Not long ago I had upon my board of directors an influential member, who used to say regularly at the first meeting, after new men came on it, “Gentlemen, our only duty is to support the librarian.”
That is saying too much, certainly. It is, however, the duty of a board of trustees to second heartily a librarian in his efforts to make his administration energetic, useful, and progressive, and to do all that it can to secure patient and generous consideration by town and city governments, and by citizens, of all wise measures which he may adopt.
Trustees are very influential in working individually to obtain for a library the support in money which is needed.
They can be of great service in showing their appreciation of good work done by the librarian, by word and act.
It is almost too much to expect of a board of trustees that it should look out to see to it that a librarian receive a proper salary, and that his compensation be increased as his services grow in value, without being reminded that the remuneration is inadequate by a communication from that officer. Still it is very desirable that, when a communication is made, it should be sympathetically considered, and that members of the board should point out to one another the excellence of the services rendered by the librarian instead of expecting him to enlarge upon their value himself.
It should be understood, also, that it is a librarian's duty to state fully the worth of the services of his assistants, and seek adequate compensation for them.
A board of trustees can do much, and should always do as much as possible, to keep the interests of a library and of a librarian from being sacrificed to supposed exigencies of politics.
In some portions of the country the appointment and removal of librarians for political reasons has become a scandal.
A board of trustees owes it to its librarian to protect him from the vagaries of impracticable men who may by some chance become members of the board.