Aside from the public the librarian's first interest should be in the employees of the library. Again and again the statement has been made to the effect that the "work of getting the right book to the right person falls upon the desk assistant chiefly," but as almost all of the employees of a library are desk assistants at some time during each day, it follows that all of the employees bear almost equal responsibility.
It would seem that the selection of books for the library should have first attention, but books are easy of selection compared to employees, and easily disposed of if not found to be useful, while the assistant must be carefully placed in the department for which she is the best fitted. For taking all of the valuable characteristics of all of the assistants into consideration, there are to be found as many grades of value as there are books in the library. To be able to do the subject of "the library assistant" justice, the writer should have a very thorough knowledge of human nature, a knowledge generally possessed by successful teachers and sociological workers, but not often by the librarian. Such knowledge comes from a kind of experience not easily obtained by a librarian. It is more to a librarian's credit to know thoroughly the members of the staff and consequently be just to all than it is to have succeeded with any other one piece of work, because perfect justice toward employees will produce the best work for the library.
While the actual work of getting the right book to the right person may fall chiefly upon the desk assistant, the manner in which this is done emanates from those who decide the policy of the library. If those who are at the head of affairs have forgotten or have never realized that the library exists for the people, and that it is maintained at public expense for that purpose, and because of this lack of knowledge maintain an attitude of arrogance toward the people, the assistants will do the same. It is true that an indifferent and unsympathetic librarian cannot always prevent a capable and efficient assistant from doing her work well, yet the lack of efficiency at the head will often discourage capable assistants and will never better the work of poor ones.
In a library of medium size having thirty employees or less it is a comparatively easy matter for the librarian to keep in close touch with the work of the members of the staff and by personal effort maintain a definite standard, while in a large library this duty must of necessity be detailed to others. But whatever the means adopted, every library must have a definite standard of efficiency which bears directly upon the service to the public and although a full knowledge of the technical details of the work of the library are without question necessary, a proper knowledge of the right attitude toward the public is a greater necessity and should receive from the librarian much greater emphasis than the technical side.
The characteristic most to be desired in a library employee, in no matter what position, is that of the self-disciplined and well trained servant who understands the rights of others and what they should expect of him in his position, and who attempts to respond to this demand. These characteristics, if they exist, are inherent but may be more fully developed by experience.
It may be well to try to outline in a general way what should be expected of the occupants of some of the important positions in a library, for the final outcome of the work will depend upon the librarian's ability to discriminate in the selection of the right persons to fill these positions. For the children's librarian, the first requirement is a knowledge of children and the ability to feel and show sympathy and affection without being sentimental. Many attractions may be introduced into the children's department but the vital things are to know the children and the books. A mistake in the appointment to this position might be more nearly fatal than a mistake in any one of the other departments, for the ability of the children's librarian to discern intelligently those qualities in a book which are right for the child may permanently settle that child's taste in literature. The future well being of the library often depends upon the wise choice of the children's librarian.
A knowledge and love of people may also be put as the first requisite for the head of the circulation department, extending not only to the people who are generally called "the public" but also to the employees of the library. This position may well be considered the most important in the library, next to the librarian and assistant, for from this source the other employees will instinctively acquire the standard for their treatment of the public and obtain their ideas of what is the amount of knowledge of books which should be expected of a desk assistant. The personality of the head of the circulation department and her ability to be helpful and to teach those in her department to be helpful, can do more toward increasing the usefulness of a library than any other one characteristic. The employee given to much detail is not generally a success here. Rather that employee who, by strength of personality, leads others to do good work, is the best. The head of the circulation department has the best opportunity of any one in the library for making a direct path from the borrower to the book.
Scholarship, without question, must be considered the first requirement for the reference librarian, and if the public is to learn to have confidence in the library as an educational institution, no mistake must be made here. But the scholarship must always be allied with the desire to do service.
Frequently the cataloger appears to the other members of the staff to be so far removed from direct contact with people that it is assumed she cannot intelligently know what the public wants. Except in very rare instances this is a mistake, as has been proved by some of our great catalogs, the makers of which probably rarely waited upon the public. It is the ability to put oneself in the place of the questioner, to have a sympathetic interest in the people, that counts, and also to realize seriously that only by means of the catalog can the public have a true knowledge of what is in the library.