No. 4. Overdue notice. (Postal card, reduced.)
The postal notice no. 1, the registration cards 2 and 3, the notice that the book is overdue, no. 4, the fine slip, no. 5, all explain themselves.
In most places, certainly in all small towns, a sufficient safeguard against the loss of books is found in the signature of the borrower himself. No guarantee need be called for. To ask for a guarantor for a reputable resident is simply to discommode two people instead of one. The application which the borrower [signs should be brief and plain.] Name, residence, place of business, and any necessary references, should be written in by the librarian on one side; the signature to an agreement to obey the library rules can be written by the applicant on the other. All borrowers agreements should be filed in alphabetical order. They should receive borrowers' numbers in the order of their issue, and the date. The borrowers' cards should state that they expire in a definite number of years from the date of issue, and the date of issue should be stamped on them. An index of borrower's agreements should be kept by their numbers. This need contain only the borrower's number, his name, and, when necessary, his address. It is conveniently kept in a book. It is better to keep it on cards.
No. 5. Fine slip. (Reduced; actual size 12-1/2 x 7-1/2 cm.)
Meeting the public
If the public is not admitted to the shelves, it will be necessary to supply catalogs for public use as well as slips on which lists of books wanted can be made out; but the fullest possible catalogs and the finest appointments in the delivery room cannot take the place of direct contact between librarian or assistants and the public. Wherever possible, the person to whom the borrower applies for a book should go himself to the shelves for it.