1. A College Education or Its Equivalent
The business librarian, no matter how well educated, will never have a superabundance of knowledge for the prosecution of the task, for the ramifications of business subjects are innumerable and touch the sum total of human knowledge; and while no one person can be master of all subjects, yet a college education, and the mental training which it implies, should give not only a wider knowledge, but a power of adaptability and versatility in working with information, which constitute an indispensable asset in the prosecution of business library work.
The type of college graduate who makes the best business librarian is the one who is able to exercise a high degree of concentration, think clearly and quickly, analyze subjects, understand cause and effects, make logical deductions and wise discriminations, express ideas clearly and to the point, and be able to discuss intelligently the information which he passes along to the business man.
It is only just to state at this point that some college graduates do not measure up to the standards which have been indicated, and that there are many well-educated men and women without college degrees who do; every man or woman must be judged on the basis of individual merit. A business organization, however, can make no more serious mistake than to think it can put its library work into the hands of some one of limited education, who, although he knows the work of the particular business by long apprenticeship, has not the important requisite of a larger point of view which is the result of a broad education, no matter by what means obtained.
W. H. Cameron, when general manager of the National Safety Council, writing of library work as an aid to that organization, stated the facts exactly when he said: "The problem of the industry, the application of the library's information, the method of presentation and the utility of the service, all require trained minds."