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 | | |
_Stocks._
1 2
_Lending._ | _Reference._
-----------+-----------
(i) Number of volumes at beginning of |
year |
(ii) Volumes withdrawn during year |
(iii) Additions during year |
(iv) Total volumes at end of year |
(v) Number of replacements during year |
(vi) Volumes per head of population |
according to last Census |
_Issues._
_Total._ | _Daily_
| _Average._
-----------+-----------
(i) Lending Library Issues |
(ii) Children’s Reading Room Issues |
(iii) Reference Library Recorded Issues |
(iv) Reference Library Open Shelves |
(estimated) |
(v) Issues from Lending Library (see (i) |
above) per head of population |
according to last census |
_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:
+-------+-------+------+-----+-----+------+-------+----------+--------+
|Date of| | |Date | | | | Name and |Decision|
|Sugges-|Author.|Title.| of |Vols.|Price.| Pub- |Address of|of Com- |
| tion. | | |Publ.| | |lisher.|Proposer. |mittee. |
+-------+-------+------+-----+-----+------+-------+----------+--------+
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
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:
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARY |
| |
| ................................19 |
| |
| M............................. will oblige by supplying the |
| following books according to the terms of............... contract, |
| as soon as possible, accompanied by an invoice setting |
| out the price of every single book, and the discount. Unless |
| otherwise specified, the latest edition of each book is required. |
| |
+----------+----------+---------+--------------+--------+------------+
| Author. | Title. | Date. | Publisher. | Price. | Remarks. |
+----------+----------+---------+--------------+--------+------------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+----------+----------+---------+--------------+--------+------------+
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.
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| _No_...... |
| |
| METROPOLITAN BOROUGH OF ISLINGTON. |
| PUBLIC LIBRARIES. |
| |
| NORTH BRANCH. |
| MANOR GARDENS, HOLLOWAY ROAD, N. |
| |
| HOURS. Lending Library OPEN from 10 a.m. till 9 p.m. |
| on week-days. CLOSED on Sundays and public holidays. |
| |
| RENEWALS. The issue of a book may be renewed for a |
| further period of 15 days on notice being given either |
| personally or in writing. See Rule 19. |
| |
| RESERVED BOOKS. Any book may be reserved on payment |
| of one penny to cover expenses. See Rule 20. |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
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:
+----------------------------+
| |
| =Notice to Staff.=--This |
| book is to be examined on |
| its return to the library. |
| |
+----------------------------+
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:
+--------------------------------------------+
| |
| CROYDON PUBLIC LIBRARIES. |
| |
| =FOLDING MAP OR PLATE.= |
| |
| Please =unfold carefully= to avoid |
| tearing. In =re-folding,= be sure you |
| return to =original folds=. If a |
| reference book, ask the assistant to do it |
| for you, rather than re-fold wrongly. |
| |
+--------------------------------------------+
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:
+--------------+-------------+-----------------+
| Numbered | Cut | Stamped |
| | | |
+--------------+ | |
| Process Lab. | | |
| | | |
+--------------+-------------+-----------------+
| Book-plated | Catalogued: | Checked |
| | Slip: | |
| | | |
| | Annotation: | |
| | | |
+--------------+-------------+-----------------+
| Accessioned | Book-carded | Finally Checked |
| | | and Issued |
| | | |
+--------------+-------------+-----------------+
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.
+---------+--------+------------+------------+------------+------+
|Accession|Author. |Brief Title.| Place of | Date of |No. of|
| No. | | |Publication.|Publication.|Vols. |
| | | | | | |
+---------+--------+------------+------------+------------+------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+---------+--------+------------+------------+------------+------+
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:
+-----------+---------+-------+------------+------+-----+--------+
| Date of |Accession|Author.|Brief Title.|No. of|Class|Remarks.|
|Withdrawal.| No. | | | Vols.| No. | |
+-----------+---------+-------+------------+------+-----+--------+
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
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.
+----------------------------------------+
| =CHART OF SUBJECTS |
| IN THIS TIER= |
+========================================+
| PHYSICS |
| 535 LIGHT |
+----------------------------------------+
| PHYSICS |
| 536 HEAT |
+----------------------------------------+
| PHYSICS |
| 537 ELECTRICITY |
| FOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING SEE 621·3 |
+----------------------------------------+
| PHYSICS |
| 537 ELECTRICITY |
| 538 MAGNETISM |
+----------------------------------------+
| PHYSICS |
| 539 MOLECULAR PHYSICS |
| 540 CHEMISTRY |
| 541 THEORETICAL |
+----------------------------------------+
| CHEMISTRY |
| 542 PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTAL |
+----------------------------------------+
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.
+---------------------------------------------------+
| |
| A |
| |
| GENERALIA. |
| |
| 000 GENERAL 500 GEOMETRY |
| 100 EDUCATION 600 GRAPHIC AND PLASTIC ARTS |
| 300 LOGIC 900 GENERAL SCIENCE |
| 400 MATHEMATICS |
| |
| For Special Subjects _see_ Index to Subject |
| Classification. |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------+
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.