The Library Assistant’s Manual

By THEODORE W. KOCH

Librarian, University of Michigan

Provisional Edition

LANSING, MICHIGAN

STATE BOARD OF LIBRARY COMMISSIONERS

1913

Issued on the occasion of the 61st annual meeting of the Michigan State Teachers’ Association, Ann Arbor, October 30-November 1, 1913.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
THE LIBRARY MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES.

The forerunner of the American public library of today is found in the subscription or stock company libraries of Philadelphia, Boston and other cities. The oldest of these is the Philadelphia Library Company, founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin who later referred to it as “the mother of all subscription libraries in America.” The Rev. Jacob Duché, a director of the Library Company, wrote in 1774: “Literary accomplishments here meet with deserved applause. But such is the taste for books that almost every man is a reader.” The Library Company’s authority on book selection was James Logan (the friend of William Penn) who was esteemed “to be a gentleman of universal learning and the best judge of books in these parts.” In 1783 the Library Committee instructed its London agent that “though not averse to mingling the dulce with the utile, they did not care to have him buy any more novels.”

In 1869 the Library Company was made the beneficiary under the will of Dr. James Rush, who left $1,500,000 to establish the Ridgeway Branch. On account of the conditions attached to the bequest, the gift was accepted by a bare majority of the stockholders. Among other restrictions, the will contained the following clause: “Let the library not keep cushioned seats for time-wasting and lounging readers, nor places for every-day novels, mind-tainting reviews, controversial politics, scribblings of poetry and prose, biographies of unknown names, nor for those teachers of disjointed thinking, the daily newspapers.” The provisions of the will were strictly carried out and today the Ridgeway Library stands as a storehouse of the literature of the past, a monument to the donor and an evidence of the change that has come over the world in its conception of the function of the library.

Boston Athenæum.—Like the Philadelphia Library Company, the Boston Athenæum was the outgrowth of a group of men who had in common an interest in books. In May 1806, the Anthology Society, which had been editing the “Monthly Anthology and Boston review,” established a reading room, the object of which was to afford subscribers a meeting place furnished with the principal American and European periodicals. The annual subscription was placed at ten dollars, which was not more than the cost of a single daily paper. The organization prospered and by 1827 the treasurer’s books showed property valued at more than $100,000. Two years later the library administration faced a new problem: a woman applied for admission to the library. Having no precedent to guide him, the librarian allowed the applicant free access to the shelves. She was Hannah Adams, who wrote “A view of religious opinions,” a “History of New England,” and “The history of the Jews.” The next woman to ask for admission to the treasures of the Athenæum was Mrs. Lydia Maria Child, (1802-1880), author of “The rebels,” “The freedman’s books,” “Hobomok,” etc., but her ticket of admission was shortly revoked “lest the privilege cause future embarrassment.” As late as 1855 Charles Folsom entered a protest against women having access to “the corrupter portions of polite literature.”

Boston Public Library.—In 1825 a plan was proposed whereby all the libraries in Boston should be united under one roof. Later, a Frenchman by name of Vattemare, caused to be introduced into Congress a measure which was to build up great libraries through international exchanges. A public meeting was held in Boston but a committee of the Boston Athenæum opposed the scheme and it was dropped. However, in return for some books forwarded through Vattemare to the Municipal Council of Paris, the Mayor of Boston received in 1843 about fifty volumes, which in reality formed the nucleus of the Boston Public Library.

In 1847 the Boston City Council appointed a joint committee on a library. The next year a special act was passed by the Massachusetts State Legislature authorizing the city of Boston to found and maintain a library. Efforts were made to effect a union of interests with the Boston Athenæum, but they failed. In 1849 the first books were presented by the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, and in the following year J. P. Bigelow, then Mayor of the city, turned over to a library fund the sum of $1,000 which had been presented to him as a personal testimony. Edward Everett presented 1,000 United States documents, and Edward Capen was appointed librarian by the Mayor. George Ticknor, a member of the Board, helped to draw up a preliminary report outlining the ideals for the new civic institution. The library was not to be a “mere resort of professed scholars.”

The key note of the whole public library movement in America was struck by Ticknor when in 1851 he wrote of his hopes for the new library proposed for Boston: “I would establish a library which differs from all free libraries yet attempted; I mean one in which any popular books, tending to moral and intellectual improvement, shall be furnished in such numbers of copies that many persons can be reading the same book at the same time; in short, that not only the best books of all sorts, but the pleasant literature of the day, shall be made accessible to the whole people when they most care for it, that is, when it is fresh and new.”

A timely friend was found in Joshua Bates, who gave more than $50,000 for the purchase of books, saying that he thought it was desirable to render the public library at once as useful as possible by providing it with a large collection of books in many departments of knowledge.

Thus the aim of the founders was quickly realized, it having been their professed intention to make the library what no other library in the world had either attempted or desired to become, “a powerful and direct means for the intellectual and moral advancement of a whole people without distinction of class or condition.” The Boston Public Library was the pioneer of the large public libraries in America and as such has long enjoyed a prominence which in a way has resulted in its differentiation from other large municipal institutions.

Astor Library.—John Jacob Astor, who came to this country in 1783, as a young man of 20, independent of capital, family connections or influence, became the richest man of his day in the United States, and wished to show his feelings of gratitude towards the city of New York, in which he had lived so long and prospered. When he consulted with his friends, Fitz Green Halleck and Washington Irving among others, as to the object to which his liberality should be applied, the plan of building a public library was the most approved and a decision was promptly made in favor of it. Four hundred thousand dollars was left for this purpose. The site chosen for the new Astor Library was in Lafayette Place, in which street lived Mr. William B. Astor, a son of the donor. Washington Irving was the first president of the Board of Trustees, and Joseph G. Cogswell was the first librarian. According to John Hill Burton in the “Book hunter,” Mr. Cogswell “spent some years in Europe with Mr. Astor’s princely endowment in his pocket, and showed himself a judicious, active and formidable sportsman in the book-hunting world. Whenever from private collections or the breaking up of public institutions, rarities got abroad in the open market, the collectors of the old world found that they had a resolute competitor to deal with, almost, it might be said, a desperate one, since he was, in a manner, the representative of a nation using powerful efforts to get a share of the library treasures of the old world. I know that in the instance of the Astor Library the selections of the books have been made with great judgment and that after the boundaries of the common crowded markets were passed and individual rarities had to be stalked in distant hunting grounds, innate literary value was still held as an object more important than mere abstract rarity, and, as the more worthy quality of the two, that on which the buying power available to the emissary was brought to bear.” Cogswell was essentially a bibliophile. He loved books “with an eager and grasping love,” said Donald G. Mitchell. To his fruitful labor was due the splendid growth of the Astor collections. Cogswell presented to the Library his own collection of bibliographical literature, and gave the institution a reputation for wealth in this field. “So well has the impress thus imparted been maintained,” said Dr. Richard Garnett, “that the Astor Library is said to contain hardly any light and frivolous books.” Both the son and grandson of the founder, as well as other members of the Astor family, added generously to the wealth of the institution so that today the total endowment is estimated at over two million dollars. With its increase in resources came an increase in its use. “I range daily in the alcoves of the Astor, more charming than the gardens of Boccaccio, and each hour a Decameron,” wrote Charles Sumner to Theodore Parker. Among the constant users was Horace Greeley, who had a special table reserved for himself.

Lenox Library.—James Lenox, a shy recluse, a bachelor, born to a wealthy inheritance, found his chief joy in the collecting of books, manuscripts, and objets d’art. He first collected early editions of the Bible in all languages; then Americana, including the original editions of the works of the great travelers and discoverers. John Bunyan and Milton received much attention from Mr. Lenox, and he succeeded in garnering a vast array of editions of those two authors. “This mode of collecting has certainly its advantages,” said Henry Stevens, “but it can hardly be denied that it is attended with serious disadvantages. The result of all Mr. Lenox’s enormous study and labor, to say nothing of his vast expenditures, it must be confessed, is a patchy library as he left it. His favorite subjects and authors he rendered astonishingly rich, but the subjects and authors he neglected at the same time are also astonishingly numerous.” In 1870 Mr. Lenox presented the collection to the city of New York, together with a block on Fifth Avenue and a sufficient fund to erect a library building.

Tilden Bequest.—Samuel J. Tilden was not, according to his biographer, John Bigelow, a book collector in the ordinary sense of the term. “Mr. Tilden had a very fastidious taste for books, which he indulged without much regard to expense. He bought books for his immediate use and enjoyment, and apparently with no thought of collecting a library that should be complete in any department.” For the purpose of establishing and maintaining a free library and reading room in the city of New York he established the “Tilden Trust,” to which he bequeathed the sum of nearly four million dollars. By long litigation it was reduced about one-half. The trustees were anxious to apply this fund in a way that should prove most advantageous to the people of New York City and at the same time strictly conform to the wishes of the testator. The endowment was accordingly offered to the Municipal Building Committee of the city in 1893, to be devoted to the construction of a public library in a new City Hall, at that time planned for Bryant Park. This plan had to be given up the next year when the act authorizing the removal of the old City Hall was repealed, but the expectations of the testator were carried out later by merging the Tilden Trust with the Astor and Lenox bequests into one grand “New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.” This consolidation was effected on May 23, 1895, when the Board of Trustees, composed of seven members from each of the three foundations, proceeded to plan the organization of a comprehensive library system. An appeal to the municipal authorities was made in 1896 stating that if the city would furnish a proper site and provide the money to locate thereon a building suitable for the purposes of the New York Public Library, then the library through the sale of its present sites, could obtain such an addition to its funds as would justify it in providing for the circulation of the books from this main building. The result was that the library was granted the old reservoir ground on Fifth Avenue, between 40th and 42nd Streets, and the trustees were enabled to begin planning for the erection of the splendid fireproof structure, eventually opened to the public in 1911.

New York Public Library.—The union of these three corporations to form a single library worthy of the great American metropolis was very justly characterized by Lawrence Hutton as “one of the most important events in the whole history of the Island of Manhattan.” New York had long labored under the disadvantage of having no public library from which books could be freely borrowed by her citizens. Dr. Cogswell once remarked that a free circulating library in New York was impossible and that in five years any collection of books made for that purpose would be scattered forever beyond hope of recovery. He here showed the distrust of the book-collector and the attitude of the old style librarian towards the books entrusted to his care.

The Astor and the Lenox Libraries were for reference use only, and were never open in the evenings or on holidays. Through the great generosity of Andrew Carnegie the New York Public Library is able to operate an extensive series of branches, primarily intended for the purposes of circulating books in the surrounding neighborhoods. “The main purpose of the library is educational,” said the late Dr. J. S. Billings. “It is also to furnish the means of recreation and amusement to large numbers of readers. A great library like this must be omniverous. It must have rare and costly books, indispensable to scholars, and also the ephemeral pamphlets of the day which have no commercial value when they appear but eventually become historical documents. The library should be an encyclopedia always kept up to date.”

The Spread of Public Libraries.—From the above sketches some idea can be gained as to how recent is the development of the library into the tax-supported institution we know to-day. The last generation has witnessed the spread of the public library movement westward at such a rate that many of the most striking illustrations of the usefulness of the modern library are to be gathered from the newer libraries of the western states. Within the last two decades the public library has gained strong allies in such new organizations as state library commissions, inter-state library associations, and library training schools. The library schools have inculcated into their students the body of America’s library doctrine which has grown up with the movement in this country. The association meetings have been helpful in providing for the discussion of mooted topics and giving librarianship a unity which it could not otherwise have gained.

American Library Association.—Organized in 1876 to promote the welfare of libraries; it had the Library Journal as its official organ for many years, but now publishes its own Bulletin containing announcements and proceedings of the annual meeting. The Association aims to effect needed legislation and reforms which could not be brought about by individual effort; to improve library administration and lessen the labor and expense of it; to utilize the combined experience of the profession, to promote esprit de corps among library workers and to advance the common interests of trustees, librarians and assistants. Various sections have been organized: the college and reference section, catalog section, trustees’ section, library work with children and state library commissions. It has a publishing board of five members, appointed by the executive board, the aim of which is to secure and prepare publications, catalogs, indexes and other bibliographic and library aids. The publications are a great help to libraries and references are made to a number of them throughout this manual. The headquarters of the Association are located on the upper floor of the Chicago Public Library. Address: 78 E. Washington St.

State Library Commissions.—Commissions have been established in thirty-three states with the view of advancing the library interests of the state. They aim not only to promote the efficiency of the libraries already existing but also to help in the establishing of new ones. They collect statistics of libraries throughout the state and so are able to help the backward ones by showing what is being done in the more active communities. Some commissions conduct summer library schools where the untrained assistants from the smaller libraries can get valuable instruction. Others have institutes and district meetings at which topics of interest to the smaller libraries are discussed. Organizers are sent to such libraries as are in need of reorganization, recataloging or professional help along one line or another. In some states the commission takes charge of the traveling libraries, which are sent to clubs, granges and the smaller libraries. The sending of books to the blind falls within the province of the library commissions in certain states. Some are authorized to give direct financial aid to the smaller struggling libraries. Nearly all the commissions publish bulletins, circulars of information, library laws, selected lists of helpful books, and occasional leaflets.

Traveling Libraries.—In order to carry the advantages of the public library system to the residents of rural districts and villages, a system of traveling libraries has been introduced into most of the states. New York was the first to adopt this system, which it did in 1892 at the instance of Melvil Dewey, then State Librarian. The plan was to send a number of small libraries, each containing one hundred carefully selected volumes, which were lent for six months at a time to “stations” from which requests had been received. In 1895 Michigan and Iowa introduced the system as a part of the work of their state libraries and in the following year a traveling library system for one county was established through private generosity. The Wisconsin Free Library Commission soon took it up and developed it for the whole state. In some states where the traveling libraries have not been fostered by state aid, the work has been carried on by the women’s clubs, as for example in Colorado.

In Michigan application for traveling libraries can be made by study clubs, Epworth leagues, Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A., Sunday schools, farmers’ clubs, granges, reading circles, etc. The titles are selected from printed finding lists, and the books go by freight at the expense of the borrower. If books on a special topic are desired, the request should be filed by May 1st with the State Librarian in order to receive them in the fall. The State Library has also a loan collection of pictures, reproductions of the best examples of ancient and modern art. The unframed pictures are loaned to art clubs, while the framed ones are loaned to schools to be kept on their walls from three to six months.

CHAPTER II.
ORGANIZATION OF A LIBRARY.

The organization of the average library consists of the following component parts:

1. Board of Trustees.—The main function of the board of trustees is to look after the financial interests of the library, to see that the buildings and equipment are properly cared for, and to decide broad questions of policy. Trustees should be (but are not always) elected from the elite of the community. It is expected that in them will be found a genuine culture, an appreciation of things pertaining to the arts and sciences, combined with the advantages of education, travel and sufficient leisure to look after public interests. “Cultivated men,” says Edward Edwards, “familiar with books from childhood, have usually a very inadequate perception of the toil and thought which have to be given to the good arrangement, the accurate cataloging, and the ready service of a library. What, then, is to be expected if a dominant share in the management of a library be placed in the hands of men with just enough of elementary education to bring into broad daylight the intensest ignorance, in union with the most stolid self-conceit?” “A little bookishness in a committeeman,” said Justin Winsor, “may be as dangerous as a sip from the poet’s Pierian spring, particularly if there is no deeper learning in any of his associates. He knows just enough of books not to know that he knows nothing of libraries.”

2. The Librarian.—“A librarian,” said Henry Bradshaw, “is one who earns his living by attending to the wants of those for whose use the library under his charge exists, his prime duty being, in the widest possible sense of the phrase, to save the time of those who seek his services.” The librarian has been variously compared to the commissariat in the republic of letters, whose business is not to fight himself but to put others in fighting trim,—or to the host at the banquet of knowledge who is assiduous in securing the comfort of the guests and in placing before each one just the kind of food he likes and requires. He knows that what is one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Enthusiasm for the work is a prime requisite in the librarian. Even a good staff cannot overcome the deadening influence of daily contact with a chief lacking in enthusiasm.

To the librarian should be left the details of administration. The librarian is the executive officer of the board of trustees and the latter, if wise, will look to the librarian for getting the results desired and will allow that officer as free a hand as possible. If the librarian is not capable of administering the library, or worthy of the fullest confidence, the sooner one is secured who measures up to this standard the better.

3. The Library Staff.—The duties of the staff vary with the size of the library. In the smallest libraries the librarian may be the only one engaged in the actual work of the library, but in such cases the library hours must be restricted to such as one person can take care of. The next step in growth is to have some one relieve the librarian at the desk and to do the more clerical work. Next come special assistants to look after special tasks like cataloging and classifying, desk work and so on. The staff, whether large or small, should consider itself responsible to the librarian and should not, except in extraordinary cases, go directly to the board of trustees with petitions. The librarian should always be the spokesman for the staff. Going over his head indicates a lack of sympathy and cooperation between the librarian and staff that argues badly for the welfare of the institution.

Qualifications for Library Work.—The best preparation for library work is a thorough, systematic general education. To this should be added a special preparation secured either through apprenticeship, a training class, or a regular library school. Different positions call for different qualities in assistants but library service in general demands tact, perseverance, adaptability, habits of precision and accuracy, with a fair amount of speed, ability to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials, and a strong desire to be of service. A certain familiarity with books and famous characters in history and in fiction is expected of every one in a library. Personal neatness, good temper, and a sense of humor are valuable assets in this as in other lines of work. No one will succeed in library work who goes into it merely for the money that can be got out of it.

Loyalty to the institution and its officers is essential to efficient service. If the assistant cannot feel this sense of loyalty, the sooner a new position is secured, the better for all concerned.

Dignity, self-possession, and self-reliance are valuable qualities in any part of the library, but are especially needed by assistants at the reference desk.

Qualities that unfit one for library work in general are physical weakness, deformity, poor memory, a discontented disposition, egotism, a lack of system in one’s method of work, and inability or unwillingness to take responsibilities, a tendency to theorize, criticise, or gossip, inability to mind one’s own business, fussiness, and long-windedness.

One librarian advocates listing the virtues and personal qualities of the staff and apprentices by having a questionnaire like the following filled out for each assistant:

Has she tact?

Has she enthusiasm?

Has she method and system?

Is she punctual?

Is she neat?

Is she kind?

Is she a good disciplinarian?

Is she sympathetic?

Is she quick?

Is she willing to wear rubber heels?

Is she a good worker?

Is she accurate?

Has she a pleasing personality?

Has she a sense of responsibility?

Is she patient?

Is she courteous?

Has she self control?

Is she cheerful?

Has she a knowledge of books?

Are her vibrations pleasant?

Has she executive ability?

Can she speak French, German, Spanish, Italian, Yiddish?

Has she social qualifications?

Can she keep a petty cash account?

What are her faults?

Mr. Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress, gives the following advice to aspirants for library positions:

“First, secure the best possible general education, including, if possible, a college course or its equivalent; second, acquire a reading knowledge of at least French and German; third, add to this a training in a library school; fourth, if a choice must be made between the special training in a library school and a general course in a college, choose the general course, but make every effort to supplement this by the special course if only for a brief period; fifth, if an opportunity occur for foreign travel, utilize it; sixth, if you have not been able to contrive either a thorough general education or special training, your best opportunities in library work will be in a small library where your personal characteristics may be such as to offset these other deficiencies; seventh, without at least a fair reading knowledge of French and German you cannot progress beyond the most subordinate positions in a large library.”

CHAPTER III.
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.

CHAPTER IV.
CLASSIFICATION.

Definition.—Classification consists of putting like things together. We do this every day, and the classification of books is only one special phase of this general process. Thus, a man who owns a hardware store does not place his goods helter skelter,—a stove, a box of nails, some saws and then a furnace, but he runs over his stock and classifies it, putting stoves in one place, nails in another. By this classification he gains two things: first, he can find any one thing he wants more quickly; secondly, he can tell how much of any one article he has on hand and so decide whether he must lay in a new supply. Likewise, the zoologist classifies all members of the animal kingdom, so that he can learn what the different kinds of animals are and study the relationship between them. Without the help afforded by classification he would be overwhelmed by the immense number of facts brought before him and without the aid of classification he would never have known of evolution, the guiding star of modern investigation.

First Principles.—In our every-day life we lose much time hunting for things for which we have no definite place. We have put them in the place which was most convenient for us at the moment when we put them away. Think for yourself how it is with your knowledge. From observation, from conversation, from reading, you learn a little about many subjects like electricity, botany, astronomy or politics, but in this desultory way you do not learn very much about any one of these subjects. Therefore you do not feel any special need of classifying your information, but when you take up any of these subjects and pursue it seriously you learn thousands of facts and relations, and then is the time that you feel the need of some plan of arrangement of your knowledge.

Private vs. Institutional Libraries.—One has the same experience in regard to books. A person having a library of from fifty to three hundred books does not feel the need of classifying them. The ordinary arrangement is based upon size, color or convenience. The books in the average house are so placed as to look their best. The classification, as far as it exists, is an esthetic one. The owner knows the exact appearance of every volume in his library and when he wants Longfellow’s poems he can tell at a glance where it is. In a small private library there is no occasion for all the history being in one place or all the poems in another. As the library grows, the esthetic principle of classification can be followed until the owner can no longer readily remember how each book looks.

But our institutional libraries contain so many books that the librarian cannot know them in the same way that he can the books in his own private library and consequently he has to study the question of classification and devise a method by which not only he, but his assistants and also such readers as have access to the books, can readily find them as wanted. Classification, the putting of like things together, would, therefore, mean in a large library, putting histories together in one place, the medical books together in another place, and so with all other distinctive subjects. Each of these large classes will, however, have to be subdivided. Thus, histories of Greece are put together in one place, histories of Rome in another, histories of the United States in still another. The subdivision in the larger libraries is carried still farther and books on the period of the discovery of America are put first, followed by books on the Colonial period of the United States, the Revolutionary War, etc. United States history, if well represented, is classified geographically. This process of subdivision into separate groups of books on each state can be carried still farther if necessary.

Advantages of Classification.—The following questions may arise: What advantages come from the classification, and who are benefited? The advantages come to those having access to the books. If one goes to a library to get a volume by Arnold Bennett it makes no difference to the individual whether the library is classified or not if he cannot go to the shelves and pick out the book for himself. Likewise, if he wants Young’s Astronomy he will probably get the book more quickly if he asks the attendant to get it than if he tries to get it himself, supposing he does have access to the shelves. But the time when the reader gets the most help from the classification is when he wants to examine a number of books on astronomy and can go to the shelves and find the books on that subject all in one place. Then he can easily find what different writers have to say about the habitability of Mars or he can find what book appeals to him as being the most interesting and can borrow it for home use. Any investigator finds access to the shelves of a well classified library an immense help.

An Aid to the Librarian.—Another person who is greatly benefited by classification is the librarian, and it is just as important that he be helped as that the reader be helped. He is, however, helped in a different way. He knows what the system of classification in use in the library is and with the outlines of this scheme in mind he goes through the library and finds out where it is strong and where it is weak and can plan future purchases accordingly. If, for example, he finds on the shelves little of value on photography he will make a note of it and buy more books on that subject when funds are available. If he finds that there is an undue supply of travel on hand, he will note that also and buy fewer books in that class in the future. Without the help of classification the librarian would overlook many such irregularities. In an unclassified library they would be discovered only through a long and tedious investigation. His only recourse would be the catalog and that is not so well adapted to answer such questions.

Basis of Classification.—The next question is, what shall be the basis of classification. It is obvious that this basis should be sought in the character of the books themselves and should be applied with constant reference to the reader and his needs. In regard to the first point, character of the books, we know that books have been written on all kinds of subjects,—religion, law, history, medicine, etc. and that those subjects form the only rational basis for classification. A classification based on these distinctions is the only one that helps the reader. If a man comes to the library to investigate a particular point in medicine, it is clear that it will help him if he finds all the medical books together rather than all the books grouped according to their date of purchase by the library.

Present Tendency.—Many schemes have been devised for the classification of books, some very simple, others extremely elaborate. The present tendency is to adopt the more elaborate classification. Formerly most libraries were not classified at all, but the books were arranged in the order in which they were received, the only grouping of the books being in such cases one based on size,—folios in one place, quartos in another, in order to save shelf room. Assuming that the books in the library were numbered according to the date of their accession from one up to, say, twenty thousand, it is clear that the reader could find a book by a particular writer quickly enough by looking up its number in the catalog, but if he had wished to consult thirty books on one subject, it would be a very tedious operation and most readers would not take the time for it.

Simple forms of Classification.—The most common plan in English libraries is a modification of this scheme. The books are divided into about ten classes and the books in each class are arranged in the order in which they are received. The classes are distinguished by capital letters. An example said to be very common in England, is as follows.

A. Theology and philosophy.

B. History and biography.

C. Travel and topography.

D. Law, politics, commerce.

E. Arts and sciences.

F. Fiction.

G. Philology.

H. Poetry and drama.

J. Juvenile.

K. Miscellaneous and magazines.

As an illustration of the way a book is marked in this scheme, B 2574 might be Green’s “History of the English people.” This book is marked B. because it is a history. It is marked 2574 because there were already 2573 books in this class at the time this book was added. This mark, B 2574, is a very simple one and to that extent satisfactory. The scheme is a great advance over the preceding one, because it brings the books of a kind together. Since there are ten classes in this scheme, it is evident that if a reader wishes to see all the books on one subject he will have to examine only one-tenth of the library instead of the whole of it, but even this is not felt to be minute enough. If the library contains 200,000 volumes one class would contain, on the average, 20,000 volumes, which is altogether too great a collection to search through. If Green’s “History of the English people” were marked B 2574, the next book might be Robinson’s “History of Peru,” marked B 2575, which is of course a very different subject. The case is still worse in class E, which includes fine arts, useful arts and all the sciences, so that a book on chemistry might stand between a book on medicine and one on Raphael. This would not satisfy the reading public of to-day,—nor the modern librarian. The classes F, fiction, and J, juvenile, are not so bad; there is not so great a difference between the books in these classes. They are used more by people seeking recreation, rather than by those looking for definite titles. Jacob Abbott wrote some two hundred juvenile books and many of these might be scattered among the large class J. In class F, fiction, the English, French, and German authors would all be thrown together. This would be a disadvantage for any one desiring to read along a particular line.

Open vs. Close Classification.—The question of open vs. close classification is an important one. By open classification we mean one without minute subdivisions. An illustration of open classification is the scheme of ten classes described above. As an extreme case of open classification mention may be made of the theological library in which only two classes were used, the one class containing the books that were sound in their theology, the other the books that were unsound.

At the present time the tendency is towards close classification. It is a necessity in large libraries and an advantage in small ones. In this country the two great authorities on classification are Charles A. Cutter and Melvil Dewey. Both have devised and published schemes of classification which are generally recognized as having many excellent features. In both schemes the classification admits of very minute subdivisions. Dewey says that if the library has only one book on a certain minute subject, that book ought to be put in its own special class. It does not matter if there is no other book in the class. No one can fully understand what is meant by close classification until he has had considerable experience in classifying books. You can pick up the printed scheme of classification and run your eye over the numbers, but you will get comparatively little from them until you try to apply them.

Minute Bibliographical Classification.—The following is a very important distinction in regard to close classification which should be carefully noted. It is one thing to classify books, but it is quite a different thing to classify articles in magazines for the bibliography of a subject. Magazine articles may be classified far more minutely than books can be. Take, for example, the Bibliographia Geologica, in which references are made to articles in geological magazines and publications of geological societies. Here the articles are classified according to Dewey. Dewey’s class 551 means physical geology. In this bibliography there is a particular article marked 551.795,513,111,044. That is to say the general subject of physical geology is subdivided in one-trillionth parts and this article is assigned to one of those parts. If one should apply for a library position and be told that he should have to classify the books as closely as this, he would probably never get the position. If he were given this article to classify, he would just as likely as not put it ten billion points out of the way. As a matter of fact, this bibliography is compiled by a number of experts in geology. There are similar bibliographies of botany, zoology and other natural sciences, all minutely classified and all compiled by experts.

The reason that books cannot be as closely classified as magazine articles is that they generally deal with broader topics. In the average library it does not pay to classify books more minutely than is warranted by the general run of books in the class in which these books are to be assigned. In this regard, a distinction must be made between libraries. The Library of Congress has devised a classification of its own which is very minute, and a number of classifiers are employed to look after the different fields in which they are more or less expert. In this way, classification can be carried to the extreme limit of closeness. Nothing keeps one more modest than classifying, for one is continually brought face to face with things that one does not know, and so many things of which one knows so little.

The Dewey Decimal Classification. The decimal classification is used in this country and in Europe. It is suitable for both large and small collections of books and for indexing. In many schemes of classification letters are used to denote the classes, in others a combination of letters and figures. Dewey uses only figures.

Dewey developed his system in 1873 and published it in 1876. Numbers of three figures were used to denote the classes. Since then it has been found desirable to subdivide much more minutely and this has been done with increasing minuteness in the seven editions that have followed the one of 1876. A general outline of Dewey is here given.

000 General works

100 Philosophy

200 Religion

300 Sociology

400 Philology

500 Science

600 Useful arts

700 Fine arts

800 Literature

900 History

Each of these is divided into ten sections, e. g.

500 Science

510 Mathematics

520 Astronomy

530 Physics

540 Chemistry

550 Geology

560 Paleontology

570 Biology

580 Botany

590 Zoology

Each of these is divided into ten sections, e. g.

530 Physics

531 Mechanics

532 Hydraulics

533 Pneumatics

534 Sound

535 Light

536 Heat

537 Electricity

538 Magnetism

539 Molecular physics.

These sections are still further subdivided until the requisite degree of minuteness is reached. The system has various mnemonic features which are helpful. Every figure has a meaning. An alphabetical list of all these meanings is appended to the classification. Thus after the word Hydraulics is 532, showing where to look in the classification for this subject. All books on hydraulics receive the number 532 and are together on the shelves. This fact illustrates one great advantage of the Dewey system, that as the library grows the new books can be placed with the corresponding old ones without re-marking the old ones, while in the fixed location system the books are marked to certain localities, and when moved by reason of growth of the library have to be re-marked. This re-marking includes not only the books but also the cards referring to the books. The re-marking is very costly and very unsatisfactory. In Dewey’s system the books in any one class are arranged according to some method. In most classes an alphabetical arrangement by the names of the authors is simplest and best. In scientific classes some librarians prefer the chronological arrangement. In any case it should be clear and simple.

Relative Location.—“With a movable location all new books fall at once into their proper places like the cards which are added to a card catalog, and the new-comers push the other books along on the shelf, just as new cards push the others along in the drawer. The consequence is that a book which is here to-day may be on the next shelf in a month or in the next alcove in a year; and the local memory, which is a great help in finding books quickly is disturbed. The only remedy that I can see for this is to substitute a subject memory for a local memory, to get a habit of thinking of a book as belonging to a certain class instead of as on a certain shelf (a much more rational memory, by the way), and then to make it very easy to find the classes. This last is not hard to accomplish. A class memory can be cultivated and may be assisted by local memory which will find books by their position relative to other books, instead of by their position relative to alcoves and shelves, or doors and windows.”—C. A. Cutter.

CHAPTER V.
CATALOGING.

Definition.—The catalog is a directory of the library. A library without a catalog is described by Thomas Carlyle as “a Polyphemus without any eye in its head, and you must front the difficulties, whatever they may be, of making proper catalogs.” A good catalog must be an accurate and easily used index of the resources of the library, answering the questions of the readers in the simplest and most direct way possible. Such questions fall into the following groups:

1. Has the library a certain book by a certain author?

2. What books by a certain author has the library?

3. Has the library a book with a certain title, the author’s name being unknown?

4. What has the library on a given subject?

5. What volumes of a certain series are in the library?

6. Where on the shelves of the library is a certain book to be found, if it is not in use by a reader?

To answer these questions certain “entries”, or records, are made in the catalog, called the author, title, subject and series entries. Question 6, which is asked in connection with all the other questions, is answered by the call number, which appears on every entry.

The most general book of reference is the dictionary. Every one is more or less familiar with its arrangement. This fact is the chief argument for a dictionary arrangement in a card catalog where authors, subjects, titles and cross references are arranged in one alphabet, as in a dictionary. Each “entry,” or record, is made on a card having on its first line the word, or words, under which the entry is made. This card is placed in its alphabetical place in the catalog tray.

Author Entry.—Every book must have an author entry to answer questions 1 and 2. By author we mean the person, body, government, society or institution responsible for a work. The entry is usually made under the author’s surname, followed by his forenames.

Catalog Rules.—Every good code of cataloging rules gives detailed directions for the author entry, telling how to decide who is the author and what form of his name to use. In order to gain the uniformity necessary for the easy consultation of the catalog, the cataloger must decide upon her rules and then follow them carefully. If this is done, the author card will ordinarily present few difficulties. The American Library Association rules (1908) are very full and offer the advantage of general conformity to the Library of Congress entries. The question as to fullness of author’s name may well be left to the individual library. The small library will need to use the author’s dates only to distinguish different authors of the same name. Many descriptive phrases may also be omitted, e. g. “pres. of the U. S.” in the heading, “Washington, George, pres. of the U. S.” and similar headings. This will in no way interfere with the use of the Library of Congress cards, in spite of their fuller entries, as the full and less full may easily be placed in one alphabet.

All works of fiction, dramas and poems, and works of non-fiction having striking titles must have an additional record, or “added entry”, under the title, in order that the catalog may answer question 3. For this entry, the title is written at the top of the card. The average reader more frequently remembers the titles of books than the names of their authors. Consequently the cataloger must not be too sparing in making title entries.

Subject Entries.—Non-fiction must also have added entry under the subject or subjects of the book. It is here that the cataloger finds scope for all her knowledge, judgment and common sense. Above all, let it not be said of her that she

“Affects all books of past and present ages,

But reads no further than their title-pages.”

She must examine the books carefully, studying the table of contents, preface, analyses of chapters when given, marginal notes, and the chapters themselves when necessary. No entry is to be made under any subject unless the cataloger is sure that the book contains material helpful to one looking up that subject. She must always try to put herself in the reader’s place, and get his point of view.

The cataloger is extremely liable to worship rules and to forget the limitations of the average reader. There is danger of taking too much for granted. In this respect the cataloger is like a certain professor who was given to quoting Arabic in his popular lectures. When some one, remonstrated, he said, “Oh, everybody knows a little Arabic.”

The cataloger must bear in mind the fact that many users of the library do not know how to look up book titles. President Eliot once confessed to a body of librarians that although he might claim to be as intelligent as the ordinary frequenter of a library, he did not know enough to use a card catalog.

Cutter’s Rules.—Having decided what the subject or subjects of the book may be, for it may have one or many, the question arises as to the form of the subject headings to be used. C. A. Cutter, in his “Rules for a dictionary catalog” (4th edition, 1904) has laid down the principles of the choice of subject headings. One of the most useful tools of the cataloger is the American Library Association “List of subject headings” (3d edition, 1911), the result of widespread consultation and discussion on principles and practice. Here is gathered the experience of many libraries, of all types, and the cataloger would do well to follow this list unless experience has shown her that in some cases her special library requires a variation. The suggested cross references are a great help, but must be used with care and judgment. The cross references are the sign posts in the wilderness of the catalog, and they must point the way clearly and with truth. The cataloger never knows at just what point the reader will strike the catalog, but if the subject headings and cross references have been judiciously chosen he is pretty sure to reach the desired goal.

Analyticals.—In a small library it is most essential to show not only what books the library has on a given subject, but also what chapters or essays may be hidden in unsuspected volumes. Entries for such parts of books are called analytical entries. The subject heading is chosen in the same manner as for an entire work on the subject, the author, title, date, call number and paging of the volume containing the chapter being given below the subject heading. In similar manner author and title analytical entries may be made for short stories which appear in collections. Author analytical entries are frequently needed for collections of essays, etc.

Form of Card.—The form of the card is of minor importance, provided it is clear and gives all of the important information. It is well to make prominent the author’s name by indention. The title must omit nothing which will aid the reader in his choice of a book. The name or number of edition and the name of the editor or translator should be included. Names of illustrators may be omitted unless they are of sufficient importance to require an added entry card. In a public library added entries under the names of popular illustrators like C. D. Gibson, Joseph Pennell or Walter Crane, will often prove helpful.

Imprint and Collation.—Fullness of imprint and collation varies in different libraries. The cataloger should not count on the library always remaining very small, but should include enough details of imprint and collation to assure her that the cards will be useful when the library has grown. The A. L. A. rules give detailed instruction for imprint and collation, while any of the papers written on cataloging for the small library will point out the possibilities of simplification.

Contents Notes.—The contents of the book should be given whenever it will add important items to the reader’s knowledge of the book. Descriptive and critical notes will often tell a reader positively whether or not he wishes the book, when the title alone could not do this.

Subject headings for historical fiction—and also for poetry and drama—will be found most helpful. Thus Winston Churchill’s “Crisis” can well have an entry under U. S. History—Civil War—Fiction, and Dumas’ The Whites and the Blues, an entry under Napoleon I—Fiction.

Printed Cards.—The use of the Library of Congress cards will be found a great labor saver. If, at the time of ordering the cards, a temporary slip bearing call number, author, title, place and date of publication, accession number and suggested subjects and analyticals be written, a second examination of the book on the receipt of the cards will be unnecessary, unless the cards disagree with the book in some of the data noted. The Library of Congress, on application, will send instructions for the ordering of cards. Although it is cheaper to order cards by serial numbers, it will not pay the cataloger to spend much time searching for this number as for 1/2c per title the Library of Congress will do this work. The use of the printed cards, though it will destroy the uniformity of appearance of the catalog, will in no way detract from its usefulness or usableness.

Essentials.—The cataloger must constantly bear in mind that the catalog is a machine for the use of the public. Any time spent in making it serve the readers more easily and quickly is time well spent. Any time spent in beautifying it simply for the glorification of the cataloger is time wasted. Rules,—careful, detailed rules,—are needed so that the machine may do its work without friction and that every part may fit into its proper place, but any rules that hamper the user of the machine, should be promptly struck from the code. The cataloger is paid to make a time-saving machine, and this is her duty,—to make a machine that will bring together the book and the man who wants it with the least expenditure of effort on the part of the latter.

“If the trustees can afford it,” very rightly says Miss Esther Crawford, “there is one substitute for a catalog, viz., a librarian who knows intimately every book in the library; who has the memory for each book and that fine, discriminating knowledge of the reader’s tastes and abilities which will enable her always to fit the right book to the right person; who will never be absent from the library during the ten hours in which it is kept open every day in the year; who will never die nor take a vacation,—marriage is out of the question.”[^[1]]

The Cataloger’s Training.—“The modern library movement is young, and it is therefore not surprising that the subject of library work in general and of cataloging in particular is not fully understood,” writes Miss Theresa Hitchler in the eighth annual report of the Brooklyn Public Library. “The average man does not know and cannot realize the demands of the work, and has no idea, seemingly, that any training or special aptitude is necessary. By way of contrast to this average man’s view might be recorded the plaint of a prominent librarian at a recent library club meeting that so great a per cent of the talent of the library profession had to be diverted to the cataloging department, to the detriment of the circulating desk. The moral to be pointed out is that the catalog must be good as a first requisite to a library. In the words of the old comparison, the catalog is the key to the otherwise hidden material buried in books. In a library of any size, the best desk attendant in the world is almost helpless, or at best constantly handicapped, without a convenient and rational classification of the volumes of the collection and the bibliographical aid of a catalogue. The born bibliographer is as rare as the born teacher or poet. The cataloging expert must have the quick mind, sound common sense, broad view and good judgment of the book-reviewer joined with the slow and solid qualities of the bibliographer. The former qualities are needed for rapid classification of books in all the various fields of human knowledge, from abstruse to practical, from grave to gay, and for placing them under subject headings in the catalog useful and specific, to student, scholar and every day reader alike, and are by far the more important and indispensable. The latter qualities are needed for recording accurately the data of the books so classed, in a bibliographical catalog of a form useful to people of all grades of intelligence. It stands to reason that to cope with these requirements, a solid educational training that gives an intelligent outlook on the various fields of knowledge must be joined to a natural aptitude for bibliographical detail, and added to these a technical training in such work. The head of such a department must possess these requirements in an ever greater degree, with an executive ability and knowledge of human nature above the ordinary, since the results, good or bad, depend directly on her ability and on her management, successful or unsuccessful, of the varied material entrusted to her guidance.”

CHAPTER VI.
REFERENCE WORK AND CIRCULATION.

Reference Work.—By “reference work” is meant work done in assisting the public to use the resources of the library. Dewey defines it as “systematic aid to readers.” A reference book according to Dr. E. C. Richardson “is a book which is to be consulted for definite points of information, rather than read through, and is arranged with explicit reference to ease in finding specific facts.” In this class fall dictionaries, encyclopaedias and hand-books of all kinds. The same answer to almost any question may be found in a number of books in the library by taking the time to examine them carefully, but the object of the reference department is to serve the public as expeditiously and satisfactorily as possible and reference books are the means to that end. Any book referred to becomes for the time being a reference book; but the term “reference book” as used in a library refers to the “ready reference book,” i. e. the books that were specifically written for reference use and to which the definition given above refers.

The reference collection is usually a small but exceedingly valuable portion of the library and the reference work does not confine itself to the use of the reference books, but to any book in the library which may contain something which will help towards the desired answer. The reference collection is generally placed in the reading room of the library and in that part of the room most convenient to the public and to the librarian.

The reference department is the heart of the library, and the more alive and efficient the members of the department are, the stronger is the beat of its pulse and the more far reaching the results of its work. All other departments exist to make more efficient the work of the reference department. The accessions department purchases books that there may be live material to work with in the reference department. The classifier groups the books so that all the material on the various subjects in the library is placed most conveniently on the shelves. The cataloging department catalogs the books so that the reference department may by the simplest means find what is contained in the library. Without the work of the other departments the reference department would be tied hand and foot and might as well not exist. With their cooperation it becomes the very life of the library, reaching out in various ways into the community to make the influence of the library more strongly felt.

Importance of Reference Work.—The average reader is uninformed as to the use and helpfulness of any but the commonest reference books. The duty of instructing the readers in the use of the ordinary library tools devolves upon the assistants at the reference desk. They must interpret the catalog to the public and incite in the readers a desire to help themselves after they have been initiated into the use of a dictionary card catalog and have had the use of some of the more important reference books explained to them. If an education consists not so much in getting knowledge as in knowing how and where to get it when the need arises, then it is clear that the assistants at the reference desk fill an important place in the library staff. They have a great opportunity for helpfulness. Other divisions of the library may labor successfully to build up the collections, and have them properly classified and cataloged, but if the service at the reference desk is inefficient the usefulness of the library is sadly impaired. The reference assistants can make or mar the library’s reputation for service.

Of course there is such a thing as doing too much for the patrons of a library, thereby preventing their learning how to help themselves. Let the readers understand that it is necessary to dig into the contents of the books and discover things that the bibliographies and card catalogs cannot point out.

Don’t say off hand, “I don’t know that we have anything on the subject,” for fear that before long you will be saying categorically that “The library has nothing on the subject.” You should aid the inquirer by beginning the search. Say rather, “Let us see what the library has on the subject.”

When the books are purchased and on the shelves, and the catalog is in perfect shape for use, the library is still a riddle to the public. There must be one or more capable persons to meet the public and put the contents of the library at its disposal. “Knowledge is of two kinds,” said Dr. Johnson. “We know our subject and we know where we can find information upon it.” The latter is the knowledge necessary to the reference librarian. Her knowledge of her library must be such that she can find something about any question asked, if there is material on the subject in the library. What great novel is there on the period of the Norman conquest? Where can I find a map of the city of Seattle? Who was the last man elected to the French Academy? What is the point of resemblance between Maeterlinck’s writings and Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner? Was Rabbi Ben Ezra a mathematician? Such are the questions for which she must be ready, from morning till night, to help find the answers.

The efficiency of the department is many times increased if it can have on its staff those who in addition to their knowledge of the library have had a broad education. The broader the better for there is no subject on which she may not at some time be asked to find material. The more versatile the members of the department are the greater is its efficiency.

In no department of the library does personality count for as much as in the reference department. The reference librarian may be a brilliant student and have a thorough grasp of the various fields of knowledge, but of what use will it be to her if she has not the ability to meet people and to sink her own personality to a large extent? There is no profession which throws one into the society of more varied types than that of librarianship. The high and the low, the rich and the poor, the educated and the ignorant, the cultured and unrefined all come to the library for aid. The reference librarian must “be all things to all people.” She must meet her public in such a way that if they come once they will come again, feeling themselves cordially welcome. She must have all the qualities which will make the library a place to which the public will want to come, and herself the person they will seek for assistance.

How to Meet the Public.—“The whole library should be permeated with a cheerful and accommodating atmosphere. Treat boy and girl, man and woman, ignorant and learned, gracious and rude, with uniform good temper, without condescension, never pertly. Anticipate all inquiries when possible, and especially put the shrinking and embarrassed visitor at once at ease.

“Reference work in libraries large and small has for its first rule: Meet the inquirer more than half way. To the stranger a library is often an oppressive place, an awesome place—in his imagination. He comes in shyly; everyone appears busy, his question suddenly seems to him trivial; he won’t trouble these wise and busy people with it—and goes out.

“A good second rule is: Learn at once just exactly what the inquirer wishes to know. This is not always easy. Tact and a little patience will generally effect it.

“A third good rule is: Whenever possible show the inquirer how the answer is found, so that he may next time in some measure help himself. It is surprising how many, especially of the younger people in a community, can be taught within one year, on their occasional visits, to make the proper use of at least a few reference books.

“Another rule of very good application is: Go first to a dictionary. In many cases a question answers itself, or betrays where its answer may best be found, if it is once plainly stated. And nothing is better than reference to a few words in a dictionary for the clear statement of a question. The larger dictionaries, and notably the Century, will answer many more inquiries than even great readers often suppose.”—John Cotton Dana, in his “Library primer” and elsewhere.

Reference Books.—In helping to answer an inquiry or to find material on a subject, the first question in the mind of the reference assistant should be, not where, or in what particular book, shall I find the information, but rather: In what kind of a book, or in what class of books? While it is necessary that the assistant should early become acquainted with the most important or most convenient works of reference on the various subjects of general interest it is especially desirable to know the point of view of the inquirer, and what sort of books, whether reference or research, will be needed.

Reference books—meaning ready reference books—may be generally divided into two great classes: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. The first includes those works which treat of words used as language; their meaning, history, pronunciation and use. The second class treats of subjects, such as countries, men, animals, sciences, arts, trades and substances; their character, history, distribution, etc. In both of these classes the arrangement of the matter is generally alphabetical. The term “dictionary” is frequently used for a cyclopedia of a special subject, as in the case of dictionaries of biography, antiquities and architecture. Books of facts, almanacs, yearbooks and census returns, belong to this class.

Of the general, or universal encyclopedias, devoted to all classes of subjects without regard to country, age, or character, every public or school library, no matter how small, should have at least one, and the larger libraries should possess several, as they differ considerably in their treatment of the subjects. Encyclopedias published in the United States, England, France and Germany, while treating of matters of interest in all these countries, would naturally favor their own nationality and include subjects in which their immediate readers would be most interested.

A third class, to which the general name of bibliography is usually given, includes not only the indexes to the literature of a subject but catalogs of libraries, special collections, selected lists, etc. Frequently these are the books to be consulted first, as they direct the searcher to works and articles of far more importance than any of the general ready reference books.

One of the most important and useful books with which the reference assistant should become acquainted is Miss Kroeger’s “Guide to the study and use of reference books,” (A. L. A. Publishing board, 1908; Supplement, by Isadore G. Mudge, 1910). It is divided into classes by formal subjects, but the annotations to the titles included are generally sufficient to show the character of the works, and to what kind of needs they would be best adapted. The Michigan State board of Library Commissioners has published a handy “Annotated list of reference books for school and public libraries,” 1910, which will be found useful by those in charge of smaller libraries.

There are certain ready reference books which should be within reach of every reading room assistant and with which all should be familiar. Among these the following may be mentioned:

Baker, E. A. A guide to the best fiction in English. New ed. N. Y. Macmillan. 1913. $5.50.

Bliss, W. D. P. and Binder, R. M. New encyclopedia of social reform. New ed. N. Y. Funk. 1908. $7.50.

American year book. N. Y. Appleton. 1910-date. $3.50. Annual.

Statesman’s year book. N. Y. Macmillan. $3. Annual.

Whitaker, Joseph. Almanack. Lond. Whitaker. 2s. 6d. Annual.

World almanac. N. Y. The N. Y. World. 25c paper. Annual.

Christy, Robert. Proverbs, maxims and phrases of all ages. N. Y. Putnam. 1905. 2 v. in 1. $2.50.

Hopkins, A. A. Scientific American cyclopedia of formulas. N. Y. Munn. 1911. $5.00.

Kent, William. Mechanical engineer’s pocket-book. Ed. 8. N. Y. Wiley. 1910. $5.

Trautwine, J. C. Civil engineer’s pocket-book. Ed. 19. N. Y. Wiley. 1911. $5.

Standard handbook for electrical engineers. Ed. 3. Rev. and enl. N. Y. McGraw. 1910. $4.

Bartlett, John. Familiar quotations. Ed. 9. Bost. Little. 1911. $3.

Granger, Edith. Index to poetry and recitations. Chic. McClurg. 1904. $5.

Hoyt, J. K. Cyclopedia of practical quotations; English, Latin, and modern foreign languages. New ed. enl. N. Y. Funk. 1896. $6.

Schauffler, R. H. Our American holidays. N. Y. Moffat. $1 a vol. A volume on each of the important holidays: Arbor Day, Christmas, Flag Day, Independence Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving and Washington’s Birthday.

Walsh, W. S. International encyclopedia of prose and poetical quotations. Phil. Winston. 1908. $3.

Brewer, E. C. Historic note-book: with an appendix on battles. Phil. Lippincott. 1891. $3.50.

Haydn, Joseph. Dictionary of dates and universal information relating to all ages and nations. Ed. 24. N. Y. Putnam. 1906. $6.

Larned, J. N. History for ready reference from the best historians and specialists. Rev. and enl. ed. Springfield (Mass.) Nichols. 1901-1910. 7 v. $35.

Ploetz, Karl. Epitome of ancient, mediaeval and modern history: tr. and enl. by W. H. Tillinghast, with additions covering recent events. Bost. Houghton. 1905. $3.

Peck, H. T. Harper’s dictionary of classical literature and antiquities. N. Y. American Book Co. 1897. $6.

A. L. A. portrait index; index to portraits contained in printed books and periodicals. Wash. Lib. of Cong. 1906. $3.

Thomas, Joseph. Universal pronouncing dictionary of biography and mythology. Phil. Lippincott. 1901. 2 v. $15.

Who’s who. N. Y. Macmillan. $2.50 n. Annual.

Appleton’s cyclopedia of American biography. N. Y. Appleton. 1888-1900. 7 v. $36.

Who’s who in America; a biographical dictionary. Chic. Marquis. $4. Biennial.

Moulton, C. W. Library of literary criticism of English and American authors. Buffalo. Moulton pub. co. 1901-05. 8 v. $5. a vol.

Harper’s encyclopedia of U. S. History from 458 A. D. to 1902. N. Y. Harper. 1902. 10 v. $31.

Poole’s Index and the Reader’s Guide.—In 1848 William F. Poole, at that time a junior at Yale, and librarian of one of the undergraduate literary societies, began indexing by topics such magazines as were available “for the purpose of helping students in the preparation of their written exercises and society discussions.” Mr. Poole had noticed that the sets of standard periodicals with which the library was well supplied were not used, although they were replete with information on subjects about which inquiries were made in vain every day. Mr. Poole’s manuscript index soon showed serious signs of wear and in order to preserve it recourse was had to printing. An edition of 500 copies, printed in 1848 was soon exhausted, and in 1853 an edition of 1000 of a much enlarged index was published. Mr. Poole’s increasing duties as librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, and later of the public libraries of Cincinnati and Chicago, left him no leisure for carrying on the index, and so at the first meeting of the American Library Association in 1876 he proposed that the work be carried on by co-operation. This plan was adopted and with Mr. Poole as editor-in-chief and Mr. W. I. Fletcher as assistant and with the cooperation of some fifty libraries the work was carried on until Mr. Poole’s death in 1894. The first volume of this cooperative venture appeared in 1882, with supplements in 1888, 1893, 1897, 1903, and 1908, after which the publication was suspended.

In 1901 the H. W. Wilson Company of Minneapolis began the publication of a monthly “Readers’ guide to Periodical literature,” with the view to supplying the needs of the very small libraries. It was to be cumulated quarterly and it increased rapidly in scope. In 1903 there was incorporated with it the “Cumulative index to periodicals” which had been published in Cleveland for several years. Two five-year cumulations covering 1900-04 and 1905-09 have been published and have grown rapidly in favor. This publication will henceforward continue the work of the Poole Index.

Public Documents.—Among the sources of reliable information most prized by the properly trained desk attendant must be reckoned the various series of documents published by the United States Government. While hitherto many depository libraries have been swamped with the output of the Government Printing Office for which the libraries could not provide proper shelf-room, the libraries are now, by a process of selection and elimination, coming to learn what volumes are of most use to their particular clientele. It is better for a small library to buy these from the Government Printing Office than to have a whole lot of documents for which they have no call dumped down on them. Among the United States documents the following will be found the most useful for the average public library:

Congressional record.

Bound volumes; contain daily proceedings of Congress. If the daily edition is procurable it ought to be filed with the daily newspapers. An index is issued every two weeks, and, with the bound volume, one for the entire session. Obtainable through the local Congressman.

Census Bureau. Reports and bulletins.

Cotton ginning reports. Contain comparative tables of the amount of cotton ginned from the crops grown.

Forest products. This publication shows statistics on lumber and timber products.

Tobacco reports.

Special reports. Complete statistical reports on subjects of great importance. The abstract of the census is an exceedingly useful reference manual supplementing the annual statistical abstract.

Statistical abstract of the United States.

A comprehensive manual of general information issued annually. Advance edition in paper binding available through Congressman.

Civil Service Commission. Reports.

Administrative and statistical, with discussion of public questions coming within the scope of the Commission.

Commissioner of Education. Reports and bulletins.

Embody the results of the Commissioner’s investigations and labors, with statistics and special articles, and recommendations which will promote the purpose for which the office was established. While chiefly devoted to the educational system of the United States, there are papers on important educational movements in other countries. The bulletins include the annual bibliography of Education.

Department of Agriculture.

Yearbook. A most interesting and valuable compend of scientific knowledge, practically applied to agricultural life. It contains also much statistical information of use to farmers and others. It has been issued annually, beginning with 1894, and has become very widely known.

Farmers’ bulletins and bulletins of the Weather Bureau, Forestry, Plant Industry, Chemistry, Entomology, etc. The Farmers’ bulletins give brief popular articles in simple concise language on a great variety of topics. Over six and a half million copies of these bulletins are issued annually.

Commissioner of Labor. Reports and bulletins.

Give information as to labor and economic problems at home and abroad. To be had free of charge upon application.

Library of Congress. Select list of references on various subjects. General publications.

Smithsonian Institution.

National Museum. Reports. Annual. Administrative report on the progress and condition of the Museum. The Congressional edition bears the same document number as the Smithsonian report, though the law calls for separate publication. The earlier volumes contained a number of articles on American archaeology, but the general appendix of scientific papers has not been printed since 1904.

Bureau of Ethnology. Reports and bulletins. Reports. Annual. Contain collections of illustrated papers, relating to the habits, customs, languages, folk-lore, religious ceremonials, etc., of the North American Indians. Bulletins. Papers relating to the North American Indians. Similar to the annual reports in character and contents.

Geological Survey.

Maps. Geologic atlas of United States. Issued in parts or folios as surveys are completed for various areas. Each folio comprises topographic, geologic, economic, and structural maps of the quadrangle, and occasionally other illustrations, with a general description.

Bulletins. Cover a wide range of geologic investigation.

Monographs. Comprehensive and exhaustive treatises on geologic subjects.

Official gazette of the Patent Office.

Official postal guide.

Private publication, authorized by Post Office Department. Albany, N. Y., J. B. Lyon Co., $3.50 per year.

Congressional directory.

For the current session of Congress. Several editions embodying changes and corrections are issued during each session of Congress.

General biographical directory of Congress, 1774-1911.

Official register of the United States.

The list of American and English genealogies in the Library of Congress, 1910; also, Heads of families, 1790, in the thirteen original states.

Constitution of the United States, Jefferson’s Manual and Rules of procedure for the Senate and House of Representatives.

Heitman’s Dictionary of the United States army, 1789-1903.

Hamersly’s Register of the graduates of West Point, continued to 1900.

State Documents.—In addition to the United States Documents referred to above there are a number of State Documents which will prove especially helpful as reference sources in a public library. They are generally to be secured through the Secretary of State, and for Michigan the following might be specified:

Constitutional Convention, 1907-8, Journal and Debates (4 vols). The Journal contains comparative text of the Constitutions of 1908 and 1850.

Compiled Laws, and index, 1897 (4 vols.), and Index to the Compiled Laws and Acts to 1906.

Legislature. Journals of the Senate and the House of Representatives and the Public and Local Acts at the biennial sessions after 1897.

Michigan Manual. Official directory and legislative manual compiled by the Secretary of State. Biennial. Contains statistical information prepared especially for the members of the Legislature, with maps of legislative districts, lists of state officers, etc. Desirable in every library.

Census of Michigan. 1904 and every ten years.

State Pioneer and Historical Collections, annual volumes.

Reports of the following:

State Board of Agriculture Commissioner of Banking Department Board of Corrections and Charities Dairy and Food Commissioner Superintendent of Public Instruction State Board of Health Commissioner of Insurance Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics Commissioner of Railroads Agricultural Experiment Station, and Bulletins State Library—and State Library Commission.

Loan Systems.—The function of the loan department has been thus defined: “To give to the reader the books he wants to take home and to make sure that he will return them promptly for the sake of other readers.” To this end a systematic record of books loaned is kept.

This record may be made to answer certain questions which arise in different kinds of libraries. (1) What books are due on a certain day? This is the “time record.” It is the record usually kept and is necessary to insure the library against loss and to safeguard the interests of the community. (2) What books are out, or, is a certain book out? Who has it and when is it due? It is the “book record” and this kind of a record is kept in most college libraries. (3) What books does a certain person have out? This is called the “readers or borrowers record.” Although some libraries keep all three of these records, many keep only two and the majority only one.

It is not possible to say that there is one best charging system although some form of the Newark or the Brown system is commonly used. All systems require a register of the “borrowers,” kept either numerically in a book or alphabetically on cards or both. Some libraries require a sponsor or guarantor for each one drawing books, but this is going out of favor and only an identification is demanded. When the library is small or the patronage is large it is customary to limit the number of volumes a person can have out at one time to two, one volume of fiction and one non-fiction. These volumes can be kept from seven to fourteen days with the privilege of renewing them for an equal length of time. Other libraries give much more freedom in the number of books one person may draw and in the length of time they may be retained.

Most charging systems require that each book in the library be fitted with a pocket into which is slipped a “book card” on which may appear the author and title of the book, the class and book numbers and the accession number. When the book is drawn out this card is removed from the book and is kept in the library. On it may be entered the borrower’s name or number and the date the book is drawn or to be returned. A card may also be issued to each reader for purposes of identification or to aid in charging the book. Such a card is a “reader’s card” or “borrower’s card.”

CHAPTER VII.
THE BINDING AND CARE OF LIBRARY BOOKS.

Library Binding.—The average library is spending about six percent of its total income on binding. The newer and smaller libraries spend less because their books have not yet come to need the binder’s attention. The older and larger libraries spend more because of the large number of books needing to be rebound and the numerous periodicals taken.

The essentials of good library binding are durability, flexibility, neatness, high grade of materials and suitability of style. Library bookbinding is distinct from the ordinary machine made “case” or publisher’s cloth binding and the decorative binding favored by bibliophiles and amateurs. The weak points in modern book making are poor paper, imperfect sewing, poor attachment of the book to the cover, lack of flexibility in the back and joint, perishable leather and cloth used in the binding. The results are that leaves become loosened, the joints broken and the linings of the hollow backs come off and the boards separate. The present tendency is to strengthen weak joints by using double boards, inserting between them the linings and tapes on which the book is sewn.

Much of the durability of a binding depends upon the quality of glue used. The cost of glue used on a book cannot always be determined by the price paid per pound, since the cheaper glue will not cover as much surface as the higher grade glue which absorbs more water. The cheap article is a great detriment to the life of the paper, the free opening of the book and the flexibility of the back. “Flexible glue” as made in this country is a misnomer. To say the least it is not all that the manufacturers claim for it.

Leather.—The old saying that there is nothing like leather for wear no longer holds true. Modern leather is much less durable than old leather. Modern leather bindings decay mainly because of improper methods of tanning, the use of dried and cured skins of inferior quality; the use of acids and other injurious agents in the bleaching and dyeing processes, the removal of the natural oils and the splitting and artificial graining of the skins. Red and some shades of brown are the colors found to be most durable. Many of the bright colored dyes seem to hasten decay. Leathers that look alike may wear very differently. Names applied to various grades mean less and less. The experience of recent years with the leathers used in book binding has led librarians to a wider use of book cloths of various kinds.

Cloth.—The cloths most in favor are (1) buckram, which if made in the United States, is a strong cotton cloth, suitable for books of average size subject to a fair amount of wear. The “library buckram,” made by the Holliston Mills, Norwood, Mass., and the “legal buckram,” made by the Joseph Bancroft Sons Co., of Wilmington, Del., are made according to the specifications drawn up by the Bureau of Standards for use on government documents. (2) Duck, or canvas, is the heaviest cloth used in binding and is especially advised for newspapers and heavy periodicals which are seldom used. (3) Imperial morocco cloth is frequently used on fiction and juveniles. It does not take lettering as easily as the buckram. (4) Keratol is a washable cloth which is used by some binders on the sides of fiction and juveniles bound in half leather. It should never be used for full binding.

Preservation.—Bindings should not be exposed to the direct rays of the sun and the temperature of the building should not exceed 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Good ventilation is a great aid to book preservation. Dampness affects injuriously both the binding and paper. If leather bound books are handled much the oil from the hands keeps the leather in fair condition. For leather books not often consulted, the necessary oil should be supplied by application. Vaseline has been used with success, but a more generally satisfactory preservative is the following: Pure castor-oil with one half of its weight of paraffin wax heated in an earthen jar until the wax melts. Apply with a flannel cloth, paying special attention to the backs and joints. Use sparingly but rub thoroughly. Then wipe with a clean flannel.

Care of Books.—In order to insure the proper handling of books by the public, the staff must set a good example in this respect. Care should be used in opening a new book so as to loosen but not break the joints of the binding. Careless cutting of the leaves produces a ragged appearance which is not conducive to increased respect for the volume, after it gets out into circulation. Suitable paper cutters with smooth dull edges should be provided and nothing else used. Don’t trust the public to cut the leaves of new books or magazines. Many reputable people are worse than careless in this matter.

Books should not be piled up very high, nor wedged into overcrowded shelves. They must be kept dry. Dampness is destructive to both paper and binding.

Do not turn books face downwards when open, nor allow others to do so without politely calling their attention to this piece of thoughtlessness. Books should be used for reading and for nothing else. Open them gently and try not to let them fall. Do not try to carry too many at one time.

Cleanliness is a great help to book preservation. A habit of constant watchfulness for books needing repairs should be developed by every member of the staff. “A stitch in time saves nine” in a library if anywhere.

CHAPTER VIII.
WORK WITH CHILDREN.