LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 ^t" V Sl^_ - r . . 
 
 ^' V 
 
 
 
@U0octafion 
 
 EDITED BY J. Y. W. MAcALISTEB, HONORARY SKCUHTARY OF 
 THE ASSOCIATION 
 
 No. 3 
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS 
 
 BY 
 
 PETEK COWELL 
 
 CHIEF LIBRARIAN" OF THE LIVERPOOL PIBI.U LIIJUAKIK- 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE ASSOCIATION BY 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., LIMITED 
 
 4 STATIONERS' HALL COURT, E.C. 
 
 1893 
 
 PRICE SIXPENCE NET 
 
Libiw tj J^ociatsioii United ^gd 
 
 THIS Association was founded on 5th October, 1877, at the conclusion 
 of the International Conference of Librarians held at the London 
 Institution, under the presidency of the late Mr. J. Winter Jones, 
 then principal librarian of the British Museum. 
 
 Its objects are : (a) to encourage and aid by every means in its 
 power the establishment of new libraries ; (6) to endeavour to secure 
 better legislation for rate-supported libraries ; (c) to unite all persons 
 engaged or interested in library work, for the purpose of promoting the 
 best possible administration of libraries ; and (d) to encourage biblio- 
 graphical research. 
 
 The Association has, by the invitation of the Local Authorities, held 
 its Annual Meetings in the following towns : Oxford, Manchester, 
 Edinburgh, London (twice], Cambridge, Liverpool, Dublin, Plymouth, 
 Birmingham, Glasgow, Eeading, Nottingham, and Paris. 
 
 The Annual Subscription is ONE GUINEA, payable in advance, on 1st 
 January. The Life Subscription is FIFTEEN GUINEAS. Any person 
 actually engaged in library administration may become a member, without 
 election, on payment of the Subscription to the Treasurer. Any person 
 not so engaged may be elected at the Monthly or Annual Meetings. 
 Library Assistants, approved by the Council, are admitted on payment 
 of a Subscription of HALF-A-GUINEA. 
 
 The official organ of the Association is The Library, which is issued 
 monthly and sent free to members. Other publications of the Associa- 
 tion are the Transactions and Proceedings of the various Annual Meetings, 
 The Library Chronicle, 1884-1888, 5 vols., and The Library Association Year- 
 Book (price one shilling), in which will be found full particulars of the 
 work accomplished by the Association in various departments. 
 
 A small Museum of Library Appliances has been opened in the 
 lerkenwell Public Library, Skinner Street, London, E.G., and will be 
 shown to any one interested in library administration. It contains 
 Specimens of Apparatus, Catalogues, Forms, &c. 
 
 All communications connected with the Association should be 
 addressed to the Hon. Secretary, J. Y. W. MACALISTER, Esq., 20 Hanover 
 Square, London, W. Subscriptions should be paid to H. B. TEDDER, 
 Esq., Hon. Treasurer, Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London, \V. 
 /', Llxt of Publications see Third Page of Cover.) 
 
feifimrp 06ociafion JJeriee 
 
 EDITED BY J. Y. W. MACALISTER, HON. SECRETARY OF THE ASSOCIATION 
 
 No. 3 
 
 PUBLIC LIBEAKY STAFFS 
 
 PETEK COWELL 
 
THE ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
@U0octafion Aeries 
 
 EDITED BY J. Y. W. MAcALISTER, HONORARY SECRETARY OF 
 THE ASSOCIATION 
 
 No. 3 
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS 
 
 BY 
 
 PETEE COWELL 
 
 n 
 
 CHIEF LIBRARIAN OF THE LIVERPOOL PUBLIC LIBRARIES 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE ASSOCIATION BY 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., LIMITED 
 4 STATIONERS' HALL COURT, E.G. 
 
 1893 
 PRICE SIXPENCE NET 
 
LIBRARY 
 SCHOOL 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the craft of Librarianship may be said to be 
 nearly as old as books themselves, it is nevertheless true 
 that the Librarian of to-day is a Pioneer for the field of 
 his work has become so wide as to embrace much untrodden 
 territory, and he has had to invent an entirely new equip- 
 ment to fit him for his task. 
 
 There is much experimenting, and there may be many 
 mistakes, but the tendency is in the right direction, and 
 there can be no doubt that both the Librarians and the 
 Readers of the Twentieth Century will owe much to the 
 Librarian of the Nineteenth. 
 
 But Committees as well as Librarians owe a duty to the 
 next generation, and they should regard it as an important 
 part of that duty to help forward the higher development 
 of Librarianship. They rather retard it when they appoint 
 men without practical experience, and thus proclaim that, 
 in their opinion, Librarianship is not a craft. To point 
 here and there to one or two brilliantly successful Librarians 
 who have had no practical training, is as absurd as to 
 contemn medicine as worthless, because now and then a 
 sick man recovers by the help of nature alone. 
 
 One simple test of efficiency better than the most glowing 
 testimonials Committees have now at command, and the 
 more the test is used the more valuable it will become. 
 I refer to the " Professional " Examination of the Library 
 Association. 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
 103737 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS, 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN. 
 
 However unexceptionable a Public Library may be in regard to 
 its books, arrangements, and regulations, it is an absolute necessity 
 that the staff should be characterised by ability, energy, and appre- 
 ciation of their duties, for otherwise a lack of vitality would soon 
 be apparent in the library, and a corresponding deficiency in its 
 usefulness and popularity. 
 
 When the staff of a library is imbued with a common spirit, 
 and that spirit is identified with the true aims and purposes of a 
 public library, it follows that such a library will soon be en- 
 gaged in a great and important educational work, and in exercis- 
 ing a wide and beneficial influence. 
 
 The attainment of such a position for the institution under their 
 care is the desire and ambition of all Committees of Management. 
 But how is this to be achieved ? It will be admitted that the pro- 
 sperity and success of manufactories and commercial houses are 
 largely, if not wholly, dependent on the ability and energy of their 
 respective heads or managers, and by parity of reasoning we must 
 conclude that a public library, if it is to be prosperous and success- 
 ful, should have a librarian or manager possessed of the necessary 
 qualifications and training for his particular office and work. There 
 was a time when an ex -policeman, a soldier, or some one of equal 
 status, education, and training, was believed to be capable of dis- 
 charging the duties of a librarian ; but, fortunately for readers 
 and libraries, that time has gone by. 
 
 There are still many people who are unable to understand 
 what the duties of a librarian are beyond reading the books at his 
 command and seeing that they are not stolen. Both of these are 
 obviously important duties; and though the. first may be con- 
 
8 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION SERIES. 
 
 sidered optional, good and forcible reasons might be advanced in 
 favour of making it compulsory, notwithstanding the oft-quoted 
 dictum of the late Mark Pattison to the contrary. 
 
 A little reflection as to what ought to be the aim and purpose 
 of a city or town library will enable us to arrive at a definite 
 opinion as to what should be the qualifications and attainments 
 of its managing librarian. 
 
 The main object of public libraries is to promote education and 
 literary and scientific inquiry, by placing within reach of the com- 
 munity at large those books which, by reason of their scarcity, or 
 costliness, would not be otherwise available, and such other books 
 as are useful for the purpose of general education and recrea- 
 tion. 
 
 Such a library, if efficiently conducted, becomes an educational 
 centre a place of study for the man of literature and the man of 
 science. How the embryo library will develop, and what other 
 educational work may be taken conjointly with that of supplying 
 books, will in a great measure depend upon the activity and ability 
 of the principal librarian. 
 
 Above all things he ought to be a lover of books a lover of 
 them for the sake of their contents, and a lover anxious to see 
 them housed, clothed, and cared for in a fit and proper 
 manner. 
 
 The more a librarian reads, and the more varied his reading, 
 the better able he will be to advise others seeking to know the best 
 books for their purpose. It is no less clear that the man who has 
 been trained in some large public library is better qualified for 
 the duties of a managing librarian than the man who has not had 
 such a training. The trained librarian has acquired much of that 
 bibliographical knowledge which is valuable in all libraries alike ; 
 also a knowledge of the best and most useful books of special and 
 general reference ; of prices and editions, and of authors, publishers, 
 and second-hand book dealers. He has learned how to catalogue 
 scientifically, whether on the dictionary plan, the catalogue rai- 
 sonnee, or some other plan of recognised merit, and has acquired 
 in the performance of such work an amount of general and special 
 knowledge such as he could not hope to obtain in any other way ; 
 and, if he has not already done so, will desire to learn something 
 of several of the great literary languages, without which he cannot 
 do more than stand at the entrance to the field of literature and 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS. 9 
 
 then be compelled to turn away without tasting of its pleasures. 
 He has learned something of book-classification, of shelving and 
 book-arrangement, of book-binding, and the durability of various 
 leathers and cloths. He has acquired experience in dealing with 
 maps, drawings, newspapers, specifications of patents, parliament- 
 ary papers ; besides much useful information about magazines 
 and periodicals, and of the transactions and proceedings of British 
 and foreign learned societies. He has also learned something of 
 book-registering, and other matters connected with the working 
 of lending libraries, and, moreover, he has seen much of the 
 reading public, and no doubt has had his moral education greatly 
 improved through the certain application of many tests of patience 
 and forbearance. 
 
 After a course of training in such a school, a man promoted to 
 form and manage a public library would advise and act with con- 
 fidence, prudence, and decision : his knowledge and experience 
 enabling him to do so without fear of failure. While much of the 
 administrative and practical side of a librarian's character may be 
 due to his training in a public library, there are several natural 
 traits of character which are no less important, and which it. is very 
 desirable that he should possess. I have already alluded to an 
 innate love of books, but in an institution which aims at drawing 
 within its doors the uneducated, a librarian with a brusque 
 and self-important manner will be found a great hindrance to its 
 popularity and usefulness. It is, therefore, no less essential that 
 he should be courteous, affable, and ready to help in the elucidation 
 of the various and often peculiar questions which engage the atten- 
 tion of readers. It is not enough that he should wait to be 
 approached by readers, for the poor and uneducated are diffident, but 
 should by a smile or inviting word induce them to use him as a 
 species of walking dictionary or encyclopaedia. It is true that some 
 readers are apt to repel invited confidences as to their investiga- 
 tions ; but these form a decided minority. In the thanks and 
 smiles of the great majority whose time has been saved and know- 
 ledge extended, the librarian will receive an ample reward as well 
 as every encouragement to continue by such means to make him- 
 self and the library as popular and useful as possible. The 
 advantage accruing to a library and its readers from the possession 
 of a librarian of the character and attainments here indicated is 
 self-evident ; and yet it is not a fancy sketch of an ideal librarian, 
 
10 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION SERIES. 
 
 but a fairly accurate description of many young men in public 
 libraries who are available for promotion and are ambitious to 
 find greater scope for their energies and talents. 
 
 THE SuB-LlBEAEIAN. 
 
 The librarian of a modern free library is compelled to devote 
 so much of his time to committee business, tradesmen and their 
 accounts, book-buying, and visitors, that he is unable to give 
 much time to readers and their wants ; therefore this important, 
 occasionally troublesome, but always interesting work, with the 
 direction of the junior staff, and the general order and superin- 
 tendence of the library falls largely on the sub- or deputy-librarian. 
 The appointment of an adult assistant who shall be capable of 
 acting as an efficient locum tenens during the absence of the prin- 
 cipal librarian is a necessity in even the smaller libraries. In 
 the selection and appointment of such a person there is wisdom 
 in giving the principal librarian a voice, as it has a disciplinary 
 effect, and will almost certainly operate in securing a person 
 possessed of the proper capacity for efficiently performing the 
 duties of a librarian, whose manners and temperament will 
 not easily create friction with self-assertive readers. In the 
 case of this appointment, even perhaps more than in that of 
 the principal, it will be most advantageous if the applicant has 
 had a previous training in the work and management of some 
 library of like character. Library work includes many details, 
 and the services of a new man will be of value in proportion to 
 his proficiency in the technical details. This is so rational a 
 view to take of a matter of this kind that it appears almost in- 
 explicable that committees, having at heart the efficiency and 
 welfare of the libraries which they are called upon to establish or 
 to preside over, should ever seek to appoint more or less inex- 
 perienced officers instead of such as could immediately bring 
 to bear upon their duties the mature experience acquired in 
 some large public library. 
 
 ASSISTANTS. 
 
 The limited incomes at the disposal of most library committees 
 compel them to adopt the most economical methods of manage- 
 
PUBLIC LIBRAE Y STAFFS. 11 
 
 ment, and the apprenticeship of youths and employment of females 
 in libraries is largely due to straitened circumstances and the 
 economical spirit arising therefrom. Apart, however, from this 
 reason for their employment, there is much to be said in favour of 
 their services. The temptation to employ youths is strongest in 
 the smaller libraries for the financial reason already stated. As 
 there are a greater number of small than large and wealthy libraries, 
 it follows that very soon (if it is not the case already) there will 
 be a greater number of poorly paid library assistants than can be 
 regarded with complacency. And, moreover, as in the competition 
 for appointment to new libraries it is natural that the young 
 men who have been trained and educated in the larger libraries, 
 where a wider experience and a better bibliographical knowledge 
 have been acquired, will be preferred to their brethren whose 
 opportunities have been less favourable ; it becomes tolerably clear 
 that the advancement of the latter will be slow and uncertain. 
 
 The question of apprentices is one of much interest. The con- 
 scientious librarian cannot help accepting considerable responsi- 
 bility for the future of the youths under him, who are just on the 
 threshold of life ; to his example, his teaching, and his influence 
 they will in all probability be indebted for at least the first steps 
 towards a successful career. His help and supervision in the work 
 of self -education, and his insistence on it when there are signs of 
 flagging industry, ought not to fail, and no effort should be spared 
 to produce and foster a feeling of mutual trust and confidence. 
 In no other way, it is believed, will a surer esprit de corps be 
 achieved and true harmony and unity of working secured among 
 assistants than by the apprentice system ; more particularly if the 
 principal views himself as a parent among his staff and they feel 
 that their comfort and prosperity will always be regarded by 
 him as of primary importance. 
 
 What is generally understood as the apprentice system is an 
 arrangement (without indentures) between the parents of a youth 
 and the librarian on the part of the committee to secure the boy's 
 service for a period of five years on a small, progressive salary. 
 Where boys are largely employed as attendants on the readers, as 
 at Liverpool, the selection from among their number of a bright 
 and intelligent one to enter into such an arrangement is not diffi- 
 cult, and so far the apprentices there have done tolerably well in 
 after life. There ought to be an understanding that the parents 
 
12 LIBBARY ASSOCIATION SEKIES. 
 
 on their part shall see that the boy's education is improved by at- 
 tending classes for the study of say Latin, French, or German, or 
 for English Grammar or Composition, while the librarian on his 
 part shall undertake to see that during the boy's apprenticeship 
 he has every opportunity of learning what will make him an effi- 
 cient librarian. How this will be accomplished will depend on the 
 thoroughness of the librarian himself and on the resources of the 
 library. The cataloguing-room of one of the larger libraries will 
 be his best school in the important but slowly acquired knowledge 
 of bibliography. Here he will be early put to collate the books 
 purchased, to compare the prices of books sent to the librarian on 
 approval or marked for purchase in the catalogues of book-dealers, 
 with the prices quoted inLowndes, Quaritch,Lorenz, Heynsius, and 
 other bibliographical works ; here he would learn to classify the 
 books and mark their sizes by the help of fold and book-scale. In 
 cataloguing work he will be taught to seek guidance, when writing 
 out his entries under author, subject, or title, from Cutter's rules, 
 those of the British Museum, Bodleian Library, and of the Library 
 Association, and to use as companions the various standard dic- 
 tionaries, bibliographical works, and books of literary and scientific 
 reference, with which the cataloguing departments of the larger 
 libraries are so liberally provided, while at the same time he 
 obtains the benefit of having his work supervised and corrected by 
 a cataloguer of experience. He will be called upon to take an active 
 part in the more general work of the library, and by so doing gain that 
 administrative experience which will enable him, when so required, 
 to act on his own responsibility with confidence. It is not necessary 
 to enter further into the details of library work as they affect the 
 education of apprentices. Sufficient, I think, has been said to show 
 that, given a youth of good average abilities trained in a library 
 school of the character described, the result can scarcely fail to be 
 satisfactory. Suppose it were asked : Would it not be better when 
 one is wanted to seek in the open market for an assistant librarian 
 who had acquired the necessary training and qualifications in 
 some library of reputation, and under the guidance of some other 
 librarian ? In certain cases perhaps it would ; but when a vacancy 
 occurs in a library and the juniors, assuming they are qualified, do not 
 receive promotion, a justifiable feeling of resentment among them 
 will almost be sure to follow, succeeded by more or less apathy in the 
 after discharge of their duties. The new comer will be regarded as 
 
PUBLIC LIBBABY STAFFS. 13- 
 
 an interloper, and the principal as indifferent to the advancement 
 and prosperity of those who serve under him. It should not be over- 
 looked that a better salary than need be paid to a promoted junior, 
 would have to be offered in order to induce a young man to come 
 from another town and leave his home to go into rooms. Moreover, 
 the promoted junior possesses one advantage a stranger can never 
 have namely, an intimate knowledge of what books the library 
 does or does not possess. It is largely this acquaintance with the 
 books, together with other minor details, which makes it often very 
 advantageous to take one of the elder and smarter boys to train up 
 as a future librarian. He is as useful, to begin with, in many ways 
 as an adult, while possessing what must not be despised a feeling 
 of attachment to the library and its arrangements. 
 
 During recent years women have obtained for themselves in 
 this country a recognised place among library assistants, and, in 
 a few of the smaller public libraries, hold the position of princi- 
 pal librarian. In America several have made for themselves a de- 
 served reputation for energy and ability in management ; and if any 
 one were to ask : Why not in England also ? a logical and conclusive 
 answer might not be readily forthcoming. In Manchester, Brad- 
 ford, and recently in Liverpool, women have shown that they can 
 perform many of the duties in a library, particularly in the lendiDg 
 department, with considerable success. In cataloguing they should 
 have a future, for it is a work for which they would seem to be 
 particularly fitted mentally and physically, and which would be 
 most congenial to women of good education. If a young woman 
 on her appointment to a library could bring herself to put all 
 thoughts of marriage in the background, and to regard the 
 winning of her own bread as her first and permanent object, 
 probably greater seriousness and studiousness would acquire 
 for her an honourable reputation in librarianship. Whether 
 the whole of the work falling on the principal librarian of 
 a large library could or could not be efficiently performed by a 
 woman it is not necessary to discuss here. This, as in other ques- 
 tions where the sexes are concerned, is not so much one of mental 
 ability as of other considerations which make it seem expedient 
 in certain appointments and positions to employ a man in pre- 
 ference to a woman. 
 
 The employment of boy attendants in libraries though largely 
 the outcome of economy is not entirely due to this cause. The 
 
14 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION SERIES. 
 
 duties they have to discharge, though necessary and important, 
 are so light, simple, and within the ability of a boy of average 
 intellect, that to employ adults to perform them seems like a waste 
 of power and energy. The principal work the boys have to perform 
 is to obtain and replace the books required by readers. As boys 
 have plastic memories, they very speedily learn by heart the classes 
 &nd numbers of the more important and popular books in the li- 
 brary. This in itself is a great advantage to the readers. The charges 
 made against boys of carelessness, and dilatoriness in finding the 
 books, are in most cases unfounded or exaggerated. With some 
 readers any delay, however justifiable, by reason of the number of 
 books wanted and their scattered location in the library, gives rise 
 to expressions of impatience and unreasonable charges of negli- 
 gence against the boys charges they would probably be more chary 
 of bringing against an adult, but bring against boys, I suppose, 
 largely on the principle that a boy ought to have his ears boxed 
 whenever you meet him, because if he has not just perpetrated 
 -some piece of mischief he very soon will. 
 
 For the amount of wages which would have to be paid to one 
 man, the services of four boys could be obtained, who, by their 
 nimbleriess and activity, would attend to the readers with far 
 .greater despatch than an equal number of adults. A boy will 
 dust, paste, and perform many other minor offices in a library 
 with less reluctance and disposition to question than a man. It 
 must not be assumed, however, that boys may be left to follow 
 their own wills and inclinations, and do not require to be superin- 
 tended. The presence of the sub-librarian or a senior assistant is 
 obviously necessary, alike in the interests of readers and of the 
 management ; an assistant who has gained the boys' respect 
 will succeed in getting from them a wonderful amount of useful 
 and intelligent work. It is worth noting too that a dilatory or 
 negligent boy may be discharged with far less thought as to the 
 consequences to his future than if he were an adult ; for there is 
 every chance that a boy dismissed from a library will speedily find 
 -another situation, probably better suited to his taste and capacity. 
 
 In the larger libraries porters or janitors must form part of 
 the staff. Where several hundred persons are frequently gathered 
 together in a reading-room, a man in uniform is desirable to in- 
 sure quietness and the due observance of the regulations. It has 
 been found that the employment of commissionaires as janitors 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS. 15 
 
 has worked well. The men as a body are smart and commanding 
 in appearance, and punctilious in carrying out orders and seeing 
 rules and regulations observed. Their employment has its econo- 
 mical side, as the corps provides a neat uniform and supplies a 
 substitute in case the man on regular duty is ill or other- 
 wise incapacitated. Their employment brings also with it a money 
 guarantee in case of dishonesty, and obviates any necessity for 
 a sick or death allowance by their employers : the corps being in 
 the nature of a friendly society. 
 
 It has been found very profitable from time to time, when the 
 arrangements of the libraries will admit of it, to bring the staff 
 together, wholly or in part, for the purpose of discussing some 
 contemplated change in the working of the library, or to hear a 
 paper read by one of its members on some subject of common in- 
 terest. Occasional gatherings of a more social and pleasurable 
 character, whenever such can be arranged, promote harmony and 
 good feeling, and through them the prosperity and success of the 
 libraries. 
 
 The position which free libraries hold among the democratic 
 educational institutions of the day makes it all the more necessary 
 that those whose duties place them in daily and hourly contact 
 with the reading public should be duly impressed with the responsi- 
 bility of their position, and that they should possess those qualifi- 
 cations which are best calculated to place their respective libraries 
 in touch with the artizan class in particular. Such librarians will 
 soon possess the happy consciousness of taking part in a great 
 educational work, and of contributing to the pleasures and enjoy- 
 ment found by a large and constantly increasing number in the 
 reading of the literature provided in the public library. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 In the previous chapter I have endeavoured to point out how 
 and in what way the objects and aims of free public libraries 
 can be best attained, and what should be the character of 
 those who are directly responsible for their working and 
 management, in order to achieve the good results so ardently 
 desired by the promoters of these popular institutions. In 
 the present chapter my purpose will be rather to direct 
 attention to administrative matters as affecting the staff of a 
 library, and to supply a variety of statistical information which 
 it is hoped may prove of use to the many friends of free libraries 
 who desire their extension. Thanks to the kind assistance of 
 various librarians I have been able to gather a considerable 
 body of facts and figures, the story of which I shall endeavour 
 to tell as clearly and pointedly as possible in the next few pages. 
 One lesson very apparent and easy to deduce from this statistical 
 matter is the amount of individuality as to details that obtains 
 in the working of public libraries. 
 
 To many, the arrangements and management of a public 
 reference or lending library are simple matters, and not 
 calculated to demand any great amount of administrative ability ; 
 but where a librarian possesses decided ability and individuality 
 he often makes it evident that there are more ways than one of 
 arriving with a fair measure of success at the same result. To 
 cast the internal arrangements and working of all libraries 
 into a common mould, even if it were possible, would be a 
 mistake, seeing that so much is gained from an honourable rivalry 
 among librarians as to the best methods to be adopted in order to 
 attain the greatest efficiency. In one particular, however, I con- 
 sider this rivalry to be greatly at fault : namely, in the matter 
 of statistics, the making up of which seems oftentimes to betoken 
 excessive zeal, and a sanguine temperament. But of this I shall 
 have more to say further on. 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS. 17 
 
 NUMBEK OF STAFF. 
 
 It might be thought that the number of employees required 
 for a given reference or lending library might be accurately deduced 
 from the number of volumes annually issued, and the total number 
 of readers entitled to borrow books ; but a little reflection will show 
 that there are other factors to be taken into account besides bor- 
 rowers and volumes issued. One of these factors, and by no means 
 the least, is building construction. A well planned library with 
 its various reading and service rooms on one floor, and so arranged 
 that its reference, lending, and newsroom departments, can be 
 worked and superintended from a central position, can obviously be 
 managed with a smaller staff than a library where these depart- 
 ments are inconveniently placed in regard to one another, or worse 
 still on two or more floors. The compact storage and good 
 arrangement of the books are other important factors, and so is 
 the system adopted for registering issues from the lending de- 
 partment. Then follow the business hours, number of vol- 
 umes, and the area they cover, and last, and perhaps the most 
 important factor of all, the personal ability and activity of 
 the assistants. The relative merits of registering or charging 
 systems of books lent for home reading is another subject of no 
 little importance in connection with the work of a library. An 
 expeditious system, and safe withal, has a direct bearing upon 
 the time and labour of the staff, and ought to receive care- 
 ful consideration at the hands of all library managers. It is 
 obvious then from the foregoing list of modifying causes, how 
 difficult it would be to lay down a rule as to the number of 
 assistants necessary for the work of any given library. 
 
 The principal lending library at Birmingham in 1891 issued 
 260,596 volumes, and the staff consisted of four adults (one a 
 woman) and five youths ; the East Branch Library at Liverpool 
 issued in the same year 151,320 volumes with a staff of three 
 adults (two of them women) and three boys ; and the Deansgate 
 Branch Library at Manchester issued 125,601 volumes with a 
 staff of eight women and girls. These figures do not enable us 
 to come to any conclusion or form any opinion as to whether any 
 or all of these staffs are over-worked or under-worked. As a 
 matter of fact the arrangements of all these libraries differ, and the 
 systems of registering the issues are also different. At Birmingham 
 
18 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION SERIES. 
 
 there is a combination of the indicator and day-book system; at 
 Liverpool a card system, the invention of the writer; and at 
 Manchester the day-book system : consequently the amount of 
 writing and trouble involved in the issue of any particular book 
 varies at each of these libraries. 
 
 LIBRABY STATISTICS. 
 
 Touching the question of library statistics to which I have 
 already referred, I would say to any one disposed to make 
 comparisons between one library and another, based on the 
 figures given in annual reports, that it is by no means easy to draw 
 fair and trustworthy comparisons, owing to the absence of any 
 method of making up statistics common to all libraries. Taking 
 the three libraries before mentioned : at the Birmingham Library 
 there are 11,147 constituted borrowers ; at the Manchester 
 Library, 8,243 ; and at the Liverpool Library, 4,358. Now, 
 taking as a basis of computation the readers and issues at the 
 Liverpool Library, Manchester with say 8,000 readers ought to 
 issue 304,000 volumes; and Birmingham, with 11,000 readers, 
 418,000 volumes. But here this anomaly comes in all these 
 libraries differ as to the time they allow a reader's borrowing 
 ticket to continue in use before it is called in to be renewed, 
 the neglect of such a recall causing the ticket to lapse, and the 
 owner to forfeit his privileges as a borrower. 
 
 In regard to the issue of books : in some libraries the more 
 important reviews and magazines are issued and counted as 
 volumes along with the issues of ordinary books, while in 
 others they are reckoned and tabulated separately. In few, 
 if any, reading rooms where newspapers are provided and 
 the magazines lie on the tables, or are otherwise placed at 
 the discretion of the readers, is there anything more done for 
 statistical purposes than to make an occasional or periodical 
 count of the readers and issues of this class of literature, and on 
 these counts to compute the total issues for the year. It requires 
 very little consideration to see how easy it would be to err on 
 the side of excess in calculating the year's issues, and how readily 
 an enthusiastic assistant might be tempted to consider it more 
 venial to magnify rather than to minimise the work of a year. 
 As perhaps the custom of no two libraries is alike in making these 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS. 19 
 
 counts, it is clear that local statistics and customs must in all 
 cases be ascertained and considered before a fair comparison can 
 be made between one library and another, or a deduction drawn 
 serviceable for guidance in connection with any library about to 
 be established. 
 
 HOURS. 
 
 It would appear, from the statistical information kindly 
 furnished by many libraries, that in the larger ones throughout 
 the country the working hours average from 47 per week at 
 Leeds and Liverpool to 49 f per week at Birmingham. In 
 Manchester, however, the average is a little over 50 hours per 
 week. In smaller, but important libraries the average is 
 apparently higher. At Bermondsey (London) it is 52 hours 
 per week, Sheffield 51, Wigan 50, Derby 50, Bradford 49, and 
 Cardiff 48J. It may be accepted that from 8 to 9 hours a 
 day is quite sufficient service for the staff of any popular Library, 
 as towards the later hours of the day, and particularly in the 
 evening after the gas has been lighted, the air of the public rooms 
 becomes vitiated in even those which are supplied with good 
 means of ventilation. 
 
 It is a matter of no slight difficulty to provide an adequate 
 artificial reading light, maintain a temperature satisfactory to 
 elderly readers, and at the same time prevent the atmosphere 
 of any well attended reading room, after being open from nine 
 or ten o'clock in the morning, from becoming towards evening 
 prejudicial to the health of readers and staff, and I may also say to 
 the bindings of books. The electric light is undoubtedly the best 
 means of lighting a library, as it has none of the objectionable 
 features inseparable from the use of gas. Where, however, 
 ventilating shafts are placed in direct connection with Argand 
 or other gas lamps, the result has been proved to be eminently 
 satisfactory, and a comparatively cool and healthy atmosphere 
 preserved. I would here mention in passing, that after many 
 years' experience of the electric light in a public library, and 
 after conducting some experimental tests, I see no reason to 
 give credit to the statements as to the injurious effects of the 
 light upon the colours of leather and cloth, bindings. 
 
20 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION SERIES. 
 
 SALAEIES AND WAGES. 
 
 In noting the salaries and wages paid in various public 
 libraries, the most potent factor in their regulation is un- 
 doubtedly the income at the disposal of the respective committees. 
 Locality is not without some influence, while the character and 
 ability of the members of the staff must always exercise an 
 important influence. Many free libraries are hampered and 
 even crippled in their work and staff through building debts, 
 while others very similar in size, in income from the penny 
 rate, and in other ways, are relieved from this incubus through 
 the generosity of some local benefactor who has provided the 
 library buildings. Others 1 again are in the happy position of 
 having more than the penny rate at their disposal, and can there- 
 fore afford to employ a larger staff, to pay them adequate salaries, 
 and to attract a greater attendance of readers by purchasing 
 liberally the latest and best books, reviews, magazines, and news- 
 papers ; thus making themselves the centres of more extended 
 work and greater usefulness than their less fortunate neighbours. 
 
 As hardly any two public libraries correspond exactly in 
 income, the time they have been established, the number of 
 institutions affiliated, and the educational work carried on in 
 connection with them (such as museums, art galleries, lending 
 branches, reading rooms, science classes, and lecture work) ; 
 so no two managing librarians have, it may be said, wholly corre- 
 sponding duties ; consequently salaries differ very considerably, 
 and not always with that difference favourably corresponding 
 with the number and importance of duties and responsibilities. 
 
 Some librarians combine the office of curator of a museum 
 or art gallery, and some the secretaryship of science classes, 
 
 1 The following cities and towns possess powers under Local Improve- 
 ment Acts which enable them to exceed the penny in the pound rating 
 permitted by the Public Libraries Act. Birmingham, Oldham, and 
 St. Helen's are unrestricted in their rating powers. Nottingham levies a 
 penny rate for their central Library, another penny for the Art Museum, 
 and receives from the Town Council out of the profits of their gas and 
 water undertakings, an amount for Lending Libraries and Reading Rooms 
 equal to a half-penny rate, making a total of 2^d. in the . Manchester, 
 Leicester, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Swansea, and Wigan, have power to 
 levy a rate of 2d. in the X, and Preston, Warrington and South port l|d. 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS. 21 
 
 The Public Library of Leeds has as many as twenty-six branch 
 libraries and reading rooms, while in Glasgow there is not even 
 one connected with the Mitchell Free Library. In this and other 
 ways the work and responsibilities of the librarians of Man- 
 chester, Birmingham, and Liverpool, differ one from the other, 
 and this difference extends to their deputies. Hence any state- 
 ment of the salaries paid to librarians would not serve any very 
 useful purpose, without a knowledge of the circumstances of the 
 various libraries, and the duties devolving on their respective 
 librarians. 
 
 The deputy librarian at Manchester receives 230 a year, and 
 as he is the principal cataloguer, his time is almost entirely de- 
 voted to this work. In Liverpool the deputy librarian has 200 a 
 year, but he acts as superintendent of the Picton reading room 
 or new extension of the Reference Library. In Birmingham the 
 duties of the deputy librarian who has 180 a year, differ in 
 many respects from both of the preceding ones. In the smaller 
 Public Libraries the salary paid to the senior assistant or deputy 
 librarian varies from 80 to 130 a year, the difference in 
 remuneration being due to the causes which usually operate in 
 cases of wages between employer and employed : ability to pay on 
 the one side, and age, length of service, duties, and efficiency on the 
 other. When it is known that the librarian of no free library 1 
 except that of the Guildhall, in the City of London, which in the 
 source of its income, and in other respects, differs from the free 
 libraries of other cities and towns has more than 500 a year, and 
 that only three public librarians receive more than 400, it is evident 
 that bibliography and the multifarious duties of a public librarian 
 are not as yet very highly estimated. With respect to the wages 
 of assistants subordinate to those already mentioned, it is hardly 
 necessary to refer. The custom of apprenticeship which has been 
 in operation for many years at Liverpool, and is favoured in some 
 other libraries, is found to work with considerable advantage. 
 Out of the large staff of boys employed there as attendants on 
 the readers, one is always found, when a vacancy occurs in the 
 senior staff, whose good conduct, smartness, and intelligence, 
 have separated him from his fellows, and marked him out as 
 
 ir The British Museum Library is altogether so distinct in all that 
 appertains to its staff, that it has not been deemed necessary to allude to it. 
 
22 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION SERIES. 
 
 deserving of being taken as an apprentice, and trained during a 
 term of five years in the more responsible duties of a librarian. 
 
 The rule has been to give the youth 10s. per week to begin 
 with, and increase his wages by yearly increments to 25s. a week. 
 In most cases the young men after the period of their training 
 and probation, manage before very long to secure advancement 
 either in their own library or obtain appointments elsewhere. 
 
 In Manchester several of the branch libraries are in charge 
 of women, who receive from 65 to 80 per annum, and these 
 amounts seem to represent the maximum remuneration paid to 
 female managing librarians in this country at the present time. 
 In one library, which, however, is not under the Public Libraries' 
 Act, the principal librarian, a lady, receives a salary of 100 
 a year. At Manchester, Liverpool, Bradford, and some other 
 libraries, as assistants young women receive from 10s. to 20s. a 
 week, according to ability and seniority. 
 
 The wages of boys employed in libraries range from 5s. to 7s. 
 a week. The great difficulty attending their employment is 
 their constant coming and going. The librarian trains them 
 carefully in their simple duties, and then when they have become 
 useful they find other situations for themselves, and leave him to 
 begin de novo with other boys. Seeing, however, that he cannot 
 secure promotion for them as fast as they grow up, this con- 
 stant change is inevitable, and may as well be endured with 
 equanimity. It is owing to this that some libraries have resorted 
 to a sort of compromise in the employment of young women, 
 hoping thus to secure longer service, and steadier and more 
 thoughtful work and conduct, while only paying some 50 per 
 cent, more in wages. 
 
 In most of the larger libraries one or more janitors or porters 
 are employed. At Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield, Derby, 
 and Edinburgh, the head porter also acts as keeper, and lives on 
 the premises. Besides the rooms, coals, gas, etc., allowed, 
 the wages paid at these libraries are 100 a year at Liver- 
 pool ; 30s. per week at Birmingham, Sheffield, and Derby ; and 
 27s. a week at Edinburgh. At Manchester, Bradford, and 
 many other places, no residence for the head porter is provided. 
 The weekly wages paid at the two libraries just named is 34s. 
 and 22s. per week respectively. Leeds is very exceptional, for it 
 appears to be able to do without porters altogether. At Wigan a 
 
PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS. 23 
 
 man and his wife are provided with rooms, and receive jointly 
 35s. per week, with 2s. 6d. a week extra for assistance in'cleaning. 
 In this case the man is only required to be in attendance during 
 the evenings. At Cardiff, besides residence, coals, etc., the 
 porter or caretaker has 25s. per week, and 9s. a week extra for 
 cleaning assistance. In many libraries, particularly in and near 
 London, the librarian himself has a house or rooms adjoining the 
 library, and so is in charge of the institution both day and 
 night. At Liverpool, St. Martin's and Clerkenwell, commis- 
 sionaires are employed as porters or janitors. I have already 
 referred (page 15) to some of the advantages attending the 
 employment of these men, who, in most cases, are highly deserv- 
 ing, and certainly merit a trial in places where their services 
 are obtainable. It may be observed in regard to porters and 
 caretakers that it is not easy to present a simple and clear state- 
 ment of wages paid them owing to the variety in time and duties, 
 and the size of the libraries to which they belong. 
 
 f 
 SUNDAY DUTY. 
 
 Through the active propagandism of the Sunday Society, 
 supported by many persons unconnected with it, who from 
 philanthropic motives are favourable to the public reading rooms 
 of our cities and towns being thrown open on Sundays, a 
 large number of these institutions are now open on this day, 
 usually from 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon to 8 or 9 in the 
 evening. At the present time the following cities and towns, 
 including ten districts of London, open their libraries on Sun- 
 day : Birmingham, Bradford, Darlington, Dublin, Gateshead, 
 Leamington, Leicester, London (Battersea, Bermondsey, Camber- 
 well, Chelsea, Clerkenwell, Fulham, Hammersmith, Hampstead, 
 Kensington, Lambeth), Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle- 
 upon-Tyne, Oldham, Norwich, Northampton, Eochdale, St. 
 Helens, Salford, Sheffield, Stockport, Stockton, Wigan. In 
 Birkenhead, Chester, Coventry, Keswick, Maidstone, Oxford, 
 Sunderland, Stoke-on-Trent, Worcester, and Workington the 
 opening of libraries on Sunday has been tried, but the experi- 
 ment, for various reasons, has resulted in failure, and the libraries 
 have accordingly been closed on that day. It may be noted that 
 Sunday duty is not generally paid for as extra work but simply as 
 
24 LIBRARY ASSOCIATION SEEIES. 
 
 ordinary, most library assistants being now engaged on the under- 
 standing "that their duties may include Sunday service. This is 
 scarcely fair or reasonable. In many cases a time allowance is 
 granted on some week-day in lieu of Sunday ; but this can hardly 
 be regarded as a full equivalent for the quiet rest and home and 
 family enjoyment of Sunday. 
 
 An idea long prevailed that the duties of a public librarian 
 were of a very elementary character, easy to perform, and re- 
 quired little education and small mental capacity. This idea 
 has, fortunately for the public and for libraries, given place to 
 a truer and more generous estimate. 
 
 In the previous chapter, I have endeavoured to give a sketch 
 of the qualifications necessary to a librarian if the library under 
 his charge is to prove equal to the expectations of usefulness 
 entertained of it. The choice of a librarian of adequate experience 
 and knowledge is often attended with difficulty. Testimonials are, 
 for the most part, of a vague and general kind the outcome of a 
 kindly desire to render a service to some more or less known 
 applicant and are seldom so precise and analytical as to attain- 
 ments and character as to be of real use to those who are 
 responsible for making an important appointment. Though Com- 
 mittees often succeed in choosing a good man out of the few 
 selected candidates usually invited to an interview, it by no 
 means follows that the best man is uniformly chosen at such 
 times, be the intention ever so good, but rather the man of self- 
 confidence, ready tongue, and good appearance and address. The 
 deeper and more solid qualities of an applicant cannot be dis- 
 covered and gauged by means of the few and often irrelevant 
 questions asked by one or other members of such a Committee 
 seated in conclave, and often quite wearied of the task in hand. 
 
 With the object of supplying Committees with sure and 
 certain proof that the requisite knowledge is possessed by a 
 candidate, the Library Association has instituted an examination 
 in general knowledge as well as in its own special field of library 
 science. Accordingly, the holder of the Association Certificate 
 will come before any Committee having an appointment to make 
 with good and sufficient credentials that he possesses, at least, 
 a certain satisfactory minimum of knowledge and attainments 
 qualifying him for a library appointment. The general recogni- 
 tion of this examination by Committees would often simplify and 
 
PUBLIC LIBBAKY STAFFS. 25 
 
 lighten their task when required to fill up a vacancy in their 
 senior staff, while it would tend to raise the character and status 
 of librarians, and what is most important of all, prevent the 
 management of free libraries falling into the hands of incompetent 
 persons. 
 
 Free libraries are now among the recognised educational 
 institutions of our time. And although every city and town has 
 not yet established its public library, sooner or later it will, 
 together, no doubt, with keener appreciation of its value and 
 usefulness to make amends for previous indifference and omission 
 of public duty. The spread of education by means of our ele- 
 mentary school system, technical classes, university extension 
 lectures, and colleges for higKer education must make the public 
 library an important auxiliary and adjunct. Hence the necessity 
 that Committees should be fully alive to the importance of placing 
 in charge of the public library those who are capable of helping 
 the young, the scientific investigator, and the general student to a 
 knowledge of the best text-books, and to those sources of informa- 
 tion which only become known to those who may be said to live 
 among books and are daily and hourly unlocking some little 
 known or forgotten literary treasure house. 
 
THE 
 
 Library AssociationoftlieUnited Kingdom 
 
 Messrs. SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., Limited, 
 
 are the Publishers of the Association, and to that firm all orders should 
 
 be addressed. 
 
 The Publications now on sale are as follows : 
 
 Transactions : International Conference, London, 1877, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Do. First Annual Meeting, Oxford, 1878, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Do. Second do. do., Manchester, 1879, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Do. Third do. do., Edinburgh, 1880, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Do. Fourth do. do., London, 1881,1 
 
 Do. Fifth do. do., Cambridge, 1882, / in ie voL> 21s ' 
 
 Do. Sixth do. do., Liverpool, 1883, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Do. Seventh do. do., Dublin, 1884, 12s. 
 
 Proceedings: Eighth do. do., Plymouth, 1885, 4s. 
 
 [N.B. The Transactions and Proceedings were discontinued after the 
 
 Plymouth volume, and thereafter the Papers and Eeports of Meetings 
 
 have been published in The Library Chronicle (1885-1888) and in 
 
 The Library from 1889 onwards.] 
 
 Monthly Notes. January, 1880, to December, 1883, 4 vols. (very scarce), complete 
 
 sets, 2 2s. A few odd volumes 6s. each, and loose numbers 6d. each. 
 The Library Chronicle. Edited by E. C. THOMAS. 1884-1888. 5 vols. 2 12s. 6d. 
 Do. A few odd volumes 8s. each, and loose numbers 8d. each. 
 
 The Library. Edited by J. Y. W. MACALISTEB. 1889-1892. Vols. I.-IV. (each) 10s. 6d. 
 Do. do. Monthly numbers(each)8d. 
 
 Do. do. Vol. V., 1893. Monthly 
 
 numbers (each) Is. 
 
 Public Library Manual. Edited by J. Y. W. MACALISTER and THOMAS MASON. 
 PART I. LIBRARY LEGISLATION (1855 to 1890), by H. W. FOVARGUE and J. J. 
 OGLE. Demy 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 The Library Association Series (la. 8vo). Edited by J. Y. W. MACALISTER. 
 
 No. 1. LIBRARY APPLIANCES, by JAMES D. BROWN, Is. 
 
 No. 2. PUBLIC LIBRARY LEGISLATION : being the Law relating to Public 
 Libraries and Technical Education, and all Statutes directly or indirectly 
 affecting Libraries, Museums, Art Galleries, etc., in England, Ireland, 
 and Scotland, by H. W. FOVARGUE, Town Clerk of Eastbourne, and J. 
 J. OGLE, Librarian of the Public Library, Bootle, 2s. 6d. 
 
 No. 3. PUBLIC LIBRARY STAFFS, by P. COWELL, 6d. 
 
 No. 4. GUIDE TO THE FORMATION OF A Music LIBRARY, by JAMES D. 
 BROWN, 6d. 
 
 The Library Association Year Book for 1893 (containing complete List of the 
 Public Libraries in the United Kingdom, Rules for Cataloguing, Syllabuses 
 of Examinations and Specimens of Questions, and full Particulars of the 
 L.A.U.K. and its work), Is. (Xearhj r<<<t<hj.) 
 
 Alt the Association's Publications are strictly net. 
 


 
 
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