=BOOK SELECTION AND BUYING.=
=Book Selection.=—Book selection makes the greatest demand on the
knowledge and administrative judgment of librarians and is the question
that produces the most friction between librarians and library
committees. If the trustees define the general policy of the library,
determine the amount to be expended on books, and approve purchases out
of the ordinary run, the librarian should be considered as the one
person best posted on the needs of the library, and as purchasing agent
for the institution should be allowed to buy where he can do so to the
best advantage. Of course, the problem is quite different in an
academic library from what it is in a public library. Especially in the
latter should the librarian be granted the utmost freedom in the
selection of the general run of books.
“We are often asked who selects the books for purchase and how this is
done,” says Dr. A. E. Bostwick in the annual report of the St. Louis
Public Library for 1911-12. “About 10,000 volumes are issued from
American presses yearly, not to mention those of England and other
European countries. Of these we can purchase only about 2,000 titles.
Of the remainder some are eliminated by their heavy cost, as in the
case of =editions de luxe= and most works intended for wealthy
collectors; some because of their class, such as technical works on law
and medicine, which we are leaving to the special local libraries
devoted to these subjects; and some because they are obviously below
standard, being either untrustworthy, trivial or objectionable. There
remains a very considerable number, any one of which we might purchase
but only a certain proportion of which we can buy with the funds at our
disposal. From these we try to select the best, judging from the
standpoint of a high-grade public library. Some of the considerations
that affect our decision are, first, public demand, to which we always
give heed unless it is obviously uninformed; secondly, a desire to
strengthen our collection in weak points; and thirdly, expert advice,
oral or printed, volunteered or specially asked. Here in St. Louis, we
are profiting by the services of numerous experts in special subjects,
which are freely given as a public service, and we scan carefully every
bit of expert testimony regarding the availability of books contained
in the bulletins of other libraries and in other current lists and
bibliographies. Trade lists and catalogues of all kinds are checked up
with our own to see what we lack, and the result is the assemblage of a
list of wants far larger than we can purchase. The final selection from
these is apt to leave behind some things that we ought to buy, but it
is unlikely to include anything that could well have been left out,
considering our special conditions and needs. The final word in
selection rests with a committee of the Board; but for ordinary current
purchases, and unless some point involving the larger policies of
selection is to be settled, this committee usually allows the librarian
to exercise his own judgment. Besides the sources of selection already
mentioned, books on approval are received in considerable quantities,
sometimes being sent voluntarily by dealers or individuals, sometimes
requested by the library.”
The librarian must develop a sense of proportion and beware of the
library patron with a hobby, and of the trustee who is interested in
building up only one side of the library, and of the scholar who thinks
that “only solid reading for the immortal mind should be placed before
old and young.” In buying for an average public library the aim should
be to choose general treatises rather than those covering only special
phases or special subjects. The special treatises would be the more
desirable for a university library, where they would be in demand both
by faculty and students, as authorities on detailed points, as aids or
as sources in further investigation.
Too much money should not be locked up in expensive volumes that will
be seldom used. The librarian should estimate the average cost of his
books per volume and, except in the case of reference books, should not
go too far beyond this average cost. He should avoid partisanship and
develop catholicity of taste and breadth of sympathy. He should try to
have something on his shelves for every patron in town, real or
potential, but should not allow the library to be drawn into any
sectarian propagandist movement. He should avoid controversial works,
sensationalism and the latest fad, and put off the purchase of the book
of the hour until he feels fairly sure that the demand for it will not
die within the hour.
The efficient librarian does not think too much of the sum total of
accessions, but is mindful of the fact that it is quality not quantity
that counts. “It doesn’t matter how many but how good books you have.”
This was said by Seneca, but the same truth has been stated by many
modern librarians. “I should as soon tell how many tons the books in
the Astor Library weigh as to tell how many volumes there are,” was a
sage remark of Dr. Joseph G. Cogswell. “Strength does not lie in mere
numbers; this fact is as true of books as of soldiers,” said Mr. W. E.
Foster. “One thousand carefully picked are worth two thousand assembled
at random.”
=Aids in Book Selection.=—The chief aid in book selection for the
average small public library is the A. L. A. catalog. The first edition
was issued in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exposition. It was planned
as a guide for book buyers as well as for readers and as a manual for
librarians in the matter of book selection. To a certain extent it was
hoped that it would take the place of a printed catalog in some of the
smaller public libraries. By checking in the margin the titles of the
books owned it forms a convenient partial catalog of best books for any
library. In 1904 a classified and annotated edition, thoroughly revised
and brought down to date, was prepared for the St. Louis Exposition.
This included 7,520 volumes adapted to public libraries as contrasted
with 5,000 titles included in the earlier edition. A supplementary
class list of 3,000 titles, covering the books issued between 1904 and
1911, was issued by the A. L. A. in 1912. The “A. L. A. Booklist,” a
guide to the best new books, has just completed its ninth annual,
volume.
Various state library commissions have issued helpful lists.
Wisconsin’s “Suggestive list of books for a small library” is a good
specimen. The “Fiction catalog” published by H. W. Wilson Co.,
Minneapolis, is useful as a check list and contains many excellent
titles. In the same way the lists of the 100 and of the 1000 best
novels issued by the Free Library of Newark, N. J., are worth studying.
Various lists of best books, like Sir John Lubbock’s famous “hundred
best books,” or Dr. Eliot’s “five foot library,” are to be found in a
pamphlet “The World’s best books,” which is to be had free of charge
from the Globe Wernicke Co., Cincinnati.
For additional titles see “Aids in book selection” by Alice B. Kroeger
and Sarah W. Cattell (A. L. A. Publishing board, 1908.)
=Bookbuying.=—If it is desired to buy a special list of books, already
selected, it is usually best to place the order with one of the large
houses which make a specialty of library trade or with a local dealer,
if the proper service and discounts are assured. Cost of carriage may
total up high enough to offset a special discount, and so should be
considered in comparing prices offered by two different dealers. In
scanning a list of books to be bought, attention should be paid to
1. Those titles which are to be had in reinforced bindings.
2. Titles which are to be had in special editions, as in Everyman’s
Library.
3. Titles which are to be had from dealers in remainders and are
likely to be offered at bargain prices.
The “List of editions selected for economy in book buying,” compiled by
Leroy Jeffers, and published by the American Library Association (25
cts.) is well worth studying.
The selection of books to be bought at any one time will be determined
by the prices at which they can be secured and consequently it is
desirable to constantly study dealers’ catalogs. Worn copies of popular
titles or copies that are loose in their bindings are not ordinarily
wise purchases, as they soon require rebinding, and thus make the total
cost exceed the first cost of a copy in reinforced binding.
Subscription books are rarely worth anything like the money asked for
them. If wanted they can frequently be bought from dealers in second
hand books, or from jobbers in remainders and surplus stock.
Books should not be bought from traveling agents. There are only a few
publishing houses who employ them who would not supply their books
through the regular channels of trade. “Editions de luxe” are now
generally understood to be for looks only, and “library editions” are
frequently so called because they are for the private and not for the
public library, being put up in a way not warranted to withstand wear
and tear.
=Accession Book.=—The accession book, which corresponds to the invoice
book of a business house, is the first of all records to be made of a
book after it has been acquired by a library. The accession book aims
to show the additions of each day in the exact order of their
reception, without classification of any kind. One turns to it to learn
what price was paid for a book, when and where it was bought, how much
was paid for binding it, if it was bound after being acquired by the
library, how much was paid for replacement if lost, etc. Each volume is
entered on a separate line, and secures a separate accession number. By
means of this number the history of any particular book can be traced.
The accession book is the most permanent of the library records;
entries cannot disappear as from a card shelf list, and it is of the
greatest value in case of books lost or destroyed by fire. Each book
should be entered immediately after it is collated and found to agree
with the order and bill. The entries must be kept up to date in order
to avoid loss and confusion. An accession number should be given each
separate volume. Giving a single accession number to a set leads to
endless confusion. A numbering machine will save time and help to
prevent errors.