682 \\^ LoL UC-NRLF B H bEO ta3 LEY LIBRAR A - 23 1sn QIVT Ab a f r0fos0t0tt 5Jfm fork ^tate ICtbrai^ ^tltaol 0tatf of Hria ^ork SItnratian Irimrtuunt 1911 STATE OF NEW YORK EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Regents of the University With years when terms expire 1 913 Whitelaw Reid M.A. LL.D. D.C.L. Chancellor New York 191 7 St Clair McKelway M.A. LL.D. Vice Chancellor Brooklyn 1919 Daniel Beach Ph.D. LL.D. Watkins 1914 Pliny T. Sexton LL.B. LL.D. Palmyra 1912 T. Guilford Smith M.A. C.E. LL.D. Buffalo 1915 Albert Vander Veer M.D. M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. Albany 1922 Chester S. Lord M.A. LL.D. New York 1918 William Nottingham M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. Syracuse 1920 Eugene A. Philbin LL.B. LL.D. New York 1916 Lucian L. Shedden LL.B. LL.D. Plattsburg 1921 Francis M. Carpenter Mount Kisco 1923 Abram I. Elkus LL.B. New York Commissioner of Education Andrew S. Draper LL.B. LL.D. Assistant Commissioners Augustus S. Downing M.A. Pd,D. LL.D. First Assistant Charles F. Wheelock B.S. LL.D. Second Assistant Thomas E. Finegan M.A. Pd.D. Third Assistant Director of State Library James I= Wyer, Jr, M.L.S, Director of Science and State Museum John M. Clarke Ph.D. D.Sc. LL.D. Chiefs of Divisions Administration, George M. Wilei ''.A. Attendance, James D. Sullivan Educational Extension, William R. Eastman M.A. M.L.S. Examinations, Harlan H. Horner B.A. Inspections, Frank H. Wood M.A. Law, Frank B. Gilbert B.A. School Libraries, Charles E. Fitch L.H.D. Statistics, Hiram C. Case Visual Instruction, Alfred W. Abrams Ph.B. Vocational Schools, Arthur D. Dean B.S. Htbranansliip Ncui fork i>tatp ICibrarg ^rliool state of mew L'oiis fi^ucation ©cpartmcnt 1911 This pamphlet is a reprint of " Librarianship An Uncrowded Cal- ling," previously published by the New York State Library School Ls2r-Myi 1-1500 (EotttfntH PAGE Introduction 7 Librarianship as a profession 9 Men in library work 1 1 Scarcity of men in library work 14 Librarianship for college men 16 A growing profession 18 A brief for the librar}^ schools 20 Library work for college women (Elv^a L. Bascom) 22 Library work for women (Josephine A. Rathbone) 2"] 224658 Jntrnliwrtion BULLETIN 4, from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, maintains in no uncertain strain that there are too many and too poor doctors, and that the annual crop from too many inadequately equipped medical schools is making matters worse. The " brief- less barrister" has for years existed in cold fact as well as in phrase and fancy. The hedgerows are full of newly fledged doctors of philosophy who can be persuaded to fly long distances for a few hundred dollars a year. There are even signs that engineering (especially electrical and civil), for 20 years a professional Mecca for so many hundreds of young men, no longer offers such easy opportunities as formerly. Librarianship is a neglected younger brother of these better known professions, and has grown to full stature only during the past dozen years. Its ranks have been, and still are, filled chiefly with women to whom it offers attractive, useful work, at salaries which compare favorably with those paid to teachers of equal ability and personal qualities. Perhaps for this reason, perhaps because a new calling, like a new country, does not strongly attract men of marked intellectual and executive ability and studious tastes, librarianship has been overlooked by young men — the very persons to whom It offers its best chances for usefulness and success. More good, trained librarians are sorely needed. The total product of all the library schools does not nearly supply the normal demands arising from marriage, death and resignations. Peo- ple from other callings are constantly being pressed into library ser\ice. This is particularly true of men. The bald statement that men are sorely needed in library work requires 7 8 the obvious and instant qualification that they must be strong men of liberii education, cap.'city for leadership, relish for social service, with the spiritual and the practical so blended that they may be rich in the love and knowledge of books and the life books typify and at the same time potent in bringing to pass things which shall enlarge and strengthen the worthy administration and use of books. This little pamphlet is printed with the hope that it may be the means of interesting such men and women in library work. ICibrariaitflljtp as a JProfrHsion' LIBRx'\RIANSHIP as a calling has several distinct advan- tages for the man or woman of good education, desir- ing to be of service, who is fond of books and who has executive ability. While it does not appeal to those who gage all callings by their money returns, the librarian, if equal to his position, is associated with all the forces that make for social and edu- cational improvement and is recognized as working for the community rather than for himself. For the individual who lov^es books it offers the privilege of working in the atmosphere of books, and of communicating his enthusiasm to others and putting his knowledge of books at their service. For the possessor of executive ability, work requiring per- sonal initiative is always almost its own reward, and a library offers many opportunities for the exercise of such a gift. For one who, in addition to these endowments, has the wish to help and serve others, there is no better field and few in which intelligent work is more needed. The work of the average library, while it allows fewer holi- days and vacations than that of teaching and has longer hours, yet has almost no disciplinary features, and hence means less strain on the nerves than teaching in the average school. It re- quires, however, sound health in those who would pursue it successfully. It also offers more variety and a larger field of interest than the average teaching position. Salaries for library school graduates range usually from $45 or $50 per month to $65 or $75 for beginners, according to the qualifications of the graduate, the possession or lack of maturity, judgment, previous library experience, extended edu- 1 Training for librarianship (A. L. A. library tract 9. 1907). 9 10 cation, satisfactory personality, etc. Exceptionally desirable graduates receive even more as a beginning salary, when a college degree, previous library experience, and unusual per- sonal qualifications are combined in one person. The breadth of the field of library work is another of its attractions, the work of the reference or college library, of the public or school library, and of the children's library offer- ing service suited to varying capabilities and tastes. Persons for whom it is hardly worth while to seek technical training, are as follows: Those with less than a good high school education or its equivalent; those past 35 years of age; those who, with their fondness for books, have not the self-control to let them alone when necessary; those who have physical disabilities, such as deafness, impediments of speech, or lameness; those who are not sufficiently flexible to adapt themselves to a new kind of work or sufficiently reasonable to expect some drudgery and detail in the course of the day's work. There is no room for the woman or man whose first thought is of personal ease and comfort. Persons of whom the schools can not have too many, on the other hand, are the broad-minded, hopeful, and patient students of human nature, with a saving sense of humor, lov- ers of books and humanity. Mm in ICibrarg Hork' IN popular apprehension library work is woman's work and it is true that a large proportion of the thousands of library workers in the country are women, including many of the most talented and useful members of the profes- sion. At the last annual conference of the American Library Association the total attendance numbered 478. Of these, 310 were women and 168 men, but of those who are regis- tered as chief librarians there are 79 men and 78 women. These figures furnish the reason why there is great promise and opportunity for good men in library work. Men have probably always been preferred for the chief positions, but library salaries hitherto have been so small that in library work, as in teaching, the rank and file have been overwhelm- ingly women. Within recent years, however, salaries have become somewhat better and coincidently, and without doubt intimately related to this fact, has come an increased and stead- ily growing preference for men as chief librarians. At the present moment the demand for good men to take not only the chief places but the more important subordinate ones, is far beyond the supply. The New York State Library School in 21 years has matriculated 475 students and of these 107 have been men. Six of these have died. Some have not been adapted to library work and have dropped out after a resi- dence of a very few weeks or months. Others have been unable to resist the more alluring commercial opportunities, but of the entire number, seventy-five, or three-fourths of those still living, are now actively engaged in library work. There are but two instances of men who left the work after complet- ing the course. That so large a proportion of these men con- tinue in the work is strong testimony to its opportunities for ^Annual report of New York State Library School for 1907, p. 216-17. 12 advancement and its reasonable pecuniary rewards. This school graduates from three to five men every year and the salaries at the beginning range from $900 to $1200. These figures will compare very favorably with salaries first paid to young doctors of philosophy just beginning to teach. To carry this comparison still further, it seems fair to take for granted that somewhat the same type of man that plans to go into college work as instructor and ultimately to become head of a department will be attracted to library work. A baccalaureate degree is considered essential as a prerequi- site, and for the best library training in the country two years of graduate work are now required, while to secure the doc- tor's degree at least three years are necessary. College presi- dents will probably bear out the statement that there is an abundance of newly fledged doctors of philosophy anxious to take positions as instructors or assistant instructors in the best universities of the country at from $600 to $800 per annum, while a degree from the only library school that trains any considerable number of men is practically a guaranty to a reasonably competent man of an initial salary from $900 to $1200 per annum. The best salaries in the library field, rang- ing as they do from $5000 to $7000, are better than the professorships in the leading American uni\'ersities, so that the comparison seems to favor the trained librarian as against the doctor of philosophy. It is not wholly the feeling that it is women's work that deters men from taking it up, nor the counter attractions of scholastic positions, nor the superior pecuniary opportunities which seem to await the other professions. These all have their weight, for library w^orkers arc mostly Avomen, college instructors are mostly men, and while it is probably more dif- ficult to establish a lucrative or even a modest practice in medicine and law, yet once a reputation is made the rewards are far larger than can ever be hoped for in library work, and the allurements of commercial life have never been stronger than at the present time, and have never held out greater opportunities of large financial reward. A stronger reason than anv or all of these, however, is the fact that men 13 have never thought of library work as a Hfe work. They have known nothing of its opportunities for executive and administrative ability, for real scholarship, for high social serv- ice, of its educational relations and significance. It has been to young men a terra incognita and while college graduates have as a matter of course gone on to graduate work in law, medicine, theology and engineering, a new profession has arisen, as yet little known; a profession offering to certain temperaments even greater advantages for active usefulness than some of the traditional ones. ^rarrity of Mtn \n ICtbrarti Work' THE continued lack of men entering the library profes- sion through the library schools is becoming a matter of considerable concern, not only to the officers of these schools, but to the directors of the larger and more important libraries throughout the country. A few years ago, it was confidently expected that as libraries multiplied in numbers and resources, and as the library schools came to take their place with other recognized professional and technical schools, an increasing number of men from the colleges and universities would be found in them. For a while, it seemed as though this expectation was being realized, at least in the case of the oldest and best known of these schools, where the proportion of men steadily grew until in the class entering in 1903, that proportion reached about 40 per cent. Since that time, how- ever, there has been a decided decrease in this school in the proportion of men enrolling, the registry of the class enter- ing this year showing but three men out of a class of 19 per- sons. In other schools the proportion of men students has always been lower, and latest statistics would indicate no gain, and possibly a falling oft in them, also. The following facts are typical. In the Wisconsin Library School, organized about a year ago, and maintained as a state institution, not a single male student is registered in a class of 19 entering this fall. In its news notes from the various librar\' schools of the country, the October number of the Library JoiirnaJ gives lists of students in these schools numbering 90 in all; in this total only seven are men. In the registry of attendance at the last meeting of the American Library Association 25 dele- gates are registered as ''Library students or teachers;" of this number but one was a man. 1 New York Evening Post, Nov. 9, 1007. 14 15 To the minds of many who have the well-being of the pro- fession seriously at heart, such figures are regarded as ominous and as indicating a serious weakness both in the general library movement, and in the management and standing of the library schools. That there should be a preponderance of women in the library field, just as there is in the teaching profession, was to be expected, since in all libraries the greater number of positions are subordinate and yield too small a salary to support a man with family responsibilities, but positions of responsibility in the library world are rapidly multiplying; and while in the face of such conspicuous executive ability as is shown bv many women in this and other states, it were folly to deny women the capacity to fill the highest positions, yet in addition to the fact that there is need of more of the masculine element in the libraries, there are many positions where men as men are imperativelv needed, and where a woman, however capa- ble or well trained, can not meet the responsibilities. There is evidence that during the last year or two there has been a general and decided awakening to the importance of this on the part of library boards. From the head of one of the leading library schools the writer has recently learned of sev- eral important libraries which are seriously troubled because they are unable to secure well-equipped men to fill positions of importance where men alone are desired, even though they are able to offer salaries twice as large as libraries would have paid a dozen years ago. IIibrarimtsI)tjj for Cnllpijr Mtti' IN view of its present opportunities it seems strange that librarianship fails to attract college men in any large num- bers, ihis can be only because these opportunities are not sufficiently known, and because of a proneness to regard library work, either as a field preempted by women or as one neither calling for abilities of a high order nor offering oppor- tunities for real service. Those of you, however, who are contemplating entrance into one of the so-called learned pro- fessions may well give serious thought to the possibilities in library work. The man needed is the one who combines with some native ability, both the training to be had in a good col- lege and the technical proficiency to be gained in a library school. A love for books is also an important requisite. With such an equipment he may look forward to filling a place of dignity and importance in the community and of doing a work of unusual fascination. I rather hesitate to thrust the dollars and cents side into the foreground but it often makes, if not a high, at least an insist- ent appeal. It can be proved, however, I think, that given an equivalent preparation, the librarian receives a salary equal to and often better than the teacher. In the circle of my own acquaintances I can count six who within the half year have accepted positions with salaries ranging from $1500 to $2100 per year, and they are all young men. None of them are library school graduates of more than four years' standing, and most of them, if not all, begin their college class numerals with a cipher. A man with the amount of ability necessary for success in any line of work will command from $900 to $1000 on the completion of his library school course, and with pre- vious experience even more. I know of library positions pay- 1 Reserve Weekly, Dec. 21, 1909. 16 I? ing from $1000 to $1200, that were not filled for months, be- cause suitable men, for men were wanted, could not be had. Such a state of affairs in regard to a vacant instructorship is difficult to imagine. But it is not the financial appeal that is most potent. It is the call of the book. To the man of scholarly tastes and habits, books in themselves yield a unique pleasure. With this may be combined a measure of executive work with its zest in doing things and an opportunity of coming into con- tact with people and of serving them. The calling which brings books to the people and the people to the books is worthy of the best that may be in one and that in itself would be to many a sufficient reward. Only a casual knowledge of the work of institutions like the Library of Congress, the Harvard College Library or the Public Library of Cleveland is needed to show the opportunities for real and distinguished service that they offer. Similar opportunities, perhaps less conspicuous and less wide reaching, but often correspondingly more intensive, are open to all of us. . A (Sroiutng JProfpsflton' PERHAPS the least known of the occupations that should prove particularly congenial to college men of bookish tastes and a desire to do social service is librarianship. Yet there are few lines of work in which more varied ability is desirable. A high degree of executive ability is demanded for the administration of a large library with its many differ- ent lines of activity. Business judgment is necessary to make a limited income supply increasing needs in books, periodicals and service. Literary skill is needed to determine what read- ing matter should be purchased to serve best the needs of the library's patrons. Much technical skill is needed in cata- loging and in bibliographic Avork. Intimate knowledge of books and an equally intimate knowledge of human nature are essential for reference work. By strengthening and sup- plementing the school course, by promoting local industries through furnishing the best technical literature relating to these industries as well as in furnishing reading for culture and recreation, the library may become a civic center and a real social force. Tn few other lines of work is it so essential to be thoroughlv up-to-date and in touch with the life of the community, for no one can make books do their full service who is not in sympathy with the real life they interpret. Scho- lastic seclusion is no longer possible in an efficient library ex- cept in very special lines of bibliographic or clerical work. The steady growth of the library movement is assured. Its development is limited only by the service the libraries render their patrons. The growing independence of the textbook in schools, the rapid changes in industrial methods which make up-to-date private working libraries prohibitive in cost to most persons and the growing recognition of the part which litera- 1 New York Evening Post, Jan. 8, 1910 and May 23, 191 1 (under title ' Librarianship for Young Men "). 18 19 ture and art should play In American life are only a few of the many things which are making public libraries a necessity, not a luxury. As yet the supply of alert, well prepared young men trained in library methods is not equal to the demand. Moreover, the positions for which young men are required or strongly desired are increasing in number. As in many other lines of work largely social or intellectual, salaries are not excessive but even here the young librarian is often better off than the average minister or teacher and often as well off in salary as the engineer or lawyer of equal experience. Graduation from a reputable library school practically assures any young man of average ability an initial salary of from $900 to $1200. The salaries of librarians In general are increasing and the prospects for further promotion to better paying positions are bright. In the more responsible positions as department heads in large libraries or as heads of libraries salaries for men range anywhere from $2000 to $7000 or more. The tenure of office is usually secure and largely dependent in most cases on the Incumbent himself. A IBrief fur ti}t library ^rliinila' THE comparative advantages of library school training and library experience without such preliminary train- ing are treated at length in Public Libraries for July 19 lo, in an anonymous article with the above title. A brief abstract in the phraseology of the original article follows: The best administrator of anything is the man who knows the whole structure from the bottom up, the relation of every part to the whole and all the wherefores. The training or the experience is expensive to the library in which it is ac- quired, and if the schools can give it and the library get the benefit, so much the better for the library. It is not only better for the library, but better for the individual, too, if he gets his training in a library school. Opinions to the contrary are based on seemingly inadequate courses or equipment of the schools, perhaps upon lack of understanding of what the schools do offer, or upon a judgment formed by acquaintance with the least capable graduates. One should get a thorough training in all the branches of the work first and then spe- cialize. This gives a broader view of the whole which is never regretted by those who have it, but which many think beforehand they can do without. Are you not making your- self liable to a charge [of superficiality] when you seek to slight the groundwork and step at once into a position at the top? The training must come first whether you get it in a school or in another library, and if you get it in a school, you save time and get a more thorough course, because more care- fully prepared. As to how the salaries of those who go to the schools compare with those who do not, it seems to me in the main to the advantage of the schools. At the end of a given term (perhaps. five years is too little, but certainly ^Abridged l)y permission from rul)lic Lil)rriries. July 1910. 21 within ten) the advantage will be realized not only in the actual financial compensation, but in appreciation of work and enjoyment of life. There is too little time after the real busi- ness begins, to catch up with the reading and study which should have come first and which are necessary in order to be a master of your craft. Htbrary Work fur (EoUfrjc Homtn' Elua ?C. ffiaurnm U.K. l.C.g*., JzMtar oi tl]c A. iC. A. ?B00kaBt MY object is to prove to you that library work has some attractions and compensations for women that no other profession can offer. It seems to me so easy a task that I fear I may fail to accomplish it through sheer assurance of its simplicity. in the tirst place — and I deliberately play my highest card first — there is no profession that satisfies so thoroughly many of the womanly qualities that most naturally find expression in the care and culture of a home. The girl at the head of a library, or even of a room in a library, acquires the same sort of pride in its well-being, material and otherwise, as she would have in her own house, and as its mistress she can exer- cise all those gracious qualities thaT we associate with the hos- pitality of a home. Her guests are always welcome and to each she gives the best in her store, not only of books but her own interest and assistance. A library is more truly the home of the people than any other public institution in a town, where all who love books or have a desire for information meet on a common ground, and where all differences, of busi- ness, religion, social position, or other, are nonexistent. As compared with the teacher, the librarian has, to my mind, many decided advantages. The teacher has but one thing in her repertoire — to teach; where she does this one thing the librarian does a dozen, giving variety and opportunity for an all-round development. The teacher has to do only with peo- ple within a single narrow boundary; if she teaches little chil- dren she naturally loses all contact with high school students and their work. She has them only for certain hours for a certain term of years. She must accept the unruly, the stupid. 1 Abridged by permission fruni Kappa Alpba Theta, May 1910. 23 the lazy, and do her best to force into all of them the knowl- edge that she has contracted to teach. The librarian works with all ages, all the time; here there is infinite variety. She searches new book lists to find something for the boy who has read everything in the library on aeronautics, the club woman who is struggling with the intricacies of English politics, the old gentleman who finds his greatest happiness in Civil War literature, the student of applied sociology who complains that the library's collection of books is out-of-date, the minister . who is studying religious therapeutics, the young workman who wants to become a mechanical engineer, the girl who is gradually discovering that there is better reading than the mod- ern novel, the housekeeper who has new ideals for the im- provement of her home or realizes that there are some methods of housekeeping that are superior to those her mother taught her. Then there are the children — on whom libra- rians are concentrating their most intelligent effort w^ith the knowledge that if their taste can be elevated above that of their parents the "best sellers" will have changed the'r com- plexion within the next generation. For these important little people the librarian searches for the picture book that will not only fascinate but elevate, for the story that will both in- terest and educate, for the poem that can not only be under- stood but will have that indefinable quality that will help all of the great body of poetry to take its proper place in the child's mind — as the most precious of all our literary in- heritance. Unlike the school, in the library all courses are elective, and as a rule only those " enter " for them who want the knowledge they can give, and who will find in its acquisition a form of pleasure. There are, of course, a few advantages on the other side. The teacher has shorter hours and longer vacations. The librarian, however, has less outside work that is obligatory — no papers to look over or lessons to prepare. It would be unfair to give the impression that librarians do not work out- side library hours; the majority do, but it is largely the read- ing of new books or studving up new subjects, which is of a cultural rather than an official nature. 24 Now as to the requisite qualifications for library work. The two most important are efficiency and enthusiasm. To these should be added, for the ideal library worker, accuracy, order, executive ability, initiative and a good personality. An " effi- cient" librarian must have a good general education and a thorough library training, plus the ability to think clearly and quickly, to judge fairly, to work effectively: perhaps there are other qualities that should be included under this most com- prehensive word, but these are the ones that come first to my mind. Enthusiasm needs no comment — or would not if libra- rians in this country were not justifiably proud of what they call " library spirit." I despair of defining just what it im- plies — perhaps enthusiasm coupled with optimism, tempered with experience and strengthened by a fine sense of the privi- lege of service. Because of this library spirit and of the breadth and variety of the work, a librarian is more nearly related to the social settlement worker than to any other agent in the world's betterment. The work is distinctly that of social ser\nce, and the qualities that will bring the worker into closest contact with the people are those that are most desir- able, next to those that make for a good foundation in educa- tion and special training. An all-round education is best, with special emphasis on Eng- lish, modern languages and sociological subjects. The special training can be acquired in two ways — by apprenticeship in a library or by taking a course in a library school, or better, both. The objection to limiting one's self to the former is that you have learned only the methods in use in a single library, and some of them are likely to be unique or so modi- fied that if you go to another library you will have to lay them aside and learn others. It is true that some large libraries have a regular training class in which instruction is g'ven in the elementary principles, but their application is, most natu- rally, to the methods used in that particular library. On the other hand, the library school teaches the methods most widely adopted, and points out their superior features by comparing them with those that have been tried (and are still in use some- where — often in a library close enough to be studied at first 25 hand) and proved less efficient. The schools, too, furnish a background that it is not possible for a single library to give; they acquaint the student with the history of libraries and print- ing, the development of the modern library movement and its significance, the development and practical principles of library architecture, the problems of administration, etc. — in fact, they endeavor to place in the student's possession what she needs most in the practical management of a library and to put her in the way of finding for herself what she is going to need as she grows with her library — or grows away from it into one offering greater opportunity for the kind of service she has proved herself specially capable of giving. The ideal training combines that of the school and that of a live, well- administered library. Most of the schools now require " prac- tice work " in a library, either before the student enters on her course or at a stated time during it. The same interest is taken in securing positions for gradu- ates that is shown in the teaching profession. Because of the greater demand and smaller supply in the library field there is not the difficulty in obtaining good positions that results from the crowded condition of the older profession. The schools are very active agencies, not only in placing their students on graduation but in giving constant assistance to those who are already in the work and wish to make a change. Then, too, the comparatively small size of the profession makes it pos- sible for a person to become much more widely known than in the more crowded professions; as a result changes are frequent and the chance of finding the exact work one wishes to do is large. The frequent meetings, sectional, state and national, promote a degree of acquaintanceship that seems to be unique; a very general habit of making library trips also contributes to this end. The attitude of the older librarians toward the young aspirant is ideal; they evidently believe that, like char- ity, the library spirit should be displayed within the family circle. Tn the matter of salary there is so great inconsistency that it is difficult to give anv data that will hold true for all parts of the country. In a library where the staff is drawn from the town and trained by the librarian the salaries are as a rule 26 considerably lower than where the assistants are taken from the library schools. Frequently in the larger libraries the heads of the departments are school graduates. The salary of the head librarian varies much as that of a superintendent of schools does. Salaries in the West are uniformly higher than in the East. School graduates who have also had a col- lege education usually begin work at $800 or $900, though some start with $1200. Few as yet receive, after years of experience and usefulness, over $2000. The average salary' for those without collegiate training is about $720. I am now speaking of women's salaries. Men seldom begin with less than $1200 and may reach $3000 in a very few years. Only a few men in the country receive over $5000. In the foregoing I have had mainly in mind the work, quali- fications and opportunities of the head or assistant in the aver- age public library since those are the positions that lead in point of number. For more specialized work in large libra- ries what has been said does not apply so uniformly. A per- son who catalogs or accessions or examines books continuously does not require all the qualifications that the executive head of the library in which she does this work should have, but certain A'irtues should be hers in excess: accuracy, order, good sense and judgment, and a command of her special work in all its details and in its relation with the other work of the library. For this kind of work — most often done in retired spots — the ever-dominating question of personality is of less importance than in those positions that require contact with the public. Many women who are shy, lack the gift of " pleas- ing people," or prefer the quiet independence of desk work, find most congenial and satisfying occupation in these positions, which are no less useful or important because they are not done before the eyes of the world. The question of person- ality is too large a one to enter upon. It rightly receives stress, though perhaps overemphasis at the present time. The girl who is fortunate enough to possess good health, good sense, good education, enthusiasm, executive ability and per- sonal charm — or a "pleasing personality" — has the open sesame to anything the library profession has to offer to women — provided she is willing to work, and work hard. ICthrarg Work for Blomptt' 3astpiiint Kbame lSatt;banp, ifnatrurtar. Pratt ilnatttutr Cibrary ^tifoal THE field of library work is a very broad one; It is con- tinually enlarging, and no corner of it is barred from women. The more important positions are filled by men, as in all other professions, and this will probably be the case for years to come, until women's executive powers have been trained by use ; but the difference between the positions held by men and by women is one of degree, not of kind, and there is, on the whole, less difference between the highest sala- ries paid to men and to women than in any other salaried profession. It should be understood that the conditions set forth in this paper apply to those who have had or who desire to obtain the necessary preparation for efficient service. For our purpose we will consider the library work under three heads: Public libraries. School and college libraries, and Special libraries. 9 Public librartra We will omit from consideration the village libraries of less than 5000 volumes. These can seldom afford trained assist- ants, and many of them are administered by volunteers. The librarian of the library of from 5000 to 100,000 vol- umes, of which there are about 2000 in the United States, is usually a woman. She has the opportunit\' of making her library the center of the educational and intellectual life of the community. She comes into contact, as does the woman in no other occupation, with every element of the community — with the school children of all ages, with the teachers, with business and professional men, with women's clubs, and with ^Reprinted by permission from Vocations for the Trained Woman. 1910. Women's Educational and Industrial Union, (Bost). 27 28 organizations of all kinds. It is her business to study the community and find out its interests and its needs, to select books to meet these interests and needs, to make these books available by her knowledge of the best library methods, and to attract people to the library by making its resources known, by stimulating an interest in books, and by creating an atmos- phere of culture, of hospitality, and of helpfulness within the library itself. There is in this work scope for the exercise of all a woman's powers — executive ability, knowledge of books, social sympathies, knowledge of human nature. The salaries for trained women as head librarians range from $600 in the smaller communities to $2500 or $3000, the larger number being $900 and $1200. In a small library the librarian and two or three assistants do all the various kinds of work, getting the books ready for use and serving the children and adults who come to the library, but in the larger libraries there is need for greater specialization and special branches of the work have devel- oped. Among these are administrative work, cataloging, reference work, circulating department work, children's work, school work, each demanding workers with special qualifications. The chief administrative posts in large libraries are for the most part held by men, though there are a number of women assistant librarians or librarians' secretaries with salaries of from $1000 to $2000. Administrative in character also are the positions of librarians of branch libraries, of which there are sixty odd in Greater New York alone, practically all held by women, and ranging in salary from $900 to $1500. The amount of responsibility resting upon the branch librarian depends on the policy of the system. It is, generally speaking, somewhat less than that of the librarian of an independent library of the same size, but the opportunities for usefulness are almost as great, and in the larger city systems far greater than in many independent libraries that are hampered by a conservative or restrictive board of trustees. Circulating department work. The coming of the " open shelf" has brought books, readers, and library assistants to- 29 gather In a new relation. It is now realized that this point of contact is a vitally important thing, and the standard of intelligence and culture demanded of circulating department assistants is being raised rapidly. Women possessed of the broadest culture as well as of attractive personality and execu- tive ability are being sought for the headship of circulation departments at salaries of from $900 to $1800, and the sup- ply is far from adequate. Trained assistants in the circula- tion departments get from $50 to $100 a month, and the standards of salary are rising with those of efficiency. Children's work. This is comparatively a new field, and the demand for trained workers of pleasing personality, expe- rience and sympathy with children, and knowledge of chil- dren's books, greatly exceeds the supply. The larger city sys- tems have supervisors of children's work at salaries ranging from $1200 to $iSoo. Librarians in charge of children's rooms in independent libraries or in branch libraries receive from $700 to $1200, assistants in children's rooms from $500 to $800. Besides the books themselves, children's librarians have used pictures and other illustrative material to attract and influence the children, and have found story-telling a very effective means of stimulating an interest in reading and of introducing the children to authors and to subjects that they might not otherwise discover. So important a part of children's work has the story hour become that some are already specializing in the direction of story-telling, and more will undoubtedly do so. Work with schools. This is closely allied to children's work, but many of the larger libraries have assistants who give all their time to library work with the schools, and at least one of the large systems has a regularly organized department for this work, with assistants in the several branches. This work may include visiting the schools, sending to the classrooms, or arranging in the libraries collections of books relating to the subjects studied in the schools, preparing exhibi- tions of material illustrative of special subjects, keeping the teachers informed of books and periodical articles on their subjects, etc. Many who go into this work have been teach- 30 ers or have had normal school training. The remuneration is about that of the children's librarians. Reference work. This work consists in helping people who come to the library for information as distinguished from those who come to borrow books, and the information sought may range from the pronunciation of a word to material on the psychology of white rats or the e\'olution of the leit-motif. There is needed a wide range of general information, knowl- edge of books, a reading knowledge of French and German, as many of the best reference books are in these languages, tact in meeting people, infinite patience, and a certain detective faculty for following clews. In the larger libraries, refer- ence work has become largely specialized; art, music, applied science, law, and medical reference departments are found re- quiring specialists in these subjects. Men are more in demand than women for some of these positions, but there are many women in general reference work. The salaries range from about $900 to $1500 for heads of departments, and from ?6oo to $900 for assistants. Cataloging. Under this head I have included all the tech- nical work with books from their reception, in the library to their placing on the shelves. This work demands method, accuracy, despatch, good gen- eral information, good " book sense," and a knowledge of for- eign languages, the latter varying in extent and importance in different libraries. The work appeals to those in whom the book interest and sense of order and method are stronger than their interest in people. The position of head cataloger in a large library demands also considerable executi\'e abilitv, and commands a salarv of from $1000 to $2000. In a few of the larger libraries these positions are held by men, but cataloging is chiefly woman's work. The subordinate positions command salaries of from $600 to $1200. In 1890 a state commission was appointed in Massachusetts to encourage the establishment of free public libraries, and since then commissions have been appointed in 34 states. The commissions employ secretaries or organizers who travel about the state starting new libraries, reorganizing old libraries, 31 training the local librarians. iMany of the commissions send out traveling libraries, conduct summer library schools, advise in the selection of books for the local libraries. This work is very largely done by women, and demands a forceful and attractive personality, unbounded energy and enthusiasm, and the power of arousing enthusiasm in others, great physical endurance, and a sense of humor. Salaries range from $800 to $1800, but such qualities can not be paid for, and the work appeals only to those who work " for the joy of the working." Indeed, this is largely the case with all kinds of public library work. The pleasure one takes in congenial occupation, in work that seems supremely worth while, is a very large part of one's compensation. Librarians are underpaid: most of those who are successful could make more money in other ways; but they rarely care to leave their chosen calling. SS S»rl|anl anft rnUege librarifa The demand for librarians in high schools is a growing one. The qualities needed are about those demanded of reference workers plus a great enthusiasm for books, since the oppor- tunity for influencing the reading of the high school pupils is incalculable. These positions are under the boards of educa- tion. The requirements generally demand library training and some previous experience in library work. Salaries range from $900 to $1200, but an effort is being made in Greater New York to put the high school librarian's salary on a level with the teacher's. There is a growing realization among educators that teach- ers need a better knowledge of children's books than has been required of them in the past, that teachers should be more expert in laboratory methods of using books, that they should know the value and scope of the more important reference books, and that thev should be able to administer schoolroom libraries. This realization has led to the demand in New York and other states that the study of books and of library meth- ods be taken up in the normal schools. The need has there- fore arisen for librarians who shall be able not only to administer the libraries of normal schools, but to give instruc- tion along these lines. This is new work, but it is already of 32 recognized importance. Experience in teaching, or training in a normal school as well as library training is needed to carry on this work successfully. College library work generally demands college graduation as well as library training for the higher positions. The libra- rianship in a man's college is seldom held by a woman. In coeducational colleges, women are sometimes librarians, and are invariably so in women's colleges. Even in the men's col- eges the headship of departments, as well as reference and cat- aloging positions, are often held by women. Salaries are a little lower, as a rule, than in public library work. II3I3I ^prrial Itbrama These are, as a rule, collections along certain lines, as his- torical libraries, libraries of learned societies, libraries of pub- lishing houses, business houses, insurance companies, etc. The work in them is largely reference work, cataloging, and in- dexing, and there is a constantly widening field for women of good education and special training or special tastes in libraries of this sort. ^\'omen of quiet, bookish tastes, good language equipment, including Latin and Greek as well as the modern languages, and thorough training in cataloging, have found congenial work in cataloging private libraries, which often contain old and rare books. The demand for work of this sort is not so steady as for regular library work, but when once a reputation as an expert is established, one finds plenty of opportunity. Such work commands from $75 to $125 a month. Given a love for books, a woman can find in library work exercise for all her tastes, faculties, and powers, and the last- ing satisfaction that comes from doing a work that is worth while. (Jljf ^em fork 0tat? Slibrarg ^rlynnl The New York State Library School offers to a limited number of college graduates a two-year course in library econ- omy. Up to 191 1 over 1800 library positions, ranging from assistantships to head librarianships, have been filled by stu- dents of the school. Though promising students are advised to take the full course, the first year gives a well balanced preparation for certain kinds of library work to those unable to attend the two years. Both personality and education are considered In the admission of candidates. Full details of the courses, expenses etc. are given in the annual Circular of information which may be obtained by addressing The Regis- trar, New York State Library School, Albany, N. Y. riNiv m*"»-'^ i' OR' RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing booi