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.
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."