Mr. Brigham has called my attention to the fact that it ought to be brought out forcibly here how necessary it is for every one of you people, no matter what part of the country you may go to, to bring to the attention of this association officially, either through the secretary or the president, the birth of every such library that you may know of. Business does not know us. We know business of course, but until this association has had a much wider publicity campaign than we have been able with our meager means to give it, business cannot come to us and cannot get the help that we can give it. If, then, when you go to your respective places, you would be alive to the creation of every special library in your part of the country, and when you know of a collection of books where a librarian might be necessary, you would bring it to our attention, we would write them and tell them of the service that we can render them.
I think the thing that has impressed me most in the discussion that has gone on just now is the fact that the company that employs Miss Dobbins has three special libraries. That is unique, it seems to me, that one corporation should employ three special libraries; not merely one, but a library for the legal department, another for the accounting department and a third for the engineering department. That it seems to me represents a pretty high development of the special library idea.
Miss DOBBINS: May I just interrupt a moment to say that I too submit a report at the end of every month. It was my own suggestion, for I wanted the company to know that we were doing something, and we would possibly be lost sight of in such an enormous place. So I sent in a report, very brief, just giving the number of books circulated in the various departments, the number of pamphlets and the reference work done. They said they were very glad to get it, and that it put us on a working basis.
The VICE-PRESIDENT: Before opening a more general discussion I would like to have the secretary make a few announcements regarding certain things of interest.
Mr. MARION: I have here a bound volume of "Special Libraries" that all may see everything that has been published to date. I think it would be of interest to some of you who are not familiar with its contents. We also have for sale, if any one cared to purchase them, three copies of Volume 2 complete. Then we have for distribution to any who might care for it, "The earning power of chemistry," which is written by Mr. Little, the president of the concern which I serve. As you know, Mr. Little is, today, one of the foremost industrial chemists in this country, if not in the world. He is also this year, by a very fortunate circumstance, it seems to me, president of the American Chemical Society. I say fortunate because this year America is entertaining the International Congress of Applied Chemistry that meets in Washington and New York in September. This is a review to convince the business man of the usefulness of chemistry in solving his everyday problems. It is a reprint of a free public lecture delivered to the business men of Indianapolis last June. It is simply a talk upon business from another angle. In the same way Mr. Handy's talk is equally strong, it seems to me, from the library standpoint.
We have also for sale here, should any one care to purchase it, the city planning bibliography which was published as the May issue of "Special Libraries." It is 25 cents a copy. This was compiled by Harvard university and the Library of Congress.
I have a few copies left of "The library as an adjunct to industrial laboratories," a paper which I submitted originally to the American Chemical Society at its Boston meeting, and describing in minute detail my own personal library. It may be of interest to some and you are welcome to it if any of you wish to take it away.
Mr. HANDY: I was particularly interested in Mr. Marion's discussion, and in one suggestion more especially, that the library school might specialize somewhat more along the lines of special library work. While I think that might well be brought up as a subject of discussion this evening, I should like to say just now that it seems to me, in the first place, that there is a great dearth of properly prepared assistants to do the kind of work that is needed in the special library. I think the libraries that specialize in business library work have found that to be true, and that these library schools in general are not particularly adapted to meet that requirement. It occurs to me, then, that it might be possible for special libraries, possibly through the co-operation of the American Library Association, to get the library schools of the country, at some time in their course, to offer a more specialized course which could be taken by those students who intend to specialize in library work, and that in that course an attempt be made to develop the special library attitude, which is absolutely and wholly different from the general library attitude, toward the subjects handled. It seems to me that several exceedingly good things could come of it. In the first place, if the library schools would do for special libraries as they do for general libraries, that is, if they would select a certain number of libraries, which measure up to certain standards, throughout the country, and assign pupils to those libraries, with the understanding that before they could be qualified they would have to measure up to a certain standard; then a student who spent a certain amount of time in such a library would receive credit for special library work in the library course, exactly the same as students do now in general library work. Then I think you would find that you would get, in the first place, more specialized students; in the second place, I think you would lift the plane of special library work immensely, you would lift it to a much higher plane of professionalism and you would find that your directors and your people who pay the money to support these libraries would vie with one another to be qualified by the leading library schools in the country, and I think that in itself would be an inducement to a good many halting business concerns to support, as they are not supporting now, their libraries; they would see the advertising value of being endorsed by the leading library schools in the country, if they did not see anything else, and they would pay the money necessary to bring their own libraries up to that degree of efficiency.
On the other hand, it seems to me that the special library is offering an exceptionally interesting field to young women going into library work, and that the library schools as at present organized are not pointing the way to them as they should; and possibly the library schools are not in a position to do it. I did not mean to consider this at this point, but I do think that is one of the subjects that might be seriously considered now or this evening, and, if necessary, a committee appointed to go over the whole subject, and possibly co-operate with the American Library Association or the library schools, whichever might be necessary, to bring it to a focus.
The VICE-PRESIDENT: It might be of interest to know that in Simmons we have a library school which appoints special courses with a view to fitting women especially for economic and business library work.