Vertical Files

The floor space for the business library should not only provide for adequate shelving, but should allow for vertical files and their growth. The value of adequate vertical filing equipment can not be over-estimated, because so much of the working material in the business library must be kept in vertical files. It is essential that drawers move easily and quietly and do not get out of order, as this affords a great saving in labor as well as quick service for the busy man who wants the contents at his immediate disposal.

Plan No. 2 (700 square feet) has two windows at the end of the room but requires a different layout from Plan No. 1 because of the dimensions of the room.

The narrow width of the room makes it impossible to place all of the vertical files near the daylight. The layout is an exception to the general principle that book stacks should be placed at right angles to windows, because the room is too long and narrow to permit of any daylight penetrating the aisles between the stacks if so placed, and a more economical arrangement is effected by placing the book stacks at right angles to a wall.

Plan No. 3 (600 square feet) showing two small rooms at right angles opening into each other with three windows in each room.

The first room is used for the librarian's desk, vertical files, card catalog cabinet and one wall stack for reference books, while the second room is used for the book stacks which are set at right angles to the windows thereby giving ample daylight between the stacks without the necessity of artificial lighting. Wall stacks are also used where possible to complete the capacity of the room.

There are a large variety of makes of vertical files which are bewildering to the average purchaser in their rival claims for superiority. What the purchaser needs as a guide is not a long list of all the makes of filing cabinets on the market but a brief comment on the kinds of cases which are worth while and the reasons why they are satisfactory.

These four styles of unit vertical files in wood are the same height and depth and permit of additions by the removal of the ends. They are the most suitable kind of files for business library work.

In order to allow for growth, filing cabinets of the unit type only should be considered, as this type provides for expansion by the addition of new units, for flexibility, in that the units may be easily rearranged as new units are added, and for economy of space in that the greatest variety of drawers or files will occupy minimum floor space.

There are two kinds of unit filing cabinets, namely, the horizontal type in which cabinets are placed one on top of the other, with removable top, and the vertical type in which units are placed side by side, with detachable ends.

Excellent illustrations of the various useful combinations possible with both types may be found in the trade catalog of the Library Bureau, entitled "Unit Filing Cabinets in Wood."

The mechanical operation of all file drawers should be the best obtainable. Trays should be rigidly made and yet light enough to be easily handled. Vertical filing drawers should be mounted on roller bearing slides in order that they may run easily when loaded, for as one manufacturer states, "The efficiency of every card and filing system depends directly on the ease and precision of the mechanical operation."

If wood cabinets are selected, care should be taken that these are purchased from a manufacturer who will guarantee that the woods used are well seasoned and perfectly kiln-dried so that there will be no shrinking, swelling or warping. These are necessary qualifications which can not be assured when purchasing the lower priced cases on the market.

Double face unit wood shelving, 6 feet 10 inches high with adjustable shelves, 3 feet long and 8 inches wide. By courtesy of the Library Bureau.

Wood cases are preferable to steel for library use, not only because of the appearance, but also because they are less noisy. Steel cabinets, despite the rubber protectors or buffers which do not wear for any length of time, are noisy. The fire resisting qualities of steel are negligible as an argument for their use in the average business library.