The Small Library/Chapter 6
With certain honourable exceptions, the smaller municipal libraries of the United Kingdom may be said to become formed by a process which involves the accumulation of books to the exclusion of literature. In other words, the matter-of-fact business men who usually control such institutions, prefer in most cases to have quantity rather than quality, and desire to see a number of books, no matter how useless, rather than a well-selected library of representative literature. The reasons for this are quite obvious. A library being but a collection of books, it becomes business men to assemble as many as possible in the shortest time, in order, perhaps, to outshine an adjoining township, or to satisfy the ratepayers that they are hard at work in the interests of education! To many library committeemen a book is just a book, and like bricks, or paving stones, or potatoes, or other realizable stock, the bigger the accumulation the better. When the typical library committeeman is told that his library contains 5,000 volumes, he never asks how the different classes of literature are represented, but what is the average cost per volume? It is inevitable that it should be so, because the great majority of public library administrators are drawn from the ranks of the small tradesmen, persons interested in poor-law administration, and others to whom the question of an additional halfpenny on the local rates is of more importance than their chance of a niche in Paradise. They do not know, and cannot appreciate, the difference between a great classic in science and an elementary popular primer on the same subject. A school atlas at 3s. 6d. is more to be desired by such authorities than a 6 or 10 guinea atlas by a great firm of cartographers, because it is cheap, and keeps down the average per volume stocked, to the business-like limit of 1s. 6d. Their motto is—'Better twenty "remainder" novels at 1s. 3d. each, than one standard history or textbook of science'. No doubt a great deal of this disregard of the proper function of the public library and the importance of careful book-selection, arises from lack of competent advice. It is difficult in small places for the local authority to attract a duly qualified librarian, and they are forced, in consequence, to rely upon the instinct and assurance of a committee. In hundreds of cases their confidence is not misplaced, because there are men to be found on local boards who will cheerfully undertake any kind of duty, however special or technical, from the planning of water-works and sewage-farms to the organization of electric light stations and public libraries. Nothing comes amiss to these cocksure local notables, and it is only fair to say that, in most cases of abject failure, it is the interference of zealous ignorance which is the prime cause. Remembering, however, that insufficient means is the chief reason why small municipal libraries are unable to obtain the services of trained officers, it may be profitable to consider how this defect can be remedied. Two solutions present themselves, and both are equally sane and practical. A public library committee about to commence operations, but unable to pay for a skilled librarian, should communicate with the Library Association, stating their case, and asking that body to nominate a trained librarian who, for an agreed fee, would act as adviser to the library authority, and enable the work of organization to be accomplished on modern scientific lines. In every case such a course would save committees from all kinds of mistakes, and in the end secure efficiency with economy. Failing this highly common-sense method, the committee might apply to the nearest large town library and obtain the advice of the chief officer, with or without fee, as may be arranged, or, perhaps, secure the occasional services of a trained member of the staff for a small fee. Any of these courses is preferable to the unrestricted or frequently mistaken work of raw committees, and the suggestion is humbly offered that to adopt one of them is even wider and more economical than a blind Page:The small library. A guide to the collection and care of books (IA smalllibraryguid00browiala).pdf/84 Page:The small library. A guide to the collection and care of books (IA smalllibraryguid00browiala).pdf/85 Page:The small library. A guide to the collection and care of books (IA smalllibraryguid00browiala).pdf/86 Page:The small library. A guide to the collection and care of books (IA smalllibraryguid00browiala).pdf/87