MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT FOR THE BUSINESS LIBRARY
It is the purpose of this chapter to give an outline of the equipment
required by the business library to do its work adequately. Some
business men make the mistake of thinking that the mechanical
equipment which they purchase will make a satisfactory library, while
others put their faith in employing a librarian who they expect will
create library service with the expenditure of very little money for
facilities and tools for carrying on the work.
Both opinions are wrong, for the business library needs adequate
equipment with which to perform acceptable service quite as much as it
does a skillful librarian.
Floor Space and Shelving
No business firm should consider establishing library service unless it
is willing to provide suitable space for it, for the best librarian in
the country cannot give satisfactory service with books and material
scattered in various places, wedged in tightly and stored on top
shelves or in storerooms where there is not quick access to them.
The writer knows of several business firms, who from lack of sufficient
library space store their periodicals, and as far as any real use is
concerned they might as well not have them. Often the plea of lack of
floor space is a superficial reason and only indicative of the fact
that the firm is following a short sighted policy and has not really
waked up to the tremendous value of having such material in order and
readily accessible.
In selecting the floor space for a business library a square or oblong
portion of space without columns or jogs in the walls is preferable,
as it permits of the most economical arrangement in putting in the
required fixtures. Good daylight is of course most desirable but if
this is not possible, care should be taken to have artificial light
of high grade which can easily be provided by a system of indirect
electric lighting supplemented by drop lights wherever necessary.
The library floor space should be completely covered with cork carpet
both for cleanliness and quiet, and it should be laid before any
shelving is set, in order to avoid cuts and seams which catch dirt and
also look bad if the carpet is laid after immovable fittings have been
installed.
In placing shelving for books, the most economical and compact
arrangement is the stack plan, i.e., double faced bookcases set at
right angles to a wall space and as close together as possible, but
allowing ready access by narrow aisles not less than thirty inches wide
between the tiers. The remaining wall space may be utilized by vertical
files or wall shelving to supplement the capacity of the stack layout,
but no business library of any considerable size should be laid out on
the plan of wall shelving only, as it is a most unnecessary waste of
space.
[Illustration: Single face unit wood shelving showing adjustable
features. By courtesy of the Library Bureau.]
The space assigned for the business library should be primarily
selected to accomplish best the work the library is designed to do, and
this principle is entirely compatible with a dignified and attractive
library layout, if it is done by someone who has both a knowledge of
the work of the library and of the most approved library equipment. The
floor plans of three business libraries are shown to illustrate the
economical placing of shelves, vertical files and furniture in a given
space.
[Illustration: Adjustable metal stack, 7 feet 6 inches in height, with
shelves 3 feet long and 8 inches wide. By courtesy of the Library
Bureau.]
Shall the library stack be wood or metal, open or enclosed with glass,
and shall it have fixed or adjustable book shelves? Open metal stack, 7
feet 6 inches in height, with 7 adjustable shelves, 3 feet long, eight
or 10 inches wide, in each tier, or open wood stack of the unit type, 6
feet 10 inches high, with adjustable shelves are both suitable, with a
preference for wood, because it ordinarily costs less and looks better
in a small library room. Some business offices which have only a few
books are using wood bookcase units with sliding glass doors. These
answer the purpose for very small collections in private offices, but
if there is to be any real growth they constitute too great an expense
in proportion to the number of books shelved, and are not economical in
saving floor space. Even when such wooden units are placed together in
double stack form they are not comparable in economy with metal or open
wood stack because they are less durable, hold a less number of books
per shelf, can not safely be built up to as great a height and do not
save space by having adjustable shelves for books of varying heights.
Glass doors to bookcases in a live business library are a pest and the
only service which they really perform in keeping out a little dust
does not compensate for their added expense especially when dust can be
readily removed from open shelves by the use of a vacuum cleaner.
[Illustration: Plan No. 1 (850 square feet) has three windows at one
end of the room and the librarian's desk, reading table, vertical
files and card catalog cabinet are placed advantageously near these
windows for good daylight. There is room also for additional desks
near the windows.
Book stacks are placed at right angles to the windows at the rear of
the room but require artificial light. The remaining wall space is
used for wall stacks.]
The best method for a business firm to pursue in acquiring the most
suitable and best arranged shelving for a library is to have their
librarian ask one or two reputable firms making a specialty of
library fittings to furnish drawings, descriptions and prices of
their stack, and also make suggestions as to its best arrangement in
a given floor space. The trained librarian who has been educated in
the details of good and poor equipment and who knows what an adequate
layout should be, will readily point out the merits and weaknesses of
the specifications in regard to standardization, simplicity and price.
It is always economical to equip even the smallest business library
with a high grade standard make of shelving, which will never have to
be discarded as the library grows, and which can always be matched when
additional shelving needs to be purchased.
It must be remembered also that the business library is often not
permanently located in a particular space because the layouts of all
offices of business organizations are subject to change, due to growth
in the business, and therefore library shelving which is well made, and
of standard parts and which can be moved readily as occasion demands is
most desirable.
Vertical Files
The floor space for the business library should not only provide for
adequate shelving, but should allow for vertical files and their
growth. The value of adequate vertical filing equipment can not be
over-estimated, because so much of the working material in the business
library must be kept in vertical files. It is essential that drawers
move easily and quietly and do not get out of order, as this affords a
great saving in labor as well as quick service for the busy man who
wants the contents at his immediate disposal.
[Illustration: Plan No. 2 (700 square feet) has two windows at the end
of the room but requires a different layout from Plan No. 1 because of
the dimensions of the room.
The narrow width of the room makes it impossible to place all of the
vertical files near the daylight. The layout is an exception to the
general principle that book stacks should be placed at right angles
to windows, because the room is too long and narrow to permit of any
daylight penetrating the aisles between the stacks if so placed, and a
more economical arrangement is effected by placing the book stacks at
right angles to a wall.]
[Illustration: Plan No. 3 (600 square feet) showing two small rooms at
right angles opening into each other with three windows in each room.
The first room is used for the librarian's desk, vertical files,
card catalog cabinet and one wall stack for reference books, while
the second room is used for the book stacks which are set at right
angles to the windows thereby giving ample daylight between the stacks
without the necessity of artificial lighting. Wall stacks are also
used where possible to complete the capacity of the room.]
There are a large variety of makes of vertical files which are
bewildering to the average purchaser in their rival claims for
superiority. What the purchaser needs as a guide is not a long list of
all the makes of filing cabinets on the market but a brief comment on
the kinds of cases which are worth while and the reasons why they are
satisfactory.
[Illustration: These four styles of unit vertical files in wood are
the same height and depth and permit of additions by the removal
of the ends. They are the most suitable kind of files for business
library work.]
In order to allow for growth, filing cabinets of the unit type only
should be considered, as this type provides for expansion by the
addition of new units, for flexibility, in that the units may be
easily rearranged as new units are added, and for economy of space in
that the greatest variety of drawers or files will occupy minimum floor
space.
There are two kinds of unit filing cabinets, namely, the horizontal
type in which cabinets are placed one on top of the other, with
removable top, and the vertical type in which units are placed side by
side, with detachable ends.
Excellent illustrations of the various useful combinations possible
with both types may be found in the trade catalog of the Library
Bureau, entitled "Unit Filing Cabinets in Wood."
The mechanical operation of all file drawers should be the best
obtainable. Trays should be rigidly made and yet light enough to be
easily handled. Vertical filing drawers should be mounted on roller
bearing slides in order that they may run easily when loaded, for as
one manufacturer states, "The efficiency of every card and filing
system depends directly on the ease and precision of the mechanical
operation."
If wood cabinets are selected, care should be taken that these are
purchased from a manufacturer who will guarantee that the woods used
are well seasoned and perfectly kiln-dried so that there will be no
shrinking, swelling or warping. These are necessary qualifications
which can not be assured when purchasing the lower priced cases on the
market.
[Illustration: Double face unit wood shelving, 6 feet 10 inches high
with adjustable shelves, 3 feet long and 8 inches wide. By courtesy of
the Library Bureau.]
Wood cases are preferable to steel for library use, not only because of
the appearance, but also because they are less noisy. Steel cabinets,
despite the rubber protectors or buffers which do not wear for any
length of time, are noisy. The fire resisting qualities of steel are
negligible as an argument for their use in the average business library.
Card Catalog Cabinets and Cards
All card cabinets for library use should be made for the standard
centimeter size library catalog card which is approximately 3 by 5
inches and should be purchased with round rods to pass through the
lower margin of the card, so that the cards can not be accidentally
spilled out or carelessly removed and misplaced.
A good quality of card should be selected, for experience proves it is
a waste of time and money to put permanent records on a poor grade of
cards; guides with celluloid tips are more durable than bristle board
ones.
The best cards on the market have both evenly cut edges and sufficient
stiffness to permit rapid fingering and are made of durable stock.
These points are particularly emphasized because one of the faults of
many business offices is the buying of cheap card supplies without
taking into consideration the reason why more expensive cards are
really the most economical.
No matter by whom the equipment and supplies of a business organization
are ordered, the business librarian should always have the privilege of
specifying grades and makes if the best results are to be obtained. It
is never advisable for the sake of general office uniformity to force
supplies upon the business library which are not best suited for its
work, and the librarian is always the best judge of the most suitable
ones by reason of trained judgment, and experience.
The ordering of books and periodicals should always be done by the
librarian, who is thoroughly acquainted with the publishing field,
and under no circumstances by the general purchasing department of an
organization.
A few well known firms dealing in library supplies are as follows:
Democrat Printing Co., (supplies) Madison, Wis.
Gaylord Brothers, (supplies) Syracuse, N. Y. This firm makes a variety
of pamphlet binders which are much used by many business libraries and
are well worth investigating.
Library Bureau, (equipment and supplies) New York City, Chicago and
branches in other cities.
Art Metal Construction Co., (equipment) Jamestown, N. Y. and branches
in other cities.
Refer also to advertisers in the periodicals, "Library Journal" and
"Public Libraries," which may be seen at the Public Library.
REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING
=Leffingwell, W. H.=
The office through a microscope. National efficiency quarterly August
1918, p. 85-111.
=Library Bureau=
Library supplies catalog no. L1018.
Unit wood book shelving catalog no. 70314.
Unit filing cabinets in wood catalog no. 8929.
Steel book stack catalog no. 70814.