library, or bureau of municipal
research, if the term is preferred. Yet many things may be urged in
favour of such a department. It would be an infinite advantage to any
inquirer, whether an official or a member of the public, to be able to
go to a specially constituted department and to study what has been the
general experience of any question or scheme under consideration or in
prospect.

Within the limits presumed the field of the municipal reference is a
wide one. It would collect all books of an authoritative nature on local
government, and every available municipal document, from the minutes of
the local council to the small paragraph from the newspaper which would
shed light on municipal administration. It is definitely bibliographical
work and should be placed under the control of the libraries committee;
moreover, it is expert work, and can only be conducted satisfactorily by
a man or woman who has been trained in the collection, classification,
filing, and particularly the minute cataloguing and indexing of literary
material; in short, to be effective, it must be placed in the care of a
professional librarian.

=447.= Such a library would demand fairly generous accommodation if it
is to contain the material indicated, and would require a proper staff;
it would cost money. Here, perhaps, we have the crucial factor in the
situation, because it is difficult to convince the average municipal
governor that books can bear a part in the solution of municipal
problems. It is obvious that such a department cannot be supported out
of the present resources of library committees--in fact, it is most
undesirable, even if it is legal, that the cost should fall upon the
library rate. It is special work to assist the government of a town, and
should be paid for by the governing authority as a whole and quite apart
from ordinary library funds. In Milwaukee, where the Public Library
administers such a department, the city makes an annual appropriation of
five thousand dollars from the general city fund to be added to the
library’s revenue, and used only for municipal reference purposes. One
thousand pounds a year would possibly seem an excessive amount to the
average town council, but when it is remembered that such a library, by
the information it would afford, might save many more thousands of
pounds, the investment would seem to be an eminently satisfactory one.

=448.= America has anticipated us in this, as in many other library
matters, and such libraries of this character as she possesses have
proved to be quite successful. A large volume has already been devoted
by Mr J. B. Kaiser to the discussion of the practical methods in vogue
in this and collateral libraries. There, as here, stress is laid upon
the economy resulting from such work. It prevents the adoption of
ill-considered municipal schemes, or schemes which it shows to have been
a failure elsewhere. It provides examples of the successes of other
towns, and, therefore, gives the possessing town the best models upon
which to frame its own work. It is insisted, too, that this is work for
the librarian, and that it is useless to spend money upon the provision
of material and to place it in the charge of people who are not
specially equipped by education, experience, and technical training to
understand and focus the information contained in the library. What is
not so vital in America, because of the _comparative_ wealth of
libraries there (few of them are really over-financed), is the fact that
while this may form an important branch of the public library, it must
have a separate revenue.

=449.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kaiser, J. B. Law, Legislative and Municipal Reference Libraries,
1914.

Moore, H. K. Municipal Reference Libraries. _In_ Library Association.
Public Libraries: their development and future organization, 1917.

For articles see Special Libraries, vol. ii., p. 22, 1911; and
Cannons: G 60, Municipal Literature; L 122, Bibliography.

CHAPTER XXX

THE COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT

=450. General.=--The most recent development of library works which has
justified itself in practice has for its aim the provision of
information useful to commercial and business men. It is comparatively
new to this country but has been in vogue in America for some years
past, in particular in the Commercial Museum at Philadelphia, which is a
separate, self-contained institution. In Great Britain commercial
libraries have been established as part of the public library system at
Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham, Leeds and
elsewhere. The names of these towns indicate an important fact. Separate
comprehensive commercial libraries are expensive institutions, and are
only justified where a large demand for their services may be expected.
Smaller libraries may indeed have commercial departments in connexion
with their reference departments, but it is wiser to limit their stock
and work to the definitely local trades than to attempt a general
commercial service entirely beyond their means and probable needs.

=451. The Commercial Department.=--As distinct from the general
commercial library as established in the great towns we have named, the
commercial section in an ordinary library is a development of the
Information Desk. It specializes in local industries and trade, and on
that subject collects every form of printed and graphic material, the
standard text-books and works of reference, directories, year-books,
codes, reports and periodicals. These are classified and indexed
minutely, and are so disposed that ordinary questions which a business
man may be expected to ask can be answered as rapidly as possible. It is
what the Americans call “quick-fire reference work,” in which immediacy
of need and of its satisfaction are the prime requisites. We do not wish
to set limitations to any branch of library service, and if a librarian
can, without loss or inconvenience in other directions, include further
features from those described in the following sections, he should
certainly consider himself at liberty to do so; but this will rarely be
the case. The separate, highly-developed commercial library is
distinctly a work for the some half-dozen British cities which are
centres of great commercial and industrial populations.

=452. The Commercial Library.=--The need has long been felt in this
country for rapid access to current and standard commercial
intelligence, although it has not always been realized, and the need has
been accentuated by the Great War, which has made Great Britain more
than ever a competitor in the world-struggle. The Board of Trade has
established an intelligence department in London, and chambers of
commerce exist in most towns which have intelligence-work as part of
their reason for existence; but London is too far away for the
provincial man of business who wants immediate information, and the
chambers of commerce do not embrace in their membership more than a part
of the business community. Hence the desirability of fully-equipped,
skilfully-administered libraries.

At Glasgow, Liverpool and elsewhere the commercial library is housed in
a commodious, appropriate department as near to the business centre of
the city as possible. It is administered by the library authority, and
is in the immediate charge of a librarian skilled in classification,
filing and indexing, and the use of works of reference. The stock of the
library has been defined by Mr S. A. Pitt, the chief librarian of
Glasgow, as standard and current; the standard consisting of treatises,
encyclopædic works, code books, Government reports, Parliamentary
papers, and works on commercial law and business method; the current of
all kinds of fugitive papers and material of great temporary, but
probably very transient, interest, such as notices, reports, pamphlets,
leaflets, news-cuttings, catalogues and price-lists. To the standard
would be added directories of every trade, industry and profession, and
of every country, county and important town; atlases, maps, charts and
similar material would form an important part of the collection; and,
perhaps most important of all, every financial journal, trade
periodical, etc., in English, with a liberal supply of those in other
languages. The consular reports, and other Government publications,
including those of the Patent Office and other technical departments of
the Crown, should be included. Some of these can be obtained as a free
grant; many of them, strange to say, can only be obtained by purchase.

=453.= The methodology of such a library resembles that of the ordinary
reference library, with special emphasis on minute filing and indexing.
As much of the current information as possible should be on cards or in
vertical files in the most concise form; the business man has no time to
read lengthy material, nor can he afford to wait for it while the
commercial librarian slowly produces it--that is, as a rule; there are
times when a question demands a reference to London or to some other
place, which involves delay; but in the ordinary course, a quotation,
address, character of a firm, route, code, or some such information, is
wanted, and it should be forthcoming on the instant. The card index and
vertical file, and experience in the needs of readers, should eventually
lead to effective service. Much of the work is done by telephone, and a
complete telephone equipment is an essential of the library. The whole
resources of the general library system of the town are also at the
disposal of the user of the commercial library. The library also keeps
records of the specialities of the various manufacturers, traders, etc.,
of the town, of changes in their scope, management, and so forth; and an
index of translators, typing firms and others required at times by
business people. It must revise its material regularly and
systematically so that it may always be the latest.

=454.= To secure the best results co-operation with exchanges and
chambers of commerce is desirable; and in many places this seems to have
been forthcoming. At Glasgow, Bailie A. Campbell states that the
commercial libraries, as projected by librarians, “are to meet the wants
of the smaller commercial man, the tradesman, the man who pushes his
way, the men who have risen from nothing”; the others, presumably, are
provided for by the exchange and the chamber of commerce. At Manchester,
however, the commercial library is actually in the Royal Exchange, and
other cities have made their present progress through the co-operation
of the representative organizations of commercial men. Unless this is
forthcoming there seems not very much chance of success. It may be that
the commercial library, as now initiated by librarians, will in course
of time become the nucleus of a commercial institution or bureau in
which the branches of the Board of Trade, the Chamber of Commerce, and
the various Consuls may be housed, controlled in its operations by an
expert paid a very high salary, who shall be for the district a sort of
Minister of Commerce capable of guiding the commercial people. But that
is in the region of speculation.

=455. Technical Libraries.=--While the commercial library furnishes
information for the buyer and seller of commodities, the technical
library is concerned with information for the manufacturer and
operative; the question is therefore closely related to the question of
commercial libraries, and in some districts is the more important. In
large American libraries there is usually a separate department of the
reference library devoted to technology, but in this country the supply
of such books as this department would afford has been inadequate.
Lately considerable attention has been devoted to technical libraries,
and we may summarize a few of the results and recommendations.

=456. Local Industries.=--It is clear that municipal libraries have a
special interest in providing all literature possible on local
industries; text-books of the various trades, periodicals, patent
publications, reports, catalogues and similar matter should be collected
assiduously. This does not mean that every trade represented in the town
need be treated in an exhaustive manner, but the leading industries, by
which numbers of the townsfolk live, certainly should be. Examples of
such collections are those on engineering at Coventry, furniture at
Shoreditch, clocks and clock-making at Finsbury, coal-mining at Wigan,
and the leather trades at Northampton. Some of these, however, are
confined to books, in many cases perforce for lack of funds and personal
service; but the ideal, too often unrealized, is a collection of
material of all kinds of which books form only a part. Local means and
opportunities must determine how far any library can carry such a
collection--usually, at present, not very far; but as many works of
recognized value on the predominant industries should certainly be
stocked.

=457. Technical Collections Generally.=--Hitherto it has been the
province of the municipal library to supply general works in
technology, and the special libraries of individual industries have been
provided by the industry. This, in the view of the Ministry of
Reconstruction’s Adult Education Committee (Third Interim Report,
_Libraries and Museums_, 1919, Cd. 9237), should be the prevailing
method of the future. It is obvious that few public libraries can supply
expensive treatises on technical questions in which their own district
is not directly interested; even with a greatly increased library rate
they could not do so in any large measure. The greater cities may
perhaps acquire these books, but they could not supply more than one or
two copies. Too limited a view should not be taken in great towns,
because co-ordination and co-operation such as are implied in the
Joint-Technical Catalogues published at Glasgow bring the whole
resources of a wide area to a focus. In ordinary towns the present aim
should be to obtain the largest possible number of general and special
works in science and applied science, and to leave the supply of the
more expensive, recondite, and valuable but rarely used treatises to a
central reservoir library, which may be developed out of the Central
Lending Library for Students, perhaps with the aid of the special
libraries of the various institutions which represent trades and
professions. The main aim of the Library Association is to have a
central reservoir library established in London from which all libraries
may draw important little-used books; and the Ministry of
Reconstruction’s Committee adopt this idea as the basis of their scheme
for the co-ordination and re-organization of libraries.

In building up technical collections a library benefits greatly by
expert assistance; but the advice of several, and not one only, is very
desirable, since experts rarely agree on minute questions of books, and
each of any two experts cancels the idiosyncrasies of the other. But
experts can usually be found from neighbouring universities, or big
industrial concerns, who will give the library the benefit of their
knowledge, especially in assessing the value of older books. No section
of the library needs revision so frequently as the technical, unless it
be the commercial. This is more especially likely to be the case in
these next few years after the War, when all industrial advances made
from 1914 onwards will probably be recorded, to the superseding of many
previous books.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=458. Commercial Libraries:=

Dana, J. C, and Bull, S. B. Business Branch. _In_ Modern American
Library Economy, 1910.

Glasgow Corporation Libraries. Adams, Robert. A Commercial Library for
Glasgow, 1913.

---- Pitt, S. A. The Purpose, Equipment and Methods of the Commercial
Library, 1916.

Library Association. Interim Report on the Provision of Technical and
Commercial Libraries. _In_ Public Libraries: Their Development and
Future Organization, 1917, p. 114 [and separately].

Ministry of Reconstruction. Third Interim Report of the Adult
Education Committee: Libraries and Museums [Cd. 9237], 1919, p. 10.

Pitt, S. A., and Others. Commercial Libraries. _In_ Library
Association. Public Libraries (_vide supra_), p. 47.

Power, R. L. Boston’s Special Libraries, 1917.

Special Libraries, vol. i., 1911, _and to date_.

=459. Technical Libraries:=

See all literature in Section 458.

Hulme, E. W., and Others. Technical Libraries. _In_ Library
Association. Public Libraries (_vide supra_), p. 65.

The Library Association Record has been occupied largely with these
subjects from 1916, and reference should be made to its indexes.

For articles see Cannons: C 459-61, Commercial, Industrial and
Scientific Libraries; C 144, Commercial Libraries in U.S.; F 13,
Library in Relation to Industrial Education; G 53, Industrial
Collections; G 76, 78, Industrial and Trade Literature.

CHAPTER XXXI

READING-ROOM METHODS

=460. Newsrooms.=--The chief difference which exists in the composition
of British and American libraries is the frequent absence from the
latter of general reading rooms in which the principal newspapers are
displayed for public use. The newsroom has never been generally
recognized in the United States as a necessary department of a public
library, and, save in a few exceptional cases, these rooms are not to be
found in the average American public library. The nearest approach to
the British newsroom in America is the large magazine reading room, in
which all kinds of weekly and monthly periodicals are displayed. This is
substantially the same as a newsroom, but without the current numbers of
daily newspapers. There are reasons why the Americans do not encourage
newsrooms, and one is the enormous number of newspapers which exist in
every large town. The display of a representative selection of
newspapers and the cost of maintaining the department would occupy a
large space, and the funds would be spent to a considerable extent in
providing one of the least healthy forms of literature. But perhaps the
real reason for the American indifference to the newsroom is the
sensational and vulgar tone of a considerable portion of the newspaper
press. Some American newspapers are free from such undesirable and
objectionable features as sensational and untrue comments on current
events, vulgar personalities, exaggeration and misrepresentation,
objectionable and dangerous advertisements, and a very low level of
literary merit, but many are not. The best fugitive work of American
writers of any importance is to be found in the magazines and literary
weeklies, which offer a marked contrast in every respect, save perhaps
as regards advertisements, to the somewhat debased character of many
American daily newspapers. These are all reasons why newsrooms on the
British plan are not quite desirable in American libraries, and they
apply to a large extent to the altered conditions of recent British
journalism. Time was when the average British newspaper represented a
high standard of accuracy, fairness and literary ability, but since the
importation of many doubtful American methods, the character of the
press has to a large measure degenerated. Moreover, few British
newspapers are independent of political or corporation control, although
exceptions exist, and impartial reports of and comments upon news are
rare.

=461.= The stock arguments in favour of newspapers are reasonable, and
have a strong element of truth in them. They attract a class of reader
who would not otherwise come to the library at all, and satisfy the
literary aspirations of some ratepayers who might receive otherwise no
direct return for their rates. The presence of literary, technical and
commercial periodicals in the newsroom is also said to attract a large
number of interested readers, and no doubt it does; but this result
might be achieved independently of the newspaper element. Newspaper
readers are often a class apart; they rarely read anything else. _Real_
newspaper readers are comparatively few, and besides those who come for
the weekly periodicals, the newsroom attracts loafers, sporting men and
all kinds of hopeless individuals, to whom the comparative comfort of
the newsroom is an attraction. Mr George Gissing, in one of his
sketches, has drawn an exaggerated picture of such a newsroom haunter,
who suffers from a kind of neurosis which drags him irresistibly to a
public newsroom, there to indulge his morbid olfactory sense. The main
argument in favour of newsrooms is that they present representative
journals of every shade of opinion, and give the opportunity which is
badly needed of comparative reading. But it is a department which some
librarians think costs rather more than is justified by its actual
value. When the annual charges for periodicals, fittings, lighting,
heating, oversight and proportion of loan are all added together, it
will be found that a newsroom costs a very considerable amount, which
could be applied to more permanent advantage in a reference or lending
library. The smaller the library the greater is the proportionate cost,
and committees may seriously consider the question of limitation in
public newsrooms, at any rate so far as daily newspapers are concerned.
It is clearly a department where continual supervision is necessary,
where it is most difficult to enforce discipline, and one that gives
rise to continual public criticism.

=462.= A few years ago the practice of _blacking out_ the betting news
was adopted in some newsrooms, as an experimental device to discourage
the sporting element, which in some towns used to obstruct the greater
part of the newsrooms. This is mentioned, not as an example to be
followed, but as showing the shifts some library authorities have been
driven to in order to prevent abuses. This practice of obliteration is
now rare. Another suggestion for coping with the betting fraternity is
to cease buying or displaying the evening papers, or to procure them so
late as to make them useless for the purposes of the sporting element,
while not in any way penalizing the reader who comes after 7 p.m. As a
further suggestion for limiting the cost and obstructions of most
newsrooms in large towns, it has been proposed (1) that only the morning
daily papers be bought, for the benefit of the unemployed; (2) that the
“Situations Vacant” columns only be displayed from 7 or 8 till 11 a.m.;
(3) that the whole of them be removed at 11 o’clock, and their places
occupied by maps, charts, pictures of current topics, or other similar
broadside matter likely to interest and instruct.

=463.= In this way a newsroom might be greatly improved, and the
character of its work changed, without interfering with the use of the
illustrated periodicals, technical journals and trade papers displayed
on the tables. By utilizing the wall space only for newspapers, good
oversight is obtained and a certain amount of limitation is forced upon
the authority by mechanical means. In arranging newspapers on the
stands, care should be taken to separate the popular journals by a few
less popular ones, so as to avoid continuous crowding at one or two
points. The people who read newspapers should be distributed round the
walls as thinly as possible, and this can only be effected by spreading
the papers all round the available area.

=464.= In selecting newspapers for a newsroom great care should be taken
to represent all political parties, and at the same time to avoid as far
as may be the sensational element. All local papers should be taken, if
not for display at least for permanent preservation. The leading London
and provincial dailies should be taken, and a representative daily from
Scotland and Ireland, and the leading foreign newspapers in French and
German at least.

[Illustration: FIG. 165.--Double Newspaper Stand, Chelsea (Section
466).]

=465.= Newspapers are best displayed upon wall stands where possible, as
more oversight can be obtained, and the economy over standard slopes,
with papers on both sides, is undeniable. A newsroom fitted with
newspaper stands at right angles to the walls, and covering most of the
floor space, presents a somewhat crowded and obstructed appearance, and
it is impossible for the staff to thoroughly overlook it easily. Apart
from this a newsroom gains much in appearance, spaciousness and airiness
when the newspapers are relegated to the walls, well out of the way. The
weekly journals can be kept very conveniently on tables, as shown in
Sections 162-65, and it is sometimes found advantageous to secure them
by means of cords or chains as described in Section 163.

=466. Newspaper Stands.=--The present conditions of printing and
production seem to make the broadside style of newspaper a necessity in
all countries, and till some radical change in machinery is introduced
which will permit newspapers in pamphlet or small quarto form to be
produced rapidly, large stands for the display of newspapers will have
to be provided. Standard newspaper slopes either at right angles to
walls or distributed over the floor of a newsroom are not recommended,
for the reasons already given and because their cost is much greater.
They are necessary, however, in some cases, owing to considerations of
light and convenience, and the form and dimensions indicated will be
found useful (Figs. 165 and 166).

[Illustration: FIG. 166.--Double Newspaper Stand (Section 466).]

[Illustration: FIG. 167.--Wall Newspaper Stand (Section 467).]

=467.= Apart from the fact that an exclusive use of wall slopes leaves
the centre of the room free, it permits the titles and whereabouts of
newspapers to be more easily noticed. Wall slopes should be made to the
same dimensions as standards, save, of course, that only one face is
necessary. The lower part of the slope should project eighteen inches to
fifteen inches from the wall, to give a convenient angle for reading.
Too great a slope is not desirable, as it tends to throw the top of the
paper out of the reach and eye range of short people. This difficulty
has been met most satisfactorily by the system designed, we believe, by
Mr E. A. Savage for use at Wallasey. Here the slopes work on a central
pivot and move backwards and forwards to enable the top or bottom of the
paper to be read with ease, and are so balanced that they fall easily
and readily into their correct position when released. These slopes, it
may be added, are much lower than those usually adopted, and a reader
may be seated at them and may compass the whole paper thus. A small
beading or projection at the foot of the slope is frequently of use in
preventing papers from drooping.

=468. Newspaper Fittings.=--TITLES for newspapers should be fixed on the
stands over the centre of the spaces occupied by the papers. A
title-board about six inches high should be provided for the purpose. It
can be made to slide along a projection on the top of the stands if
grooved on its under side. On this the name-tablets of the newspapers
should appear in bold letters, not less than two inches high. These
tablets may be printed on paper or card, or may appear on enamelled,
metal or plate-glass tablets. There is a very large variety of such
name-tablets on the market, and choice will not be difficult. It is a
useful practice to attach to the fronts of the stands at intervals small
bone, metal or card tablets intimating that papers must be surrendered
to other readers after a certain period of warning has elapsed. A useful
form of such intimation is as follows:

[Illustration: FIG. 168.--Simplex Newspaper Holder (Section 469).]

[Illustration: FIG. 169.--Revolving Newspaper Holder with Clips (Section
469).]

=469.= HOLDERS.--There is a very large variety of rods, clips, and other
means for holding newspapers on their stands, and the following
illustrations will describe them better than words. A good form is used
in the public libraries of Hammersmith, Wolverhampton, Leicester,
Finsbury, Liverpool, etc., and consists of a pair of screw clips which
can be readily adjusted to any height of paper. These Simplex clips are
illustrated on the revolving rod. Fig. 168 is called the “Simplex”
newspaper rod, and is fastened to the bottom by means of a screw turned
by a key. It is used in the public libraries of Wolverhampton, Croydon,
Hull, West Ham, Glasgow, etc. Fig. 169 is a revolving holder which can
be adjusted to different sizes of illustrated periodicals, by means of
the sliding screw clips. It is intended for periodicals like the
_Graphic_, _Sketch_, _Architect_, etc., which frequently have large
folding plates running across two pages, and which cannot be
conveniently examined when the journal is secured to a stand. A special
form of separate wooden stand or easel is also made for such illustrated
journals, which will be found useful when room is scarce on the other
slopes.

=470.= Other fittings for newspaper slopes which are sometimes used are
metal leaning bars or fences to keep readers from leaning on the papers
and tearing them. These must be very strongly fastened at the foot of
the slope in such a position as to project about four to six inches from
the front. They should be held in strong brackets, as they have to
support a very considerable weight.

The sticks and rods for holding single or several newspapers, such as
are used for clubs and restaurants, are not particularly suitable for
public library use, unless under very exceptional circumstances.

One of the commonest abuses of the newsroom is the tearing or cutting
out of parts of newspapers (ladies frequently remove them with the
scratching of the point of a hat-pin!), especially of advertisements. It
is well to have a notice prominently displayed to the effect that this
is a penal offence, and that persons desiring to copy advertisements may
borrow pencil and paper for the purpose on application.

=471. Magazine Rooms and Periodicals.=--The newsroom may be made the
store for all the trade, technical and other weeklies which in any way
convey _news_ in their own particular fields; while the magazine room,
if provided separately, may be reserved for the monthly and quarterly
magazines, reviews and other miscellanies, which are not so much
vehicles for the spread of current news. This is a rough division, but
it seems a reasonable one for libraries where some distinction must be
made between newsrooms and magazine rooms. In the selection of
periodicals and magazines the same care should be taken as with
newspapers to choose only the best and most representative. Committees
should make it an invariable rule never to take any sectarian paper,
save as a donation, or in response to a widespread public demand. Church
and chapel papers are often forced upon libraries by their respective
partisans out of sheer rivalry, and when this sort of thing once begins
the library is sure to suffer by having to pay dearly for the
gratification of mere sectarian feeling. It is waste of money to
subscribe for the papers of this, that, and the other sect, on the
sentimental grounds of fair play all round, and of meeting the views of
large bodies of ratepayers in the same spirit as the wishes of trades or
professions are met by providing technical and other journals. But there
is this difference. A technical journal appeals to all sects, while a
sectarian journal does not, and, as a matter of fact, is seldom read by
its adherents once the honour of the faith is vindicated by having it
placed in the public library. Some libraries adopt the rule of refusing
all donations of periodicals in order to prevent the difficulties that
arise.

=472.= The arrangement of periodicals and magazines in their respective
rooms calls for some notice. There are several ways in actual use which
all prove satisfactory, and which are, nevertheless, very different in
application. The most common plan of displaying periodicals is to spread
them loose all over the tables in strong covers lettered with the
titles, and to try to maintain a rough alphabetical order. Another
method is to place the periodicals in their covers in racks as described
in Sections 162-65. The readers are expected to take what periodical
they want from these racks, read it at the tables, and return it to its
place in the rack. As a rule they either do not return them accurately
or they leave them lying on the tables. But in any case this method is
preferable to the plan of spreading them over the tables, as it acts in
a measure as an indicator to the periodicals in use. A third method is
to keep the whole of the periodicals off the tables or racks, and to
issue them from a counter or rack which is superintended by an
assistant. This can be done in a number of ways, but preferably by means
of an indicator such as is described in Section 393. The last plan is
one which has the advantage of providing each periodical with a fixed
place where it can always be found, though it entails the provision of a
separate chair and table space for every magazine, and so requires a
much greater amount of space than any of the other methods.

[Illustration: FIG. 170.--Adjustable Periodicals List (Section 474).]

=473.= With tables provided with racks in the manners shown in Section
165 the periodicals can be arranged alphabetically, or classified by
kind, and secured to the rack or table by means of stout cords or chains
covered with leather to prevent noise. If double-sided tables are
available, with divisions as described above, they should be provided.
Double-sided tables, especially if narrow, are not comfortable to sit
at, either on account of the knees, breath or manners of your
_vis-à-vis_, but when divided by means of a central partition, much of
this objection is removed. Except for the difficulty of providing space
for every separate periodical, it has been found, after trial of most of
the other methods, that the fixed plan, plus some convenient means of
inserting a new periodical at any point, is on the whole the most
satisfactory all round. It is a decided advantage for a reader to be
able to go straight to the place where the magazine he wants is fixed,
and to find it always there when directed to it from any form of
indicator or periodicals list. If the less popular or valuable
periodicals were placed in a rack similar to that shown in Section 165,
Fig. 49, the space required for displaying the better periodicals and
magazines would be considerably restricted in area, while there would be
a gain in space as well. The plan of keeping all the periodicals
together which deal with the same trade or subject is very advantageous,
and has the effect of removing the readers of lighter magazines, who are
sometimes of a restless type, from the more studious reader who wants
quiet.

=474.= In any plan of displaying periodicals on tables or racks a key to
the order should be provided in the shape of an adjustable periodical
list, which gives a complete list of every periodical or magazine
contained in a room. It is an appliance in which the name of every
periodical taken by the library is clearly displayed on a printed
movable slip in a glazed English oak frame. This frame has a movable
back to which are attached xylonite strips which retain the printed
titles of the magazines in place, enabling them to be arranged in any
order and to be added to or taken from at pleasure. Thus the name of a
withdrawn or defunct periodical can be easily removed and that of a new
one added.

=475.= The checking of periodicals and newspapers as received, and every
morning as they lie on the tables, should be done by means of special
records or checks. An effective form of check card for magazines or
periodicals as received from the newsagent is shown in Figs. 171-3. This
shows overdues at once, and enables a complete check to be kept on the
delivery of periodicals. One kind of ruling suffices for every kind of
periodical, daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly, and the cards are ruled
as in the figures below with heading and fifty-two lines to the page. If
necessary both sides can be ruled, and so one card can be made to last
for a long time.

In the cards for monthly periodicals the names of the months should be
written in advance, the dates of receipt being added against each month
as the magazine is received. In the case of weeklies and dailies the
numbers are to be entered number by number as received. An overdue can
be noticed at once by anyone going over the cards, by simply noting that
a weekly due on Friday, the day previous to the actual date of
publication, has not been entered. These cards should be examined for
overdues daily in the case of dailies, and every Friday evening or
Saturday morning in the case of weeklies and monthlies. If each kind is
stored in a suitable box or portfolio the checking and marking-off can
be done with great rapidity. These cards can also be used for annuals,
society publications, etc. In the latter case the year can be written at
the top of the column, and the publications received for the
subscription can be written in the column lengthways. If nothing has
been received by the middle of any year, the society can be notified.
But the irregularity of society and other subscription publications is a
feature which requires a good deal of watching, and a card check of some
kind is essential.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| _Cornhill Magazine._ _Annual Cost_, 9s. |
| |
| _Vendor_, Jones & Co. _Due about_ 28th. _Location_, Rack 30. |
+-----+------+-----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+
| 19|01. | 19|02. | 19|03. | 19|04. | 19|05. | 19|06. |
+-----+------+-----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+
|No. | Rec. | | | | | | | | | | |
|Jan. |Dc. 28| | | | | | | | | | |
|Feb. |Jn. 29| | | | | | | | | | |
|Mar. |Mar. 1| | | | | | | | | | |
|Apl. | | | | | | | | | | | |
|May | | | | | | | | | | | |
| |
|The ruling continues for 52 lines. |

FIG. 171.--Periodicals Check Card, Blue (9¼″ × 6″), showing Arrangement
for Monthlies (Section 475).

+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| 1901.| 1902.| | | | | | | | | | |
+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Jun. 1|Jun. 2| | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 8| „ 9| | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 15| „ 16| | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 22| „ 23| | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 29| „ 30| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |

FIG. 172.--White Card, showing Arrangement for Weeklies (Section 475).

+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|< | | 19|01. | | >|< | | 19|02. | | >|
+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Jun. 1| | | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 3| | | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 4| | | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 5| | | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 6| | | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 7| | | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 8| | | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 10| | | | | | | | | | | |
| „ 11| | | | | | | | | | | |

FIG. 173.--Buff Card, showing Arrangement for Dailies (Section 475).

=476.= The morning check of periodicals as they lie on the tables should
be done by an assistant armed with a list, written or printed on a card,
by means of which he or she can follow the order of all the periodicals
as they are arranged on stands, tables or racks. Anything missing should
be noted on a separate slip of paper, and entered in the work-book. The
initials of the checker should also be written in the work-book in the
space provided. (See Section 89.) The librarian should receive the check
slip if anything is missing. In similar fashion the assistant who
examines the periodical check cards for overdues should notify the
librarian of any numbers not promptly received.

The filing of magazines and newspapers may be done in a variety of ways.
Newspapers should be kept in order on special racks, in piles, with a
suitable board underneath to act as a runner and support, and a sheet of
cardboard or glazed casing paper above to prevent the settling of dust.
Periodicals and magazines may either be kept in special cloth-covered
boxes made to take a whole or half-year’s numbers, as the case may be,
or kept on boards in the same manner as newspapers. In both cases
alphabetical order of titles will be found a suitable arrangement. The
plan of placing the numbers of a periodical as done at the Mitchell
Library, Glasgow, seems a simple and effective manner of dealing with a
large number of files. This is illustrated in Fig. 174.

=477.= It is not advisable to reserve anything, either for binding, or
preservation for a time, and it is wise to make up a list of periodicals
and newspapers which it is intended to keep, file them, and give all
the remainder away to poorhouses, asylums or similar institutions.
Sometimes they can be sold at half-price as withdrawn from the tables,
but in most cases all matter of this kind has to be sold as waste-paper.

=478.= The only satisfactory method of counting the attendances in
general reading rooms is by means of a recording turnstile. All other
methods of occasional counts and the striking of averages are
unreliable. The demand for statistics is sometimes so strong,
unfortunately, that librarians are driven to satisfy their committees as
to the use made of reading rooms, and in the absence of a turnstile the
best thing to do is to take whole-day counts as follows: on a Monday in
January; Tuesday in February; Wednesday in March, etc.; divide the total
by twelve, and multiply the average thus obtained by the number of days
open. Every individual who enters or re-enters must be counted. This
gives a mere approximation to the actual attendance, but is a better and
more reasonable plan than counting the readers present in the rooms
every hour or half-hour, adding the totals together, and reckoning the
result as the day’s attendance.

[Illustration: FIG. 174.--Periodicals File (Section 476).]

As an aid in keeping order in public newsrooms it is a good plan to
frame a few copies of the 1898 “Act to provide for the Punishment of
Offences in Libraries,” and to hang them in conspicuous places, along
with the admonitory notices regarding “Silence,” etc. The official
appearance of a framed Act of Parliament has a daunting effect upon a
certain type of mind, and has been found to act as a check upon sporting
and loafing individuals.

=479. Women’s Rooms.=--About eighty public libraries in Britain have
provided separate rooms for the use of women, but it is doubtful if such
accommodation is really necessary, and they have not been uniformly
successful. To a certain extent the matter depends upon the locality. If
there is plenty of room in the building there is no harm in making this
extra provision, if the room can be properly overlooked, but in cases
where space is limited, it is a mistake to cramp the rest of the
building for the sake of a somewhat sentimental idea. A few extra women
of a fidgety or timid sort may be attracted to the library because of
this exclusive accommodation, but the great majority of women prefer to
use the ordinary departments of a public library on the same footing and
conditions as men, and resent distinctions, such as the room implies. If
women can use the crowded spaces in front of restricted lending
libraries, and can mix with men in open lending libraries, they can
surely use the other public rooms without harm or inconvenience.

=480. Public Lavatory Accommodation.=--This is perhaps a convenient
place to mention lavatory accommodation for the public. It should not be
provided by public library authorities at all, unless to a limited
extent for the use of reference library readers, or for social meetings
in connexion with lecture rooms. It is the duty of the sanitary or
public health authorities to provide this kind of public accommodation,
and not library boards with painfully limited funds. Somewhere adjacent
to the library building provision of this kind can be made by the local
authority, and it will be found a convenience to the public and a relief
to the library funds.

=481.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

No monograph. For articles see Cannons: E 69 _et seq._, Newsrooms; D
38-9, Racks and Stands; E 70-4, Fittings and Notices; E 78, Ladies’
Rooms.

DIVISION XIII

LIBRARY WORK WITH CHILDREN

CHAPTER XXXII

THE CHILDREN’S DEPARTMENT

=482. General Considerations.=--The declaration of the Library
Association that library work with children is the foundation of all
other library work represents, so far as Great Britain is concerned, an
ideal rather than an accomplished fact. The will to make provision for
the child has not been lacking, but the means at the disposal of library
committees have hitherto been insufficient for other activities, and the
child has necessarily been dealt with in a parsimonious manner.
Undoubtedly, in circumstances hitherto prevailing, the axiom that to
pursue work for children at the expense of the efficiency of the library
as a whole is to defeat its very purpose, is true. But from
comparatively early times the book needs of the children have been
recognized. So long ago as 1882 Nottingham possessed a reading room for
children, and, with intervals, such departments have been multiplied,
and there is now hardly a town of any size which does not make _some_
provision for young readers. The object of the children’s department is
to provide the intellectual workshop for the use of the child. He is
taught to use intellectual tools in the school, but the library provides
him with the material upon which they may be exercised. Usually the
department serves children from the age of six to the age of fourteen.
In a completely organized department there are library, reading
department, and study corners; and such activities as story hours,
lectures, reading circles, and the keeping of festivals are maintained.

=483. What has been Done.=--Separate, distinctive children’s departments
are a quite modern institution. Hitherto, in the majority of libraries,
an alcove, or a number of shelves, have been set aside for children’s
books in the adult lending department, and no provision has definitely,
been made for newspapers, magazines and other reading material for the
young. Many difficulties have arisen from this arrangement. The age of
admission to libraries is usually fourteen, and children under this age,
except in special circumstances, have been limited to books in the
shelves allocated to children. But children of eleven or twelve
frequently require books which cannot by any ordinary reasoning be
regarded as juvenile works; and on every such occasion special
concessions have been made, the requiring and the granting of which are
irritating both to the child and the librarian, however liberal-minded
the latter may be, and therefore subversive of the best results. More
recently the age of fourteen has been regarded as too high, and in some
towns twelve, or even ten, years has been regarded as a suitable age at
which children may be given the freedom of the whole lending department.
This seems better, and where such low age limits have been set the
results have been good. It is obvious, however, that the limited
provision we have described in this section is not calculated to prove
the “foundation of all library work.”

=484. Children’s Libraries.=--From these considerations has developed
the modern children’s department as an entirely separate part of the
library, equivalent in rank and importance to the adult lending or
reference departments. In England the most elaborate system of such
libraries is that at Cardiff, but many other towns, including Glasgow,
Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Islington, Chelsea, Hampstead, Coventry,
St Helens, and Nottingham, have such separate departments, and every
modern librarian in planning a library system provides for them. The
limits of this _Manual_ do not permit of an exhaustive study of the many
varieties of children’s libraries and their manifold activities, but an
outline of the methods most commonly in vogue here and in America (where
the work is far more highly developed than here) are an integral part of
our work.

The children’s department, then, should be an apartment as effective in
architectural character as any other department: well-lighted, spacious,
lofty, and decorated tastefully. These factors are overlooked at times,
sometimes, unfortunately, of necessity; but we insist upon them,
because the atmosphere induced by a handsome and suitable library is
necessary if we are, first, to avoid ruffling the sensitiveness of
children who are as jealous of their rights in the public libraries as
are adults; and, second, to create that feeling of reverence and respect
for books which is a factor in obtaining discipline in the apartment. An
ill-lighted, crudely-decorated basement is sometimes devoted to the
purpose, and this may have its uses, but it is certain to fall short
lamentably of the full possibilities of a children’s library. The
apartment being provided, several problems have to be settled. The
systems in existence differ in different places. In some towns the
children’s department is a reading room and reference library merely,
and books are not lent for home reading. It is thought, in such cases,
that the children can best be provided with books for home reading
through a system of school libraries, such as we describe in the next
chapter. This, however, seems to ignore the fact that such school
libraries are usually restricted to public and council schools, that
there are other kinds of schools in every town, and large numbers of
children, therefore, who have not access to school libraries; and their
claims to library facilities are as strong as those of public and
council school children. Such is the system in vogue, we believe, at
Cardiff. In other towns the department embraces lending library, reading
room, and reference library, and good examples of these are to be seen
at Islington. Here the room is divided into two parts, the smaller part
being an open access lending library, and the greater part a reading
room, with special tables set apart for quiet study, and containing a
carefully-chosen collection of reference books. These methods have both
great advantages, and are worthy of rather more detailed consideration.

[Illustration: FIG. 175.--Children’s Hall, Cathays Branch Library,
Cardiff (Section 485).]

=485. The Reference-Reading Method.=--We have used this name for want of
a better to indicate the system which limits the use of the contents of
the room to the room itself---a system, we may add, which has been
approved by the Conference of Librarians held at Manchester in 1918, as
the better of the two described. The library is usually a large room
with wall-cases for books upon two or three sides of the room, but with
one wall left blank and whitened for use as a lantern screen, and
intervals of the walls covered with baize screens upon which pictures,
bulletins, lists, etc., can be displayed. Part of the room is reserved
for children who desire to do home lessons, or make special study, or
who wish (as is more frequently the case than is generally supposed) to
become authors. For these, small desks, separate if possible, are
provided, and the use of ink is permitted. Another set of tables is
allocated to such newspapers and periodicals as are suitable for
children. The selection of the latter is a matter requiring special
care. Good daily newspapers may be provided--_The Daily Graphic_, for
instance, is interesting to most children--but there is a real need for
a definitely children’s _newspaper_, one that presents in a manner
attractive to the child mind a selection of the matter occurring in the
ordinary newspaper; the recognized children’s periodicals in English and
French, and in other languages where circumstances warrant it; such
“instructive” periodicals as those teaching shorthand, languages, how to
make things, and simple “trade” periodicals; as well as a selection of
such weekly journals as _The Illustrated London News_ and _The Graphic_.
Children are more virile mentally than is sometimes supposed, and many
ostensibly adult periodicals are quite suitable for them. The remainder
of the room may be devoted to tables or desks for the reading of the
books from the cases.

=486. Lending Library.=--All the features enumerated in the foregoing
section should be found in the department which has also a lending
library, except that the number of books to be provided for reading in
the room will probably be smaller, and fewer book-cases will in that
case be necessary. The lending section will be conducted on principles
similar to those governing the adult lending library, with such
adaptations as experience suggests to be desirable. Simplicity is the
keynote of the work, and the regulations governing the issue of readers’
tickets and the lending of books should be made as easy and unambiguous
as possible. A few of these may be mentioned:

1. Children should be permitted to borrow books upon the
recommendation of the head teacher of the school they attend. In some
libraries a more definite guarantee is required to prevent possible
loss and to recover the cost of loss or damages, as it is obvious that
the teacher cannot be expected to accept financial responsibility in
this connexion and would undoubtedly refuse to do so; and these
require the children to be guaranteed by burgesses in the same manner
as adult readers. It will be found, however, that children have
frequently some difficulty in finding a guarantor; even parents at
times refuse to bind themselves in this way; and, with careful
supervision, the teacher’s recommendation will be found to be
effective. A good form of application is as follows:

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| SCHOOL READERS UNDER 12 YEARS |
| |
| .............................................. _No._ ........... |
| |
| NEWTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. |
| |
| _To be signed by the Applicant._ |
| |
| I, the undersigned, being a scholar, under twelve years of age, |
| at .......................................................... |
| School, apply for a Ticket enabling me to borrow books from a |
| Lending Library, in accordance with the Rules, which I promise to |
| obey. |
| |
| _Name in full_................................................... |
| |
| _Address_........................................................ |
| |
| _Age_.................... _Date_.............................. |
+====================================================================+
| _To be signed by the Head Teacher of the School the Applicant |
| attends._[1] |
| |
| I, the undersigned, am of opinion that the above Applicant may be |
| trusted to use the Libraries carefully, and to his/her advantage. |
| |
| _Signed_......................................................... |
| |
| _Head Teacher of_.........................................School. |
| |
| _Date_........................... |
| |
| [1] _The signing of this Voucher does not involve the Head |
| Teacher in any financial responsibility._ |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 176.--Voucher for Children (Section 486). The back is the ordinary
guarantee, as Fig. 135.

2. Children should be permitted to borrow books on the application of
the head of their household. In this case the householder may be
expected to assume the responsibilities of any ordinary guarantor.

3. In ordinary circumstances a child should be permitted to borrow one
book only at a time, and should not be permitted to change it for
another more frequently than once a week.

We desire to avoid controversial matter in this _Manual_, and this
provision, we expect, is open to criticism; indeed, when it was
suggested elsewhere an American librarian remarked that it “seemed
unnecessary.” British librarians, however, have actually been
requested by teachers to make these restrictions on the arguments that
few children do any comparative reading, and that still fewer can
read more than one book in a week and at the same time do their home
lessons and spend as much time in outdoor recreation as is needful for
their health. Another less satisfactory reason is that some librarians
have found the child population, when not so restricted, crowding the
lending library to such an extent that their staffs have been unable
to maintain the discipline without which effective work is impossible,
or to meet the demands of the children. Such librarians have divided
their register of children alphabetically, and children whose names
begin with certain letters are admitted to the lending library only on
certain days.

4. The rules should embody simple provisions governing the duration of
loan (usually fourteen days are allowed, but circumstances may warrant
an extension of this time), cleanliness, care of books, and the
disposal of books in cases where the child or any member of the
household is in contact with infection.

A difficult matter is what, if any, penalties should be inflicted upon
children in the case of undue detention of books or for other offences.
Fines are sometimes imposed, as in the adult library, but often they
cannot be recovered without great trouble, and they should usually be
remitted when any reasonable excuse can be offered. Many children cannot
obtain the necessary pence, except from their parents, and to press for
fines frequently means that the child will be forbidden the use of the
library by the parents. In this matter the librarian should have the
fullest discretion. Persistent offenders are effectively dealt with by
the suspending of their tickets for a time; but we do not wish to insist
upon this method, as the librarian naturally desires to have books used
rather than to prevent their use. Lost books must be replaced by parents
as a matter of course whenever it is possible to get at them; and the
teacher will often lend his powerful assistance in securing the return
or replacing of missing volumes, and, indeed, in seeing that the library
rules generally are observed by his pupils. Co-operation and sympathy
between librarian and teacher are first essentials of successful work.

=487. Furniture and Fittings.=--The furnishing of the children’s room
is governed by the considerations explained in Division V., but again
with adaptations dictated by the fact that the furniture is for children
and not for adults. Desks, tables, chairs, reading slopes, etc., should
be of such heights that they can be used with comfort. In regard to
tables and chairs, 25¼ inches is a suitable height for the former and
14¼ inches for the latter. Book-cases should be approximately 6½ feet in
height as against 7 feet for adults. Such rigid furnishing as that which
provides long narrow desks resembling school forms for the children, so
arranged that the children all face one way, is to be deprecated. Tables
which provide the maximum of space, comfort and seclusion are as
desirable for this room as for any other. Each periodical and reader
requires three feet of lateral space, and there should be three feet
between each table, or four where the space is a gangway. Screens of
some soft wood, covered with baize, should be placed on the walls, at
intervals; and a blackboard and an optical lantern are valuable parts of
the equipment. Any space that may remain on the walls may be devoted to
pictures, which need not be many, but should be large, deal with
definite subjects, and be good of their kind. These are the more obvious
differences between the children’s and the adult departments, except
that in some libraries lavatory accommodation is provided in order that
children may wash their hands before entering the library proper. Such
accommodation has distinct advantages, as many children come into the
department straight from playing in the street, and it is rather hard to
refuse them admission because their hands are not in a suitable state
for the using of books. On the other hand, strict supervision of such
accommodation is necessary, and this is difficult to provide on account
of the increased cost involved.

=488. Book Selection.=--A few principles governing the selection of
books for children may be given here, drawn from an immense mass of
written material upon the subject. In a general way it may be asserted
that the child is the best judge of its own literature, and the classics
for children survive as such simply because they receive the continued
suffrages of children. Excellent bibliographies and lists exist,
especially American ones, and many libraries have issued catalogues of
their children’s libraries. A comparison of these is a necessary
preliminary to stocking the department. Catholicity and a not too rigid
insistence upon high literary merit are proper attitudes, because there
is no exact definition of a children’s book, and any book likely to be
used by children should be regarded as suitable; and the variations in
taste and capability of children are so great that if there is too
pronounced insistence upon high literary quality many children will
neglect the books provided. It is better to commence with a lower
average of merit and attract children, and then, by placing better books
in their way, to improve their tastes without too much obtruding of the
fact upon them. By this it is not meant that worthless books are to be
included, but there are undoubtedly books having no claim to high rank
which are wholesome and harmless. A preponderating part of the lending
stock will be of fiction--perhaps twenty per cent. of it--and here the
librarian has the accumulated experience of other librarians to assist
his selection, and, with regard to contemporary writings, they are not
so numerous that the characteristics of any given author cannot easily
be tested. Books of classic rank should be available in such numbers
that there are always enough copies to meet the current demand and at
the same time to leave a copy on the shelves. A librarian should never
be compelled to reply to a child that _Ivanhoe_, _The Last of the
Mohicans_, _Alice in Wonderland_, _Robinson Crusoe_, or _The Jungle
Book_, for example, is “out.” It is questionable whether abridged or
adapted versions or extracts from classics should be stocked; they often
give children an entirely false impression of the work they represent,
and as a general rule works that may be “extracted” for children should
be provided in their original form. A “Bowdlerized” Shakespeare is an
objectionable work; the more virile or doubtful parts of the complete
plays rarely touch children or are understood by them. In other classes
of literature great discretion must be exercised. A balanced selection
covering the whole field of knowledge should be the aim, and although
there are still many blank spaces in this field, there are fortunately
thousands of works on the arts, sciences, history, biography, and,
indeed, upon most subjects, eminently adapted to children. Mere
simplicity is not the first essential of such books. Children of quite
tender years can make use of many books which are not intended primarily
for them, and these may frequently be admitted with great advantage.
The intrinsic side of selection may be summarized briefly: Admit all
books which appeal to children so long as they are in good English, have
no immoral tendency, do not bring the sanctities of life into ridicule,
are accurate, and have a worthy quality of humour. This last condition
is important. The average child has not a very refined sense of humour,
he prefers it of a concrete quality, without irony or sarcasm, and too
often founded upon human depravity, deformity and misfortune; this taste
must be counteracted.

=489.= The physical side of books is only less important than the
literary, a fact frequently overlooked. Good, legible, well-inked type,
good paper, well-drawn, coloured and accurately-registered illustrations
should always be sought. There is an æsthetic value in books which
should not be neglected, and this is absent from ill-produced works; and
the eyesight of children should be guarded from small or illegible
print. Bindings should be strong and durable, an almost impossible
condition at the present day when cheap machine-made cases are the rule.
The life of the book of to-day in continual use is at best only a few
months. Before the European War publishers were gradually introducing
reinforced and other strong bindings for children’s books, and it is to
be hoped that this desirable practice will in due course be resumed.

=490.= Recent events have so affected the book-market that any rigid
estimate of the average cost of books would be futile, as being subject
to probable immense fluctuations. Five years ago 3s. 6d. was a fair
average price for a lending library book for young readers; at the time
of writing 5s. would be nearer the sum that would have to be paid. It
can only be assumed that a considerable time will elapse before books
will return to their original prices. Any other assumption would be
unwise.

=491. Administration.=--Primary factors in successful work are freedom
of access, the maintenance of proper but not oppressive discipline, and
the administration of the department by a specially trained and
qualified staff. Ruskin’s theory that a child should be let loose in a
good library to choose or reject as he wills has proved to be
satisfactory in practice, and to promote that sense of personal
proprietorship in the library which it is desirable that he should
possess. Other reasons for the open access system are the opportunities
it gives for close contact between the child and the librarian, of the
opportunities it gives the child of learning what treasures are at his
disposal, in addition to every other advantage which may be said to
accrue to the system when used for adult readers. The hours of opening
should be governed by the school hours; that is to say, it is hardly
ever necessary to open during school hours; and the library should close
at a reasonable hour in order that children may not be induced to remain
there at times when they ought to be in their homes. These hours differ
in different localities. At holiday times, however, the library should
be accessible during the greater part of the daytime.

=492.= Discipline, it has been well remarked, is the problem of the
children’s department. While the dragooning methods of the parish beadle
would be deplorably out of place, it is impossible to agree with the
American librarian who declares that “children usually do not mind noise
and crowding,” because, even if in theory they do not, it is impossible
to carry on effective work in conditions of congestion and noise. Too
precise a method would defeat its object, but it would seem wise to
limit the admissions at any time to such numbers as may be controlled
easily by the librarian. Mr L. Stanley Jast has gone so far as to affirm
that the children should not be more than can easily be “contacted by
the librarian,” on the ground that more efficient work can thus be done.
It is a matter upon which a decision can only be made from a knowledge
of the conditions and the character of the child population. Clearly,
however, a qualification in a successful children’s librarian is the
power to keep order, to prevent practical joking, loud conversation and
laughter in the reading room. Firmness displayed with kindness, but with
decision, and the excluding of unrepentant offenders have been found to
be effective.

=493.= The training of the children’s librarian is special and
necessary. In England it has not been developed in any degree
commensurate with the need, and our ideals in this matter must be drawn
from our American cousins. They require a sound preliminary education in
the candidate, a knowledge of the broader lines of general library
administration, and, added to these, a study of the child mind,
practical social service work, the study of the bibliography of juvenile
literature, and practice--usually gained by actual work in children’s
rooms--in story-telling, subject-hunting, bulletin-making, and similar
matters. Cataloguing, classification, the preparing of attractive lists,
etc., for children are all somewhat modified from the forms in use in
the grown people’s departments, and all are treated specially. All these
studies premise that the librarian has the requisite “personality,” and
this is a matter of natural inheritance rather than of training. In
Europe this special training can only be gained in the children’s room,
and, as a matter of fact, is not always gained. Too often librarians
have perforce been obliged to hand the conduct of the department to any
member of the staff who might be available at the time. This state of
affairs must receive attention if the children’s department is to
accomplish its purpose. Probably the ordinary training of the Froebel
system superadded to general library training is the best preparation
that can be given to the British children’s librarian at present.

=494. Activities of the Department.=--To bring the child into contact
with the proper book is the aim of the department. Free choice amongst
books will suffice in a number of instances; but such passive methods
will not always secure good results. The assistant in charge must win
the confidence of the children and guide them in the most unobtrusive
manner possible to the books likely to be of interest and use. Various
active methods are in use to gain this end. The most popular of these is
the Story Hour.

=495.= It has been premised that children from six to fourteen years of
age will frequent the department, and there is a vast range of ability
and taste in children in the various years between these ages. Little
children require simple large-print books with plenty of illustrations,
and may be drawn to them if story-telling forms part of the librarian’s
activities. Story hours, indeed, are most attractive to children of all
ages. They are given informally, the children usually being grouped
round the librarian in a half-circle while she tells them a fairy story,
or stories drawn from the greater writers, from history, poetry, or what
not. The connexion between the story hour and the after reading of the
books which contain the stories is clear. Such story-telling requires
special and intelligent study, good elocution, fluency and the sense of
the dramatic. The objection frequently offered to the work is that it is
harmful to children for them to hear a story by a great writer delivered
in inferior language and brokenly by an indifferent librarian. This,
however, is purely a matter of experience and training, and there are
admirable manuals of story-telling method by Miss Marie Shedlock, Miss
L. M. Olcott, and others which may help in this matter. Otherwise the
value of the work is undoubted. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh sets
the standard which has general approval. There it is found that groups
of thirty children are convenient in size, although it is often
necessary to have larger groups. “To the younger children miscellaneous
stories are told, selected chiefly from the folk-tales of various
countries, legends, myths, fables, modern realistic stories and Bible
stories. Two stories are usually told to each group, and whenever
possible variety is given by the selection of stories of different
types. Poems and nursery rhymes are occasionally included in these
programmes. Special days are celebrated if stories can be found which
express the spirit of the holiday and are sufficiently dramatic in form.
The same stories are sometimes repeated during the year because of the
deeper impression made through repetition, and the value to children of
an intimate acquaintance with a few of the best things in literature
appropriate for them. If something new is given each time, the
impressions are confused and dissipated, and material which is either
beyond a child’s appreciation or unsuitable for story-telling must
finally be used. When an additional story is told, and the children are
allowed a choice, the story requested is almost without exception a very
old and well-known one. To the older children some of the great cycle
stories are presented by telling one story each week. High adventure and
romance, as depicted in these hero tales, have a special appeal to the
boy and girl from ten to fifteen, and at this age interest is easily
sustained.”[17]

[17] Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. _Stories to Tell to Children._
See List at end of this division.

=496.= More formal lectures prove entirely successful with children,
the difficulty as a rule being to find accommodation for the numbers who
desire to attend them. They differ from lectures given to adults
principally in the fact that they are simpler, but not always even in
this particular. Lecturing to children demands a freedom of manner and
from mannerisms, decision and fluency; and it will be found that the
audience is one of the most critical a lecturer can encounter. All the
conditions of definite, clear and accurate subject-matter, refined
humour, etc., which are required in books are also required in the
lecture. Such subjects as the history of inventions and historical
episodes appeal strongly to boys, but perhaps not so greatly to girls,
who find nature, literary and similar lectures more to their
taste--although dogmatic statement on this point is entirely unwise. The
judicious use of lantern slides, pictures and exhibits enhances these
lectures, but many subjects are better treated without them. Pictures of
characters in works of imagination, for example, often destroy the
child’s own, and therefore more valuable, conception of the characters.
Good discipline is essential to successful lectures, and this depends
upon the lecturer; uneasiness in the audience usually means that it is
bored, and the lecturer is wise to consider it thus.

=497.= Reading clubs and circles often form part of the activities of
the department. In these the members, who are admitted to them formally,
undertake to read through some special book under the guidance of a
leader who, of course, may be a member of the library staff, although an
older child may be induced to become leader. Usually the children read
the prescribed portion of the book privately, and at the circle they go
over it, talk about it, ask questions, and look at pictures, maps and
other books that may throw more light on their reading or increase its
interest.

=498.= A valuable auxiliary of story hours, lectures and reading circles
is a collection of illustrations. Such collections are becoming a
feature of some British, and have long been used in American, libraries.
The collection is made up of illustrations abstracted from all suitable
sources, worn-out books, periodicals, catalogues, advertisements, etc.,
in addition to pictures separately published. Each picture is mounted
individually upon a mount of standard size--12½ inches by 10½ inches for
the greater number, and 17 inches by 13½ inches for larger pictures
have been proved to be quite suitable--of manila, art paper, or some
similar stiff material; and the pictures are minutely classified, and
may be filed in closed pamphlet boxes, or, better, vertically in a
filing cabinet. Systematic abstracting of such illustrations for the
available sources of an ordinary library will soon produce a large
collection. The rule to be observed is that the pictures must illustrate
some fact, scene or object. Pictures from the average modern novel,
views of scenes which may be found in any country, “pretty” pictures,
etc., have practically no value. An exception may be made in favour of
illustrations of classic works by distinguished artists, but for the
reasons advanced against lantern slides in illustrating such works even
this is doubtful. The collection should be available not only in the
department, they should also be lent to teachers for use in class work
in school and to reading circles and other people who may desire to use
them. Such pictures may form the basis of what is called bulletin work.
On suitable occasions, holidays, birthdays of great men, anniversaries
of all kinds, and as illustrating current events, pictures should be
displayed on screens in the room in conjunction with brief lists of
illustrative books. Sometimes bulletins are specially made for such
occasions if an assistant with the necessary artistic ability is
available; attractive borders, small appropriate sketches and similar
embellishments are added to the pictures and lists. It is possible,
however, that the bulletin may exercise too great a fascination over its
maker and too much time be spent upon it; but within limits the bulletin
is an excellent device for drawing the attention of children.

=499.= At all seasonable times additional activities recommend
themselves, but extravagance should be avoided. Exhibits of many kinds,
wild flowers in their seasons, and the common objects and fauna of the
district, are frequently displayed with satisfactory results; and,
indeed, on every opportunity the librarian should make the room of
current living interest to the children.

=500.= In almost all these activities voluntary help from interested
people may be had and should be welcomed. Large picture collections have
in some places been provided almost entirely by this means, and every
town has people in it who would help as lecturers, leaders of circles,
collectors and arrangers of exhibits. The wider the lay interest taken
in the department, provided it is directed judiciously, the greater its
success is likely to be.

=501. Library Lessons.=--Library lessons may form a useful part of the
activities of the department. Teachers may bring their classes to the
libraries in school hours and give lessons on subjects in connexion with
the ordinary school lessons. Such lessons are frequently given in the
Cardiff children’s rooms, and in giving them the teachers use the books,
illustrations, maps and other material in the rooms, and are able to
reinforce these with books or materials from the adult departments.
There is a novelty in lessons given in such conditions which removes
them in the child’s mind from ordinary lessons and gives them emphasis.
A pleasure is added to them if the children are allowed a space at their
conclusion in which they may indulge in individual reading according to
their own choice from the shelves.

=502.= The library is perhaps more directly concerned with lessons in
which the library itself is the subject taught, and these lessons fall
to the staff. A preliminary lesson may consist of a simple demonstration
of the purpose and means of access to the library--its divisions,
cataloguing and classification, and an exercise in finding books; and
this may be followed by other lessons on the making, use and care of
books; and other lessons may follow on reference work, subject-hunting,
the use of periodical indexes, bibliographical aids, dictionaries, maps,
etc. They must be purely objective to succeed, and everything described
should be placed before the children. These lessons are also given as a
rule in school hours, and inspectors have shown themselves willing to
regard them as part of the school curriculum. Their value both to the
children and to the libraries is very great.

=503. Classification and Cataloguing.=--The classification and catalogue
methods of the department should be preliminary to those of the adult
departments; but they may be simpler with advantage. Young children
would probably find the decimal classification in its orthodox form too
intricate. At the same time the system that they use should be in its
essentials the main classification of the library. The following
simplified form of the decimal system may be suggestive; it is not meant
to be more than that:

0 General Works

01 Bibliographies. Aids to Reading, Catalogues, etc.
03 Encyclopædias
05 Children’s magazines
07 Newspapers

1 Philosophy

10 General
17 Temperance
19 Conduct

2 Religion

20 General
22 The Bible and Bible Stories
29 Mythology. Stories involving the Gods

3 Sociology

30 General
32 Government
35 Army
36 Navy
37 Schools and Colleges
39 Etiquette, Customs
395 Legends, Folk-lore
Fairy Tales go in 833

4 Language

40 General
42 Grammars and Readers
45 Composition, Essay-writing, Précis-writing

5 Science (Mathematical and Natural)

50 General
51 Mathematics, Arithmetic, Geometry
52 Astronomy
53 Physics, Electricity
54 Chemistry
55 Earth, Sea, Air (Geology, Oceanography, and Meteorology)
56 Fossils
57 General natural history; Outdoor books
58 Trees; Flowers
59 Man; Races; Origin and Development

6 Useful Arts

60 General
61 Ambulance
615 Gymnastics
62 Engineering (Steam, Gas, Electrical)
629 Aerial Engineering
63 Farming
64 Domestic Economy, Cooking
65 Railways, Shipping
66 Fishing and Fisheries
Angling is 79
67 Trades and Industries, alphabetically
69 Building

7 Fine Arts

70 General
71 Gardens
72 Buildings (Architecture)
73 Sculpture
74 Drawing
75 Painting
77 Photography
78 Music
79 Games

8 Literature

80 General
81 Poetry
82 Drama
83 Stories and Tales
833 Fairy Tales
835 Animal and Other Natural History Fables
84 Essays

9 Travel (Including Geography and Descriptions of Countries)

90 General
91 Atlases and Geographies
912 Travels in Great Britain
914 Travels in Europe
915 Travels in Asia
916 Travels in Africa
917 Travels in N. America
918 Travels in Central and South America
919 Travels in Australasia; The Polar Regions; Isolated Islands
92 Lives of Famous People: Collective
921 Lives: Individual
Alphabetically by persons written about

93 History

930 Ancient History
940 History (Modern) of Europe
942 History of Great Britain and Ireland
95 History of Asia
96 History of Africa
97 History of N. America
98 History of Central and S. America
99 History of Australasia and Isolated Islands

This outline can be expanded as desired without difficulty or
dislocation.

=504.= Similar principles may well govern the cataloguing of the
children’s library. It is well that youngsters should become familiar
with the arrangement and use of sheaf and card as well as of printed
catalogues. Moreover, the Anglo-American code is here the best basis
upon which to do the cataloguing. It should be remembered that the
children use the catalogue, or ought to use it, and not adults. All
recondite bibliographical terms, and abbreviations except the simplest,
should be avoided; and explanatory notes should be written in language
such as the children may be expected to understand. Indeed, a rule that
all cataloguing should be expressed in such language--we mean all that
is added to the title--would be a safe one to follow. Some extended
rules, with examples, which may prove helpful in this matter are given
in Berwick Sayers’s _The Children’s Library_, chapter iii. It will be
seen that no particular _form_ of catalogue is recommended; librarians
differ widely upon this question. Perhaps the best printed catalogue is
that issued for schools by the Pittsburgh Library: a catalogue in
divisions corresponding to the grades in the schools, in which each
division contains books which are thought to make appeal to the children
in the grade it represents.

=505.= Reading lists follow the same rules. These, to make any useful
appeal, should be presented simply, attractively, and be rigidly
selective. A few titles, well presented, are likely to have more effect
than lists so long that they frighten the child.

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE LIBRARY AND THE SCHOOL

=506.= If libraries are an integral part of the educational system, it
is clear that their relations with schools and with the teachers must be
close. This is perhaps more cordially recognized in America than here,
but there are few librarians who do not endeavour to establish a
connexion between their libraries and the official teaching system of
their towns. In the simplest instance special privileges are offered to
teachers enabling them to borrow from five to twelve or more books at a
time for class work. In some towns meetings of teachers and library
staffs are held in order that mutual work may be discussed and arranged.
In a few places there are special libraries for teachers; and in some
American libraries not only are there these special libraries, but the
teachers are provided with keys which give them access when other parts
of the libraries are closed. One of the privileges of the public library
is to encourage teachers to make the fullest use of books.

=507.= It is gradually becoming recognized that a school without a
library lacks an important part of its equipment. In colleges and high
schools this has been recognized practically for some years past, but in
few but the largest schools have separate rooms been assigned for
library purposes, in the care of an assistant trained in the work. A
teacher whose principal business is teaching has usually been thought to
be a person sufficiently qualified for the work, with the result that
rarely have the libraries been exploited to anything like the full
measure of their possibilities. They are places where books are read or
from which books are lent, not places where readers are created,
information disseminated, or the practical use of books taught. In fact,
one of the absurd gaps in our higher school curriculum is the want of
teaching in the book, in the elements of bibliography; and until this is
filled our school system must be pronounced to be incomplete. American
methods deserve study, with a view to their adaptability to British
conditions; and such works as Gilbert O. Ward’s _The High School
Library_, in the _A. L. A. Manual of Library Economy_ (as showing the
field and its possibilities), and Florence M. Hopkins’s _Reference
Guides that Should be Known, and How to Use Them_ (as showing a
practical method in one part of library teaching), will repay such
study.

=508.= In council and similar elementary schools the municipal library
has one of its best fields of work. Under the present restricted
financial conditions of libraries, however, it is necessary to say that
the provision of reading matter in the schools should be a charge
against educational funds and not against those of the library, which
are already altogether insufficient for ordinary work. It is at the same
time probable that this work, in so far as book-selection and purchase,
cataloguing and classification, binding, and other details of
organization and administration are concerned, can be done better and
more economically by the librarian than by the teacher, and should
accordingly be directed by the library committee. The theory of the work
is that while the librarian is the best person to organize the school
library, the teacher is the best person to bring books and children
together. Some education authorities make special grants for this work,
varying from a few to several hundreds of pounds yearly; but before we
describe the methods most generally approved, we may make mention of the
various unaided efforts that librarians have made to meet the needs of
schools. One is to invite the teacher to obtain, upon his own signature,
a ticket for every child whom he considers to be of reading age; to
permit him to borrow the number of books represented by such tickets;
and to retain them so long as he thinks necessary for their due
circulation. Three months is an average loan period. A second is to
waive the ticket-taking preliminary and to lend the teacher a number of
books for a few weeks or months for lending as he thinks good amongst
the scholars. There have been many variations of these two methods, but
they are obviously one in principle; and, useful as they no doubt are,
they are also obviously limited, as few British libraries have a large
enough stock of books of the right kind to lend in this way to all the
schools in the town which might require the privilege. School libraries
to be lastingly effective require a separate stock with many duplicates,
and these no ordinary public library can, in present circumstances,
provide.

=509.= Co-operation between library and education committees seems to be
the best method of achieving satisfactory school libraries. By this
method the education committee provides the funds, the libraries the
administration, and the teachers the actual service amongst the
children. Wherever there is a children’s department at the public
library it ought to be the centre from which all the libraries in the
town should be organized, supplied and co-ordinated. Again, to secure
any success, the closest co-operation is necessary between teachers and
librarians. This is generally forthcoming, but frequently is not, for
reasons made clear to the editor of this _Manual_ by a prominent
teacher, who writes: “I do not like the circulating of libraries from
school to school--it is most unsatisfactory. I know the need of the
children in my school more exactly than anyone else, and I do not want
books dumped on me that my children will not read.” Moreover, it was
affirmed that the books chosen by librarians were unsuitable as being
“too adult.” It is clear, however, that the only real difficulty raised
here is that to the exchange of the collections between the schools. All
the other difficulties can be, and are, overcome by the co-operation
which is postulated for the work.

=510.= The control of such school libraries takes several forms. In the
simplest the education authority grants a certain sum yearly to the
library committee for children’s work, making only the condition that
library service on their behalf shall be efficient. In other cases the
education authority desires to take a more definite part in the work,
and it has been found that a sub-committee, consisting of members of the
library and education committees and of representatives of the head
teachers, with the librarian as executive officer, will work
satisfactorily. Such a sub-committee should be free from the limitations
imposed upon subordinate bodies, and although it should report its
activities, it should not be expected to submit them to the respective
committees. Friction is soon generated if the sub-committee’s
book-selection, or indeed any other feature of its work, is liable to
amendment by another body, and we have known really good library schemes
to come to grief through such interference.

=511.= A grant for school libraries should consist of an initial capital
sum for equipment and stock, and an annual sum for additions and
maintenance. Grants vary from about £500 to £25 per annum, and the
amounts, of course, are conditioned by the size of the town and the
number of schools to be served, as also by the current cost of
furniture, books and service, all of which are at present in a state of
great fluctuation. A good arrangement is that in operation at Cardiff,
where the Education Committee grants £2, 10s. yearly for every hundred
children permanently on the school registers. The work of preparing,
cataloguing and classifying the books is carried out by the library
staff as a whole in small libraries, or by the children’s library staff
where one exists, or by a special school libraries assistant. In
providing the commencing stock, a few decisions must be made upon which
the future usefulness of the libraries will largely depend: (1) the
period for which books are to remain at each school; (2) the
desirability of an unchanging deposit collection at each school; (3) the
method of charging at the schools; (4) the methods of recording the
whereabouts of each book. And there are other matters.

=512.= The period of loan to each school varies from three to twelve
months, and the smaller the available stocks of books, the more frequent
should be the changing of them. Frequent changes, however, involve much
labour, and it is well that the collections should be as large as
possible at the outset in order that they may serve efficiently for
longer periods than three months. They should not remain longer than a
year, as by that time the interest of the collection will be much
reduced and the books themselves will probably be in need of
overhauling. It is a good thing to have a basic, unchanging collection
at each school, consisting of the books which by common consent are
children’s classics. These will naturally be duplicated in most of the
schools, as the list of such books is by no means a long one. Their
existence gives assurance that every child has access to the best of
children’s books during his school career. The ultimate aim should be to
increase the school collections so that periodical interchange between
the schools becomes unnecessary, except in so far as additions of new
books are concerned.

=513. Cataloguing.=--The accession and cataloguing methods may resemble
those described for Rural Libraries (Sections 546-47). One
suggestions-slip may serve for any number of copies, the accession
numbers being added to the card; this forms an inventory of the stock.
For each copy another catalogue card, in very brief form, should be
written, which may be placed behind a guide card bearing the name of the
school at which the copy is located. A printed catalogue of the whole of
the school library system is a very useful thing, but is difficult to
maintain. In any case a list of the books sent to the school should
accompany each dispatch.

=514. Charging.=--The head teacher usually appoints a school librarian,
who may be a teacher, but is more often a senior scholar, and to the
school librarian is entrusted the issuing of books and the keeping of
the necessary records. The charging system will be some simplified form
of that in use at the public library. A card-charging system has been
found to be satisfactory. Trays, pockets, and properly-written
book-cards are provided by the library staff, and a supply of readers’
tickets which are made out by the school librarian as required. Another
method is that described in Section 547, which can be adapted readily to
school libraries. Scholars are usually allowed to change books once a
week, during a special “library hour,” which is recognized officially as
part of school time; but this is a matter of local arrangement.

=515.= Usually the work of book-selection is performed by the School
Libraries Committee. It has a drawback in the fact that teachers do not
always receive the exact books that they wish to have for their schools,
and a better method, at least in theory, is for the librarian to submit
a list of the books available for purchase to the teachers, and to
invite them to requisition those which they think suitable. This would
forestall a very frequent criticism made by teachers; nor would the
librarian experience any great difficulty in meeting the demands so
made.

=516.= The period for which a collection should remain at a school is
conveniently governed by the school holidays. The summer vacation
presents the best opportunity for overhauling the whole system, and
where there is accommodation at the central library, and other
circumstances permit, it is well to have all the collections returned
there, where they may be weeded of defective and dirty books, repairs
may be executed, binding arranged for, stock may be taken, and the new
location of the collections determined, so that every school may
recommence with a new library. But in the intervals between holidays
periodical visits to the schools should be made by the schools
librarian to see that the books are in order, to advise where necessary,
and in other ways to maintain relations between the school and the
public library. Sometimes the librarian addresses the children in the
schools, upon reading or other library subjects. This visiting work
should be done with tact and unobtrusively. Frequently teachers prefer
to be allowed to work without the intervention of the librarian, and
such preferences must be respected. The business of the librarian is to
supply books, and _not_ necessarily to exploit them--so far, at least,
as schools are concerned.

FIG. 177A.--School Libraries Return--front (Section 517).

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| .............................SCHOOL LIBRARY. |
| |
| ISSUES for the month of....................19....... |
| |
+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+------------+-----------+
| |00|10|20|30|40|50|60|70|80|90| Fiction. | Totals. |
+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+------------+-----------+
| 1st week. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+------------+-----------+
| 2nd week. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+------------+-----------+
| 3rd week. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+------------+-----------+
| 4th week. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+------------+-----------+
| 5th week. | | | | | | | | | | | | |
+-------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+------------+-----------+
| |
| Number of Borrowers..................... |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 177B.--School Libraries Return--back (Section 517).

=517.= Returns of the circulation are regarded as necessary by most
librarians, and have a variety of uses, as every librarian recognizes.
These are usually made monthly to the librarian. The card shown has
proved satisfactory in practice.

Teachers, it must be added, do not always see the values of these
returns, and may consider them an irritating and unnecessary
superfluity. If they could be made in the form of an estimate once a
year the purpose might be served.

=518.= The head teacher should not be held responsible in a financial
sense for lost books, nor should he be expected or permitted to replace
them. He would, however, be expected to take reasonable steps to recover
them, and in case of loss, a penalty of some kind, however small, is
generally inflicted upon the loser. Books which have been in contact
with infectious disease are sent from the home to the Public Health
Department, where they are disinfected, or, in some places, destroyed,
at the discretion of the Medical Officer of Health. Some sanitary
authorities themselves replace the books which are destroyed.

=519.= At what time in the history of school libraries the collections
should cease to circulate between the schools and become permanent
libraries in individual schools is a matter upon which opinion differs.
At Cardiff this stage was reached when there were 600 volumes in the
large school, and no school with less than 200. Allowing the average
time in which a child will use the library, to be four years, the lesser
of these figures provides that each child may read at least one volume a
week throughout that time; but it is impossible to allow the child a
choice of books in these circumstances, and this is a very grave defect.
It can only be affirmed that there should be at least one book for every
child of reading age, and that this minimum should be increased as
rapidly as possible.

=520.= Other fields for the public library presented by the schools may
be indicated briefly. They may be used as deposit stations for adult
readers in anticipation of the establishment of permanent branch
libraries; and this method has met with success. The head teacher, too,
should be allowed the right of requisitioning temporarily any books in
the public lending libraries which may be desirable for the use of the
scholars in connexion with their class studies; and a generous policy in
lending works from the reference library for use in the school building
is a natural corollary of this.

=521. Sunday School Libraries= have not received much attention from
British public librarians. They present a useful field of work, in which
the municipal library may suggest books and methods and offer simple
training in library practice to the teachers. As is the case with all
other teachers, the stores of the public library should be made
available for their use in the widest sense.

=522.= Finally, the teachers themselves are entitled to the most careful
attention. At training schools there should be special libraries of
pedagogy; and at the public library an effort should be made to place a
catholic and fully representative collection of works on all branches of
teaching, theory and practice at the disposal of teachers.

=523.= All these matters lead up to the ultimate object of the
librarian, which is to establish a natural pathway from the schools to
the public library. Vouchers of admission should be placed at the
disposal of the schools, and the recommendation of the head teacher may
procure readers’ tickets for all children leaving school. Fortunately
most teachers see the importance of the matter, and a properly
systematized connexion is therefore made for the child between the
school library and the much larger and more permanently useful stores of
the municipal library.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (CHAPTERS XXXII.-XXXIII.)

=524. The Children’s Department, and School Libraries:=

Ballinger, John. Children and Public Libraries. _In_ British Library
Year Book, 1900-01.

---- Work with Children. _In_ Library Association. Public Libraries:
Their Development and Future Organization, 1917, p. 15.

Bostwick, A. E. (_Ed._). The Relationship between the Library and the
Public Schools, 1914.

Cleveland Public Library. Work with Children and the Means used to
Reach Them, 1912.

Dana, J. C. (_Ed._). Modern American Library Economy, 1912-. Pt. 5:
(1) School Department Room, (2) Course of Study for Normal School
Pupils, (3) Picture Collection (revised); Pt. 7: (2) High School
Branch; Pt. 19, Pictures and Objects.

Emery, J. W. The Library, the School, and the Child, 1917.

Fay, L. E., and Eaton, A. T. Instruction in the Use of Books and
Libraries: for Normal Schools and Colleges, 1915.

Field, Mrs E. M. The Child and His Book, 1895.

Field, W. T. Fingerposts to Children’s Reading, 1911.

Jast, L. S. The Relation of Libraries to Education. _In_ Library
Association. Public Libraries, etc., 1917, p. 15.

Miller, E. M. Libraries and Education, 1912.

Olcott, F. J. Library Work with Children. _In_ A.L.A. Man. of Lib.
Econ., Preprint of chapter xxix., 1914.

---- Children’s Reading, 1912.

Sayers, W. C. Berwick. The Children’s Library, 1911.

Stevenson, Lilian. A Child’s Bookshelf, 1918.

Ward, G. O. The High School Library. _In_ A.L.A. Man. of Lib. Econ.,
Preprint of chapter vii., 1915.

---- Practical Use of Books and Libraries (with Teaching Outline, in
separate vol.), 2 vols., 1911.

For articles see Cannons.

=525. The Story Hour:=

Bryant, S. C. How to Tell Stories to Children, 1911.

---- Stories to Tell to Children, 1911.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Stories to Tell to Children; by Edna
Whiteman, 1918.

Shedlock, M. L. Art of Story-Telling, 1915.

Partridge, E. N., and G. E. Story-Telling in School and Home, 1913.

For articles see Cannons, under headings Child and Children, in the
Index (many references).

NOTE.--Work with children has been more written, and, probably,
overwritten, than any library subject. _The Library Journal_ and _Public
Libraries_ issue special Children’s Library numbers at intervals, and
hardly a month passes without an article appearing upon some phase of
the subject. Students new to the subject should be made aware that much
of the writing upon it is too sentimental, and too concerned with
bypaths, to be of great value; but this criticism does not apply to any
of the works in the list given above.

DIVISION XIV

LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER XXXIV

THE LECTURE ROOM

=526. Lecture Room and Platform.=--Library development is a somewhat
elastic term covering the various active measures taken by librarians to
attract readers. It is now a commonplace that while the prime purpose of
the library is to supply and circulate literature--that is to say,
everything in literary form from books to news-cuttings--modern
librarians increasingly adopt the point of view that it is part of their
duty and privilege to create readers. Of the various ways in which this
is done lecture and similar work stands prominent. In the design of
libraries provision should always be made for a lecture room with
adequate accommodation for an audience, chaired comfortably, equipped
with lantern and screen, a platform, and blackboard and similar
accessories. The platform deserves care in its design; it should have an
electric lantern signal communicating with the lanternist, and for
scientific and technical demonstrations, water, gas, and a movable
electric light should be brought to it. The platform is better for being
large enough to accommodate a number of persons for dramatic readings,
musical parties, etc.; should be approached by a door from the back; and
curtain arrangements for it are desirable. The construction should be
solid, and the platform floor should be covered with a thick cork or
other matting to deaden the distracting sound of shuffling feet.

=527. Lectures and Lecture Societies.=--Lectures of two kinds may be
given--those provided by societies who merely use the library, and those
arranged by the library itself. Of the former kind many can be arranged
by placing the lecture-room at the disposal of local scientific
societies, branches of University Extension, the Workers’ Educational
Association, and similar bodies, non-sectarian and non-political, which
have an educational or partly educational purpose. These should not
involve the staff in much labour, or the library in much expense,
although there are cases where the librarian or a member of his staff
acts as organizing secretary to such societies. Every effort to centre
these activities in the library can be justified; the object is to make
the library the intellectual centre of the town; but it should be
understood that the staff cannot develop into mere lecture agents, or
conduct such work at the expense of the main purpose of the library.
Where the staff is sufficient this objection does not apply, although it
is perhaps well to say that the library should not duplicate work of
this kind which other institutions in the town are doing efficiently. A
discriminating use of voluntary workers, who are frequently forthcoming,
is a solution of many difficulties.

=528.= It is doubtful whether it is legal for library committees to
arrange lectures; certainly expenditure upon them has been questioned at
times of audit; but various ways of overcoming this difficulty have been
discovered. One is to form a lecture society which is a separate
organization using the lecture-room, and this raises subscriptions,
sells programmes, etc., and so defrays expenses; this has been done at
Walthamstow and Newark-upon-Trent. The more frequent way is to obtain
voluntary lecturers and to keep the running expenses at a negligible
figure; most towns have acceptable lecturers who are willing to serve
the public in this way. In some towns, not subject to Government audit,
as in Liverpool, great miscellaneous series of lectures are arranged by
the libraries, not because they are regarded as a library activity, but
because the Libraries Committee is regarded as the most convenient
committee for doing this desirable public work.

=529.= Librarians differ as to the value of courses of lectures as
compared with individual miscellaneous lectures. The course certainly
provides information more or less exhaustive, and is of more benefit to
the fewer people who attend it; but they are few; and on the other hand
it is argued that it is no part of the function of the library to teach
in the manner implied in a set course, but rather to stimulate interest
in various subjects with direct reference to books. This latter object
should influence all such activities as those we are considering; there
seems to be little justification for lectures or exhibitions organized
by the library which do not definitely lead to the use of libraries.
Random lectures have a value of their own, but they are not our
province. When, therefore, a syllabus of lectures is drawn up, it should
be accompanied by brief reading lists on the subjects chosen. In this
way lectures on topography (there are usually too many of these,
however), art, science, literature, or indeed any subject, may be a
direct incentive to reading, and in some places this is emphasized by
the use of lantern slides and “privilege” issues.

=530. Organization.=--Much labour can be saved by the use of a few
simple methods in organizing lectures. Invitations to lecturers should
never be on stereotyped circular forms, but should be individual
personal letters, especially where the lecturer is not to receive a fee,
but he may be asked to reply on a definite memorandum (see Fig. 178, p.
470).

A circular of information should also be enclosed describing the
conditions of the lectures, the library at which they are held, the way
to reach it, and, in particular, drawing attention to their purpose of
calling notice to books, and inviting suggestions as to the best books
on the subjects. A stamped addressed envelope for reply, which the
librarian may apologize for enclosing on the ground that it will save
the lecturer’s time, should not be forgotten. The memoranda, when
returned, can be filed for reference, and their use enables the needs of
the lecturers to be met completely.

=531.= The syllabus should give the list of lectures, conditions of
admission, the hour and place of their delivery, and contain the reading
lists. These last, as indicated already, should be brief; a long list of
references defeats its own object, because readers are frightened by it.
Half a dozen carefully-selected titles are usually enough. Syllabuses
should be distributed free to readers in the library; and little other
advertisement is necessary. A small poster giving the programme, of such
size that tradesmen will place it in their shops, clergy and ministers
in church porches, and may be displayed in other places, has its uses;
and sometimes an advertisement in the local papers has a good effect.
For special lectures, for which an attendance larger than the
lecture-room will hold is expected, tickets of admission may be used,
which can be distributed free. The back of these tickets can be used for
reading lists.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| LECTURER’S MEMORANDUM. |
| |
| Name (as you desire it to be printed)............................. |
| |
| Title of lecture.................................................. |
| |
| Library........................................................... |
| |
| Date........................... Hour........................ |
| |
| * I shall use |
| Lantern slides. |
| |
| Blackboard. |
| |
| * I wish to see the Catalogue of Lantern Slides. |
| |
| Any other instructions............................................ |
| |
| .................................................................. |
| |
| .................................................................. |
| * Please cross out words which do not apply. |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 178.--Lecturer’s Memorandum (Section 530).

=532. Lantern Slides.=--The lantern is used at many lectures, and is a
valuable auxiliary. All lists of books should be transferred to lantern
slides, and displayed at the beginning or end of the lecture, and--this
is the important point--the lecturer should be persuaded to comment upon
them. Clear glass-slides with a surface prepared to take pen writing in
india or even ordinary ink can be obtained at any photographic chemist;
but if expense is a consideration, a simple method is to obtain lantern
slide cover-glasses, which cost a few pence the dozen, make a solution
with one per cent. of Nelson’s photographic gelatine in warm water,
apply this to the cover-glasses with a sponge or soft cloth, and in a
few minutes they will be dry and will take pen-writing admirably. The
cover-glasses can be cleaned after use, re-coated, and used again as
often as necessary. For general illustrative lantern slides it is very
useful to take out a subscription with one of the circulating
collections of lantern slides, as E. G. Wood’s in Cheapside. These issue
catalogues which may be lent to prospective lecturers, who may then draw
upon these collections. The accessibility of slides often secures a
lecturer. Librarians can use slides in a number of ways, to illustrate
contents of books, the differing character and scope of works of
reference, and bring home the use of books in a way that no other method
can be made to do. So far we do not know of a library that has a
cinematograph installation; but some libraries already collect films,
and the uses of the cinematograph will one day be recognized. The most
valuable projection apparatus of all is the epidiascope, which projects
illustrations, pages of books, and solid objects from these actual
things, and does not require lantern slides. It is, however, rather
expensive, and requires skill in manipulation, but it would be an
excellent investment for any large library.

=533. Privilege Issues.=--In order to bring readers to the books on any
subject while it is fresh in mind Mr Jast initiated a method of
privilege issue. The books on the subject of the lecture are displayed
on tables in the lecture-room, so that the audience may examine them
before the lecture. On the tables is the following announcement:

FIG. 179.--Privilege Issue Notice (Section 533).

The issues are made at the conclusion of the lecture. The slip mentioned
is of ordinary paper of a size suitable to be used in orthodox
card-charging, and plays the same part in the charge as a borrower’s
permanent ticket. The book is stamped and issued to the applicant in the
usual way, and a long narrow slip bearing the following text is
inserted:

+------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| PRIVILEGE ISSUE. |
| |
| This book is issued on the distinct understanding |
| that it is returned to one of the Lending Libraries |
| within 15 days. Or, if kept longer, the Library fine |
| of 1d. per week (or portion of a week) for such |
| detention will be paid, together with any cost of |
| notification; also that any damage or loss will be |
| made good. |
| |
| This being a “privilege” issue, it does not entitle |
| the reader to another book in exchange. If, however, |
| the reader is not a member of the Lending Libraries, |
| he should return the accompanying Application Form, |
| properly filled up, along with this book, when he |
| will be allowed to take another book at the time of |
| return, and thenceforth exercise the privileges of |
| membership. |
| |
+------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 180.--Privilege Issue Information Slip (Section 533).

A voucher of application for membership goes with this, and borrowers
frequently return it filled and become regular readers. The charges when
made are inserted into the ordinary sequence of the day’s issues, and
there is no distinction between them and the card charges made for
regular borrowers’ books. This privilege service was extended to
accredited societies in the town, who undertook to issue and to secure
the due return of the books. So far we know of only two libraries that
have adopted the system of privilege issues; but it has been successful,
and has not, so far, entailed any loss of books.

=534. General.=--Lecturers should be reminded of their engagement a few
days before each lecture. Nothing should be taken for granted. The
lecturer’s instructions should be gone over carefully, and the state of
the lantern screen, lantern, platform, signals and other accessories
examined in time for any fault to be corrected. Attention to such
details makes for success, while nothing is more annoying to lecturer
and audience than a fault in such things.

=535. Library Readings.=--Library readings revive, in a manner, the once
famous popular penny readings; but in their new form such readings are
free and are of subjects chosen because of their value and not primarily
because they entertain. It is found that audiences are not only ready to
listen to lectures about books, they are also ready to listen to
readings from the books themselves. For some years at Southwark Mr R. W.
Mould read _The Christmas Carol_ and other famous works aloud to large
audiences of library people. There is scarcely any limit to books that
may be read aloud in this way--nearly all the novelists, poets,
letter-writers, essayists, humorists, diarists can be used; and these
are fairly easy for a good reader to deal with. But the reader must be a
good one; poor reading is worse than none. It is usual for the reader to
give a brief introductory sketch of his author, and to link the readings
by connecting remarks. It is really remarkable to note the willingness
of audiences to listen to readings of books which “everybody has read”;
perhaps because they revive pleasant memories; probably, too, because
the reading reveals unsuspected qualities in the book read. A more
difficult, but even more interesting, type of reading may be made upon a
subject, which is explained and illustrated from various authors; for
example, on “Volcanoes, the genesis and development of scientific theory
regarding them.” In this case an extract was read from Judd’s
_Volcanoes_ defining a volcano and presenting the ideas of the Greeks
upon the subject; then extracts from the two Plinys; then the mediæval
views were drawn from Pietro Toledo; Sir William Hamilton afforded an
account of Vesuvius in eruption in 1767; and later matter was drawn from
Elié de Beaumont, Scrope, Dana, Judd, Bonney, Anderson and Flint, and
Heilprintz. Such a reading has proved most successful. These, too, can
be illustrated with lantern slides, and the obvious value of slides
showing titles, extracts, maps, etc., from books from which the readings
are drawn need not be emphasized. The programme of a reading, given
with slides, may be subjoined to show another treatment of a subject:

THE ENGLISHMAN IN THE ALPS.

_Early Views._

1. A Letter from the St Bernard Pass, February, 1188.

2. Seventeenth Century Dragons: Notes from Gribble’s “Story of Alpine
Climbing.”

3. Over the Simplon Pass; from John Evelyn’s “Diary.”

4. Windham’s Climb to the Montanvert; from Matthew’s “Annals of Mont
Blanc.”

5. Horace Walpole on Mont Cenis; from his “Letters.”

_The Alps and the Poets._

6. Shelley and Mont Blanc; from his “Six Weeks’ Tour.”

7. Mont Blanc. Byron.

8. Chillon. Byron.

_Modern Alpine Story._

9. A Winter Storm; from Leslie Stephen’s “Playground of Europe.”

10. The Conquest of the Matterhorn; from Whymper’s “Scrambles in the
Alps.”

11. June on the St Bernard Pass; from Sayers’s “Over Some Alpine
Passes.”

12. The Riffelhorn; from Kynnersley’s “A Snail’s Wooing.”

13. The Rewards of the Climber; from Mummery’s “My Climbs in the Alps
and Caucasus.”

14. Why Climb the Mountains? from Blackie’s “Lays of the Highlands and
Islands.”

=536.= Another form is the dramatic reading, and this is the most
acceptable of all when it is well done, and its value is undeniable from
the library point of view. In it a party of readers, each taking a
character, read a play without scenery, costume, or action other than is
necessary to make clear a movement which the scene requires and the text
does not convey. Such plays as Hardy’s _Dynasts_, most of Shakespeare’s
plays, etc., have been dealt with in this manner; but the peculiar value
of the dramatic reading is to draw attention to great plays, which are
seldom read or performed, such as the miracle plays, the Elizabethans
other than Shakespeare, and Browning’s various plays (for example); and
series by well-known writers who in individual manner deal with
the same subject, such as was done in a sequence of Cleopatra
plays--Shakespeare’s _Antony and Cleopatra_, Dryden’s _All for Love_ and
Bernard Shaw’s _Cæsar and Cleopatra_--which were given in three
successive weeks with great success. All that has been said of the
necessity of focussing the work on the actual authors, plays, and works
about them by means of lists, applies as strongly here as elsewhere.

=537. Exhibitions.=---A few simple arrangements make the lecture-room
convenient for exhibitions of books, prints or other matter which it is
desirable to bring particularly to public notice. Stands on the model of
the standard newspaper slope illustrated in Fig. 166, but lighter, and
made in parts or collapsible, with a projecting bottom edge to support
books or prints, and a wire stretched near the top to keep them in
position, have been used; and the walls can have run along them a narrow
moulding grooved to take the prints, with a taut wire, which can be made
adjustable to any height, above them as on the slopes. With such an
arrangement a modest but effective exhibition can be made in a very
short time. It is thought by some that an open access library is itself
a book exhibition, but even with this system, and certainly with the
indicator system, there are many things that can be exhibited with
advantage. Such works as Williams’s _History of the Art of Writing_, the
facsimiles published by the British Museum, and other large treasure
houses; photographic surveys; connected series of rare or interesting
books; books on subjects of immediate interest, and so on, can all be
exhibited to good result. Simple but careful guiding is desirable, and
every method of connecting the exhibition with the reading facilities of
the library must be brought into play. Usually the exhibitions can be
arranged from material in the library’s stock, but they may often be
borrowed from national institutions, other libraries, and private
collectors. Whenever material is borrowed an insurance policy should be
arranged covering loss or damage.

=538.= The warning is perhaps not unnecessary that the library is
neither museum nor art gallery; and exhibitions which trespass upon the
field of these institutions should only be arranged in towns where they
do not exist; and even then a certain restraint should be observed; but
circumstances will determine this question. If the exhibition leads to
the use of books, it is justified; if not, the library is doing work
which is not properly in its province.

=539. Reading Circles, etc.=--Reading circles in connexion with the
National Home Reading Union and similar bodies, or arranged locally,
present special opportunities for libraries, and are to be encouraged.
Good leaders can be obtained in most towns; books on the subjects
discussed can be made available in the room where the circle meets, and
in various ways the library can help effectively. One or two libraries
have literary societies of the debating kind; but these are more
difficult to arrange.

=540. General.=--The statement made in the last edition that all the
work described in this chapter is secondary to the main purpose of the
library is repeated. Its value has been proved and is indisputable, but
it is easy for the enthusiastic librarian to involve himself and the
library in more of these activities than his own time, his staff, or his
means justify. Only local circumstances and common sense can fix the
limits beyond which they ought not to be carried. Voluntary assistance,
if it is forthcoming of sufficient and satisfactory quality, should be
encouraged; but even here discretion is required. Moreover, certain good
standards for lectures, readings, etc., should be fixed; bad lectures
and readings may do more harm than good, and only towns with many good
readers amongst the people should attempt work so full of chance as
dramatic readings. Excellent and much to be desired in their right
measure and kind, all extension activities should be pursued with
considered moderation.

=541.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

No monograph. For articles see Cannons: F 96, Lectures; F 20-95,
Exhibitions; E 115, Privilege Issues; F 12, Reading Circles.

CHAPTER XXXV

RURAL LIBRARIES

=542. The Need, and Earlier Schemes.=--Until recently a rural dweller in
Canada, the United States, and some parts of Australia was better
provided with literature than the villager in the United Kingdom. It is
true that private generosity had established village libraries and
circulating collections of books in several counties; and honourable
mention may be made of the schemes of the Union of Lancashire and
Cheshire Institutes, 1847; the Yorkshire Union of Educational
Institutes, 1854; the Central Circulating Library, 1888; the Bishop of
Hereford, 1906; the Dorset Book-Lending Association, 1908; and the
extensive scheme for the Highlands and Hebrides of Mr James Coats of
Paisley; as also Sir Charles Seeley’s scheme for the Isle of Wight, and
the Westmorland scheme, which are both, however, public ventures worked
through the County Council in the first case, and, in the second,
through the Kendal Public Library. All of these (except the Coats
scheme) work on the sound method of dispatching to selected (and, in
some of the private instances, subscribing) centres boxes of books which
are changed twice or thrice yearly.

=543.= The private schemes, effective as they are, are unable to supply
that co-ordinated service which may be expected from a state, or rate,
maintained service; and as a whole the rural population is unprovided as
yet. Although the need for general library provision has been abundantly
recognized, the imagination of British legislators seems to have been
unable to compass anything practical towards meeting it. The reasons for
lack of village libraries turn upon the small product of the penny rate,
which in an average population of 400--a frequent population figure for
a village--rarely exceeds £10 yearly, a sum manifestly inadequate to
provide or maintain a library. Ignorance of even this possibility and
the traditional apathy or actual hostility of squire and parson, at
least until lately, to any scheme of rural enlightenment may also have
been factors; but, however that may be, in 1915 only seventy-six out of
all the parishes of the kingdom had libraries working under the Acts.
Co-operation alone can produce for these scattered populations the
benefits of a sound service; but although the Libraries Acts (1892,
Sections 9-10; 1893, Section 4) permit the co-operation of neighbouring
urban districts or parishes for the provision of libraries, the method
has been resorted to only occasionally, as at Workington and Harrington
in Cumberland, where some such combination exists.

=544. The County Council as Library Authority.=--The obvious authority
to establish and administer rural libraries is the County Council; but
there is no explicit legislative instruction, or even permission, for
them to do so. The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust has given careful and
sympathetic attention to this problem, and to this body the recent rapid
development of rural libraries is due. Acting on a recommendation of
Professor W. G. S. Adams, in his valuable _Report on Library Provision
and Policy_, 1915, that experimental library systems should be
established in five selected areas in different parts of the kingdom,
the Trustees invited certain County Councils through their education
committees, and certain towns well placed in regard to surrounding rural
districts, to accept grants for such work. Professor Adams advised the
provision of (1) a central library, from which the books could be
distributed at regular intervals, and from which also there should be
supervision of the whole area; (2) village libraries, usually placed in
a school, with the schoolmaster as librarian, and consisting of a
permanent collection of important reference and standard works, and a
circulating library which would be exchanged at three-monthly or other
suitable intervals. The first areas chosen were Staffordshire as a
county; Worksop, Nottinghamshire, as a town centred amongst villages;
and the Trustees themselves established at the public library of their
own centre, Dunfermline, a system to deal with the Orkneys, Shetland and
the island of Lewis, and to reinforce by circulating collections the
Coats libraries in other districts. The scheme has developed rapidly,
and at the time of writing the counties of Dorset, Gloucester, Lincoln,
Nottingham, Somerset, Stafford, Warwick, Westmorland, Wilts, York,
Montgomery, Brecon, Buckingham, Cardigan, Carnarvon, Forfar, Lewis,
Orkney and Shetland, Perth, Kerry and Limerick are all administering, or
have accepted, grants for rural libraries. The grants range in amount
from about £3000 to £7000 each, and are initial and experimental; that
is to say, the sum provided is intended to establish and maintain the
library system for a space of five years, after which it is expected
that they will be administered entirely from county funds.

=545. The Methods of Carnegie Rural Libraries.=--It is too early yet to
assess the results of these schemes or to expatiate with any certainty
upon their methods; but an account of the administration of the Trust’s
own scheme for the North of Scotland may be taken as typical, because,
with the necessary variations imposed, or considered desirable, in the
various county schemes, it is the standard for them all.

=546. The Central Repository.=--At the central repository the books are
collected, classified, catalogued, dispatched and received; and
accommodation sufficient for these purposes is provided. The extent of
the initial stock, which is intended later to be fully representative of
English and translated foreign literature, literature in Gaelic, local
industries, science, history and topography, is such as to provide a
collection of about seventy-five books for each centre to be served; and
the travelling collections consist in equal proportions of general
works, fiction for adult readers, and literature for children. Later,
however, the selection will be influenced largely by the demands made by
the local librarians. In the first case collections were exchanged twice
yearly. Certain current periodicals, not returnable, were also sent out
in boxes.

ACCESSION.--A slip suggestions record is used, one slip being written
for each title; and from this the order list is compiled. Both order and
slips are stamped with the date of the order, and when the books are
received and found to be correct the slips are stamped with the date of
receipt. The slips are then filed to form a continuous catalogue of
accessions. Accessioning is done the ordinary way; all books are stamped
throughout with a rubber-stamp impression of the name of the Trust; and
the board label reads thus:

FIG. 181.--Rural Library Board Label (Section 546).

CLASSIFICATION.--The Decimal classification is used, to two places for
general works, and to four places for works on specific subjects; this
enables a fairly minute arrangement. The common adjustments are made of
removing Fiction and Biography from 900, and arranging the former in
alphabetical-author order, and the latter alphabetically by persons
biographed.

CATALOGUING.--A simple form of classified catalogue, with author and
subject indexes, is used; and the date of publication is omitted from
the bibliographical particulars, as the latest editions are always to be
presumed. Complete catalogues in this form are eventually to be sent to
all centres, but meanwhile separate typed lists, covering each
collection, are sent out with the collection.

CENTRAL CHARGING.--The method of charging books to the various centres
is simple. A card index in the usual form is drawn upon, the cards for
each consignment of books being abstracted and placed behind a guide
bearing the name of the centre. A date guide is inserted when the
dispatch is made, and the “deliveries index” thus made forms a
convenient guide to the books at any given centre, and, of course, is a
means by which returned books are checked.

DISPATCHES.--Books are dispatched in boxes, specially constructed in
deal, 18 × 12 × 12 inches inside measurements, which hold about
forty-five volumes. They are banded with hoop iron, which is secured by
screw-in iron bolts, and iron bars, screwing with nuts to the bolts,
secure the lid. The interior is lined with waterproof paper; and flush
handles are fitted to each box. The design is intended to meet the very
rough usage probable in transit to remote districts. In ordinary rural
service a much lighter box, of three-ply wood, has been found to be
quite suitable. It is probably better, too, to have smaller boxes, as
the handling of heavy boxes of books is a difficulty for both carrier
and librarian.

=547. The Village Centres.=--LOCAL ADMINISTRATION.--The local
administration of the libraries is in the hands of central committees
formed of members of secondary education and library committees, and
other interested people, with the librarians of the towns in the area as
secretaries. These committees cover each a number of parishes, and for
the immediate supervision of the parishes local sub-committees of
members of school boards, teachers, etc., have been formed, and of these
the schoolmaster is generally the secretary and local custodian of the
books. These committees advise on book requirements and on such matters
as shelving, etc.; central committees are also expected to raise the
small funds for the conveyance of the books. The average library finds
accommodation in the schools, and permanent collections, which include
the more expensive and general reference books, are deposited in village
institutes and existing Carnegie public libraries. Schools requiring
shelves are supplied with deal cases, having five adjustable shelves,
and a book-capacity of 150 volumes.

CHARGING.--The record of stock in use at the centres is on cards which
are sent out in their card-case from the central repository. These
card-cases are of cloth over strawboard, hold approximately 150 cards,
are 8 × 5½ inches in size, and are made in the shape of an ordinary
square-backed book-cover, with eyelet holes below the hinge through
which cords are laced on which the cards are secured. Inside these cases
the cards for each consignment of books are arranged in classified
order. The card used is as shown on page 482 (Figs. 182 and 183).

When books are received at the local centre the librarian checks them
with the cards and arranges them in the order of the cards on the
shelves. The charging method is obvious. The charge is made under the
name of the author, particulars of readers and date of issue and return
being entered in the appropriate columns, the word “adult” being written
in the age column for readers obviously over twenty-one. The charges are
returned to the repository at the exchange periods, and these enable
statistics to be made.

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| Library .............................. Book No. .......... |
| |
| Author ............................... Card No. .......... |
| |
| Title ................................ |
+---------------+----+-----------+--------------+---------------+
| | | |Date Borrowed.| Date Returned.|
|Name of Reader.|Age.|Occupation.+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| | | |Day.|Mth.| Yr.|Day.|Mth.| Yr. |
+---------------+----+-----------+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Continue on other side | | | | | | |
+--------------------+-----------+----+----+----+----+----+-----+

FIG. 182.--Front of Charging Card--Carnegie Rural Library Scheme. The
size is 7¼ × 4¼ inches.

+---------------+----+-----------+--------------+---------------+
| | | |Date Borrowed.| Date Returned.|
|Name of Reader.|Age.|Occupation.+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| | | |Day.|Mth.| Yr.|Day.|Mth.| Yr. |
+---------------+----+-----------+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Don’t write below | | | | | | | |
| this line. | | | | | | | |
+--------------------+-----------+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| |
| |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+

FIG. 183.--Back of Carnegie Charging Card.

=548. Museum of Rural Library Appliances.=--The above are, in brief, the
chief features of the North of Scotland scheme, which seems to be
serving its purpose admirably; and in connexion with it the Trust is
building up at Dunfermline a small museum of rural library appliances,
to include different types of boxes, forms, and other machinery tried in
the various centres. This valuable work will in time furnish librarians
with a considerable amount of important and useful data.

=549. Other Schemes=.--As the North of Scotland scheme is continuing in
the control of the Carnegie Trust, it is on a rather different footing
from the county schemes, which are in the control of the county
education committee. In general, however, the methods are the same.
There is a central repository where books are selected, catalogued,
dispatched, and overhauled on return, and where reading courses, special
catalogues, etc., may be prepared; indeed, whence skilled advice and
assistance may be drawn by all the village centres. And, as recommended
by Professor Adams, local village schools are the deposit centres, with
schoolmasters as a rule for librarians. The smaller towns have in some
places made arrangements by which they amalgamate or co-operate with
county schemes, but the larger towns usually work independently.

A rough estimate of the cost of an actual rural library scheme founded
on a Carnegie grant may be given:

Capital expenditure:
Repository, building £800
Books 2100
Boxes 140
Accessories 100
Initial clerical labour 100
----
£3240
=====

Annual expenditure:
Salary of librarian £180
Clerical assistance 50
Heating, lighting, cleaning 50
Rates and taxes 25
Carriage of books 100
Repairs, etc. 25
---- £430
Ultimate additional annual cost:
Repairs and renewals 160
---- 160
----
£590
====

Thus the annual cost of the scheme after the initial expenses have been
met is reckoned at £590, but the salary allowed here is inadequate. It
is at this point that the legal powers of the County Councils may be
tested. It is difficult to imagine the Local Government Board auditor
ruling that they cannot provide such library maintenance out of
education funds because the Education Act of 1918 does not mention it
(although the Scottish Act of 1918 does, and permits it), but the matter
has not been questioned yet.

=550. General Considerations.=--Every librarian will see the
potentialities of this work, as completing in a large measure the public
library system of the country; moreover, its rapid and successful
development is an earnest of the immense future of libraries as a whole.
By co-ordinating this village work with such educational agencies as
University Extension, and the Workers’ Educational Association, it will
be possible to give to rural life many of the intellectual advantages
hitherto exclusively the possession, for the non-wealthy classes, of
town life, and this at a time when settlement on the land is proceeding
apace. Meanwhile the supervising rural librarian may make regular visits
throughout his area, in which he will give advice on reading,
demonstrations in the use and care of books, and exercise the undoubted
opportunities he will have of bringing people of like intellectual
pursuits, but in different villages, into touch with one another. All
this presupposes the existence of a professional librarian in control
of the entire scheme. An initial mistake has been made in some counties
in appointing teachers to this position, on the theory, no doubt, that
the training of teachers is a very suitable basis for work with
libraries which are locally administered by teachers. It may be so--the
evidence is not yet forthcoming--but we do not think so. Library
organization, especially at the outset, demands the specialist, and the
librarian differs radically in training and mental attitude from the
teacher. Further, the salaries hitherto offered have ranged from £150 to
£300 per annum--have in only one case reached the higher figure--and
these sums must be augmented considerably if the rural libraries are to
attract and retain the librarians they really need.

=551.= BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, W. G. S. Report on Library Provision and Policy, 1915.

Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. Annual Report, 1915 _to date_.

Farr, Harry. Libraries in the Rural Districts, 1909. Library
Assistants’ Association Series, 2.

Hetherington, A. L. Rural Libraries, 1916.

Ministry of Reconstruction. Third Interim Report of the Adult
Education Committee: Libraries and Museums, 1919, p. 7.

Wynkoop, Asa. Commissions, State Aid and Agencies. _In_ A.L.A. Man. of
Lib. Econ., Preprint of chapter xxvii., 1913.

For articles see Cannons: F 3, Village Libraries; F 4, Travelling
Libraries.

DIVISION XV

MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES

CHAPTER XXXVI

MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES

=552.= There are museums of all kinds in existence, some of them of
world-wide importance, and they may be roughly classified into the
following groups:

GENERAL MUSEUMS.--These are collections of a miscellaneous kind,
comprising art, science, archæological and other objects, and aiming
more or less at universality. The British Museum was at one time a
universal collection, but since it was divided into art, ethnological,
natural history and industrial departments, it no longer forms a general
collection under one roof. Soane’s Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields,
London, is a general museum, and there are many others in the provinces.

NATIONAL MUSEUMS.--Collections illustrative of the arts, manufactures,
antiquities, literature and history of a nation. These range in extent
from the great German, Hungarian and French museums, down to museums of
national antiquities, like those of the Societies of Antiquaries of
England, Scotland and Ireland.

SCIENCE MUSEUMS.--Comprising Anatomical, Botanical, Geological,
Chemical, Physical, General Natural History, Astronomical, Ethnological
and other varieties. Typical examples are the Hunterian Museum of
Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons, London; the Herbarium at Kew;
the Museum of Practical Geology; the Pharmaceutical Society; the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington; the United Service Museum (Naval and
Military) at Whitehall; and the historical collections of the British
Museum which include Ethnology.

LOCAL MUSEUMS.--These are to be found in all parts of the country, and
they usually serve to illustrate and preserve the natural history and
antiquities of a particular district; and they differ from national
museums, in being restricted to a particular locality.

SPECIAL MUSEUMS.--Of these there is practically no end. They have been
formed to illustrate certain restricted departments of science, art or
history, such as Hygiene, Numismatics, Watch-making, Heraldry, Costume,
etc., and they resemble exhibitions of a special kind, save that they
are permanent.

=553.= Generally speaking, a museum is a collection of the objects which
go towards the formation of a subject, just as a library is a collection
of the literature connected with a subject or subjects. The museum is
necessary to the material conception of a subject, just as literature is
essential as the permanent record of the subject. For example, in
tracing the evolution of the printed book from its manuscript forms, one
can form an idea of the appearance of such books by reading up the
relative literature, and examining a few facsimiles, and so on; but, in
order to realize in a perfect way the aspect, atmosphere and details of
early writing and printing, one must go to the great exhibitions or
museums of such books at the British Museum or John Rylands Library,
Manchester. It is the same with machinery. While a diagram of a machine
as it appears in a book may be comprehensible to a few specially
educated minds, it would be a mere puzzle to an ordinary human being
unless he could go to a museum like that at South Kensington and see a
working model of the machine in operation. He could then realize in a
practical and concrete way the merely graphic or theoretical view
afforded by the book.

=554.= All the great State museums in the country have been established
under the provisions of special Acts of Parliament. Some of these, like
the various acts establishing the British Museum, date from the
eighteenth century, while others are much more recent. It is not
proposed to deal with the legislation and history of the State museums,
nor is it necessary to do more than describe, later on, their relations
with the municipal museums which may now be considered.

=555.= In 1845 was passed the first Museums Act (8 & 9 Vict., c. 43)
“for encouraging the establishment of museums in large towns,” under
which the local authorities of towns over 10,000 of population were
permitted to erect museums and levy a halfpenny rate. No specimens could
be bought, but an entrance fee of 1d. could be charged. This Act was
practically inoperative, as only Canterbury, Warrington, Leicester,
Dover, Salford and a few other places adopted it, and in 1850 it was
incorporated in the first Public Libraries Act, 1850 (13 & 14 Vict., c.
65), which repealed it and added the permissive clauses which existed
till 1893. This Act in its turn was repealed by that of 1855, and again
this was repealed by the Public Library Act of 1892 and subsequent
amendments, which remain the leading Acts under which libraries may be
established, with such subsidiary departments as museums and art
galleries. A digest of the powers conferred on local authorities by
those various Acts appears in Section 4 of this _Manual_. The
authorities seem to have become aware of the difficulty of supporting so
many institutions out of one restricted rate, because in 1891 was passed
“An Act to enable Urban Authorities to provide and maintain Museums and
Gymnasiums.” Under this Act, which did not apply to Scotland or the
County of London, but only to England and Ireland, local authorities
were enabled to levy a special rate of ½d. per pound for museum
purposes, and a rate of ½d. per pound for gymnasium purposes, and to
make regulations for the purposes of both kinds of institutions. In 1901
this Act was extended to the County of London by the “Public Libraries
Act, 1901.” A resolution of the local authority is sufficient for the
purpose of adopting this Act, and the regulations for adoption are
similar to those prescribed for the Public Libraries Acts. The principal
clauses of the Act are as follows:

_Clause 4._--“An urban authority may provide and maintain museums for
the reception of local antiquities or other objects of interest, and
gymnasiums with all the apparatus ordinarily used therewith, and may
erect any buildings, and generally do all things necessary for the
provision and maintenance of such museums and gymnasiums.”

_Clause 5._--“A museum provided under this Act shall be open to the
public not less than three days in every week free of charge, but
subject thereto an urban authority may admit any person or class of
persons thereto as they think fit, and may charge fees for such
admission, or may grant the use of the same or of any room therein,
either gratuitously or for payment, to any person for any lecture or
exhibition or for any purpose of education or instruction. . . .”

Full power is given by other clauses to make all necessary regulations
as to hours, staff, order, etc., in both museums and gymnasiums, and for
borrowing money for buildings or other purposes.

Separate accounts are to be kept, and “The amount expended by an urban
authority under this Act shall not in any year exceed the amount
produced by a rate of a halfpenny in the pound for a museum, and the
like amount for a gymnasium established under this Act.”

=556.= A new provision in legislation of this kind is contained in
Clause 12, which empowers an urban authority to _sell_ a museum or
gymnasium after seven years’ trial, if it is deemed unnecessary or too
expensive, but only with the consent of the Local Government Board. Any
moneys received from such sale are to be applied, in the first instance,
to the repayment of loans, and if not all required for such a purpose,
may, with the approval of the Local Government Board, “be applied to any
purpose to which capital moneys are properly applicable.”

=557.= It is further provided (Clause 13) that the powers given to urban
authorities under the Act “shall be deemed to be in addition to and not
in derogation of any other powers conferred by Act of Parliament, law,
or custom, and such other powers may be exercised in the same manner as
if this Act had not been passed.” In other words, the powers conferred
by the “Public Libraries Acts,” for example, with regard to museums,
still hold good, and the new powers created by the “Museums and
Gymnasiums Act” can be exercised as an addition to them. It should be
noted that, in addition to the general legislation contained in the
Public Libraries and Museums Acts, many private or local Acts have been
passed, under which different localities have obtained power to spend
money on the provision of museums and art galleries, greatly in excess
of the limits imposed by the general Acts.

=558.= This represents practically the whole of the legislation
connected with municipal museums, and it may be inferred, from the
financial provision allowed by Parliament, that no museum which depends
entirely upon the halfpenny rate can be in a very flourishing condition.
The deficiencies of the rate-income are in many cases made up by the
donations and bequests of private donors; occasionally public bodies
render valuable aid; not infrequently the closely restricted library
rate is nibbled at and diverted from its real purpose; and very often
the State, represented by the Victoria and Albert Museums at South
Kensington, circulates useful and valuable loan collections. In these
various ways museums are helped, and within the past few years, or since
the Museums Association was established in 1890, the organization,
scientific value and equipment of museums have improved in a very marked
degree. No doubt in some localities can still be seen the old-fashioned
hotch-potch collection of miscellaneous lumber styled a museum, wherein
a stuffed walrus jostles a suit of armour, and local fossils and
meteorites are beautifully mixed up with birds’ eggs, flint implements
and coins. Such collections only require an alligator, and a canoe from
Fiji on the walls, to be perfect specimens of the Wardour Street kind of
museum. Happily this kind of omnium-gatherum museum is rapidly dying out
before the advance of rational classification, and in some cases where
collections are small and contained in one room, yet by means of
intelligent arrangement incongruous objects are kept apart, and the
little museum is made an instructive nucleus, instead of a high-class
marine-store.

=559.= This leads to such questions as the elements of museum
classification and description, which are the most important points in
the relations between libraries and schools and museums. Without
classification a general or even special museum is comparatively
useless. Without effective arrangement and descriptive labelling the
specimens remain uninstructive and misleading. On these two points
museums resemble libraries, and it is only when they agree in the
essentials of classification and description that the institutions
become mutually beneficial. A well-classified and arranged cabinet of
minerals, with a full set of descriptive labels, is simply invaluable to
the student of mineralogy and geology. When, therefore, a student is
referred from the literature to the objects described in the text-books,
he is educated to the extent of being able to appreciate the fact that
objects are grouped together in respect of certain resemblances, and
that classification into related groups is the basis of the science he
is studying. On going to a museum of specimens, such a student, if he
were an entomologist, would naturally expect to find together all the
butterflies, bees, beetles, flies and other objects properly classified
according to order, genera and species. If he found all the moths, bugs,
flies and beetles mingled in one huge jumble, and labelled Insects, the
collection would be uninstructive and would throw no light on his
previous reading.

=560.= Whatever set of concrete objects a student sets out to examine in
a museum, after being referred from his books, he expects to find some
relationship between the literature he has studied and the objects he
means to compare and examine. On this principle all the large museums of
the world are arranged, and the result is that no student who has
previously acquired an elementary knowledge of an art or science from
text-books should experience any difficulty in finding his way about a
museum. It is true that, for purposes of popular display and to tickle
up juvenile interest in natural history, some museums exhibit fine
specimens of birds or mammals out of their order, where they will
attract notice, but the bulk of the collection will be found in strictly
classified order. In many important museums it has been found useful to
illustrate animal structure and comparative anatomy by means of key or
type collections, which are kept apart from the genera classification,
yet serve to illustrate important points in comparative zoology, which
it would be difficult to do on a very extensive scale. There are many
text-books written exactly on the same principle. One author takes a
rabbit, another a crayfish, and from these bases teach the main facts of
animal structure which apply all round. So in a museum. While it would
be absolutely impossible to repeat at every centre such a fine
collection of minerals as has been gathered together at the Natural
History Museum at South Kensington, yet it is possible to illustrate the
main facts and classification of mineralogy by means of a selection of
actual specimens or models. Similarly at the British Museum, the student
of early printing does not find himself confronted with a complete
chronological sequence of all the books printed in the fifteenth century
to illustrate the incunabula, but he finds a selection, or type
collection, which in the most effectual way traces the development and
evolution of the printed book. The more these type collections are
adopted and utilized, the greater will become the value of museums for
elementary science teaching, and as most museums are unable to collect
and display specimens of _everything_ in the world, it is obvious that
they must do as libraries have to do--select only what is best, most
typical and instructive, and leave indiscriminate collecting to the
great universal museums supported by the State.

=561.= A well-arranged and classified museum, whether of a general
character, or which is confined to local botany, zoology, geology and
archæology, has great bearing on the educational work of public
libraries. It enables a reader to _realize_ the material side of his
studies, and by showing him related objects in a definite order,
broadens his outlook on the subject, and brings home to him the reality
of the matter. As object-lessons are to school-children, so are museums
to library readers.

=562.= Art galleries are divisible into three classes--1. Those
maintained or assisted by the State=the National Gallery; Scottish
National Art Gallery, etc. 2. Those endowed by private munificence or by
public bodies=the Wallace Collection; Tate Gallery; the Walker Art
Gallery, Liverpool, the Harris Art Gallery, Preston, etc. 3. Those
maintained from local rates levied under special Acts of Parliament; or,
under the Public Libraries Acts, which empower local authorities to
support art galleries out of the penny rate. There is no special Act for
the establishment of art galleries similar to the Museums Act already
described, and apart from special Acts, the Public Libraries Acts are
the only ones which empower the establishment of art galleries. Needless
to say, such powers are rarely exercised unless other sources of
endowment or income are forthcoming. So many single pictures cost more
than the produce of a penny rate in most towns, that it is, on the face
of it, absurd to think of art galleries only as departments of public
libraries. In some cases part of the library rate is no doubt used to
defray part of the expenses of art galleries, particularly buildings,
but it is very unusual to purchase pictures from such a meagre fund. Art
galleries are greatly assisted by loan exhibitions contributed to by
artists, picture owners, both public and private, and the national art
authorities acting through the Victoria and Albert Museum at South
Kensington. Annually the South Kensington authorities lend to over 400
museums, exhibitions, schools of art and science, etc., no fewer than
47,000 objects, of which 46,000 are works of art, including pictures,
embroideries, photographs, metal-work, pottery, etc. But for these
circulating collections, comparatively few of the smaller art galleries
of the country could keep alive interest simply by means of their own
permanent collections. It is only in large towns, like London,
Edinburgh, Dublin, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, etc., where great and
representative collections are kept illustrating the leading schools of
art, that any direct educational value can be said to attach to art
galleries. So far as educational value is concerned, an art gallery
cannot for a moment be compared to a museum or a library. Its appeal on
the educational side is to a very small section of the public, and even
to this section such appeal is limited by the size and character of the
collection. The student of early Italian or Flemish painting can learn
nothing in a little provincial art gallery, containing fifty or sixty
modern landscapes and figure subjects; and the student of Impressionist
painting will not find much to help him in a gallery composed of
examples of old Dutch and French masters. The value of an art gallery
depends, therefore, on its size and representative nature so far as art
students are concerned, and on the appeal which fine paintings make to
the higher feelings and perceptions of mankind for its influence as a
creator of taste and stimulator of a love of the beautiful. When an art
collection takes the form of a special exhibition illustrative of a
subject, rather than a particular school of painting, its value and
interest are enormously increased. Suppose, for example, that an art
gallery is devoted to an exhibition illustrative of some great
historical subject, like the career of Napoleon I. The value of the
pictorial side of the subject at once stands forth with great
prominence, and one can realize the educational value of art in the
exposition of history. But in a mere random collection of pictures, on
all kinds of subjects, by all kinds of painters, there is no kind of
consecutive teaching or definite connexion with the art literature
contained in a library, and, therefore, such a miscellaneous selection
of pictures is chiefly valuable as a kind of vague appeal to the
æsthetic feelings of the casual observer. Only great collections like
those of the National Gallery in London, and the Louvre at Paris, can be
said to illustrate the literature of art, and it is chiefly in regard to
such art galleries that some direct connexion can be traced between art
collections and libraries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

=563. Museums and Art Galleries:=

Chambers and Fovargue. Law relating to . . . Museums.

Flower, Sir W. H. Essays on Museums, 1898.

Greenwood, T. Museums and Art Galleries, 1888.

Jackson, M. T. The Museum: A Manual of the Housing and Care of Art
Collections, 1917.

Murray, David. Museums: Their History and Use, 1904, 3 vols. [Vols.
2-3 are a most extensive bibliography.]

Museums Journal.

For articles see Cannons: F 17-18, Museums; F 19, Art Galleries.

APPENDIX I

THE NOMENCLATURE OF LIBRARY POSITIONS[18]

[18] A report contributed by L. Stanley Jast and W. C. Berwick Sayers
to the Congrès International des Archivistes et des
Bibliothécaires, Bruxelles, 1910.

=564.= It will be difficult but it is desirable to attempt to resolve
some order out of the terminological chaos at present existing.

The British Government has many library positions in its control, but
the term librarian is only sparingly recognized. There are “librarians”
of the two Houses of Parliament, the British Museum, the Board of
Education, Admiralty, Patent Office and other Government departments,
but only in the Houses of Parliament are there any assistant-librarians
so-named. The heads of departments in the British Museum are called
“keepers,” a traditional term, and the assistant librarians “Assistants
in the Department of Printed Books” or “Manuscripts,” as the case may
be, which as a term in no way connects them with librarianship. In the
Patent Office the term “Custodian” was formerly employed, but was
dropped some eight years ago for “Assistant in the Library.” In the
other Government or Civil Service libraries the assistant librarian is
usually rated and named as a first- or second-class clerk, as the case
may be. It would be greatly to the advantage of librarianship if a
proper Government recognition of the term librarian as representing a
specially trained type of man rather than the occupant of a certain
position could be obtained. At present it seems that clerks in any
Government office possessing a library can be moved from the office
proper to the library, and _vice versa_.

=565.= In municipal and similar public libraries the chaos is even more
pronounced. The principal officer calls himself Chief, Principal, Head,
Borough or City Librarian, or merely Librarian. Often the term Chief
Librarian is adopted where the owner of the name is the only librarian
on the staff, and the term “Chief” in these circumstances is
meaningless.

=567.= In the nomenclature of assistant librarians the confusion is
worse still. The principal assistant to the librarian is called the
Deputy, Chief Assistant, Assistant- or Sub-Librarian in large libraries;
but the terminology is imitated by the smaller libraries, and it is no
uncommon matter to hear of an assistant with a salary of £30 per annum
called a “sub-librarian,” and “chief assistant” and similar terms are
used very loosely to the bewilderment of library authorities, who find
that the Deputy Librarian of a great library like Birmingham holds
apparently the same position as the untrained lad in a village library.

=568.= It is undoubtedly desirable to formulate a series of definitions
which should govern the application of names to library positions. The
resulting nomenclature if generally adopted would prevent the anomalies
referred to. No librarian should call himself a chief librarian unless
he directs the work of librarians; the adjective is distinctly a
relative term. Similarly a deputy- or a sub-librarian should be clearly
a librarian of some technical equipment and training though he does not
happen to hold an independent position. To apply this name to a young or
boy assistant is undignified and is bound to cause confusion.

=569.= The following definitions are therefore tentatively recommended
for general adoption as solving the difficulties under consideration. At
the same time, human nature being what it is, we shall probably never do
away altogether with a meaningless and inflated use of official terms in
small libraries, and anything like a general adoption of our proposed
definitions in the larger libraries is perhaps unlikely. Even so, the
adoption of these or other definitions for all general statistical
purposes would be of great advantage.

SUGGESTED NOMENCLATURE AND DEFINITIONS OF LIBRARY POSITIONS

_Chief Librarian._--The head librarian of a number of libraries, or a
library system, under the charge of “librarians.” In the case of a
single large library (_e.g._ the British Museum), where the departmental
chiefs may fitly be styled librarians, the term Chief Librarian may be
used to designate the head; with such exception the term should never be
employed for the head of a single library.

_Deputy Librarian._--The principal assistant to a Chief Librarian, whose
work belongs strictly to the general administration of a system. Not to
be confused with Sub-Librarian.

_Librarian._--The head of a library. Not to be confused with Chief
Librarian, the head of a system of libraries.

_Sub-Librarian._--The principal assistant to a librarian, whose work is
independent of departments, but not independent of a building. Not to be
confused with Deputy Librarian.

_Librarian-in-Charge._--The officer in charge of a district or branch
library, or one of the departments of a central library, in a system
under the control of a Chief Librarian. Not to be confused with
Librarian.

_Branch Librarian._--Term not to be used. See Librarian-in-Charge.

_Chief Assistant._--An officer in charge of a department, subordinate to
a Sub-Librarian. If subordinate to a Deputy Librarian the corresponding
office would be Librarian-in-Charge.

_Senior Assistant._--A higher grade of library assistant.

_Junior Assistant._--A lower grade of library assistant.

_Attendant._--A person who carries books, and performs other mechanical
unskilled routine. If a youth, the term “page” may be used.

_Janitor._--An officer (generally in uniform) whose principal duty is to
maintain order in the building.

_Clerk._--A person employed in general clerking work, not a part of the
professional library staff.

_Probationer._--An assistant “on trial,” or not permanently appointed,
who may or may not be paid.

APPENDIX II

THE LIBRARIAN’S LIBRARY

=570.= The following is a classified list of the principal books which a
librarian will require as the chief tools of his profession. It does not
claim to be a complete bibliography, many valuable pamphlets and
publications of institutions being omitted owing to limited space.

The majority of the works mentioned should be available for the benefit
of the staff of the larger libraries, while two suggestive selections
are indicated by asterisks as follows:

** selection for a small library, income less than £1500.

* selection for a medium library, income less than £3000.

Richard Wright.

=571.= LIBRARY SCIENCE: BIBLIOGRAPHIES

**BROWN, J. D. Guide to Librarianship: reading lists, methods of
study, and tables of factors and percentages, required in connexion
with library economy. 93 pp. 1909.

(Grafton.)

**CANNONS, H. G. T. Bibliography of Library Economy: a classified
index to the professional periodical literature relating to library
economy, printing, methods of publishing, copyright, bibliography,
etc. [1876-1909]. 1910.

(Stanley Russell.)

**LIBRARY ASSOCIATION AND LIBRARY ASSISTANTS’ ASSOCIATION. Union
Class-List of the Libraries of the Library and Library Assistants’
Associations. 1913.

(Library Association.)

LIBRARY WORK: cumulated, 1905-11: a bibliography and digest of library
literature. Ed. A. L. Guthrie. 1912.

(Minneapolis: Wilson.)

=572.= POLICY AND UTILITY OF LIBRARIES

**BOSTOCK, A. E. The American Public Library. 1910.

(N. York: Appleton.)

---- (_Ed._). Relationship between the Library and the Public Schools:
reprints of papers and addresses.

(N. York: Wilson.)

DANA, J. C. Libraries: addresses and essays. 1916.

(N. York: Wilson.)

*EDWARDS, EDWARD. Free Town Libraries: their formation, management and
history. 1869.

(Trübner.)

FAY, L. E., and EATON, A. T. Instruction in the Use of Books and
Libraries: a text-book for normal schools and colleges. 1915. _Useful
Reference Ser._

(Boston: Boston Book Co.)

GRAESEL, ARNIM. Handbuch der Bibliothekslehre: zweite, voellig
umgearbeitete Auflage der “Grundzüge der Bibliothekslehre.” 1902.

(Leipzig: Weber.)

GREEN, S. S. Public Library Movement in the United States, 1853-93.
1913.

(Boston: Boston Book Co.)

*HARDY, E. A. The Public Library: its place in our educational system.
1912.

(Toronto: Briggs.)

LADEWIG, DR PAUL. Politik der Bücherei. 1912.

(Leipzig: Wiengandt.)

LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PUBLIC
LIBRARIES. Report, 1905. 12 pp. 1906.

(Library Association.)

**LOWE, J. A. Books and Libraries: a manual of instruction in their
use: for colleges. 1916.

(Boston: Boston Book Co.)

MILLER, F. M. Libraries and Education. 1912.

(Melbourne: Robertson.)

*MOREL, EUGÈNE. Bibliothèques: essai sur le développement des
bibliothèques publiques et de la libraire dans les deux mondes. 2
vols. 1908-09.

(Paris: Mercure de France.)

PELLISSON, MAURICE. Les Bibliothèques Populaires à l’Étranger et en
France. 1906.

PLUMMER, M. W. Hints to Small Libraries.

(Chicago: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

PUBLIC LIBRARIES, SELECT COMMITTEE ON. Report: with proceedings,
minutes of evidence and appendix. 1849.

**RECONSTRUCTION, MINISTRY OF. Third Interim Report of the Adult
Education Committee: libraries and museums. 1919.

(H.M. Stationery Office.)

REYER, ED. Entwicklung und Organisation der Volksbibliotheken. 1893.
(Leipzig: Engelmann.)

---- Fortschritte der Volkstumlichen Bibliotheken. 1903.

(Leipzig: Engelmann.)

RICHOU, GABRIEL. Traité de l’Administration des Bibliothèques
Publiques: historique, organization, legislation. 1885.

(Paris: Dupont.)

SPOFFORD, A. R. Books for all Readers: an aid to the collection, use
and preservation of books, and the formation of public and private
libraries. 1909. (N. York: Putnam.)

*STEWART, J. D. How to Use a Library. 1910.

(Stock.)

*WARD, G. O. The Practical Use of Books and Libraries. 2 vols. 1911.

(Boston: Boston Book Co.)

WIRE, G. E. How to Start a Public Library. 1902.

(Washington: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

=573.= PRACTICAL MANUALS. HANDBOOKS

**AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Manual of Library Economy. 1911-15.
_In progress._

(Chicago: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

BROWN, J. D. Manual of Library Economy. 1909.

(Grafton.)

COUSIN, JULES. De l’Organisation et de l’Administration des
Bibliothèques. 1882.

DANA, J. C. A Library Primer. 1910.

(Chicago: Library Bureau.)

*---- (_Ed._). Modern American Library Economy: as illustrated by the
Newark, N.J., Free Public Library. 1908.

(Minneapolis: Wilson.)

FLETCHER, W. J. Public Libraries in America. 1894.

(Chicago: Sampson Low.)

GREENWOOD, THOMAS. Public Libraries: a history of the movement, and a
manual for the organization and management of rate-supported
libraries. 4th ed., revised. 1891.

(Cassell.)

GREVE, H. E. Openbare Leesmusea en Volksbibliotheken. 1906.

(Amsterdam: Maas.)

*KOCH, T. W. Library Assistants’ Manual. 1913.

(Lansing: Michigan Library Commission.)

MACFARLANE, JOHN. Library Administration. 1898.

(Allen.)

MAIRE, ALBERT. Manuel Pratique du Bibliothécaire: bibliothèques
publiques, universitaires, privées. 1896.

*MOTH, AXEL. Glossary of Library Terms: English, Danish, Dutch,
French, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish. 58 pp. 1915. _Useful
Reference Ser._

(Boston: Boston Book Co.)

*RAE, W. S. C. Public Library Administration. 1913.

(Routledge.)

**ROEBUCK, G. E., and THORNE, W. B. A Primer of Library Practice for
Junior Assistants. 1914.

(Grafton.)

*STEARNS, L. E. (_Ed._). Essentials in Library Administration. 1905.

(Washington: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

WHEATLEY, H. B. How to Form a Library. 1902.

(Stock.)

=574.= SPECIAL DEPARTMENTS

BROWN, J. D. The Small Library: a guide to the collection and care of
books. 1907.

(Routledge.)

*EMERY, J. W. The Library, the School, and the Child. [1917.]

(Macmillan.)

*GOWER, H. D., JAST, L. S., and TOPLEY, W. W. The Camera as Historian.

(Sampson Low.)

GREENWOOD, THOMAS. Sunday School and Village Libraries. 1892.

(Clarke.)

*KAISER, J. B. Law, Legislative and Municipal Reference Libraries.
1914.

(Boston: Boston Book Co.)

**SAYERS, W. C. B. The Children’s Library: a practical manual for
public, school and home libraries.

(Routledge.)

=575.= PERIODICALS AND ASSOCIATIONS

American Library Association. Bulletin. 1907 _to date_.

Association des Bibliothécaires Français. Bulletin. 1909 (?) _to
date_.

Baroda Library Miscellany. 1912 _to date_.

La Bibliothécaire. 1910 _to date_.

(St Petersburg.)

Blätter für Volksbibliotheken und Lesehallen. 1901 _to date_.

(Leipzig.)

Het Boek. 1912 _to date_.

(The Hague.)

Bogsamlingsbladet. 1905 (?) _to date_.

(Copenhagen.)

Boletin del Archiva Nacional. 1901 (?) _to date_.

Bollettino delle Biblioteche Popolari. 1908 _to date_.

(Milan.)

Centralblatt für Bibliothekswesen. 1884 _to date_.

(Leipzig.)

La Coltura Popolare. 1911 _to date_.

(Milan.)

For Folke- og Barneboksamlinger. 1907 _to date_.

(Kristiania.)

An Leabharlann. 1905 _to date_.

(Dublin.)

*Librarian and Book World. 1910 _to date_.

(S. Paul.)

*Library: a magazine of bibliography and library literature. _Ed._ J.
Y. M. MacAlister. 1889 _to date_.

(Moring.)

**Library Assistants’ Association. Library Assistant. 1898 _to date_.

(L.A.A.)

**Library Association. Library Association Record. 1899 _to date_.

(Library Association.)

**---- Library Association Year Book. 1893 _to date_.

(Library Association.)

---- Monthly Notes. 1880-83.

(Library Association.)

---- Transactions and Proceedings of Annual Meetings. 1878-94.

(Chiswick Press.)

Library Chronicle. 5 vols. 1884-88.

(Library Association.)

**Library Journal. 1876 _to date_.

(N. York: Bowker.)

Library Record of Australia. 1901 _to date_.

**Library World. 1898 _to date_.

(Grafton.)

Maandblad voor Bibliotheekwezen. 1913 _to date_.

(The Hague.)

Museums Journal.

(Dulau.)

Oesterr. Verein für Bibliothekswesen. Mittheilungen. 1897 (?) _to
date_.

*Ontario. Dept. of Education. Public Libraries Branch. Ontario Library
Review.

(Ontario Dept. of Education.)

*Public Libraries. 1896 _to date_.

(Chicago: Library Bureau.)

Revista de Archivos. Bibliotecas y museos. 1905 _to date_.

(Madrid.)

Revista de la Biblioteca Nacional. 1909 _to date_.

(Habana.)

Revista delle Biblioteche e Degli Archivi.

(Florence.)

Revue des Bibliothèques.

(Paris.)

Revue des Bibliothèques et Archives de Belgique. 1903 _to date_.

*Special Libraries. 1910 _to date_.

(Indianapolis: Special Libraries Association.)

Tijdschrift voor Boek- en Bibliotheekwezen. 1903 _to date_.

(Antwerp.)

Wisconsin Library Bulletin.

(Wisconsin Free Library Commission.)

=576.= LEGISLATION

**CHAMBERS, G. F., and FOVARGUE, H. W. Law Relating to Public
Libraries and Museums and Scientific Institutions. 1899.

(Knight.)

*FOVARGUE, H. W. Summary of Library Law. 1910.

(Stanley Russell.)

---- Adoption of the Public Libraries Acts in England and Wales. 1896.
_L.A. Series_, 7.

(Simpkin.)

FOVARGUE, H. W., and OGLE, J. J. Public Library Legislation. 1893.
_L.A. Series_, 2.

(Simpkin.)

=577.= ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING, FITTINGS

*BROWN, J. D., _and Others_. Open Access Libraries: their planning,
equipment and organization. 1915.

(Grafton.)

*BURGOYNE, F. J. Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings and
Furniture. 1897.

(Allen.)

**CHAMPNEYS, A. L. Public Libraries: their design, construction and
fittings. 1907.

(Batsford.)

*CLARK, J. W. Care of Books: the development of libraries and their
fittings to the end of the eighteenth century. 1909.

(Cambridge Univ. Press.)

COTGREAVE, ALFRED. Views and Memoranda of Public Libraries. 1901.

LEAGUE OF LIBRARY COMMISSIONS. Small Library Buildings. 1908.

(Boston: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

N. YORK STATE LIBRARY. EASTMAN, W. R. Library Building Plans. 55 pp.
1906.

*SOULE, C. C. How to Plan a Library Building for Library Work. 1912.
_Useful Reference Ser._

(Boston: Boston Book Co.)

=578.= STAFF

BODLEIAN LIBRARY. Staff Kalendar.

(Annual.)

COWELL, PETER. Public Library Staffs. 1893. _L.A. Series_, 3.

(Simpkin.)

**LIBRARY ASSISTANTS’ ASSOCIATION. Report on the Hours, Salaries,
Training and Conditions of Service of Assistants in British Municipal
Libraries. 1911.

(Library Assistants’ Assoc.)

=579.= CATALOGUING

_Bibliography_

JAHR, TORSTEIN, and STROHM, A. J. Bibliography of Co-operative
Cataloguing and the Printing of Catalogue Cards, 1850-1902. 1903.

(Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.)

_Practical Manuals_

*BISHOP, W. W. Practical Handbook of Modern Library Cataloguing. 1914.

(Grafton.)

BLACKBURN, C. F. Hints on Catalogue Titles and on Index Entries.

CLARKE, A. L. Manual of Practical Indexing. 1905.

(Grafton.)

*CRAWFORD, ESTHER. Cataloguing: suggestions for the small library.
1906.

(Boston: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

DELISLE, LEOPOLD. Instructions pour la Mise et le Maintien en Ordre
des Livres d’une Bibliothèque. 94 pp. 1910.

(Paris: Champion.)

HITCHLER, THERESA. Cataloguing for Small Libraries. 1915.

(Boston: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

**QUINN, J. H. Manual of Library Cataloguing. 1913.

(Grafton.)

WALTER, F. K. Abbreviations and Technical Terms used in Book Catalogs
and in Bibliographies. 1912. _Useful Reference Ser._

(Boston: Boston Book Co.)

WHEATLEY, H. B. How to Catalogue a Library. 1889.

(Stock.)

_Codes_

*AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Condensed Rules for an Author and Title
Catalog. 1904.

(American Library Assoc.)

**AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION AND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. Cataloguing
Rules: author and title entries. 1908.

(Library Association.)

*BRITISH MUSEUM. Rules for Compiling the Catalogues. 1900.

(British Museum.)

**CUTTER, C. A. Rules for a Dictionary Catalogue.

(Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.)

*DEWEY, MELVIL. Library School Card Catalog Rules: with fifty-two
facsimiles of sample cards. 1892.

(Boston: Library Bureau.)

DZIATZKO, C. Instruction für die Ordnung der Titel im Alphabetischen
Zettelkatalog der Königl. und Universitäts-Bibliothek zu Breslau.
1886.

**LINDERFELT, K. A. Eclectic Card Catalog Rules: author and title.
1890.

(Boston: Cutter.)

N. YORK STATE LIBRARY. FELLOWS, J. D. Cataloguing Rules. 1914.

(Albany: N. York University.)

PERKINS, F. B. San Francisco Cataloguing for Public Libraries. 1884.

(San Francisco.)

_Subject Headings_

*AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. List of Subject Headings for Use in
Dictionary Catalogs. Ed. 3; by M. J. Briggs; revised. 1911.

(Washington: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

* MANN, MARGARET. Subject Headings for Use in Dictionary Catalogues of
Juvenile Books. 1916.

(Grafton.)

_Annotation_

**SAYERS, W. C. BERWICK. First Steps in Annotation in Catalogues.
1918. _L.A.A. Ser., 9._

(Library Assistants’ Assoc.)

**SAVAGE, E. A. Manual of Descriptive Annotation for Library
Catalogues. 1906.

(Grafton.)

_Forms and Production of Catalogues_

**PHILIP, A. J. The Production of the Printed Catalogue. 1910.

(Atkinson.)

**SAYERS, W. C. BERWICK, and STEWART, J. D. The Card Catalogue: a
practical manual for public and private libraries. 1913.

(Grafton.)

---- Catalogues for Children. 1905.

(Aberdeen Univ. Press.)

**STEWART, J. D. The Sheaf Catalogue: the compilation of manuscript
catalogues for public and private libraries. 1909.

(Grafton.)

=580.= CLASSIFICATION

_Theoretical and Practical_

**BROWN, J. D. Library Classification and Cataloguing. 1912.

(Grafton.)

**RICHARDSON, E. C. Classification: theoretical and practical. 1912.

(N. York: Scribner’s.)

**SAYERS, W. C. BERWICK. Canons of Classification Applied to the
Subject, Expensive, Decimal, and Library of Congress Classifications.
1915.

(Grafton.)

**---- An Introduction to Library Classification: with readings,
questions and examination papers. 1918.

(Grafton.)

**---- A Short Course in Practical Classification.

(Library Association.)

_Schemes_

BELGIUM. INSTITUT INTERNATIONAL DE BIBLIOGRAPHIE. Classification
Bibliographique Décimale: tables générals refondues établies en vue de
la publication du répertoire bibliographique universel: édition
Française publiée avec le concours du Bureau Bibliographique de Paris.
1899-1905. _In progress._

(Brussels: Inst. Internat. de Bibliographie.)

---- Manuel du Répertoire Bibliographique Universel: organisation,
état de travaux, règles, classification.

(Library Bureau.)

**BROWN, J. D. Subject Classification. 1914.

(Grafton.)

CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY. Classification of Books in the Library. Ed. 2;
revised. 1916. _Library Bulletin_, 12.

(Univ. of California.)

*CUTTER, C. A. Expansive Classification. _In progress_.

(Boston: Library Bureau.)

**DEWEY, MELVIL. Decimal Classification and Relative Index: for
library clippings, notes, etc. Ed. 9. 1915.

(Boston: Library Bureau.)

FLETCHER, W. I. Library Classification. 1894.

(Boston: Roberts.)

JAST, L. S. Classification of Library Economy and Office Papers. 1907.

(Grafton.)

PERKINS, F. B. Rational Classification of Literature for Shelving and
Cataloguing Books in a Library. 1882.

(San Francisco: Valentine.)

UNITED STATES. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Classification. 22 pts. 1904-16.

(Washington: Government Printing Office.)

_Author Marks_

*CUTTER, C. A. Three-Figure Decimal Alphabetic Order Table. 1901.

(Boston: Library Bureau.)

*---- Explanation of the Alphabetic Order Marks: three-figure table.
1901.

(Boston: Library Bureau.)

=581.= BOOKBINDING

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. COMMITTEE ON BINDING. Binding
Specifications for Commercial Work. 1909.

(Chicago: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

BAILEY, A. L. Library Bookbinding. 1916.

(N. York: Wilson.)

*CHIVERS, CEDRIC. The Paper of Lending Library Books: with remarks on
their bindings. 1910.

(Bath: Chivers.)

*COCKERELL, DOUGLAS. Bookbinding and the Care of Books. 1906.

(Hogg.)

**COUTTS, H. T., and STEPHEN, G. A. Manual of Library Bookbinding:
practical and historical. 1911.

(Grafton.)

*DANA, J. C. Notes on Bookbinding for Libraries. 1906.

(Boston: Library Bureau.)

**LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. SOUND LEATHER COMMITTEE. Leather for Libraries.
1905. (Library Association.)

*PHILIP, A. J. Business of Bookbinding. 1912.

(Stanley Paul.)

*SOCIETY OF ARTS. Report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding.
1905.

(Society of Arts.)

STEPHEN, G. A. Commercial Bookbinding: the processes and the machines
used. 1910.

(Stonhill.)

**ZAEHNSDORF, J. H. Bookbinding. 1900.

(Bell.)

_Historical_

*HORNE, H. P. The Binding of Books. 1894. _Books about Books._

(Kegan Paul.)

*PRIDEAUX, S. T. Historical Sketch of Bookbinding. 1893.

(Laurence & Bullen.)

=582.= ANCIENT AND MEDIÆVAL LIBRARIES

BOYD, C. E. Public Libraries and Literary Culture in Ancient Rome.
1915.

(Chicago: Univ. Press.)

*EDWARDS, EDWARD. Memoirs of Libraries. 2 vols. 1859.

(Trübner.)

*RICHARDSON, E. C. The Beginnings of Libraries. 1914.

(Oxford Univ. Press.)

*---- Biblical Libraries: library history, 3400 B.C. to A.D. 150.
1914.

(Oxford Univ. Press.)

*---- Some old Egyptian Libraries. 1911.

(Oxford Univ. Press.)

*SAVAGE, E. A. Old English Libraries: the making, collection and use
of books during the middle ages. 1911. _Antiquary’s Books._

(Methuen.)

**---- Story of Libraries and Book Collecting.

(Routledge.)

=583.= MODERN LIBRARIES: DIRECTORIES AND STATISTICS

*BROWN, J. D. A British Library Itinerary. 30 pp. 1913.

(Grafton.)

**CARNEGIE UNITED KINGDOM TRUST. Annual Report. 1914 _to date_.

---- Statistics relating to Public Libraries in the United Kingdom.
1916.

**---- ADAMS, _Prof._ W. G. S. Report on Library Provision and Policy.
1915.

FRANKLIN, ALFRED. Guide des Savants, des Littérateurs, et des Artistes
dans les Bibliothèques de Paris. 1908.

(Paris: Welter.)

GIBSON, STRICKLAND. Some Oxford Libraries. 1914.

(Oxford Univ. Press.)

**_Libraries, Museums, and Art Galleries Year Book._ 1897 _to date_.

(Stanley Paul.)

**_Literary Year Book._ (Annual.)

(Heath, Cranton & Ouseley.)

**LONDON UNIVERSITY. RYE, A. R. The Libraries of London: a guide for
students. 1910.

(Univ. of London.)

MARCEL, HENRY, _and Others_. La Bibliothèque Nationale. 1907.

(Paris: Renouard.)

MOREL, EUGÈNE. La Librairie Publique. 1910.

(Paris: Colin.)

NEDERLANDSCHE BIBLIOTHEEKGIDS. Uitgave van de Nederlandsche
Vereeniging van Bibliothecarissen en Bibliotheek-Ambtenaren, Gevestigd
te Utrecht. 1913. 88 pp.

(Utrecht: Oosthoek.)

OGLE, J. J. The Free Library: its history and present condition. 1897.

(Allen.)

**PARLIAMENT. Return Showing the Names of all Places in England,
Scotland and Ireland in which the Public Libraries Acts had been
Adopted. 1912.

(H.M. Stationery Office.)

*PEDDIE, R. A. The British Museum Reading Room: a handbook for
students. 1912.

(Grafton.)

*RAWLINGS, G. B. The British Museum Library. 1916.

(Grafton.)

=584.= BIBLIOGRAPHY: HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL

**BROWN, J. D. Manual of Practical Bibliography. 1906.

(Routledge.)

BURE, G. F. DE. Bibliographie Instructive: ou, traité de la
connaissance des livres rares et singuliers. 7 vols. 1764-68.

(Paris: De Bure.)

*CAMPBELL, F. Theory of National and International Bibliography. 1896.

(Library Bureau.)

*CIM, ALBERT. Le Livre: historique, fabrication, achat, classement,
usage, et entretien. 5 vols. 1905-08.

(Paris: Flammarion.)

FEIPEL, L. N. Elements of Bibliography. 37 pp. 1916.

(Cambridge Univ. Press.)

*HORNE, T. H. Introduction to the Study of Bibliography. 2 vols. 1814.

(Cadwell & Davies.)

KLEEMEIER, F. J. Handbuch der Bibliographie. 1903.

ROUVEYRE, E. Connaissances Nécessaires à un Bibliophile. Ed. 5.

(Paris: Rouveyre.)

_Typography: Historical_

AMES, J. Typographical Antiquities. Ed. by Dibdin. 4 vols. 1810-19.

BLADES, WILLIAM. The Pentateuch of Printing. 1891.

(Chicago: M’Clurg.)

COTTON, HENRY. Typographical Gazetteer. 2 vols. 1831-66.

(Oxford: Parker.)

FAULMANN, K. Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst. 1882.

(Vienna.)

*HUMPHREYS, H. N. History of Printing to the Middle of the Sixteenth
Century. 1868.

(Quaritch.)

**PLOMER, H. R. Short History of English Printing. 1900.

(Kegan Paul.)

_Typography: Practical_

**COLLINS, F. H. (_Ed._). Author and Printer: a guide for authors,
editors, printers, correctors of the press, compositors and typists.
1905.

(Frowde.)

**JACOBI, C. T. Some Notes on Books and Printing. 1904.

(Whittingham.)

*LEGROS, L. A., and GRANT, J. C. Typographical Printing Surfaces: the
technology and mechanism of their production. 1916.

(Longmans.)

_Book Production_

*BOUCHOT, HENRY. The Book: its printers, illustrators and binders:
from Gutenberg to the present time. 1890.

(Grevel.)

**DAVENPORT, CYRIL. The Book: its history and development. 1907.

(Constable.)

DUFF, E. G. Early Printed Books. 1893. _Books about Books._

(Kegan Paul.)

**HITCHCOCK, F. H. (_Ed._). Building of a Book. 1907.

(Laurie.)

PROCTOR, R. Index to the Early Printed Books in the British Museum: to
1500. 4 vols. 1898-99.

(British Museum.)

_Copyright_

COPINGER, W. A. Law of Copyright in Literature and Art. 1893.

(Stevens & Haynes.)

**OLDFIELD, L. C. F. Law of Copyright. 1912.

(Butterworth.)

=585.= BIBLIOGRAPHY AND BOOK SELECTION

_Bibliographies of Bibliography_

BRITISH MUSEUM. List of Bibliographical Works in the Reading Room.

(British Museum.)

**COURTNEY, W. P. Register of National Bibliography. 3 vols. 1905-12.

(Constable.)

*HUMPHREYS, A. L. Handbook to County Bibliography: a bibliography of
bibliographies relating to the counties and towns of Great Britain and
Ireland. 1917.

JOHN CRERAR LIBRARY. List of Bibliographies of Special Subjects. 1902.

(Chicago: John Crerar Library.)

*LANGLOIS, C. V. Manuel de Bibliographie Historique. 2 vols.
1896-1904.

(Paris: Hachette.)

PETZHOLDT, JULIUS. Bibliotheca Bibliographica. 1866.

(Leipzig: Engelmann.)

**STEIN, HENRI. Manuel de Bibliographie Générale. 1897.

(Paris: Picard.)

VALLÉE, L. Bibliographie des Bibliographies. 2 vols. 1883-87.

(Paris: Terquem.)

_General Bibliographies_

*ALIBONE, S. A. Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British
and American Authors. With supplement; by J. F. Kirk. 5 vols. 1859-91.

(Philadelphia: Lippincott.)

_American Catalogue of Books._ Vol. 1, 1876 _to date_.

(N. York: Publishers’ Weekly.)

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. FLETCHER, W. T. (_Ed._). A.L.A. Index.
1905.

(Boston: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

_Bibliographie de la France_: journal général de l’imprimerie et de la
librairie. (Annual.)

(Paris: Au Cercle de la Librairie.)

BRITISH MUSEUM. PRINTED BOOKS, DEPARTMENT OF. Catalogue of Books
Printed in England, Scotland and Ireland to 1640. 3 vols. 1884.

---- Catalogue of Printed Books. 55 vols. 1882-1905.

*---- FORTESCUE, G. K. (_Ed._). Subject Index of the Modern Works
Added to the Library. Vols. 1-5. 1881-1910.

*BRUNET, J. C. Manuel du Libraire. With supplement. 8 vols. 1860-80.

(Paris: Didot.)

**_English Catalogue of Books._ 1835 _to date_.

(Publishers’ Circular.)

GRAESSE, J. G. T. Trésor de Livres Rares et Précieux. 7 vols. 1859-69.

(Dresden.)

HAIN, L. Repertorium Bibliographicum. With supplement; by W. A.
Copinger. 6 vols. 1826-98.

KOEHLER. Lager-Verzeichniss Gebundener Bücher, Atlanten, und
Musikalien. (Annual.)

(Leipzig.)

*LONDON LIBRARY. Catalogue. Ed. C. T. H. Wright and C. J. Purnell. 2
vols. 1913-14.

(London Library.)

*---- Subject Index of the L.L. Ed. C. T. H. Wright. 1909.

(Williams & Norgate.)

LORENZ, OTTO. Catalogue Générale de la Librairie Française, 1840-1905.

(Paris: Librairie Nilsson.)

**LOWNDES, W. T. Bibliographer’s Manual of English Literature. 6 vols.
1857-64.

(Bell.)

PAGLIAINI, ATTILO. Catalogo Generale della Libreria Italiana dell’anno
1847 a tutto il 1899. 3 vols. 1901-5.

(Milan: Assoc. Tipografico Libreria Italiana.)

PANZER, G. W. Annales Typographici. 11 vols. 1793-1803.

(Nurnberg.)

**PITTSBURGH. CARNEGIE LIBRARY. Classified Catalogue. 8 vols. in 25.
1895-1914.

_Reference Catalogue of Current Literature._ 1874 _to date_.

(Whitaker.)

WATT, ROBERT. Bibliotheca Britannica: a general index of British and
foreign literature. 4 vols. 1824.

(Constable.)

=587.= GUIDES TO BOOK SELECTION

_General_

*AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. A.L.A. Book-list: a guide to the best
new books. Vol. 1, _to date_. 1905 _to date_.

---- A.L.A. Catalog. 2 vols. 1912.

(Washington: U.S. Gov. Printing Office.)

**ROBERTSON, J. M. Courses of Study. 1904.

(Watts.)

*SONNENSCHEIN, W. S. The Best Books: a reader’s guide to the choice of
the best available books. 2 vols. 1910-12. _In progress._

(Routledge.)

**STANDARD BOOKS: an annotated and classified guide to the best books
in all departments of literature. 4 vols.

(Nelson.)

_Books for the Young_

BACON, CORINNE (_Ed._). Children’s Catalogue of Two Thousand Books: a
guide to the best reading for boys and girls, based on fifty-four
selected library lists and bulletins. 1916. _Standard Catalogue Ser._

(N. York: Wilson.)

**FIELD, W. T. Fingerposts to Children’s Reading. 1907.

(Chicago: M’Clurg.)

FINSBURY PUBLIC LIBRARIES. CANNONS, H. G. C. Descriptive Handbook to
Juvenile Literature, 1906.

*OLCOTT, F. J. The Children’s Reading. 1912.

(Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Co.)

POTTER, M. E., _and Others_. Children’s Catalog: a guide to the best
reading for young people. 1909.

(Minneapolis: Wilson.)

PITTSBURGH. CARNEGIE LIBRARY. Graded and Annotated Catalogue of Books
for the Use of the City School. 1900.

---- Catalogue of Books in the Children’s Department. 1909.

_Works of Reference_

BRITISH MUSEUM. PRINTED BOOKS, DEPARTMENT OF. List of Books forming
the Reference Library in the Reading Room of the B.M. 2 vols. 1910.

(British Museum.)

*HOPKINS, F. M. Reference Guides that Should be Known and How to Use
Them. 1916.

(Detroit: Willard.)

**KROEGER, A. B. Guide to the Study and Use of Reference Books. Ed. 3,
by I. G. Mudge; revised and enlarged. 1917.

(Chicago: A.L.A. Publ. Board.)

_Historical Works_

ADAMS, C. K. Manual of Historical Literature. 1888.

(N. York: Harper.)

**GROSS, C. Sources and Literature of English History: to 1485. Ed. 2;
revised. 1915.

(Longmans.)

_Fiction_

**BAKER, E. A. Guide to the Best Fiction in English. 1913.

(Routledge.)

**---- Guide to Historical Fiction. 1914.

(Routledge.)

NIELD, JONATHAN. Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales. 1904.

(Elkin Matthews.)

_Anonyms and Pseudonyms_

BARBIER, A. A. Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes. Ed. 3. 4 vols.
1872-78.

(Paris: Daffis.)

**COURTNEY, W. P. Secrets of Our National Literature. 1908.

(Constable.)

**CUSHING, WILLIAM. Anonyms. 2 vols. 1890.

(N. York: Sampson Low.)

*---- Initials and Pseudonyms. 1885.

(N. York: Sampson Low.)

*HALKETT, SAMUEL, and LAING, JOHN. Dictionary of the Anonymous and
Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain. 4 vols. 1882-88.

(Edinburgh: Paterson.)

QUÉRARD, J. M. Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Pseudonymes et Anonymes de la
Littérature Française, 1700-1845. 3 vols. 1846.

(Paris: Daffis.)

WELLER, E. Lexicon Pseudonymorum. 2 vols. 1886.

(Regenburg.)

_Book Prices. Sale Records_

_American Book Prices Current._ (Annual.) Vol. 1, 1895 _to date_.

(N. York: Dodd.)

*_Book Auction Records._ (Quarterly.) Vol. 1, 1902 _to date_.

(Karslake.)

**_Book Prices Current._ (Annual.) Vol. 1, 1886 _to date_.

(Stock.)

*CLEGG, JAMES. International Directory of Booksellers’ and
Bibliophiles’ Manual. 1899 _to date_.

(Rochdale: Clegg).

_Periodical Indexes_

_Annual Library Index._ 1892 _to date_. (N. York: Publishers’ Weekly.)

**LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. “Subject” Index to Periodicals. Vol. 1. 1915
_to date_.

POOLE, W. F., _and Others_. Index to Periodical Literature.
(Quinquennially.) Vols. 1-2, 1802-81 _to date_. 1887 _to date_.

(Kegan Paul.)

_Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature._ 1900 _to date_.

(N. York: Wilson.)

INDEX

_The Numbers are those of Sections, not Pages. References to individual
Bibliographies are omitted._

Abstract stock sheets, 225
Accession, methods, 207-29
---- rural libraries, 546
---- school libraries, 513
Accounts, library, 49
Acts of Parliament, General, 1
---- Special, 2
Adams, W. G. S., _On Library Provision_, 30, 544
Additions, lists of: placard, 289; card, 274-81; bulletin, 264;
show-case, 394
Adjustable classification, 240
---- indicator, 391
---- periodical list, 474
---- sheaf catalogue, 286
---- shelving, 147-48
Adoption of Acts, 4 (_a_) (_b_), 14-21
Advertising, appointments, 69
---- for architects, 115
---- for building contracts, 125
Age limits, 350-51
Agenda for committees, 19-23
Agreements, 44-47
Alphabetical-classed catalogue, 257
America. _See_ United States
American Library Association, 99
Ancient libraries, bibliography of, 582
Anderson, P. J., 242
Anglo-American catalogue rules, 263
Annotation, 258; bibliography of, 579
Annual report, 61-63
Appliances, rural library, museum of, 548
Application forms, reference, 409
Applications, librarians’, 69
Appointments, assistants, 77-98; librarians, 66-73
Architects, library, 115
Architectural competitions, 115-18
Architecture, library, 107-42; bibliography of, 577
Art galleries, 562-63
Arts, Society of, 341
Assistants, qualifications, appointment, salaries, etc., 77-98; names,
567-69
Assessment to rates and taxes, 37-40
Associations, library, 99-105; bibliography of, 575
_Athenæum_ Subject Index, 191
Attendances, at committee meetings, 22
---- counting, 478
Attendant, 569
Audit of accounts, 51
Australian library legislation, 7
Author catalogue, 257; entry, 263; marks, 242, 254
Authors, local, 427
Autographs, local, 428

Baillie, G., 18
Balances of rate, 27
Baroda, public libraries, 7
Barometers in libraries, 141
Barriers, 131-35
Bespeaking books, 360 (23), 361 (23)
Best books, 181-85
Betting news, “blacking-out,” 462
Bibliographical Society, 103
Bibliographies, 584
Bibliography of bibliography, 586
---- of library science, 571
Binders for catalogues, 268-90
Binding. _See_ Bookbinding
Binding pamphlets, 414
Birmingham, 450
Bishopsgate catalogue, 257
“Blacking-out” betting news, 462
Blank forms, 322
Blind, books for the, 197
Bodleian Library, 262
Bonnange card tray, 279
Bonazzi, 235
Bolton, catalogue, 257
Bookbinding, 331-47; specification, 341; bibliography of, 581
Book cards, 217
---- cases, 143-54
---- clubs, 403-04
Book-keeping, library, 49
---- labels, 227
---- marks, 344
---- ordering, 213-14
---- plates, 219
---- prices, bibliography of, 587
---- production, bibliography, 584
---- rests, 250
---- selection, 174-206
---- ---- bibliography of, 586
---- ---- classification in, 230
---- ---- for children, 488-90
---- ---- school libraries, 515
---- stands, 251-52
Books for librarians, 93
Borrowers, registration, 367-75
Borrowing money for library purposes, 33 _et seq._
Borrowing rights, 352-54
Boston public library, 8
Bournemouth bindery, 333
Bradford, 450
Branch librarian, 80, 569
---- libraries, 397-400
---- ---- superintendent of, 79
Bray, Dr T., 8
Brighton library, 392; bindery, 333
Brisbane public library, 7
Bristol bindery, 333
British Museum, 70, 107, 262, 269, 271, 366; catalogue, 257; subject
index, 257
Broadsides, mounting, 436
Brooklyn catalogue, 257
Brown, J. D., 235, 239, 240, 262, 391, 395, etc.
Brunet, J. C., 235
Budget, annual financial, 30 _et seq._
Buildings, library, bibliography of, 577
---- ---- legislative provision for, 4 (_d_)
---- ---- specifications and contracts, 124
---- ---- theory of library plans, 107-23
Bulletins, 264
---- picture, children’s, 498
Bye-laws, 349-64

Cabinets, card, 274-81
----, filing, 301, etc.
----, stationery, 324
Canadian library legislation, 7
Card catalogues, 260, 274-81
---- charging, 378-84
---- diary, 314
Caretakers, 95
Carnegie, Andrew, Intro., III., 18
Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, 10, 544; rural libraries, 545
Catalogue card, 274-81
---- codes and rules, 262
---- copy, 265
---- display methods, 268-90
---- forms, 259
---- page, 269
---- panoramic, 290
---- placard, 289
---- sheaf, 261, 282-88
Cataloguing, bibliography of, 579
---- children’s books, 503-04
---- code, Anglo-American, 263
---- co-operative, 267
---- local collection, 438
---- local maps, 441
---- prints, 439
---- reference library, 413
---- rules, 256-67
---- rural libraries, 546
---- school libraries, 513
Central lending library for students, 457
Certificate of exemption from payment of rates, 45-48
Chairs, 167-70, 416
Charging methods, 376-96
---- rural libraries: central, 546; local, 547
---- school libraries, 514
Chief assistant, 569
Chief librarian, qualifications, appointment, salaries, etc., 65-76;
nomenclature, 569
Children, insurance against injury to, 42
Children, work with, Intro., V. (1-2), 482-525
Children’s books, bibliography of, 587
---- lectures, 496
---- librarian, 491, 493
---- rooms, 398, 482
Civics libraries, 445-49
Class-lists, printed, 259
Classed, alphabetical, catalogue, 257
Classes of literature in libraries, 180
Classification, 230-55
---- Adjustable, 240
---- bibliography of, 580
---- children’s books, 503-04
---- Congress, 238
---- Decimal, 236
---- Expansive, 237
---- guides, 255
---- library economy, 302
---- local collection, 437
---- principles of, 230-34
---- reference library, 412
---- rural libraries, 546
---- Subject, 239
---- catalogue, 257
Cleaners, 95
Cleaning of buildings, 128
Clerk, 569
---- of works, 126
Clerkenwell library, 395
Clippings, newspaper, 309, 415
Clocks for libraries, 141
Cloth binding, 336
Clubs, staff, 105
Cockerell, D., 341
Codes, catalogue, 262
Coins, local, 431
Collections, local, 190, 424-44
---- special, 190
Colonial library legislation, 7, 13
Colours, bookbinding, 338
---- book-marking, 247
Commercial libraries, Intro., V. (3), 450-59
Commissions, illegal, 46
Committees, appointment, constitution, delegation of powers, agendas,
etc., 19-23
---- school libraries, 508
---- statistics for, 60
Companies Acts, 6
Concilium Bibliographicum, cards, 260
Conference, Library Association, 100
Congress, Library of, catalogue cards, 260; classification, 238;
subject headings, 257
Contracts, 44-46
---- building, 124
Co-operative cataloguing, 267
Copy for printer, 265
Copyright, bibliography of, 584
Correspondence, filing, 301, etc.
Corrupt Practices Act, 46
Cotgreave indicator, 389
Counters, 131-35
County Councils and rural libraries, 544, etc.
Covers for books, 337
Crerar, John, library, cards, 260
Croydon, 264, 345, 399; bindery, 334
Cutter, C. A., 262; classification, 237; author-marks, 242
---- W. P., 237
Cutting of books, 229
Cuttings, newspaper, 415
Cycle accommodation, 139

Decimal classification, 236
Decoration of buildings, 110
Deeds, local, 442
Defaulters, children, 486
Delegation of powers to committees, 21
Delivery stations, 401
---- at schools, 520
Depositors, 360 (16), 361 (16)
Deputy-librarian, 78, 569
Desks, 171-72
Dewey, M., 262; classification, 236
Diary, card, 314
Dictionary catalogue, 257
Diploma of Library Association, 68 _et seq._, 100-01
Discarded books, index, 316
Discarding books, 199-201
Diseases, infectious, notification, 360 (25), 361 (25), 364
District auditors, 51
Dogs in libraries, 139
Donations, 207-09
Doubtful books, 188
Dummies, shelf, 246-48
Dunfermline, Carnegie rural libraries, 545-48
Duplex card tray, 281
Duplicate borrowers’ tickets, 360 (19), 371
Duplicates of popular books, 186
Duplicating machines, 325
Dusting, 328
Dyall indicator, 387

Easels, reading, 166
Education Act, 1918, 84
Education authorities, libraries and, Intro., VI. (3), 509
Educational work of Library Association, 101
Edwards, Edward, Intro., II., 235, etc.
Edwards, J. Passmore, 18
Elliott indicator, 388
End-papers, 345
Endowments, 18
Enforcement of rules, 358-59
Engraved records, local, 431
Engravings in libraries, 193
Envelopes, 322
Estimate of expenditure, annual, 29-31
---- rural libraries, 549
Evaluation of books, 258
Examinations, Library Association, 101
Exchanges between libraries, 405
---- school libraries, 516
Exhibitions, book and print, 537
---- children’s, 499
Expansive classification, 237
Expenditure, estimate of annual, 29-31
---- rural libraries, 549
---- statistics, 62

Façades, building, 112
Fiction in libraries, 181
---- bibliography of, 587
Filing, 300-21
---- newspapers and periodicals, 477
---- vertical, 213
Finance, library, 26-51
---- school libraries, 510-11
Fines and penalties, 354 (5), 355
---- ---- children’s, 486
Finishing, bookbinding, 335-39
Fire-extinguishing apparatus, 41
Fittings, 130-58
---- children’s library, 487
Folders, filing, 310
Foreign languages, books in, 190
Form classes, 232
Forms, 322
Fulham North Library, 170
Furniture, 159-72
---- bibliography of, 577
---- lecture room, 173, 526
---- reference library, 408
---- children’s library, 487

Galleries, 156
Gestetner, 325
Gifts, book, 207-09
Gissing, George, 433
Glasgow, 450; joint-technical catalogues, 267. _See also_ Mitchell
Library.
Gower, Jast, and Topley, 307
Graham indicator, 392
Greenwood, Thomas, 16, 49
Guides, card catalogue, 274
---- charging system, 384
Guilds, staff, 105

Hampstead catalogue, 257
Handbooks of library economy, 573
Handles for bookcases, 158
Handwriting, library, 265
Harris, 235
Hartwig, 235
Hat rails, 169
Health insurance, staff, 43
Heating of buildings, 128
Hetherington, E. L., 62
Historical books, bibliography of, 587
Hitchler, T., 262
Holiday opening, 356
Home binding, 333
Hopkins, F. M., 418
Hours, children’s library, 491
---- of libraries, 349
---- staff, 83-84
Hull bindery, 333

Illustration collection, for children, 498
Illustrations, local, 429
---- mounting, 436
---- statistics of, 57
Imaginative literature, 181
Improper books, 188
Income, statistics, 55-63
---- Tax Act, 37
Index, classification, 232
---- correspondence, 303
---- of minutes, 315
---- of periodicals, 587; L.A., 257
---- of readers, 422
---- stationery and supplies, 314
Indexing, 300-21
India Office, 70
---- legislation, library, 7
Indicators, 386-96
Individual files, 301, etc.
Industrial libraries, 450-59
Industries, local, 456
Infectious diseases, notification, 360 (25), 361 (25), 364
---- ---- school libraries, 518
Information bureaux, 421
Institut International, cards, 260
Insurances, 41-43, 91
Inter-library exchanges, 405
Inventory book, 326-27
Ireland, Libraries Acts, 1 _et passim_
Islington public libraries, 164, 245, 463; _Select catalogue_, 257
Issue charging, apparatus, 382-96
---- methods, 376-96
---- ---- school libraries, 514
---- “privileges,” 533
---- statistics of, 55-63

Janitors, 95, 569
Jast, L. S., 242, 262, 314, 533; _Classification_, 302
Junior assistants, 86, 569
Juvenile libraries. _See_ Children

Kaiser, J. B., 448
Keys, 328; indexing, 318
Kroeger, A. B., 418, etc.

Label holders, 249
Labelling books, 227
Ladders, 156
Ladies’ rooms, 479
Lambert’s adjustable shelving, 149-50
Lantern, optical, 173
Lantern slides, 195
---- ---- filing, 311
---- ---- indexing, 313
---- ---- use of, 532
Lavatory accommodation, public, 480
Law, library, bibliography of, 576
Leather binding, 337
Lecture room, branch, 398
---- ---- furniture, 173
Lecturers’ index, 318
Lectures, 526-34; for children, 496
Ledger charging, 377
Leeds, 450
Legality of rules, 358-59
Legislation, library, 1, 10
---- library, bibliography of, 576
Lending department, accommodation, 118, 121, 122
---- ---- books for, 189
---- ---- children’s, 486
---- ---- rules, 360 (12-19)
---- ---- statistics, 55-63
Lending of reference books, 417
Lessons, library, 501-02
Lettering books, 339-40
Letters, filing, 301, etc.
Leyden slip catalogue, 283
Librarian, qualifications, appointment, salaries, etc., 65-76, 569
Librarian, children’s, 491, 493
Librarian, rural libraries, 550
Librarian, school, 514
Librarian’s library, 93, 570-87
Librarians-in-charge, 80, 569
Librarianship, development of, Intro., IV.
Library and the school, 506-25
Library appliances, rural, museum of, 548
---- architecture, bibliography of, 577
---- Assistants’ Association, 102
Library Association, Intro., IV.-VI., 99, 101
---- ---- certificates, 68 _et seq._
---- ---- Conference, 73 (5), 100
---- ---- definitions of stock, 228
---- ---- _Index to Periodicals_, 191, 257
---- ---- _Record_, 360
---- ---- resolutions, Intro., V.
---- ---- statistics summary, 62-63
---- Associations, bibliography of, 575
---- buildings, bibliography of, 577
---- councils, 81
---- economy, bibliography of, 570-87
---- economy library, 93
---- furniture, bibliography of, 577
---- history, bibliography of, 582-83
---- lessons, 501-02
---- of Congress, classification, 235, 238
---- of library economy, 570-87
---- periodicals, bibliography of, 575
---- policy, bibliography, 572
---- readings, 535-36
---- School, London University College, 335
---- science, bibliography, 571
---- training, 101
Libraries Acts: municipal, 1-4; non-municipal, 5
---- directories of, 583
---- rural, 542-51
---- Sunday school, 521
---- teachers’, 522
Lifts, 137
Lighting of buildings, 128
Linderfelt, K. A., 262
Lists, reading, 264
Literary institutions, 6
---- Societies Act, 37
Liverpool, 450
Loans, 33-36
Local collections, 190, 424-44
Local Government Board, 360
---- ---- Officers, National Association of, 72
Local industries, 456
Local museums, 552
London Library, _Index_, 257
London School of Economics, Intro., IV.
Loose filing, 301, etc.
Loose-leaf accession book, 226
Lyster, T. W., 237

MacAlister, J. Y. W., Intro., IV., 371
Magazine room, management, 471-78
---- ----, rules, 360 (30-33)
Magazines, filing, 477
---- library, 264
---- selection, 471
---- sets of, 191
Manchester Public Libraries, 355, 450
Manuscripts, local, 428
Maps, 198
---- cataloguing, 441
---- filing, 307
---- local, 429, 440
Marks on books, 247
Mediæval libraries, bibliography of, 582
Melbourne Public Library, 7
Metropolitan Borough Councils, 21
Minutes, indexing, 315
Missing books, index, 317
Mitchell Library, 168, 172, 269, 334
Modern libraries, bibliography, 583
Mortgages, register of, 35
Mounting, illustrations, prints, etc., 436
Mounts, illustration, 498
Mudie’s Library, 404
Municipal library legislation, 1-4
---- records, 428
---- reference libraries, Intro., V. (5), 445-49
Muniments, 428
Museum libraries, 107-08
---- of library appliances, rural libraries, 548
Museums, 552-63
---- Acts, 555-57
Museums Association, 103
Music, 192

Names of library positions, 564-69
Natal legislation, 7
National Home Reading Union, 539
Negatives, filing, 312
Nelson “Standard Books,” 202, 204
Newcastle, catalogue, 257
New South Wales legislation, 7
New Zealand legislation, 7
Newspapers, “blacking-out,” 462
---- filing, 477
---- fittings, 468-70
---- local, 426
---- stands, 466-67
Newsroom, accommodation, 460
---- children’s, 485
---- management, 460-61
---- rules, 360 (30-33)
---- statistics, 59
Non-resident borrowers, 352
Norwich, Intro., II.
Notation for books and shelves, 232, 243-44
Notes, book, 258
Nottingham, 482
Novels, 181
Number-books, 215-16
Numbering books, 339-40
Numbers for books, 241

Occupations of readers, 58
Ogle, J. J., Intro., III.
Ontario legislation, 7
Open access, 395
---- ---- barriers, 132-33
---- ---- books and shelf marking, 243-55
---- ---- reference library, 409
Opening ceremonies, 127
Orders, book, 213-14
Out-of-print books, 187
Overdues, 475

Page catalogues, 269
Pamphlets, treatment of, 414
Panizzi Club, 103
Panoramic catalogues, 290
Papers, book, 335
Parish registers, 428
Parliament, Houses of, 70
Parliamentary papers, 207
Parochial records, 428
Patent Office, catalogue, 257
Pegamoid, 336
Periodicals, arrangement, 472-74
---- checks on deliveries, 475
---- filing, 477
---- indexes of, 587
---- indicators, 393
---- _L.A. Index_, 257
---- library, bibliography of, 575
---- racks and tables, 162-65
Perkins, F. B., 235, 262
Perth (W.A.) Public library, 7
Philadelphia, Commercial Museum, 450
Photographic surveys, 433
Photographs, 194; filing, 307
Picture collection, for children, 498
Pittsburgh library, cards, 260; catalogue, 257
Placard catalogues, 289
Plans, library, 115-23
---- of classification, 244
Platform, lecture room, 526
Porters, 95
Portsmouth bindery, 333
Preliminary Examination, Library Association, 101
Price lists in libraries, 196
Printed catalogue, 259
Printing specifications, 266
Prints, cataloguing, 439; filing, 307; local, 429; mounting, 436
“Privilege” issues, 533
Probationer, 569
Programmes of lectures, 531
Propositions for books, 210
Public and staff, 96
---- Bodies Corrupt Practices Act, 1889, 46
---- documents, 207
---- Libraries Acts, 1-4
---- ---- methods of adopting, 14-17
---- rules and bye-laws, 349-64

Queensland legislation, 7
Quick-reference collection, branch, 398
Quinn, J. H., 262

Racks for filing, 155
---- periodicals, 162-65
Rates, exemption, 37-40
---- library, 4 (c)
Ratepayers’ vouchers, 367-69
Readers, indexes of, 422
---- statistics of, 55-63
---- suggestions, 210
---- tickets, 354 (1)
Reading circles, 539
---- and clubs, children’s, 497
---- easels, 166
---- rooms, children’s, 485
---- tables, 160-61
Reading lists, 264
---- ---- children’s, 504
---- ---- lecture, 531
Readings, library, 535-36
Recommendations, readers’, 210
Reconstruction, Ministry of, 457
Records, local, 190, 425
---- reference, 419
---- school libraries, 517
---- statistics, 55-63
Reference accessories, 416
Reference books, 189
---- ---- bibliography of, 587
---- ---- lending of, 417
Reference library, 407-59
---- ---- books, 189
---- ---- branch, 398
---- ---- children’s, 485
---- ---- indexes of readers, 422
---- ---- records, 419
---- ---- rules, 360 (7-11)
---- ---- staff, 418
---- ---- statistics, 55-63
---- material, municipal, 445-49
---- _v._ lending library, 366
Regional surveys, 434
Registrar of friendly societies, certificate, 38
Regulations, public, 349-64
Renewal of borrowed books, 360 (21), 361 (21)
Repairing books, 334
Replacement of books, 187
Report, Annual, 61-63
Repository, rural libraries, 546
Requisitions for supplies, 44-46
Reserving books, 360 (23), 361 (23)
Residences for librarians, etc., 71
Richardson, E. C., 235
Rudolph indexer, 272
Rules and regulations, 348-64
---- ---- children’s library, 486
---- catalogue, 262
Rural libraries, 10, 542-51
---- ---- estimates, 549

Safe-guarded open access, barriers, 131-35
Salaries, librarians, 70
---- assistants, 90
---- rural librarians, 550
Savage, E. A., 258, 467
Sayers, W. C. Berwick, 504
Scholars, non-resident, 352
School librarian, 514
School libraries, 506-25
---- ---- limits of, 484
School of Librarianship, London, Intro., IV., 335
Schools and libraries, 4 (_d_), 6, 506-23
---- as delivery stations, 520
---- of science, 6
---- training, libraries, 522
Scientific institutions, 5-6
Scientific Societies Act, 37
Scotland, Libraries Acts, 1 _et passim_
---- ---- and education authorities, 10
---- North, rural libraries, 545-48
Screens, 136
---- lantern, 173
Selection of books, 174-206
Senior assistants, 87, 569
Shaw, G. T., 308
Sheaf catalogue, 261, 282-88
Shelf arrangement, 230-55; reference library, 412
---- dummies, 246-48
---- guides, 250, 255
---- handles, 158
---- lists, 255
---- marking, 243-44
---- register, 245
---- steps, 156-58
Shelving, 143-54
Showcases for books, 394
Simplex newspaper rod, 469
Sites, library, 114
Slides, lantern, filing, 311
---- ---- indexing, 313
---- ---- use of, 532
Slip catalogue, 261, 282-88
---- charging, 376-81
Smith, L. P., 235
Societies, lecture, 527
Society of Public Librarians, 103
Sonnenschein, W. S., 204
South African library legislation, 7
Speaking tubes, 138
Special collections, 190
---- library collections, 420
Specifications, 44-45
---- printing, 266
Staderini card tray, 280
---- slip catalogue, 284, 288
Staff, qualifications, grades, appointments, salaries, etc., 65-98
---- accommodation, 97
---- bibliography of, 578
---- guilds, 105
---- insurance, 43
---- meetings, 81
---- reference library, 418
Stamping of books, 221
Standing orders, 22
State papers, 207
Stationery, 322-25
---- index, 314
---- Office grants, 208
Statistics, 55-63
---- bibliography of, 583
---- school libraries, 517
---- standardizing of, 62
Statutes, 1-13
Steps, 156-58
Stock, definitions, 228
---- reference, 407, 411
---- statistics, 62
Stocktaking index, 317
Stolzenberg file, 301
Story hour, 495
Students’ tickets, 360 (19), 371
Sub-Committees, library, 24
---- classification, 239
Subject headings, A.L.A., 257
---- ---- bibliography of, 579
Sub-librarian, 78, 569
Subscription books, 212
---- departments, 403-04
---- for library books, 360 (18), 361 (18)
Suggestions, readers’, 48, 210
Sunday opening of libraries, 357-63
---- school libraries, 521
---- work, 85
Superannuation, 72
Superintendent of branches, 79
Supplies, index, 314
Surgeon-General’s index catalogue, 257
Surveys, photographic, 433
---- regional and civic, 434
Sydney Public Library, 7, 262

Tables, 160-64
Tags, classification, 241
Tasmanian legislation, 7
Taxes, assessment to, 37-40
Teachers as borrowers, 353
---- ---- guarantors, 361
Teachers’ libraries, 522
Technical libraries, Intro., V. (4), 455-59
Tedder, H. R., Intro., IV.
Telephones, 138
Thermometers in libraries, 141
Thomas, E. C., Intro., IV.
Tickets for borrowers, 370-75
“Ticklers,” 314
Tier marking of shelves, 243-44
Time limits for borrowing, 354 (3)
---- sheets, staff, 83-84
Tokens, local, 431
Tracing, 416
Trade libraries, 450-59
---- catalogues, 196
Training of librarians, 68, 92, 101; of children’s librarians, 493
Training school libraries, 522
Travelling libraries, 402
Trays, card, 274-81
---- charging, 382-85
Truck for books, 253
Turnstiles, 140
Typewriters, 325
Typography, bibliography, 584

Unexpended balances, 28
United States libraries, _passim_
United States library legislation, 8
University College Library School, Intro., IV., 325
University extension, 527, 550

Vacation, assistants’, 91
---- librarians’, 73 (4)
Vaseline for leathers, 337
Ventilation, 128
Vertical filing, 213, 301, 415
Victoria legislation, 7
Village libraries, 542-51
Voluntary help, children’s library, 500
Voucher forms, 367-69
---- ---- children’s, 486

Wages, caretakers, 95
Wallasey, 467
Walthamstow catalogue, 257
West Indian grants, legislation, 7
Withdrawn books, indexing, 316
Women librarians and assistants, 94
Women’s rooms, 479
Workers’ Educational Association, 527, 550
Work book, 88
Workshop libraries, 107, 178
Worn-out books, 187
Writing materials, 323

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=A PRIMER OF LIBRARY PRACTICE.= By GEORGE E. ROEBUCK and W. BENSON
THORNE. =3s. 6d.= net

=MANUAL OF DESCRIPTIVE ANNOTATION FOR LIBRARY CATALOGUES.= By ERNEST A.
SAVAGE. =5s. 0d.= net

=CANONS OF CLASSIFICATION applied to “The Subject,” “The Expansive,”
“The Decimal,” and “The Library of Congress” Classifications.= By W. C.
BERWICK SAYERS. =3s. 6d.= net

=THE CARD CATALOGUE.= By W. C. BERWICK SAYERS and JAMES DOUGLAS STEWART.
=3s. 6d.= net

=AN INTRODUCTION TO LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION.= With Readings and
Questions, By W. C. BERWICK SAYERS. =3s. 6d.= net

=OPEN ACCESS LIBRARIES: Their Planning, Equipment and Organisation.= By
JAMES DOUGLAS STEWART, OLIVE E. CLARKE, HENRY T. COUTTS, ALICE JONES,
WILLIAM MCGILL. Under the Editorship of and with an Introduction by
JAMES DUFF BROWN. =10s. 6d.= net

=THE SHEAF CATALOGUE.= By JAMES DOUGLAS STEWART. =3s. 6d.= net

=BOOK SELECTION.= By JAMES DOUGLAS STEWART and OLIVE E. CLARKE, =6d.=
net

=LIBRARY ECONOMICS.= =2s. 6d.= net

=THE LIBRARY WORLD.= A Monthly Medium of Intercommunication for
Librarians. Established July 1898. Published Monthly, =8d.= net. Annual
Subscription. =8s. 6d.= net

=BRITISH AND AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION AND LIBRARY ASSISTANTS’
ASSOCIATION PUBLICATIONS.= See Separate Lists.

=FAXON BOOK CO. (formerly BOSTON BOOK CO.).= See Separate List.

_For other Library and General Publications in Stock see
SUPPLEMENTARY CATALOGUES_

Agents for the Dewey Decimal Classification (10th Edition)
and Elm Tree Press Publications, Newark (New Jersey)

GRAFTON & CO.’S ANTIQUARIAN DEPARTMENT

We have a large stock of English and Foreign Books, and shall be pleased
to send catalogues on application. We have special facilities for
obtaining books, and Librarians should send lists of wants to us.

GRAFTON & CO. (Frank Hamel)
COPTIC HOUSE, 7 and 8 COPTIC STREET, LONDON, W.C.1

THE MASTER
PRINTERS

Annual & Typographical
YEAR BOOK

CONTAINING

FULL PARTICULARS CONCERNING AND LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE MASTER PRINTERS
FEDERATION AND ASSOCIATIONS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, ALSO A WHO’S WHO
OF REPRESENTATIVE MEMBERS OF THE CRAFT. PARTICULARS OF UNIONS,
SOCIETIES, ETC. AGREEMENTS COME TO DURING THE YEAR AND A COMPREHENSIVE
REVIEW OF THE YEAR, ALSO MANY OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES

EDITED BY R. A. AUSTEN-LEIGH AND GERARD T. MEYNELL

_Price 6s. net, 6s. 6d. post free_

LONDON:
SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & COY., LTD.
AT 1 NEW STREET SQUARE, E.C.4

Transcriber’s Notes

This text follows the printed book; all inconsistencies in spelling,
hyphenation, lay-out, etc. have been retained, except as mentioned
below.

Page 67, form: probably the second group of data should have started
with Expenditure.

Page 198, Fig. 64: the rules mentioned on the label do not coincide
with those listed in Section 360, and have therefore not been linked.

Page 435, The ruling continues for 52 lines: possibly an error for 12
lines or intended for Fig. 172.

Page 448, ... physical side of books is only less important ...:
possibly a word is missing (“slightly” or similar).

Page 495: Section 566 is not present in the original work.

Page 508: there seems to be a heading (nr. 586) missing; references to
Section 586 are assumed to point to “General Bibliographies.”

Index: some entries are not in alphabetical order; this has not been
changed.

Changes made to the text:

Footnotes, tables and illustrations have been moved.

Obvious minor typographical and other errors have been corrected
silently.

Various pages: German nouns have been capitalised; French accents have
been added or corrected.

Various pages: section header BIBLIOGRAPHY has been added where it was
lacking.

In several places, titles of books and periodicals in languages other
than English are incomplete or erroneous; these have not been
completed or corrected, except as mentioned below.

Page 33: Lechbetrieb changed to Leihbetrieb
Page 92, Fig. 7: New Orders moved to separate line
Page 180-181: footnote [3] copied to footnotes [4], [5] and [6]
Page 188: Spofforth changed to Spofford as elsewhere
Page 214: Oceana changed to Oceania; BY changed to BV (2×)
Page 215: HY changed to HV; JY changed to JV
Page 216: PS changed to PJ
Page 217: RY changed to RV
Page 249: Instructionem changed to Instructionen; Wein changed to
Wien; einen changed to einem; Katalog changed to Kataloge
Page 252, footnote: moved from bottom of page 253; footnote anchor
inserted. This note refers to all C, R, S, T codes.
Page 253, Gerhardi: Cr changed to CR
Page 267: methods of securing changed to method of securing
Page 279: de Maintien changed to le Maintien
Page 398: J. C. Mudge changed to I. G. Mudge as elsewhere
Page 410: Fig. 123 changed to Fig. 118
Page 455: Précìs changed to Précis
Page 478: Worsop changed to Worksop
Page 499: Bücheri changed to Bücherei
Page 501: Bibliotheckwezen changed to Bibliotheekwezen;
Boek-Bibliothekwezen changed to Boek- en Bibliotheekwezen; For
Folke-og changed to For Folke- og; Leabharbann changed to
Leabharlann; Leschallen changed to Lesehallen
Page 502: Cotgreve changed to Cotgreave; De Lisle changed to Delisle
as elsewhere; les Livres changed to des Livres
Page 503: long dash before Mann, Margaret deleted
Page 506: Bibliotheckgids changed to Bibliotheekgids; Vitgave changed
to Uitgave; Walter changed to Welter
Page 508: Attilis changed to Attilo; dell' anno changed to dell'anno
Page 513: Intro., VI. (3), changed to Intro., VI.
Page 515: 72 (5) changed to 73 (5)
Page 517: section number 257 added to Patent Office
Page 519: 72 (4) changed to 73 (4).

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