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Each book and each volume of a set has a separate accession number and a separate entry. Each entry occupies a line; each line is numbered from one up to such a number as the library has volumes. The number of each line, called the accession number, is written on the first page after the title-page of the book described on that line. The accession book is a life history of every book in the library. It forms such a record as any business-like person would wish to have of property entrusted to his care. It is also a catalog of all books in the library, and a useful catalog as long as the library is small. Never use an old accession number for a new book, even though the original book has disappeared from the library.
Record should be made of all books, pamphlets, reports, bulletins, magazines, etc., received by the library as gifts; and every gift should be promptly and courteously acknowledged in writing, even if previously acknowledged in person. Keep this record in a blank book, alphabetizing all gifts by the names of the givers, with dates of receipt. Books given should appear on the accession register the same as books purchased.
CHAPTER XX
Classifying books
The smallest public library should be classified and cataloged. This will make its resources more easily available, and will prevent the confusion and waste of labor which are sure to come if systematic treatment of the books is deferred. Get the best advice obtainable; consider the library's field and its possibilities of growth, and let the first work on the books be such as will never need to be done over.
To classify books is to place them in groups, each group including, as nearly as may be, all the books treating of a given subject, for instance, geology; or all the books, on whatever subject, cast in a particular form—for instance, poetry; or all the books having to do with a particular period of time—for instance, the middle ages. Few books are devoted exclusively to one subject and belong absolutely in any one class. The classification of books must be a continual compromise. Its purpose is not accurately to classify all printed things, this can't be done; but simply to make certain sources of information—books—more available. Any classification, if it gets the books on a given subject side by side, and those on allied subjects near one another, is a good one.
Books may be classified into groups in a catalog or list, yet themselves stand without order on the shelves. For convenience in getting for anyone all the books on a given subject, and especially for the help of those who are permitted to visit the shelves, all books should stand in their appropriate classes. Each book, therefore, should bear a mark which will tell in what class it belongs; distinguish it from all other books in that class; show where it stands on the shelves among its fellows of the same class; and indicate which one it is of several possible copies of the same book. This mark can be used to designate the book in all records of it, instead of the larger entry of its author and title.
There are two classification systems worthy of consideration, the Dewey, or decimal, and the Cutter, or expansive. They are outlined in the following chapters. Don't try to devise a system of your own.
Having decided on your system of classification, begin to classify. This is one of the many things which can only be learned by doing. Give fiction no class number, but an author number or "book-mark" only, as explained in a later chapter. Give all biography a single letter as its class number, and follow this by the author number.
Distinguish all juvenile books, whether fiction or other, by writing before their numbers some distinguishing symbol.
Take up first, in classification proper, the subjects of history and travel, which will be found comparatively easy.
It is easier to classify 25 or 50 books at a time in any given class than it is to classify them singly as you come to them in the midst of books of other classes. Consequently, group your books roughly into classes before you begin work on them.
As soon as a book is classified enter it at once in your shelf-list—explained in a later chapter—and see that an author-card for it is put in the author catalog—explained later—with its proper number thereon.
If, after you have made up your mind, from an examination of the title-page, or table of contents, or a few pages here and there, what subject a book treats of in the main, you are still in doubt in what class to place it, consider what kind of readers will be likely to ask for it, and in what class they will be likely to look for it, and put it into that class. In doubtful cases the catalogs of other libraries are often good guides.
Keep your classification as consistent as possible. Before putting a book, about which there is any opportunity for choice, in the class you have selected for it, examine your shelf-list and see that the books already there are of like nature with it.
Classify as well as you can, and don't worry if you find you have made errors. There are always errors. Don't get into the habit of changing. Be consistent in classifying, and stick by what you have done.
CHAPTER XXI
The Dewey or Decimal system of classification
[From the Introduction to the Decimal classification and Relative index. Published by the Library Bureau, $5.]
The field of knowledge is divided into nine main classes, and these are numbered by the digits 1 to 9. Cyclopedias, periodicals, etc., so general in character as to belong to no one of these classes, are marked nought, and form a tenth class. Each class is similarly separated into nine divisions, general works belonging to no division having nought in place of the division number. Divisions are similarly divided into nine sections, and the process is repeated as often as necessary. Thus 512 means Class 5 (Natural science), Division 1 (Mathematics), Section 2 (Algebra), and every algebra is numbered 512.
The books on the shelves and the cards in the subject catalog are arranged in simple numerical order, all class numbers being decimals. Since each subject has a definite number, it follows that all books on any subject must stand together. The tables show the order in which subjects follow one another. Thus 512 Algebra precedes 513 Geometry, and follows 511 Arithmetic.
In the book after the tables of the classes arranged in their numerical order is an index, in which all the heads of the tables are arranged in one simple alphabet, with the class number of each referring to its exact place in the preceding tables. This index includes also, as far as they have been found, all the synonyms or alternative names for the heads, and many other entries that seem likely to help a reader find readily the subject sought. Though the user knows just where to turn to his subject in the tables, by first consulting the index he may be sent to other allied subjects, where he will find valuable matter which he would otherwise overlook.
The claims of the system may be summed up as follows: compared with other systems it is less expensive; more easily understood, remembered, and used; practical rather than theoretical; brief and familiar in its nomenclature; best for arranging pamphlets, sale duplicates, and notes, and for indexing; susceptible of partial and gradual adoption without confusion; more convenient in keeping statistics and checks for books off the shelves; the most satisfactory adaptation of the card catalog principle to the shelves. It requires less space to shelve the books; uses simpler symbols and fewer of them; can be expanded, without limit and without confusion or waste of labor, in both catalogs and on shelves, or in catalogs alone; checks more thoroughly and conveniently against mistakes; admits more readily numerous cross references; is unchangeable in its call-numbers, and so gives them in all places where needed, as given in no other system; in its index affords an answer to the greatest objection to class catalogs, and is the first satisfactory union of the advantages of the class and dictionary systems.
The Decimal system is used by a large number of libraries in this country, and has gained recognition and has been put to use by some librarians and men of science in Europe.
Divisions
000 General Works 010 Bibliography. 020 Library Economy. 030 General Cyclopedias. 040 General Collections. 050 General Periodicals. 060 General Societies. 070 Newspapers. 080 Special Libraries. Polygraphy. 090 Book Rarities.
100 Philosophy 100 Metaphysics. 120 Special Metaphysical Topics. 130 Mind and Body. 140 Philosophical Systems. 150 Mental Faculties. Psychology. 160 Logic. 170 Ethics. 180 Ancient Philosophers. 190 Modern Philosophers.
200 Religion 210 Natural Theology. 220 Bible. 230 Doctrinal Theol. Dogmatics. 240 Devotional and Practical. 250 Homiletic. Pastoral. Parochial. 260 Church. Institutions. Work. 270 Religious History. 280 Christian Churches and Sects. 290 Non-Christian Religions.
300 Sociology 310 Statistics. 320 Political Science. 330 Political Economy. 340 Law. 350 Administration. 360 Associations and Institutions. 370 Education. 380 Commerce and Communication 390 Customs. Costumes. Folk-lore.
400 Philology 410 Comparative. 420 English. 430 German. 440 French. 450 Italian. 460 Spanish. 470 Latin. 480 Greek. 490 Minor Languages.
500 Natural Science 510 Mathematics. 520 Astronomy. 530 Physics. 540 Chemistry. 550 Geology. 560 Paleontology. 570 Biology. 580 Botany. 590 Zoology.
600 Useful Arts 610 Medicine. 620 Engineering. 630 Agriculture. 640 Domestic Economy. 650 Communication and Commerce 660 Chemical Technology. 670 Manufactures. 680 Mechanic Trades. 690 Building.
700 Fine Arts 710 Landscape Gardening. 720 Architecture. 730 Sculpture. 740 Drawing, Design, Decoration. 750 Painting. 760 Engraving. 770 Photography. 780 Music. 790 Amusements.
800 Literature 810 American. 820 English. 830 German. 840 French. 850 Italian. 860 Spanish. 870 Latin. 880 Greek. 890 Minor Languages.
900 History 910 Geography and Description. 920 Biography. 930 Ancient History. 940 Europe. } 950 Asia. } 960 Africa. } Modern 970 North America. } 980 South America. } 990 Oceanica and Polar Regions.
CHAPTER XXII
The Expansive classification: C.A. Cutter's
The classification
Those who have used it call it common-sense and up-to-date. They say that it is clear and easy to apply, and that it gives a suitable place for many classes of books for which other systems make no provision, or provide badly. It has been maturing for 20 years. Before it was printed it was applied (with a different notation) to the arrangement of a library of over 150,000 v. The experience thus gained has been supplemented as each part was prepared for the press by searching catalogs, bibliographies, and treatises on the subject classified. This ensured fullness. Overclassification, on the other hand, has been guarded against in four ways: 1) By not introducing at all distinctions that are purely theoretical or very difficult to apply; 2) by printing in small type those divisions which are worth making only when a large number of books calls for much subdivision; 3) by warning classifiers in the notes that certain divisions are needed only in large libraries; 4) by printing separately seven classifications of progressive fullness, the first having only 11 classes, which would be enough for a very small library; the second having 15 classes and 16 geographical divisions, suiting the small library when it has grown a little larger; the third having 30 classes and 29 geographical divisions; and so on, till the seventh would suffice for the very largest library. The same notation is used throughout, so that a library can adopt the fuller classification with the least possible change of mark.
It often suggests alternative places for a subject, stating the reasons for and against each, so that classifiers have a liberty of choice according to the character of their libraries, or of their clientage, or their own preferences.
The notation
The original feature of this notation is the use of letters to mark non-local subjects and figures for places. This makes it possible to express the local relations of a subject in a perfectly unmistakable way, the letters never being used to signify countries, and the figures never being used for any other subjects but countries. Thus 45 is England wherever it occurs; e.g. F being history and G geography, F45 is the history of England, G45 the geography of England. This local notation can be used not merely with the main classes, but in every subdivision, no matter how minute, which is worth dividing by countries. Whenever one wishes to separate what relates to England from other works on any subject one has only to add the two figures 45. Whenever one sees 45 in the mark of a book one knows that the book so marked treats its subject with special reference to England. This "local list" by the figures from 11 to 99 gives marks to the 88 most important countries. The addition of a third and sometimes of a fourth figure gives marks for all the independent countries in the world. Parts of and places in countries are arranged alphabetically under each, and are marked either by the usual Cutter order-table, which has initial letters followed by figures, or by a special Cutter order-table composed of figures alone.
Non-local subjects are marked with letters, first, to distinguish them from local subjects; and, second, because of the greater capacity. There are 26 main classes, A to Z. By adding a second letter these are divided into 676 parts, and these, by adding a third letter, into 17,576 parts, making 18,278 in all, so that as one uses successively three, four, or five characters, one gets respectively 18 times, 46 times, and 118 times the capacity of a decimal notation. The result is, short marks, numerous subdivisions, much greater elasticity, much greater power to properly express the relations of subjects to one another, and their relations to subordinate subjects, and much more opportunity of making the different portions of the classification correspond to each other.
The first part of the classification, as published, contains the first six classifications and a combined index to them all. The seventh, the fullest classification, will have 10 sections. Five of them are published, each with its own index. Of two (Social sciences and Language and literature) about half is published. When these and the other three (Natural sciences, Industrial arts, Recreative and fine arts) are printed, a full index to the whole will be made.
Expansive classification. Outline
A Generalia. A General works. Ae General encyclopedias. Ap General periodicals. Ar Reference works. As General societies.
B-D Spiritual sciences. B Philosophy. Ba-Bf National Philosophies and Systems of philosophy. Bg Metaphysics. Bh Logic. Bi Psychology. Bm Moral Philosophy. Br Religion, Natural theology. Bt Religions Bu Folk-lore. Ca Judaism. Cb Bible. Cc Christianity. Cce Patristics. Ce Apologetics, Evidences. Cf Doctrinal theology. Ck Ethical theology. Cp Ritual theology and church Polity. Cx Pastoral theology. Cz Sermons. D Ecclesiastical history. Dk Particular churches and sects.
E-G Historical sciences. E Biography and Portraits. F-Fz History. F Universal history. F02 Ancient history. F03 Modern history. F04 Medieval history. F11-F99 History of single countries (using local list). Fa-Fw Allied studies, as Chronology, Philosophy of history, History of Civilization, Antiquities, Numismatics, Chivalry, Heraldry.
G Geography, Travels. G11-G99 Single countries (using local list). Ga Ancient geography. Gf Surveying and Map-making. Gz Maps.
H Social sciences. Hb Statistics. Hc Economics. He Production. Hf Labor. Hi Slavery. Hj Transportation. Hk Commerce. Hm Money. Hn Banking. Hr Private finance. Ht Taxation and Public finance. Hu Tariff. Hw Property, Capital. Hz Consumption.
I Demotics, Sociology. Ic Crime. Ig Charity. Ih Providence. Ik Education.
J Civics, Government, Political science. Ju Constitutions and Politics.
K Law and Legislation. Kd Public documents.
L-Q Natural sciences. L General works, Metrics. L Number and space. Lb Mathematics. Lh-Lr Matter and force. Lh Physics. Lo Chemistry. Lr Astronomy. M-Q Matter and life M Natural history. Mg Geology, incl. Mineralogy, Crystallography, Physical geography, Meteorology, Paleontology. My Biology. N Botany. Cryptogams. Phanerogams. O Zoology. Invertebrates. P Vertebrates. Pg Mammals. Pw Anthropology, Ethnology, Ethnography. Q Medicine.
Q-Z Arts. R General works, Exhibitions, Patents. Rd-Rg Extractive arts. Rd Mining. Re Metallurgy. Rf Agriculture. Rh Horticulture. Ri Silviculture. Rj Animaliculture. Rq Chemic arts. Rt Electric arts. Ry Domestic arts. Rz Food and Cookery. S Constructive arts, Engineering. Sg Building. Sj Sanitary engineering. Sl Hydraulic engineering. St Transportation and Communication.
T Fabricative arts, Machinery, Manufactures, and Handicrafts.
U Protective arts, i.e., Military and Naval arts, Life-preserving, Fire fighting.
V Athletic and Recreative arts, Sports and Games. Vs Gymnastics. Vt Theater. Vv Music.
W Fine arts, plastic and graphic. We Landscape gardening. Wf Architecture. Wj Sculpture. Wk Casting, Baking, Firing. Wm Drawing. Wp Painting. Wq Engraving. Wr Photography. Ws Decorative arts, including Costume.
X-Yf Communicative arts (by language). X Philology. X Inscriptions. X Language. Y Literature. Yf English Fiction.
Z Book arts (making and use of books). Za-Zk Production. Za Authorship. Zb Rhetoric. Zd Writing. Zh Printing. Zk Binding. Zl Distribution (Publishing and Bookselling). Zp Storage and Use (Libraries). Zt Description (Zt Bibliography; Zx Selection of reading; Zy Literary history; Zz National bibliography.)
CHAPTER XXIII
Author-numbers, or book-marks
The books in a given group or class should stand on the shelves in the alphabetical order of their authors' names, though this is not necessary in a small library. This result is best secured by adding to the class-mark of every book another mark, called an author-number or book-number or book-mark, made up of the first letter of the author's name and certain figures. Books bearing these author-numbers, if arranged first alphabetically by the letters, and then in the numerical order of the numbers following the letters, will always stand in the alphabetical order of the authors' names. Different books by the same author are distinguished from one another by adding other figures to the author-number, or by adding to the author-numbers the first letter of the title of each book.
These book-marks cannot be chosen arbitrarily. They should be taken from the printed set of them worked out by Mr Cutter, and called the Cutter author-tables. (See Library Bureau catalog.)
In a very small library the books in a given class can be distinguished one from another by writing after the class-number of each book the number of that book in its class. If the class-mark of religion, for example, is 20, the books successively placed in that class will bear the numbers 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, etc.
Fiction should have author-numbers only. The absence of a class-number will sufficiently distinguish it from other classes.
CHAPTER XXIV
The shelf-list
Many books can be very properly put in any one of several different classes. In which one a given book should be placed will often be decided by noting where other like books have been placed. Books by authors of the same name will often fall into the same class, and to each of these a different author-number must be given. You must have at hand, then, a list of the books already classified, to see at once, in classifying the next book, what kinds of books and books by what authors are in each class. Every book in the library, as soon as it has been classified, and has received its proper author-number, should be entered in a list in the order first of its class-number, next of its author-number. This list is called the shelf-list. It is commonly kept on sheets, but many librarians believe it best kept on cards; a card for each different book. It is a catalog of all the books in the library arranged in the order in which they stand on the shelves. It is a subject-index of the library. It is indispensable in the work of properly placing, class-numbering, and author-numbering new books. It is a list from which it is very easy to check over the library and learn what books are missing or out of place. It includes usually only the class- and author-number, author's name, brief title, and accession number. This last enables one to refer at once from the brief entry of a certain book in the shelf-list to the full information in the accession book. There are advantages in adding to the shelf-list record the publisher and price. As soon as a book has received its class- and author-numbers, which together are sometimes called the "call-number," as being the mark to be used by the public in calling for a book, these numbers, or combinations of numbers and letters, should be written in the accession book in a column left for the purpose, on the line given up to the description of the book in hand. This enables one to refer at once from the accession entry of a given book to the shelf-list entry of the same book.
CHAPTER XXV
Cataloging books
After the books are accessioned, classified, author-numbered or book-marked, and shelf-listed, they should be cataloged. A catalog is a labor-saving device in library work. From it both reader and attendant can ascertain whether the library has a certain book. By consulting the catalog for the class-number, the book may be looked for in its proper place, thus often saving hunting through the shelves in several classes.
A printed list or catalog of the library is one of the first things that will be asked for by the public. It is useful especially for those who cannot well visit the library. But it is very expensive; it is out of date as soon as issued; it cannot often be sold; it requires training and experience to make it properly, and the money it will cost can be better spent otherwise. Do not issue one. Print lists of additions in newspapers. Post them in the library. Issue an occasional bulletin of the latest purchases if you think it will be popular. Put your time, skill, energy, and money into the making of a full card catalog; keep this up to date; give the public access to it; teach them how to use it, and you will find the printed catalog not needed.
On cards prepared for the purpose [see chapter on Things needed (9) and Library Bureau catalog], a card for each book—and a book is a book although in several volumes—write the author's surname (if the book is anonymous write first the title), given name or names, if known, title, date of copyright, date of publication, call-number, and such other data as seem desirable. The price, for example, may be put here, and the size, indicating this by a letter. [See Cole size card in chapter on Things needed (9) and in Library Bureau catalog.] Arrange these cards alphabetically, by authors' names for an author catalog. This catalog will be in constant use in the purchasing of books, in classifying new purchases, etc. By the call-number one can refer from any entry in it to the entry of the same book in the shelf-list. To make possible a like reference to the accession book, write the accession number of each book near the bottom of the card on which it is entered. In making the catalog entries observe certain fixed rules of alphabetization, capitalization, punctuation, arrangement, etc., as set forth in the catalog rules which may be adopted. Only by so doing can you secure uniformity of entry, neatness in work, and the greatest possible meaning from every note, however much abbreviated.
]
Preserve this catalog with great care. It is the key to the records in shelf-list and accession book. In a small library the public may very properly use it. As soon as possible, if your library is to be quite large and much used, prepare for public use a duplicate of it, omitting all those entries in the original which are of use only to the librarian.
The average reader more often remembers the titles of books than their authors. Add, therefore, to the author-list, in your public catalog—not in your private or official catalog, for which author-entries alone are sufficient—a title-list; a set of cards like the author cards, except that on each one the book's title is entered first instead of its author. Arrange author and title-lists in one alphabetical series.
As the use of the library for reference work increases, the question will often be asked, has it any books on a certain subject? Add, therefore, to your author- and title-list a subject-list. Make this by writing a card for each book with the subject of which it treats the first word upon it. Arrange this also in the same alphabetical series with the other two. In some cases the book's title and its subject will be identical; for example, Geology, by Tompkins, or Washington's boyhood, by Jones. For such books one card answers for title and subject. For fiction no subject-card is necessary. On the other hand, many books have to do with more than one subject; a volume of essays, for example, or a group of biographical sketches. For such it is desirable to add to the subject-list by writing as many cards for each book as the importance of the several subjects therein and the space the author gives to them seem to demand. Each card will have for the first word of its entry the subject to which it refers, followed by the author and title of the book.
Arrange these cards also alphabetically with all the others. Put on every card in the catalog the call-number of the book to which it refers. This author-title-subject-list, or dictionary catalog, will tell at a glance if the library has books a) by a certain author; b) with a given title; c) on a given subject. These are the questions most often asked.
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There are in print several books giving rules for cataloging. Some of these are mentioned in the chapter on Things needed (9). In a small library which is always to be small it is not necessary to follow all the rules laid down in these books. It is much better, however, to do all the work, even in a very small library, according to the most approved methods. So to do brings you in touch with your fellows and gives you the comfort which comes from the consciousness of work well done, even if the amount of the work be small.
In writing the subject-headings difficulties will soon arise unless you follow certain general rules and are careful also to be consistent in your work. For instance, at intervals during a few months you add to the library books on horses, cows, sheep, goats, camels, and pigs; some dealing with one animal, some with two or more. If for the first one you write a subject-card with the catch-word or entry-word at the top "Domestic animals," and for the next one "Farm animals," and for the next one "Animals, domestic," you will scatter the references to domesticated animals all through your catalog, to the despair of those who would use it. You can guard against this, and easily, if your catalog is small, by looking to see what you have already written every time you write a new subject-entry-word, and by following out a previously devised plan in the making of your entries. The safest way is to get a printed list of headings and catalog rules and follow them. (See chapter on Things needed, 9.)
With a printed list of subject-headings at hand it is not difficult to keep your catalog consistent and reasonable.
This same list of subject-headings will serve also as a guide in the writing of the cross-reference cards for your catalog, the cards, that is, which refer the searcher from the topic "pigs," for example, to "swine," or from both to "domestic animals."
Of course the subject-headings' list must be systematically used, and must be marked and annotated to fit your special needs. This work, like classifying, can best be learned by doing.
There are many ways of keeping your catalog cards. The thing to use is a set of trays made for the purpose. (See Library Bureau catalog.) The cards are extremely valuable, and expense should not be spared in providing for their safe keeping and handy use.
CHAPTER XXVI
Preparing books for the shelves
All books should be marked with the name of the library. This is cheaply done with a rubber stamp and violet or red ink pad. An embossing stamp makes a good and indelible mark. The type used should be of moderate size and open faced. A perforating stamp now on the market marks a book neatly and most permanently. Mark books freely, to assure their being recognized as the library's property wherever seen. Have some definite pages on which stamps always appear. Many use the title-page, fifty-first or one hundred and first, and the last page. This need not interfere with marking elsewhere.
On the back of the book write the call-number. For this purpose use a tag or label. They can be had in several sizes; round ones are best. Paste the label where it will mar the book least, as near the middle as possible. It is well to put all labels at the same height from the bottom of the back, so far as this can be done without covering essential parts of the lettering. Four inches is a good height for the lower edge of all labels. Labels stick better if the place where they are to be pasted is moistened with a solution of ammonia and water, to remove varnish or grease. If this is done the mucilage or gum on the labels when purchased will be found usually to stick well. After the call-number is written, varnish the label with a thin solution of shellac in alcohol. Labels put on in this way will keep clean, remain legible, and rarely come off.
If a charging system using a pocket is adopted, no book-plate is needed, if the pocket, that is, is pasted on the inside of the front cover and has the name of the library on it.
When books are classified the call-number is written with hard pencil on a certain page, the same page in all books; a common place is the first right hand page after the title-page, and near the inner margin.
This call-number should be written with ink on the pocket and book slip, which is kept in the pocket, or on the book-plate. It is advisable also to write the call-number in ink on some definite page bearing the library's stamp.
If a book-plate is adopted let it be small and simple. Have a special plate for gifts, with space on it for writing the name of the giver.
Books wear better if they are carefully opened in a number of places before they are placed on the shelves. This makes the backs flexible and less likely to break with rough handling. In cutting the leaves be sure that the paper knife does its work to the very back edge of the top folds, that it is never sharp enough to cut down into the leaves, and that it is held nearly parallel to the fold to be cut.
The following is a list of things to be done before books are ready for use in a public library:
1 Book notices and reviews are read and the library's needs and funds considered.
2 Order slips are made out, arranged alphabetically, and compared with the catalog to see if the books listed on them are already in the library.
3 Order list is made out, approved, and sent to dealer.
4 Books arrive and are checked by the bill, and brief notes of date of purchase, initials of dealer, and price are written on the left margin of the second page after the title-page.
5 Bill is checked for items and prices by order slips.
6 Gifts when received are a) properly acknowledged; b) entered in gift book; c) marked with small gift-book plates pasted inside the front cover.
7 Books are looked over (if you wish), collated, especially the expensive ones, to see if complete and sound.
8 Books are entered in the accession book.
9 Books are stamped with library stamp.
10 Books are opened to loosen binding, and pages cut, if necessary.
11 The book-plates are pasted inside the front cover—if book-plates are used.
12 Pockets are pasted on the inside of front cover or wherever the system adopted places them.
13 Labels are put on the backs.
14 Books are classified, author-numbered and call-numbered.
15 Books are entered on shelf-list.
16 Catalog cards are written—author, title, and subject.
17 Bulletin lists of the books are made out for posting up and for newspapers.
18 Call-numbers are written on the labels, the pockets, and the book slips.
19 Labels are varnished.
20 The call-number of each book is entered in the proper place on the line which that book occupies in the accession book.
21 Books are placed on the library shelves for public use.
22 Catalog cards, author, title, and subject, are arranged alphabetically in one series and distributed in catalog.
CHAPTER XXVII
Binding and mending
Binding a book means not only covering it, but preserving it. Good binding, even at a high price, educates the public taste and promotes a desire to protect the library from injury and loss. Cheap binding degrades books and costs more in the end than good work.
Keep in a bindery-book, which may be any simple blank book, or one especially made for the purpose (see Library Bureau catalog), a record of each volume that the library binds or rebinds.
Enter in the bindery-book consecutive bindery number, book-number, author, title, binding to be used, date sent to bindery, date returned from bindery, and cost of binding.
Books subject to much wear should be sewn on tapes, not on strings; should have cloth joints, tight backs, and a tough, flexible leather, or a good, smooth cloth of cotton or linen such as is now much used by good binders. Most of the expensive leather, and all cheap leather, rots in a short time; good cloth does not. Very few libraries can afford luxurious binding. Good material, strong sewing, and a moderate degree of skill and taste in finishing are all they can pay for. Learn to tell a substantial piece of work when you see it, and insist that you get such from your binder. The beginners' first business is to inform himself carefully as to character, value, cost and strength of all common binding materials.
From binders, or from dealers in binding material, you can get samples of cloth, leather, tapes, string, thread, etc., which will help you to learn what to ask for from your local binder.
The following notes are from a lecture by John H.H. McNamee before the Massachussets library club in 1896, on the Essentials of good binding:
"Had I the ordering of bindings for any public or circulating library where books are given out to all classes of people, and subjected to the handling which such books must receive, I should, from my experience as a binder, recommend the following rules:
For the smaller volumes of juveniles, novels, and perishable books (by which I mean books which are popular for a short time, and then may lie on the shelves almost as so much lumber), have each book pulled to pieces and sewed with Hayes' linen thread on narrow linen tapes, with edges carefully trimmed.
Have the books rounded and backed, but not laced in. Have the boards placed away from the backs about one-fourth of an inch, in order to give plenty of room for them to swing easily and avoid their pulling off the first and last signatures of the book when opened. Give the back and joint a lining of super or cheese cloth. Have them covered with American duck or canvas pasted directly to the leaves, pressed well and given plenty of time to dry under pressure, and so avoid as much as possible all warping of boards and shrinkage of the cloth. For all large folios, newspapers and kindred works, use heavy canvas, as it is somewhat cheaper than sheep, and as easily worked. Have them sewed strongly on the requisite number of bands, every band laced into the boards, which should be made by pasting two heavy binder's boards together, to prevent warping and give solidity to the volume.
The reason I say lace in large volumes is that the heavy books will sag and pull out of covers by their great weight unless tightly fastened to a solid board, thus giving the book a good foundation to stand on.
For all periodicals not bound in leather I should prescribe the same treatment. These volumes can be lettered in ink on the canvas, or in gold on a colored leather label pasted on the cloth. But for all books which are destined to be bound in leather I should surely, and without any hesitation whatever, order morocco, and by this I mean goat skin, and I should go still further and demand a good German or French goat; boards hard and laced in at every band, super joints, full, open backs, lettering clear and distinct, and the paper on the sides to match the leather.
I would also recommend that a schedule be used, giving a space for schedule number; then the name of book or books, or lettering to be used on each volume; space for the number of volumes, space for description of binding, and finally for price, thus giving the binder a complete order on a large sheet, which he is in no danger of losing. All he will have to do is to mark on the title of each volume, in small figures, its schedule number, and, when the books are done, put down the prices and add up the column of figures, and make out his statement as per the number of schedule.
This method gives the librarian a complete list of volumes sent and returned, and by laying away these schedules she has for handy reference a very complete list of prices. It saves the binder from writing out the name of each volume on his bill, and as the librarian must keep a list of books sent, why not keep them this way as well as any other? I have mislaid or lost hundreds of lettering slips, which are the bane of a bookbinder's existence. Lay down some rules for the cutting of books, placing of plates, binding of covers, and advertisements, style of lettering, etc., and have your binder follow them.
Don't ever cut with a folder before sending to binder, as it makes the sewing more difficult.
Don't pull to pieces or take out titles and indexes. The binder always takes care of that.
Don't take off ads, as it sometimes leaves unsightly tears or takes away pages, and if all leaves are paged the binder is at a loss to know if the book is complete.
Don't ever use mucilage or glue. Your bookbinder will send you a little paste, or you can make it by boiling flour and water and sprinkling in a little salt. If you wish to keep it for a long time, mix a few drops of oil of cloves with it and seal up.
Of course there are cases where some of these rules don't apply, such as volumes made up from leaves taken from several other volumes or pamphlets.
In case of a book of this kind place every leaf in correct order, and write directions very carefully."
Many books will need repair. A few hours spent in the bindery, studying the methods of putting a book together, will be helpful, not only in the matter of securing good binding, but in the repairing of books that have gone to pieces. Mend and rebind your books the minute they seem to need it. Delay is the extravagant thing in this case. If you are slow in this matter, leaves and sections will be lost, and the wear the broken-backed volume is getting will soon remove a part of the fold at the back of the several sections, and make the whole book a hopeless wreck forever.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Pamphlets
Save all pamphlets having to do with local history, and save also those of a general nature which promise ever to be of any importance. In a small library, however, or in any library in which money for salaries is limited, and the work to be done in the regular matter of attending to the public, lending books, etc., is great, do not waste time in trying to arrange or catalog pamphlets. Simply let them accumulate, arranging them roughly in classes. Bind at once only those that seem absolutely to demand it. In the history of almost any library the time will come when it will be possible to sort out pamphlets, arrange them properly, catalog such as are worth it, bind them singly or in groups, and incorporate them into the library. But any system of arranging and sorting pamphlets which does anything more than very roughly to arrange and store them, and attempts to make them, without much labor, accessible to the general public, is almost sure to be a failure. This is not true of pamphlets to which the public has not access. But pamphlets not fully cataloged and not accessible to the public are, no matter how scientifically arranged, almost useless plunder. To keep them clean and in order nothing is as good as a pamphlet case, which any boxmaker can make, of cardboard about 9 inches high, 7 inches deep, and 2 inches thick, open at the back. They will cost from 4 to 12 cents each, according to quality of board used and quantity ordered. For holding a few pamphlets together temporarily Ballard's "klips" are best. Sold by H.H. Ballard, Pittsfield, Mass.
CHAPTER XXIX
Public documents
Adelaide R. Hasse, of the New York Public library
How issued
Government documents are issued in two sets or editions, viz.: the Congressional or sheep, and the Departmental or cloth. The annual reports of the heads of departments, with many of the serial and occasional publications of the various departments, are contained in the sheep set, and in addition, all the reports of committees, and records of the transactions of congress, except the debates which are contained in the Congressional record. The cloth set contains all the publications of the various departments, irrespective of the fact that some of them may have appeared in the sheep set.
To whom issued
The depository libraries receive the sheep set by law from the superintendent of documents. Each department has its own list of "exchanges" (i.e., designations) which receive gratis the publications of that department intended for general distribution. Non-depository libraries receive their documents regularly from the departments when on the department exchange list, or irregularly from their representatives in congress. "Remainder libraries" receive from the superintendent of documents such documents as can be supplied from the fractional quotas sent to him after the editions ordered for the use of congress have been equally divided among the senators and representatives.
"Special libraries" are those libraries specially designated by members of congress to receive the publications of the geological survey.
Many thousands of books have been sent on special application to libraries not on the list. The depository, remainder, and special libraries together now number over 1300.
All the departments still control the distribution of their own publications, the superintendent of documents only distributing the sheep set, and such of the department publications as have been turned over to him by the departments for this purpose, or of which there have been remainders. Sometimes the number of copies of its own publications allotted to the department is very small and soon exhausted.
Librarians and others who want full information about the distribution, present methods of issue, etc., of public documents, should send for the First annual report of the superintendent of documents. In addition there have been issued from his office, since its establishment in March, 1895, a check list of public documents, and since January, 1895, a monthly catalog of current publications. Both are mailed free upon application.
Care in a library
The question of the most economical, and at the same time satisfactory manner of caring for documents in a library, cannot be considered in the space of so brief an article as this necessarily must be. After all, it is a question that must be settled by each library for itself, since it rests chiefly upon the extent to which the library can afford duplication.
Depository libraries have better opportunities than others for filling up the sheep set, and having this set they have the greater portion of those documents useful to the average library. A complete sheep set from the 15th Congress to the close of the 53d Congress numbers slightly over 3343V., and will require 860 feet of shelving, or six modern iron book stacks.
Though it is done in a few cases, the subject classification of the sheep set is not to be recommended. Where subject classification, or the incorporation of the documents in the general library, is desired, the cloth set is preferable, and is in most cases procurable. If a library can afford shelf room for both, it will be found more satisfactory to keep the sheep set intact, and to make a selection of such reports from the cloth set as will be locally useful to the library.
No small library should undertake to acquire any documents but those for which it has an actual use; only the largest libraries can afford the task of filling up sets of documents simply for the sake of having a complete record.
Small libraries, and all libraries in need of any special report or document, can get it, in most cases, by applying to the superintendent of documents. Return all your duplicates to the superintendent of documents; arrangements for their transportation will be made by him upon notification, and anything he has that is needed will be sent in exchange.
Do not try to collect a complete set of government documents; the government of the United States has not yet been able to do that.
CHAPTER XXX
Checking the library
Check the library over occasionally. It need not be done every year. It is an expensive thing to do, in time, and is not of great value when done; but now and then it must be gone through with. It is not necessary to close the library for this purpose. Take one department at a time and check it by the shelf-list. Make a careful list of all books missing. Check this list by the charging slips at the counter. For those still missing make a general but hasty search through the library. Go over each part of the library in this way. Then compile all lists of missing books into one list, arranged in the order of their call-numbers. Once or twice a week for several months go over the library with this list, looking for missing books. Even with access to the shelves, and with great freedom in matters of circulation, not many books will be found missing, under ordinary circumstances, at the end of a six months' search. Such books as are still missing at the end of any given period, together with those that have been discarded as worn out, and those that have been lost by borrowers, should be properly marked on the shelf-list, and should have an entry in the accession book, stating what has become of them. If they are not replaced, it will be advisable to withdraw the cards representing them from the card catalog, or to write on the cards the fact of withdrawal and the cause.
Keep a record of all books withdrawn from the library for whatever reason.
CHAPTER XXXI
Lists, bulletins, printed catalog
Give the public access to the card catalog if possible. If a dictionary catalog is made it will prove to be most helpful to the serious students. For the average reader, the person who wishes to get a recent book, the latest novel, etc., prepare lists of additions from month to month, post them up in some convenient place in the library, and put them in a binder to be left on desk or table in the delivery room.
Print lists of additions, if possible, in the local papers; also publish reference lists having to do with current events and matters of popular interest. Oftentimes the newspapers will furnish, for a small sum, extra copies of the lists which they have printed. If the means warrant the expenditure, a periodical bulletin, appearing once a month, or even oftener, containing information about the library, notes on recent additions, suggestions as to the use of books, lists on special subjects, and lists of books lately added may prove useful. Such a bulletin can often be maintained without cost to the library by having it published by some one who will pay its expenses by means of advertisements. The very best way of bringing new books to the attention of readers is to print a list of additions, with call-numbers, as condensed as possible, and with no other matter, for free distribution in the library.
In printing lists of books, make the classes covered special, not general. Give lists suitable for as many different needs and occasions as possible. There can't be too many of them. For instance, a teacher would find thoroughly helpful and practicable such classified lists of books as, for beginners in third and fourth grades, for the intermediate pupils, for boys, for girls, numerous references to the current events of the day; historical readings divided into periods and adapted to different grades; historical fiction under several forms of classification; biographies and biographical sketches suited to different ages; geographical aids, including travel, description, life, scenes, and customs in different countries; natural history and elementary science; the resources of the library available for the purpose of illustrating topics in history, art, and science; material for theme studies; special lists for anniversary days now so generally observed in schools, and so on.
Lists in which the titles of the books come first are better liked by the general public than are author-lists. People commonly know books by name, not by author.
Don't make the mistake of spending much money, at the library's beginning, for a printed catalog. A printed catalog, as stated in chapter 25, is not a necessity. It is useful, particularly for home use, to tell whether the library owns certain books; but with a good card catalog, newspaper lists, special lists, and the like, it is not a necessity. Few large libraries now publish complete catalogs.
CHAPTER XXXII
Charging system
On the inside of the front cover of every book in the library paste a manilla pocket. (See Library Bureau catalog.) Or paste, by the bottom and the upper corners, thus making a pocket of it, a sheet of plain, stout paper at the bottom of the first page of the first flyleaf. On this pocket, at the top, write the call-number of the book. Below this print information for borrowers, if this seems necessary. In this pocket place a book-card of heavy ledger paper or light cardboard. On this book-card, at the top, write the call-number of the book in the pocket of which it is placed.
[Illustration: Card-pocket. (Reduced; actual size, 7 x 13-1/2 cm.)
CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY
* * * * *
EXTRACT FROM CITY ORDINANCE.
SEC. 1.—Any person who shall willfully or maliciously cut, write upon, injure, deface, tear, or destroy any Book, Newspaper, Plate, Picture, Engraving, or Statue belonging to the Chicago Public Library, shall be liable to a fine of not less than five dollars, nor more than fifty dollars for every such offense.
* * * * *
EXTRACT FROM RULES.
27.—Books may be retained two weeks, and may be once renewed for the same period.
30.—A fine of three cents a day shall be paid on each work, whether bound in one or more volumes, which is not returned according to the provisions of the preceding rules; and no other book will be delivered to the party incurring the fine until it is paid. * * *
* * * * *
RECEIVED.
* * * * *
Acme Library Card Pocket. Under Pat. Sept. 26, '76, "Ref. Index File." Made by LIBRARY BUREAU, 125 Franklin St., Chicago
* * * * *
Keep your Card In this Pocket.]
To every borrower the library issues a borrower's card. This card is made of heavy, colored tag-board, and contains the borrowers' name and address, and his number in the series of borrowers' numbers.
The librarian, before delivering a book to a borrower, takes from the pocket the book-card, writes on it the number found at the top of the borrower's card, and after it, with a dater, stamps the day of the month. At the same time he stamps the same date on the borrower's card, and on the pocket in the book or on a dating slip pasted in the book opposite the pocket.
The borrower's card he places in the book pocket, the book-card he retains as a record of the loan, and the borrower takes the book away. The book-card, with all others representing the books issued on the same day, he places in a tray behind a card bearing the date of the day of issue. All the book-cards representing books issued on a certain day are arranged in the order of their call-numbers.
Under this system the borrower can tell, by looking at his card, on what date the book he has was taken from the library. If he wishes to renew it without taking it back to the library, he can do so by a letter stating that he took on a certain day a book bearing a certain number, and wishes it renewed.
The librarian can tell, from the book-cards, what books are in circulation, and how many of each class were lent on a certain day.
The borrower's number, written on the book-card of any given book in circulation, will give, through the register of borrowers, the name and address of the person having that book. Overdue books are automatically indicated, their cards remaining in the tray, behind the card indicating the date they were lent, after the day for their return has passed.
When a borrower returns a book the librarian can learn, from the date on the pocket, whether or no a fine should be paid on it; if not, he can, if in haste, immediately take out the borrower's card from the book pocket, stamp the date of its return at the right of the date on which it was lent, thus canceling the charge against the borrower, and lay the book aside and look up its book-card later.
[Illustration: No. 3. Registration card, reverse. (Reduced; actual size, 7-1/2 x 12-1/2 cm.)
Feb. 14, 1899.
I hereby declare that I am a resident of the City of Springfield, and in consideration of the right to use the Free City Library, agree to comply with all Regulations provided for its government.
George Brown.
I hereby certify that the above subscriber is a fit person to enjoy the privileges of the City Library, and that I will be responsible for any loss or injury the Library may sustain from the permission given to draw books in consequence of this certificate.
Signature (in ink)
Residing at No. Street.]
Double and special borrowers' cards are not needed under this system. It accommodates itself readily to a "two-book" system. On the book-cards belonging to the second book, and all other books after the first, which any borrower may take, the librarian writes the borrower's number preceded by any letter or sign which will serve to indicate that these books are charged, not on the borrower's card, but to the borrower direct, on the strength of a general permission to him to take more than one book.
The postal notice no. 1, the registration cards 2 and 3, the notice that the book is overdue, no. 4, the fine slip, no. 5, all explain themselves.
In most places, certainly in all small towns, a sufficient safeguard against the loss of books is found in the signature of the borrower himself. No guarantee need be called for. To ask for a guarantor for a reputable resident is simply to discommode two people instead of one. The application which the borrower signs should be brief and plain. Name, residence, place of business, and any necessary references, should be written in by the librarian on one side; the signature to an agreement to obey the library rules can be written by the applicant on the other. All borrowers agreements should be filed in alphabetical order. They should receive borrowers' numbers in the order of their issue, and the date. The borrowers' cards should state that they expire in a definite number of years from the date of issue, and the date of issue should be stamped on them. An index of borrower's agreements should be kept by their numbers. This need contain only the borrower's number, his name, and, when necessary, his address. It is conveniently kept in a book. It is better to keep it on cards.
CHAPTER XXXIII
Meeting the public
If the public is not admitted to the shelves, it will be necessary to supply catalogs for public use as well as slips on which lists of books wanted can be made out; but the fullest possible catalogs and the finest appointments in the delivery room cannot take the place of direct contact between librarian or assistants and the public. Wherever possible, the person to whom the borrower applies for a book should go himself to the shelves for it.
The stranger in the library should be made welcome. Encourage the timid, volunteer to them directions and suggestions, and instruct them in the library's methods. Conversation at the counter having to do with wants of borrowers should be encouraged rather than discouraged. No mechanical devices can take the place of face to face question and answer.
The public like to handle and examine their books, and it is good for them to do it. They like the arrangements in the library to be simple; they object to red tape and rules. They like to have their institutions seem to assume—through, for example, the absence of signs—that they know how to conduct themselves courteously without being told. They don't like delays. They like to be encouraged to ask questions. They like to be consulted as to their wants, and as to changes in arrangements and methods. They like to feel at home in their library.
CHAPTER XXXIV
The public library for the public
The librarian of former times was almost invariably a bookworm, and was often a student properly so called. The older librarians of the present day, and the librarians of the great libraries of our cities, are also very commonly men of letters, men of learning, men who admire the student spirit and know how to appreciate it. The librarian of former days actually felt that the books of which he had charge were to be used, if they were used at all, chiefly, if not only, by persons who wished to make some careful and painstaking research; and the older librarians, and the librarians of the greater libraries of today, are also inclined to think that their libraries are best used, or at least are used as fully as they need be, when they are visited by those who are engaged in original investigation or serious study of some sort. As a fellow librarian once wrote me, for example, of one of his colleagues, "His whole trend is scholarly rather than popular; he appreciates genuine contributions to art, science, and industry, but has little taste for the great class of books that the main body of readers care for." This view of literature, libraries, and the use of books, and this special fondness for what may be called genuine contributions to art, science, and industry, are proper enough in their time and place; but it cannot be too often impressed upon the library world, and upon those who contribute to the support of libraries, and upon trustees and directors generally, that the thing that is of great consequence in the work of the free public library is not its product in the shape of books which are the results of careful research, or of books which are contributions to science, art, and industry; it is the work that the library does from day to day in stimulating the inquiring spirit, in adding to the interest in things, and in broadening the minds of the common people who form 90 per cent at least of the public library patrons. That is to say, the public library is chiefly concerned not in the products of education, as shown in the finished book, but in the process of education as shown in the developing and training of the library users, of the general public.
It is from this common-folks-education point of view that the advocate of the open-shelf system looks upon the question of library administration. A free public library is not a people's post-graduate school, it is the people's common school.
The more I see and learn of free public libraries the more I am convinced that a public library can reach a high degree of efficiency in its work only when its books are accessible to all its patrons. The free public library should not be managed for the use of the special student, save in special cases, any more than is the free public school. That it should be solely or chiefly or primarily the student's library, in any proper sense of the word, is as contrary to the spirit of the whole free public library movement as would be the making of the public schools an institution for the creation of Greek philologians. Everyone engaged in educational work, and especially those thus engaged who are most thoroughly equipped for the work in a literary way, and are most in touch with the literary and scholarly spirit, should have his attention called again and again to the needs of the crowd, the mass, the common people, the general run, the 90 per cent who either have never been within a schoolroom, or left it forever by the time they were thirteen years of age. And his attention should be again and again called to the fact that of the millions of children who are getting an education in this country today, not over 5 or 6 per cent at the outside, and perhaps even less than that, ever get as far, even, as the high-schools. The few, of course, rule and must keep the lamp burning, but the many must have sufficient education to know how to walk by it if democracy is to endure. And the school for the many is, and is to be, if the opinions of librarians are correct, the free public library; but it cannot be a school for the many unless the many walk into it, and go among its books, handle them, and so doing come to know them and to love them and to use them, and to get wisdom from them.
CHAPTER XXXV
Advice to a librarian
[From Public Libraries, June, 1897]
As a matter of fact the position of librarian is more of an executive business affair than a literary one. Let me give you fair warning—it is in no sense your business to dictate to others as to what they may or may not, should or should not, read, and if you attempt to assume such responsibility you will make unnumbered enemies, and take upon yourself a thankless and uncalled-for task.
Frankly, do you know what is good for me to read? Are you not very much in doubt what is best for yourself? Isn't there a doubt in the best and most candid minds upon this same subject? Let the board of directors assume the responsibilities, work carefully and cautiously for the things that are considered best by persons of some authority, the people with sound, healthy bodies and clean minds, and thoroughly distrust the literary crank. Don't be too sure of your own judgment; the other fellow may be right, especially as to what he wants and needs.
Hang on to your tastes and prejudices for yourself, but don't impose them upon others. Cultivate your own tastes carefully by reading but little, and that little of the best; avoid the latest sensation until you are quite sure it is more than a sensation; if you have to buy it to please the patrons, have some convenient (literary) dog of good appetite and digestive organs, and try it on him or her and watch the general effect. You will be astonished how much you will find out about a book, its morals and manners, by the things they don't say. Our mutual friend's father, Mr D——, used to utterly damn a book to me when he said it was Just fair, and his It's a likely story, put things in the front ranks. Just get the confidence of as many readers as you can, grapple some of the most divergent minds with hooks of steel; and in finding out how little you know that is of any real value to anyone else, you will begin to be of some little value to yourself. Don't try to direct. The fellow that wants your direction will cause you to ooze out the information he needs, and you will hardly know that you have told him anything.
I may be, and doubtless am, saying much that is quite unnecessary, but I have tried to bear in mind some of my own mistakes, and of others around me. I have been impressed with the fact that librarians seem to think that they must or ought to know everything, and get to think they do know. It is a delusion. One can't know it all, and only a hopeless case tries.
Be more than content to be ignorant on many things. Look at your position as a high-grade business one, look after the working details, have things go smoothly, know the whereabouts and classification of the books, and let people choose their own mental food, but see to it that all that is put before them is wholesome.
CHAPTER XXXVI
The librarian as a host
Maude R. Henderson, in Public Libraries, September, 1896
Each librarian needs to have an ideal for society; must have before him an end of which his work will be only a part.
It is the peculiar position of the librarian to be so situated that with the consent of his trustees he may, simply by virtue of his office, be able to draw about him more of the elements of usefulness than almost any other person. Even a librarian who is a stranger is not taking matters unduly into his own hands in immediately availing himself of this privilege, for he is placed in the community where he can bring together those who have something to give and those who wish to receive. His invitation is non-partisan, non-sectarian, and without social distinctions.
The object of this article upon the librarian as a host is to suggest methods of usefulness for the community through the forms of entertainment at the disposal of the librarian. A surprising number of people, not having attractive surroundings, and not having unbounded resources within themselves, lead dull lives. The theater is expensive, sometimes not available, often not attractive, and one of the attractions of a library evening will be that it is "some place to go," but does no violence either to their scruples or their ideas of economy. Many who will not identify themselves with clubs, from an aversion to organization, will appreciate the freedom from it here, for there will be no officers, no rules, no fees.
If there is no especial note that the librarian thinks it would be well to sound, he may let it be known that the first of a series of entertainments to be given by the library, at the library, will be, for instance, a talk upon the Child in History, Our American Illustrators, or some attractive subject.
There are always a number of specialists, even in small places, who can contribute liberally to these plans, thus relieving the librarian of any real work beyond that of planning, while it accomplishes the double purpose of engaging the interest of the speaker in the work of the library, and of furnishing the entertainment for others. The following suggestions, which have been prepared for the work of a small library, will give a more definite idea of the plan.
Very often there will be found some one who, having a special fondness for one school of art, has made a collection of reproductions of its famous works in photographs, casts or engravings, who will willingly loan them for the illustration of a talk upon this theme, even if not quite as willingly giving the talk himself.
A beautiful program for a musical evening would consist of the conversation or paper upon a certain musical form, such as the opera, symphony, or perhaps dance music, being illustrated and varied by the performance of examples of those forms. The organized musical clubs could here be of the greatest service in taking charge of the whole entertainment.
An enthusiasm for a work or this kind may be somewhat crushed out by the press of regular duties, but the librarian may be greatly helped by the cooeperation of organized clubs. Musical societies, Saengerbunds, the Elks, Daughters of the Revolution, and other societies are constantly preparing excellent entertainments, which it is hoped they will be willing to reproduce for those who have either not the leisure or the inclination to study. Such a movement does not in any way divert the energies of the library from their original aims, but is only another means of enhancing their efficacy. The resources of the library upon each of the subjects presented can be made known in many ways familiar to the librarian, such as posted lists, bulletins, and by the mention of them in the talks.
Upon a night which the librarian might consider of interest to them, special invitations may be sent to the different organized societies of working people, such as the retail clerks, labor unions, etc, who might not include themselves readily in a general published invitation.
It has been generally observed that more people are willing to read than know what to read, and are always glad of help in selection.
The originality of the librarian will develop many themes and schemes, and the work itself will doubtless show new veins which may be followed up. It may be that not many will avail themselves of any one invitation, but with a constant change of topic and manner of presentation, there cannot fail to be a great number, eventually, whose attention will be enlisted.
CHAPTER XXXVII
Library patrons—Making friends of them
Library patrons may be roughly divided into classes, thus: First—The adult student who, on rare occasions, calls to supplement the resources of his own collection of books with the resources of the public institution. This class is very small. Second—The dilettante, or amateur, who is getting up an essay or a criticism for some club or society, and wishes to verify his impression as to the color of James Russell Lowell's hair, or the exact words Dickens once used to James T. Fields in speaking of a certain ought-to-be-forgotten poem of Browning's. This class is large, and its annual growth in this country is probably an encouraging sign of the times. It indicates interest. Third—The serious-minded reader who alternately tackles Macaulay, Darwin, and Tom Jones with frequent and prolonged relapses—simply to rest his mind—into Mrs Wistar and Capt. King. This class is quite large, and though in too large a measure the victims of misplaced confidence in Sir John Lubbock and Frederick Harrison, they make excellent progress and do much to keep up the reading habit. Fourth—The "Oh, just-anything-good-you-know" reader. Her name is legion. She never knows what she has read. Yet the social student who failed to take into account the desultory, pastime reader, would miss a great factor in the spread of ideas. Fifth—The person who does not read. He is commoner than most suppose. He is often young, more often boy than girl, oftener young man than young woman. He commits eternally what Mr Putnam aptly calls the great crime against the library of staying away from it. He is classed among the patrons of the library somewhat as the western schoolma'am brought in knowledge of the capital of Massachusetts as part of her mental baggage: "Well, I know I ought to know it." He ought to be a library patron. How make him one? There are many methods, and all should be tried. The Pears' soap plan of printers' ink is one of the finest and best.
If a library has or is a good thing for the community let it so be said, early, late, and often, in large, plain type. So doing shall the library's books enter—before too old to be of service—into that state of utter worn-out-ness which is the only known book-heaven. Another way, and by some found good, is to work the sinfully indifferent first up into a library missionary, and then transform him into a patron. A library is something to which he can give an old book, an old paper, an old magazine, with no loss to himself. Having given, the library is at once his field, a Timbuctoo for his missionary spirit, is in part his creation. Ever after he is its interested friend. He wants to know about it. He goes to see it. He uses it.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
Public libraries and recreation
W.I. Fletcher in Public Libraries, July, 1898
There is nothing out of place in the comparing of the library to the school and the college, but its true mission is not to be so limited. To a large extent it is to be compared, as an object of public care and expense, with the park, the modern common, where there are flower-beds, rare plants in conservatories, lakes with boats in summer and skating in winter, and music by excellent bands. Not very strictly useful, these things, but recognized everywhere as ministering to the real culture of the people. Let this library, then, be the place where you will come, not merely to study and store your minds with so-called "useful" knowledge, but also often to have a good time; to refresh your minds and hearts with humor and poetry and fiction. Let the boys find here wholesome books of adventure, and tales such as a boy likes; let the girls find the stories which delight them and give their fancy and imagination exercise; let the tired housewife find the novels which will transport her to an ideal realm of love and happiness; let the hard-worked man, instead of being expected always to read "improving" books of history or politics, choose that which shall give him relaxation of mind and nerve, perhaps the Innocents abroad, or Josh Billings' "Allminax," or Samanthy at Saratoga.
CHAPTER XXXIX
Books as useful tools
There is still too much of superstition and reverence mingled with the thought of books and literature, and study and studentship in the popular mind. Books are tools, of which here and there one is useful for a certain purpose to a certain person. The farmer consults his farm paper on the mixing of pig-feed; the cook takes from the latest treatise the rules for a new salad; the chemist finds in his journal the last word on the detection of poisons; the man of affairs turns to the last market reports for guidance in his day's transactions; and all have used books, have studied literature. The hammer and the poem, the hoe and the dictionary, the engine and the encyclopedia, the trowel and the treatise on philosophy—these are tools. One and all, they are expressions of the life of the race. But they are not, for that reason, to be reverenced. They are proper for man's service, not man for theirs. Approach books, then, as you would a sewing machine, a school, or a factory.
Literature, after all, is simply all that's printed. In print are found the sum of the experience and observation of the whole race. Out of this print it is the librarian's business to help his fellows to draw such facts and suggestions as may aid them in their work.
CHAPTER XL
A village library successfully managed
James R. Garfield, in Public Libraries, October, 1896
Mentor, Ohio, is a village of but 500 people; therefore we are somewhat limited in our ability to raise funds for carrying on library work. But some six years ago 15 of us got together and began holding a series of meetings every month, something in the nature of the old New England township meeting, for the purpose of stirring up an interest in town affairs, and in doing that we considered it necessary to have some central point of interest around which we could all work, and we chose as that the library. There had never been a library in the village except a small circulating library. We all believed that the use of books and the greater knowledge of books would be a common center of interest around which we could all work and toward which we would be glad to give work. The result of five years' work in this way was that we now have a library of about 1600v., and two years ago, acting under a general law of the state, we became incorporated, and requested the village council to levy a tax for the work of the library. We at that time had about 1000v. The council very readily saw the advantage of this kind of work. They appreciated what was being done for the citizens and schools of the state, and therefore they levied a tax and turned the proceeds of the tax over to the library board. In this way, you will see, the library board is kept entirely aloof from politics. There are no elections by the people, nor is the board appointed by any political officers. It is a self-constituted body, a corporate body under the laws of this state, and as long as we maintain our corporate existence the village may turn over the funds to the library. We settled the difficulty of women's rights by having an equal number of both men and women on the board, and then in order to avoid the question of disruption of families we made the other member of the family who was not on an honorary member of the board. In this way we increased the number of workers and at the same time satisfied the desire of many people to hold office.
But we found that 15, together with the supernumerary and honorary members, were unwieldy, and the work practically devolved upon very few of the members. Therefore, when we incorporated, we made an executive board consisting of five members, and they had absolute management of the library proper. They are elected every year from the members of the association, and have absolute control of the library.
Although our library is supported by the village, we make it absolutely free to anyone who desires to use it. Those outside the village or township are required to put up a nominal deposit, merely for the safe return of the book. We made this the ideal toward which we are working—that the friendship of books is like the friendship of men, it is worth nothing and avails nothing unless it is used constantly and improved constantly.
CHAPTER XLI
Rules for the public
Printed rules, telling the public how they may use the library, are best put in the form of information and suggestions. Thus published they do not give the impression of red tape and restrictions so much as of help in making access to the library's resources easier and pleasanter.
The following suggestions and rules are copied with slight modification from a set in actual use.
The Utopia free public library
Information and suggestions
GENERAL
The library is open to everyone.
Do not hesitate to ask questions.
Suggestions of books for purchase and of changes in methods are asked for.
CIRCULATING DEPARTMENT
The circulating department is open from 10 to 9.
All persons residing in the city of Utopia, and giving satisfactory reference, are entitled to use the circulating department of the library on subscribing to the following agreement:
I hereby certify that I am a resident of the city of Utopia, and, in consideration of the right to use the free circulating department of the library, agree to comply with the regulations provided for its government.
A card-holder is responsible for all books taken on his card.
Immediate notice should be given of change of residence.
The library card should be presented when a book is drawn, renewed, or returned.
To renew a book, bring or send your card and the number of the book.
Lost cards can be replaced at once on payment of 10 cents for renewal, or without charge after a delay of two weeks.
One book, or one work if not in more than three volumes, may be taken at a time and kept two weeks, when it may be renewed for two weeks.
Four weeks is the limit of time that a book can be retained in any one household.
Books must be returned on the same card on which they are drawn.
A book cannot be transferred from one account to another unless it is brought to the library.
A fine at the rate of 2 cents per day is assessed on each book retained over time, payable on its return.
A book retained more than a week beyond the time limited may be sent for at the expense of the delinquent.
Books marked with a * in the catalogs are reference books, and are not lent.
No pen or pencil marks should be made in the books.
Any person who refuses to pay the fines or expenses mentioned, or wilfully violates any of the foregoing rules, forfeits thereby all right to the use of the library.
Teachers, and for good cause others, can take out more than one book (other than fiction) at a time, for such a term as may have been agreed upon before the books leave the library. In the absence of such agreement the books can be kept for the usual time only.
Persons not resident in the city may be allowed, at the discretion of the librarian, to take books on payment of $1 per year, and on signing an agreement to comply with the regulations of the library.
REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
The librarian and assistants are glad of opportunities to help those wishing to do reference work of any kind to a knowledge of the location of the books and the use of catalogs, indexes, and other aids.
READING ROOM
The reading room is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on week days; and on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Conversation and conduct inconsistent with quiet and order are prohibited.
Back numbers of papers and periodicals may be had on application to the attendants.
The books, papers, and periodicals should be carefully used, and neither marked nor cut.
Persons who wilfully violate any of the foregoing rules thereby forfeit all right to the use of the reading room.
CHAPTER XLII
Rules for the government of the Board of trustees and employes of the public library
[Slightly modified from the rules of the Erie (Pa.) public library.]
ARTICLE I
MEETINGS OF THE BOARD
Section 1. The regular meetings of the board of trustees shall be held on the Monday preceding the first Thursday of every month, at 8 p.m.
Sec. 2. Special meetings shall be called by the president whenever, in his judgment, they may be necessary; or at the written request of three members of the board.
ARTICLE II
QUORUMS
Section 1. Five members of the board and two of any standing committee shall constitute a quorum, in either case, for the transaction of business.
ARTICLE III
ORDER OF BUSINESS
Section 1. The order of business at all regular meetings of the board shall be as follows:
1. Roll call.
2. Reading of the minutes.
3. Petitions and communications.
4. Hearing of citizens and others.
5. Report of the secretary.
6. Report of the librarian.
7. Report of the book committee.
8. Report of the finance committee.
9. Report of the building committee.
10. Report of special committees.
11. Bills and pay-rolls.
12. New business.
ARTICLE IV
OFFICERS
Section 1. The officers of the board shall consist of a president, vice-president, and secretary, each of whom shall be elected at the regular meeting in January, to serve for one year. In case of a vacancy the board may elect a person to fill the unexpired term at any regular meeting. Temporary appointments may be made in the absence of the regular officers.
Sec. 2. The president shall preside at the meetings of the board; appoint the various committees; certify all bills that have been recommended for payment by the board; prepare the annual report; see to the general enforcement of the rules; and perform such other duties as the board may direct. In conjunction with the finance committee, he shall make an estimate at the close of each fiscal year of the probable expenses for the ensuing year, and submit the same to the board for its action.
Sec. 3. The vice-president shall perform the duties of the president in the latter's absence.
Sec. 4. The secretary shall record all proceedings of the board; read the minutes of the preceding meeting, or meetings, at each regular meeting; keep a detailed account of receipts and expenses; report the same to the board monthly; file all communications, vouchers, and other papers; certify all bills that have been recommended for payment by the board; transmit all resolutions and recommendations that may require it to the board of education or the proper committee thereof; prepare an annual report of receipts and expenses; and perform such other duties as the board may require.
ARTICLE V
COMMITTEES
Section 1. The standing committees of the board shall be a finance committee, a book committee, and a committee on building and grounds, each to consist of three members, to be named by the president at the regular meeting in February of each year.
Sec. 2. The finance committee shall certify to the correctness of all bills and pay-rolls before their presentation to the board; require a voucher for all expenses; see that the accounts are properly kept; aid the president in making up his annual estimates; verify the fiscal reports of the secretary and librarian; and look after the financial affairs of the board generally.
Sec. 3. The book committee shall be consulted by the librarian in the selection of all books, magazines, newspapers, etc.; prepare the rules for the management of the library; supervise the cataloging, labeling, and shelving of the various publications; have general charge of the book rooms; suggest suitable persons for employes (except the janitor and his assistants), and fix the duties of the same; require a list of all gifts, purchases and losses to be kept by the librarian, and verify his monthly and annual statements of the same.
Sec. 4. The committee on building and grounds shall purchase and take charge of the furniture and fixtures in the Library building; look after all matters pertaining to the building and grounds (inclusive of sidewalks, lawns, heating, lighting, and ventilation), and suggest the proper persons to serve as janitor and assistants to the same. They shall require all parts of the premises to be kept in a neat, clean, and creditable condition, and report all defects that require repair or remedy.
ARTICLE VI
EXPENDITURES
Section 1. Unless otherwise ordered by the board, no indebtedness shall be incurred without the previous approval of the proper committee.
Sec. 2. No committee shall authorize an expense of more than $25 in any one month without having secured the sanction of the board in advance.
Sec. 3. No bill shall be recommended to be paid by the board until it has been approved by the proper committee in writing.
Sec. 4. All bills recommended for payment by the board shall be certified by the president and secretary.
Sec. 5. When bids are asked for supplies, furniture, repairs, labor, etc., they shall be made under seal, and shall only be opened at a meeting of the board or of the committee to which the matter has been referred.
ARTICLE VII
TO BE IN WRITING
Section 1. All reports, recommendations, and resolutions shall be submitted in writing.
Sec. 2. Reports of committees shall be signed by two members thereof.
ARTICLE VIII
EMPLOYES
Section 1. The terms of all regular employes shall continue until their successors are appointed. They shall be subject, however, to removal for cause, at any time, by a vote of the board.
Sec. 2. The president may suspend any employe, for cause, subject to the action of the board at its next meeting.
Sec. 3. The salaries of employes shall be fixed before their election.
ARTICLE IX
THE LIBRARIAN
Section 1. Subject to the direction of the board and the several committees, the librarian shall have supervisory charge, control, and management of the Library building and all of its appurtenances, as well as of all the employes in and about the same.
Sec. 2. He shall be held strictly responsible for the care and preservation of the property in charge of the board; the courtesy and efficiency of the library service; the accuracy of the records; the reliability of his accounts and statements; the classifying, cataloging, and shelving of the books; the enforcement of the rules; the cleanliness and good condition of the building, grounds, and sidewalks; and the proper heating, lighting, and ventilation of the building.
Sec 3. He shall attend the meetings of the board and assist the secretary in keeping his minutes and accounts.
Sec. 4. He shall keep an account, in permanent form, of all his receipts and expenses on behalf of the library, and report the same to the board monthly.
Sec. 5. He shall make a monthly report of the operations of the library, including a list of all accessions to the various departments of the same, whether by gift or purchase, with such recommendations as, in his opinion, will promote its efficiency.
Sec. 6. He shall keep record books of all accessions to the library by purchase, and of all gifts for its several departments, with the dates when received, and, in the case of donations, the names and places of residence of the donors.
Sec. 7. He shall promptly and courteously acknowledge all gifts to the library or any of its departments.
Sec. 8. He shall keep an account of the time of the several employes; prepare the pay-rolls in accordance therewith, and place the same before the finance committee in advance of each regular meeting.
Sec. 9. He shall prepare an annual report showing, as fully as may be practical, the operation of the library and its several departments during the preceding year, with an inventory of the furniture, books, and other contents of the building.
Sec. 10. The first assistant librarian shall perform the duties of the librarian during the latter's absence.
ARTICLE X
AMENDMENTS
Section 1. Amendments hereto shall only be made at a regular meeting of the board, and must be proposed at least one month previous to final action on the same.
CHAPTER XLIII
Reports
As far as the welfare of the library is concerned, the money spent in publishing an elaborate annual report can often be better invested in a few popular books, or, better still, in a few attractively printed statements of progress and of needs, distributed through the community on special occasions. If there must be an annual report for the general public—which will not read it—it should be brief and interesting, without many figures and without many complaints. Do not think it necessary, in making up your report, to adopt the form or the list of contents usually followed by libraries. Give the necessary figures as briefly as may be, and adapt the rest of the report to the library and its community.
CHAPTER XLIV
Library legislation
Prank C. Patten, librarian Helena (Mont.) public library
The modern library movement is embodying ideas that are yet to make public libraries about as common as public schools, and correspondingly important in educational value. After a generation of most remarkable growth of public libraries in number, size, and recognized usefulness, experience can now enlighten us in regard to plans of library support and organization. The best interests of the movement are served by embodying the results of this experience in law. Such a law, by setting forth a good plan, encourages the establishment and promotes the growth of these popular educational institutions.
Outline of a good law
The following outline (with explanatory notes) embraces the important provisions of a good state library law:
1 Establishment and maintenance.—Authorize the governing body in connection with the voters of any city, town, county, school district, or other political body that has power to levy and collect taxes, to establish and maintain a public library for the free use of the people. Provide also for joint establishment and maintenance, for aiding a free library with public money, and for contract with some existing library for general or special library privileges. Provide for maintenance by regular annual rate of tax. Authorize special tax or bonds to provide rooms, land, or buildings. Provide that on petition of 25 or 50 taxpayers the questions of establishment, rate of tax, and bonds shall first be decided by vote of the people at general or special election, to be changed only by another vote.
Note.—It is believed that there need be no limit of rate placed in the state law, as a community is not at all likely to vote to tax itself too high for library support. The people of a small place will, in fact, often fail to realize that in order to raise money enough to accomplish their object the tax rate must be higher than in a large place. It is not impossible that communities will, by and by, spend about as much in support of their public libraries as in support of their public schools.
2 Management.—Establish an independent board of trustees and place the management wholly in its hands. Constitute the library a public corporation, with power to acquire, hold, transfer, and lease property, and to receive donations and bequests. Secure a permanent board with gradual change of membership, the number of members to be not less than three, and the term of office certainly to be not less than three years.
Note.—In order to remove public library management from the influences of party politics, the library and its property should be wholly left to the control of trustees selected from citizens of recognized fitness for such a duty. Ex-officio membership in a library board should generally be avoided, especially in case of a small board; fitness for the position alone should be considered. Experience seems to show that in cities the proper board of trustees can best be secured through appointment by the mayor and confirmation by the council. It is a good way to provide for five trustees, one to be appointed each year for a term of five years. This number is large enough to be representative, and small enough to avoid the great difficulty in securing a quorum if the number is large. The length of term in connection with gradual change of membership encourages careful planning, and it secures the much needed continuity of management and political independence. And yet there is sufficient change of officers so that the board will not be too far removed from the public will. |
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