Don’t say off hand, “I don’t know that we have anything on the subject,” for fear that before long you will be saying categorically that “The library has nothing on the subject.” You should aid the inquirer by beginning the search. Say rather, “Let us see what the library has on the subject.”
When the books are purchased and on the shelves, and the catalog is in perfect shape for use, the library is still a riddle to the public. There must be one or more capable persons to meet the public and put the contents of the library at its disposal. “Knowledge is of two kinds,” said Dr. Johnson. “We know our subject and we know where we can find information upon it.” The latter is the knowledge necessary to the reference librarian. Her knowledge of her library must be such that she can find something about any question asked, if there is material on the subject in the library. What great novel is there on the period of the Norman conquest? Where can I find a map of the city of Seattle? Who was the last man elected to the French Academy? What is the point of resemblance between Maeterlinck’s writings and Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner? Was Rabbi Ben Ezra a mathematician? Such are the questions for which she must be ready, from morning till night, to help find the answers.
The efficiency of the department is many times increased if it can have on its staff those who in addition to their knowledge of the library have had a broad education. The broader the better for there is no subject on which she may not at some time be asked to find material. The more versatile the members of the department are the greater is its efficiency.
In no department of the library does personality count for as much as in the reference department. The reference librarian may be a brilliant student and have a thorough grasp of the various fields of knowledge, but of what use will it be to her if she has not the ability to meet people and to sink her own personality to a large extent? There is no profession which throws one into the society of more varied types than that of librarianship. The high and the low, the rich and the poor, the educated and the ignorant, the cultured and unrefined all come to the library for aid. The reference librarian must “be all things to all people.” She must meet her public in such a way that if they come once they will come again, feeling themselves cordially welcome. She must have all the qualities which will make the library a place to which the public will want to come, and herself the person they will seek for assistance.
How to Meet the Public.—“The whole library should be permeated with a cheerful and accommodating atmosphere. Treat boy and girl, man and woman, ignorant and learned, gracious and rude, with uniform good temper, without condescension, never pertly. Anticipate all inquiries when possible, and especially put the shrinking and embarrassed visitor at once at ease.
“Reference work in libraries large and small has for its first rule: Meet the inquirer more than half way. To the stranger a library is often an oppressive place, an awesome place—in his imagination. He comes in shyly; everyone appears busy, his question suddenly seems to him trivial; he won’t trouble these wise and busy people with it—and goes out.
“A good second rule is: Learn at once just exactly what the inquirer wishes to know. This is not always easy. Tact and a little patience will generally effect it.
“A third good rule is: Whenever possible show the inquirer how the answer is found, so that he may next time in some measure help himself. It is surprising how many, especially of the younger people in a community, can be taught within one year, on their occasional visits, to make the proper use of at least a few reference books.
“Another rule of very good application is: Go first to a dictionary. In many cases a question answers itself, or betrays where its answer may best be found, if it is once plainly stated. And nothing is better than reference to a few words in a dictionary for the clear statement of a question. The larger dictionaries, and notably the Century, will answer many more inquiries than even great readers often suppose.”—John Cotton Dana, in his “Library primer” and elsewhere.
Reference Books.—In helping to answer an inquiry or to find material on a subject, the first question in the mind of the reference assistant should be, not where, or in what particular book, shall I find the information, but rather: In what kind of a book, or in what class of books? While it is necessary that the assistant should early become acquainted with the most important or most convenient works of reference on the various subjects of general interest it is especially desirable to know the point of view of the inquirer, and what sort of books, whether reference or research, will be needed.