Manual of Library Economy / Third and Memorial Edition

by James Duff Brown; W. C. Berwick Sayers

366. General.

366. General.—By a tradition now firmly implanted in the mind of the public, and nourished by journalists, the lending department is the most prominent feature of the public library. The average public criticism, favourable or otherwise, is almost invariably based upon lending library statistics. This is probably because the average person knows the library as a place from which he may “take out” books. In a treatise for librarians the inadequacy of this view need not be stressed, although, as in many matters connected with their calling, librarians are not unanimous as to the relative value of their departments, some exalting one or other at the expense of the rest. There are, however, clear principles which have a fairly general acceptation. The main one is that in libraries which are in fairly close proximity to much greater libraries, it is wise to place more emphasis on the lending than on the reference department. It would be an unjustifiable duplicating of expense for a library, for example, within a mile or two of the British Museum, to attempt the hopeless task of rivalling it in the provision of expensive reference works; while on the other hand it would be justified abundantly in providing the finest possible lending library. Even here dogmatism is to be avoided, because the habits of populations in what appear to be exactly similar localities may differ greatly. Where, for example, a city working population living in a large suburb returns rarely or not at all to the city in the evenings, there may be a real demand for a reference library. Only experience, which bears in mind the general principles stated, can resolve which policy it is best to follow.

On account of its prominence and the numerous opportunities for good work it affords, the lending library deserves the utmost care in its planning and administration, and the simplest and freest methods compatible with reasonable care for the safety of the books are the best. All the considerations we have described as to book-selection and weeding-out, etc., apply with particular force in this department; and a careful study should be made of the various methods of issue described in the next chapter before one is chosen, as a wrong choice may inflict much hardship on readers and later involve changes which will be most expensive; in fact, the converting of a lending library from one system to another is probably the most costly operation in which it can be involved. The staffing of the department requires just as much consideration as that of any other, and the all too frequent and often unavoidable practice of employing the youngest boys and girls at the charging counters or desks is much to be deprecated even when it cannot be altogether avoided.

367. Voucher Forms.

367. Voucher Forms.—There are all kinds of voucher forms in use in the municipal libraries of the United Kingdom, ranging in size from foolscap folio to post-card. These vouchers are the forms on which borrowers apply for tickets entitling them to use the library, and they are the basis of the necessary registration of borrowers which all libraries must perform. It is not needful to describe more than one form, because it is gradually being adopted, with variations to suit different localities, as the standard system of the country. The legal questions connected with the validity of certain forms of guarantee are also beyond the scope of this section, because judicial rulings have been obtained on all kinds of forms, and the only point requiring consideration, that of the amount of the guarantor’s liability, has already been discussed.

A form of voucher which can be used as a movable card (5 in. by 3 in.) is preferable to a large slip, which requires binding in volumes, or other special means of preservation; and the style of cards given in [Figs. 133]-[136] will be found satisfactory.

These voucher cards should be printed on a stout material, which may be of a different colour for each type of reader—burgess, non-burgess, student, etc.—and handed free to any person entitled to borrow books. When returned filled up, they are duly examined to ascertain if the applicant is duly qualified, and when this is done the card is filed, after it has been numbered from the number book, and the borrower’s card made out. The space in the top left-hand corner is to hold the borrower’s name, boldly written in as a catch-word for alphabetical arrangement. The No. . . . space at the top right-hand corner is for the borrower’s progressive number. The Date. . . space at the bottom left-hand corner is the date of application, which also becomes the date of expiry two years later. The Elector’s Roll. . . space at the bottom right-hand corner is for the number on the current electors’ roll. It is a useful thing to mark this roll with the numbers of the cards of any borrowers for whom a ratepayer may be guarantor, in all cases where a limit is put to the number whom one person may guarantee. There is generally plenty of marginal space for this purpose.

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LIBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARIES.