Manual of Library Economy / Third and Memorial Edition

by James Duff Brown; W. C. Berwick Sayers

79. Deputy-Librarian.—It may be affirmed that appointments to any senior position should be subject to the same principles, and to conditions similar to those governing the appointment of chief librarians. In small libraries the means at the disposal of the committee do not always permit of a salary sufficient to attract a diplomate of the Library Association, or a man similarly qualified, but no assistant who is inexperienced or is without the certificates of the Library Association should ever be appointed to the important position of Deputy-Librarian. The duties of the Deputy-Librarian comprise the whole administration of the library system under the chief librarian, the general supervision of every department, and the direction of the duties of the whole staff. He becomes acting-chief librarian in every absence of his principal, and should be qualified to assume this position both by his knowledge and his personality. It is therefore clear that his technical training must in general be as sound and catholic as that of his chief; and in addition to this quality, he should possess initiative, disciplinary powers, discretion, and loyalty to his chief and to the existing system. In detail his duties will vary according to the size of the system; and in small libraries he will be merely the superior assistant, taking part in every operation (except the merely mechanical ones, which may be performed by untrained juniors) of the library; in somewhat larger libraries he may arrange the hours and duties of the staff and superintend them, and check all cataloguing and classification. In the largest libraries his work is almost purely administrative.

The conditions of the appointment of a Deputy-Librarian are somewhat difficult to describe, owing to the divergences we have named. He usually, but not always, works similar hours to the remainder of the staff; has his own office, or, at any rate, private desk; and is usually invested with considerable authority. It should be the aim of the chief librarian to make this office a worthy one—and to see that only worthy persons occupy it. A good deputy gives tone to the whole staff, as he comes into more intimate contact with it than the chief librarian. The salaries paid to Deputy-Librarians are again matters which vary; they range from £100 to £300, and in a few places to much higher sums than this. [In the last edition it was laid down that the deputy should receive a maximum of not less than half of that of the chief; but we think any dogmatic statement of that kind objectionable, as being subject to numberless variations in various places.]

80. Superintendent of Branches.

80. Superintendent of Branches.—This librarian acts as a liaison officer between the chief librarian and the branch librarian in systems where there are many branch libraries. He must be qualified to assess the work of each library and to co-ordinate the whole branch system, to look over time-sheets, examine into the performance of the assistants, judge their capacity and training, advise as to the books required in particular localities, and, in general, make the units of the system smooth-working parts of a homogenous whole. It is probable that a capable superintendent is an economy of some consequence in a large system. Few libraries, however, with less than a dozen branches possess such an officer, his duties usually in other cases falling upon the chief or deputy librarians. The superintendent is subordinate to the deputy-librarian, and his salary is something more than that of a branch or departmental librarian.

81. Departmental Librarians.

81. Departmental Librarians.—Of recent years the tendency in library work has been towards specialization, and in most libraries of any size assistants are given more or less permanent charge of departments, and are usually called librarians-in-charge. The librarian of a branch library falls into this category although he may not occupy exactly the same level on the staff as the librarian-in-charge of the reference library; as, also, in libraries which have such departments, does the head of the cataloguing staff, the order division, etc. In the great libraries the librarian-in-charge of the reference department is easily the head of the grade we are discussing, as he must obviously be a person of considerable bibliographical acquirements in addition to being the possessor of a complete library training, and his work lies with inquirers, research workers, and similar readers who require skilled and sympathetic assistance. In the majority of libraries all librarians-in-charge are regarded as official equals. Their salaries are obviously governed by the wealth and work of the library concerned, but a rough calculation ranges them at from the inadequate minimum of £90 to about £250 or more, with many intermediate scales. The duties of a librarian-in-charge involve the responsibility of conducting the department according to the prevailing library policy, the arranging of the duties of the staff and the seeing that they are performed, the training of the staff, the maintenance of order in public rooms, and the exploiting of the department to the utmost in the interest of the public.

82. Library Councils.

82. Library Councils.—In some libraries the chief librarians have formed the deputy-librarian, the superintendent of branches and the librarians-in-charge into a committee which is variously named, but is commonly called by the large name of the Library Council, which meets weekly or monthly in the chief librarian’s office and discusses the current methods of the library system and the means whereby its activities may be improved and its influence extended. Such a council has necessarily only a consultative function, and all decisions it reaches are subject to the chief librarian. Regular agenda are often used and minutes kept of such meetings, and they are surprisingly fruitful in useful and practical suggestions. Even quite impractical suggestions should be encouraged at such meetings, as they often throw light on the general work and lead to other suggestions of a useful character. More and more both in this country and in America the chief librarians are taking their senior colleagues into their confidence in this way, and thus a community of interest is created and an enthusiasm is fostered which are well worth having.

83. Assistants.

83. Assistants.—In America the library assistant is in the best instances a person who is a graduate of a college or who has had a high school education; who, in addition, has taken a course of one year, or, in special instances, two years at a library school. Not all or even the majority of assistants are of this type, as the American library is unable to afford a large number of workers so highly qualified. On this side of the Atlantic the American system is an impossible ideal in existing circumstances; not one library in the kingdom—except, occasionally, the Government libraries—could pay the initial salaries which such training should command. Indeed, the whole question of staffing libraries is affected in most adverse manner by the inadequacy of library incomes. Assistants must as a rule be chosen from amongst young people just leaving school—often Council elementary or secondary schools. They are therefore people in almost every sense, except, it may be, natural ability, incapable at the beginning of their library career of anything more than the mere mechanical tasks. They have to be educated before they are trained technically in most cases. To secure the right material it is becoming the practice to demand of candidates for library work a fair general knowledge, and the Library Association has asked that some such certificate as matriculation, or the Oxford and Cambridge Locals, should be required of them. Where the supply of candidates so qualified does not exist, the chief librarian sets a simple qualifying examination paper to test the common sense and education of candidates. Appointments are usually made for a probationary period of about three months, at the end of which time it is possible to judge in a rough way whether the youngster will benefit by library training or not. Owing to the limited prospects the work offers the librarian has a moral obligation to see that appointees who are unsuitable are encouraged to seek other occupations as soon as their unfitness for librarianship is proven. Where both sexes are employed exactly the same type of qualifications should be required from each, and equal remuneration should be paid. The smaller salaries sometimes offered to girls have ill results both upon the individual candidates and upon the library.