Chapter VIII

. it has already been pointed out to what extent British libraries have fostered indiscriminate collecting, often at the expense of efficiency, while the workshop plan of library has been comparatively neglected. Even if municipal libraries had unlimited resources, the wisdom of indiscriminate collecting would be doubtful; especially as many special libraries are doing the work. Specialization should be the watchword of the future, owing to the enormous literary activity of recent times, and the branch of specialization which public libraries should adopt is careful _selection_ of books and equally careful _rejection_ of all which have outlived their day and purpose, or become “dull, stale and unprofitable.” Public library buildings should be erected, not on the principle of storing as many books as can possibly be collected in fifty years’ time, but of restricting the book accommodation to the reasonable limits which careful selection and cautious discarding will fix, and increasing the space available for readers, and giving them only the very best literature, imaginative or instructive, that the world has to offer.

=179.= It is a hazardous undertaking to lay down any particular rules for the formation of a British municipal library, and especially to state what proportions each class of literature should assume. Equally futile is it to take any figure as the average price which each volume in a library should cost. Although 4s. 5d. has been adopted as an average price, this must only be regarded as a mere basis for a calculation which simply aims at being a suggestion. Practically every public library differs in its needs according to its income and the special industries and character of the people in the town where it is situated.

=180.= Attempts have been made at various times by different authorities to lay down the proportions of every class of literature which should be represented in public libraries. The following figures are given for what they are worth, and not by any means as a hard and fast guide to be followed:--

PERCENTAGES OF CLASSES OF LITERATURE REPRESENTED IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES, ETC.

Class 000 General Works 3 100 Philosophy 4 200 Religion 5 300 Sociology 7 400 Philology 4 500 Science 9 600 Useful Arts 9 700 Fine and Recreative Arts 7 800 Literature 28 900 History 8 Biography 8 Travel 8 --- 100

There are one or two changes which modern practice will make probable in these percentages, such as increases in the percentages of classes 5-7 and a decrease in class 8. The attention now bestowed upon technical education and the universal provision of music texts will almost inevitably increase these classes at the expense of some other classes.

=181.= Imaginative literature rightly takes first place in the representation of classes, and when made up of Prose Fiction, Poetry, Music and Painting, accounts for about 33 per cent. of the whole. Although Bacon in his classification of human knowledge places Imagination as represented by Poetry at the end of his scheme, thereby, perhaps, indicating his opinion of its comparative importance, there can be no doubt that as regards popularity, importance and longevity it easily maintains first place in the minds and hearts of a majority of the human race. Whose are the great names in literature? The philosophers, or historians, or scientists? None of these. The story-teller, the song-writer, the singer and the artist completely overshadow all other kinds of literary and scientific genius, and monopolize a foremost position of honour among mankind, because, after all, they are the greatest teachers as well as the most capable entertainers. Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Cervantes, Molière, Balzac, Hugo, Scott, Dickens, Fielding, Thackeray, Burns, Byron, Milton, Beethoven, Handel, Wagner, Titian, Raphael, Turner, Rembrandt, and so on in endless variety, are infinitely greater and more treasured names to thousands of human beings than any of the exponents of more formal and exact knowledge. The story-teller and the singer will be remembered long after philosophies, and systems of history and science are as mouldering and forgotten as the ruins of ancient Babylon. The great majority of the people of all nations will much rather sing with the singers than chop logic with the philosophers, and this is at once a reason and justification for imaginative literature occupying the leading place in all public libraries. It has become the fashion for a certain section of librarians, a few public men and a considerable number of newspapers, to lament in doleful accents the popularity and preponderance of fiction reading in all kinds of lending libraries. But surely Fiction, as the most hardy and flourishing form of literary endeavour, which has been built up by the contributions of some of the greatest minds of all nations, cannot be denied its rightful place because certain narrow-minded persons think it fashionable to denounce the whole policy of public libraries? Whether they choose to do so or not matters very little, since it is quite evident that imaginative literature is going to survive, whatever happens, as it has done with extraordinary strength and vitality, through ages of change and destruction; while philosophical, political and social systems have appeared and disappeared in endless procession. This is a reason why imaginative literature should occupy a foremost place in public libraries, and the theory of the survival of the fittest is amply proved by the vitality of prose fiction, poetry and music, which entitles them to receive the attention due to their importance in the regard of mankind.

=182. Best Books.=--A live library, in addition to the literary classics in all departments, should only select the best and most popular books. The question of selecting only the very best, or only what is in great demand, should be compromised by always getting the best, with a selection of the most popular, subject to the understanding that the latter are to be discarded when their day is past. Every movement which stirs the public mind and imagination produces a great crop of books, but only a very small proportion of these survive or are worthy of preservation. No one can argue against a moderate supply of such works at the time when public interest is aroused, but objection may be raised to the more ephemeral books of this kind being preserved long after all interest in their subjects has waned. If a municipal library founded in 1750, and steadily collecting for 156 years, could be found, its contents would be composed of enormous quantities of dead and forgotten theology, history, biography, science, fiction and every other class, which would not excite the slightest interest in the minds of five persons in a thousand. The skimmings of such a library would no doubt be valuable, and a fair proportion of it of interest and use to present-day readers, but the bulk of it would be of no practical service to anyone.

=183.= The general public is comparatively indifferent to bibliographical rarities, and books which are merely curious or scarce should not be bought from the present restricted funds of British municipal libraries. There is a certain advantage in making a small special collection, on the museum plan, to trace and illustrate the evolution and history of printing and book production from the original manuscript forms, but the general connection of incunabula and rare specimens of typography by modern municipal libraries is neither possible nor desirable. There is infinitely more wisdom in spending £50 in a selection of modern works on technical subjects, which would be of immense service to living persons, than in spending the same amount in the purchase of a single rare Bible which will only appeal to a few students of typography. Books must not be regarded as an investment on which a profit can be made by a sale at some future date, because books of bibliographical rarity and much monetary value bought from public funds must remain public property, inalienable for all time. The books bought for a public library should rather be regarded as machinery or plant, to be renewed when necessary and kept thoroughly abreast of the times.

=184.= Returning to the question of buying and preserving books of temporary interest. There are hundreds of subjects which in their day have excited great public interest, and in connexion with which an enormous literature exists, but which have faded into comparative insignificance with the lapse of time. Take subjects like the Jacobite Rebellions, French Revolution, American Civil War, the Slavery controversy, Crimean War or Disruption of the Church of Scotland. Every one of these subjects was represented in its day by cart-loads of books and pamphlets, but the whole of these have been sifted and epitomized by later historians in works of permanent value, and municipal libraries can simply buy these, and leave the preservation of the contemporary literature, which ranks as original authorities, to the care of the special libraries which exist for the purpose. The literature of the Boer War is a case in point, as also is much of the literature of the Great European War of 1914-1919 already. It is necessary for public libraries, while public interest is keen, to select the best, or what may seem best, from the mass of material pouring from the press, but presently all this will be condensed into a few classics, giving in a comprehensive and sufficient manner every fact of the slightest interest to posterity, and then all the ephemeral works can be discarded in their favour. What remains of any particular interest to students, or even ordinary readers, from the huge literature which arose from the Crimean War? Only Kinglake and perhaps two popular illustrated books. The same holds good with all subjects which have created immense contemporary literatures, and there need not be the slightest compunction about discarding any book when its usefulness is past unless it takes rank as a valuable original authority. At a later stage some suggestions on book discarding or library weeding are given, which may prove helpful.

=185.= Book selection should be conducted upon the sound principle of buying only the best representative works on all subjects, whatever may be their cost or place of origin. A more haphazard and ineffectual method of building up a public library than buying cheap series and libraries of reprints can hardly be imagined. It is almost equivalent to advising a committee to buy cheap books by the yard in order to fill the shelves, and let the proper representation of great subjects depend on chance. Books published in “series” or “libraries” are too often mere commercial ventures of small literary or other value; and in the case of editions of standard authors, such uniform series are often the worst form in which a poet or novelist can be presented to a reader. They are full of errors and omissions, and whether the series is devoted to art, science, literature or history, it may be taken for granted that they are simply temporary text-books which possess the doubtful advantage of being bound uniformly, and the undoubted disadvantage of being often uniformly erroneous and misleading. Of course this statement does not apply all round, because there are several well-known series of works of quite exceptional value. Connected with this a word may be permitted on the nationality of text-books. Patriotism in literature and library management may be a fine thing, but it must occasionally lead to sorry results in a public library. The best and most recent scientific works, whether on biology, geology or any other subject, should be bought without regard to the nationality of the authors.

=186. Popular Books.=--The duplication of popular or temporarily popular books is a policy to be adopted with the greatest of care. In some libraries the plan of multiplying copies of every book which becomes fashionable is carried to such an extreme that some injury must be done to the general work of the library by unduly fostering one class of literature at the expense of all the other classes. The practice of adding six or more copies of a new novel has the effect of decreasing the funds available for the purpose of buying other works, and it certainly gives rise to misleading conceptions of the stock of books possessed by the libraries. A reported stock of 5000 novels may easily mean an actual stock of only 3000 different works in libraries which buy three, six or twelve copies of a single popular work. This makes a vast difference in the field of choice offered to borrowers, because, after all, popular novels of the ordinary much-advertised class soon have their little day, and the duplicates become dead stock. For this reason caution should be exercised in the supply of extra copies of temporarily popular books, and a good plan is to provide a special stock or accessions book in which they can be registered and, when necessary, written off without complicating the other records of the library. These remarks apply almost exclusively to the duplication of novels and magazines. There is less need to trouble about other classes.

=187. Replacements and Out-of-print Books.=--Replacement of worn-out books is a recurrent, necessary and serious expense in most libraries, and one which gravely reduces possible expenditure upon new books. Before replacing an old, dirty or defective book it should be carefully considered if it is worth retaining in the library. Closely connected with the question of replacements is the matter of out-of-print books.

Most librarians in libraries of several years’ standing have been confronted with the difficulty of obtaining copies of certain books which have been allowed to go out of print by their publishers. The number of such books is rapidly increasing, and among them are works which have taken a recognized place in English literature, as well as many others which have obtained a certain value by being enshrined in the catalogues of hundreds of public and other libraries. In course of time many of these books are worn out, and it becomes necessary to replace them with new copies. It is then the discovery is made that fresh copies cannot be obtained, and the librarian receives a long list of books from his bookseller marked with the ominous sign “O/P.” A temporary relief is sometimes obtained by advertising for second-hand copies. Even these are becoming more difficult to procure, and in the case of novelists like G. P. R. James, James Grant and Harrison Ainsworth, sometimes only three-volume editions are reported.

It is not suggested that all out-of-print books should be reprinted, nor do we suggest that the fact that a book has appeared in many library catalogues is conclusive evidence of its permanence; but there are certainly numbers of books which are frequently mentioned in other books, or in the newspapers, which have been allowed to run out of print; and the combined efforts of librarians might induce publishers to republish these. Usually speaking, however, the fact that a book has remained out of print for more than a year or two is evidence of the absence of public demand for it, and seeing that novel-writing is probably at a higher general level now than at any earlier period (in spite of the lack of individual Fieldings or Jane Austens), we are of opinion that such out-of-print books may be withdrawn from the library records, and the gaps left made good by more modern works of equal merit and greater popularity. After all, and especially so far as imaginative literature is concerned--and these remarks apply almost exclusively to that--it is no part of the work of the library to revive what public opinion, the soundest _ultimate_ guide, has permitted to perish; more especially as booksellers charge exaggerated prices for out-of-print novels, whatever their merit may be. In the case of some of the older books which form landmarks in literary history, it is absolutely necessary to have well-edited modern reprints for the benefit of the students who are being formed in every school in the kingdom.

Books which are purchased to replace worn-out copies need not receive new numbers, but may be given the numbers of the books which they replace.

=188. Doubtful Books.=--Censorship on books admitted into public libraries has been exercised much more frequently and rigorously in the United States than in the United Kingdom. Instances are common in both countries of books being excluded for sectarian or political reasons by Public Library Committees. Any action of this kind on the part of a Public Library Committee should be confined to protecting junior readers from coming into contact with demoralizing literature, and preventing the library from becoming a dumping-ground for feeble and trashy books of all kinds. No one can object to a committee electing to sit in judgment on any book which may be thought to endanger public decency, or inculcate ideas of morality counter to those generally adopted, but such explorations in search of the improper should not be confined to fiction. The question of buying certain _free_ classics, such as Rabelais and Boccaccio, is quite another matter. All libraries ought to possess them, provided reasonable means are taken to keep them out of the hands of the immature reader. As regards what constitutes maturity, every library authority will doubtless frame its own rules.

=189. Reference and Lending Books.=--A difficulty is sometimes experienced in deciding for which department books of a certain class are most suitable. About such quick-reference works as encyclopædias, dictionaries, annuals, directories, atlases, large art works, etc., there can be very little doubt, but expensive scientific books, large works of travel, theological and historical works of a certain kind offer a problem much more complicated. As reference libraries are at present constituted and used in many English towns, the plan of putting all expensive books of whatever nature in the reference department simply means that they are seldom used, and might as well not have been bought. In properly conducted open access reference libraries, which are liberally and intelligently conducted, a good deal may be said in favour of placing such books there. They will at least be freely accessible without the formality of readers having to make written application, while the advantage of a reference book being always on the premises is not to be overlooked. No harm can result from placing all kinds of expensive text-books in the lending department, and if they are not on loan they are always available for the use of any reference reader who wants them. The advantage to a student of being able to take a recondite and expensive text-book home with him for comparison with, and as an aid to, his own books is undeniable, and it is the fact that, by co-operation, the citizens of a town can thus procure otherwise unattainable books, which makes the Public Libraries Acts so valuable, and adds force to the plea for placing expensive works within easy reach of the majority of readers. Local circumstances will in most cases modify the conditions under which reference and lending libraries are built up and differentiated. In some places there is no separation, save in the catalogue, between the reference and lending libraries, and in others both departments are not only kept apart, but subdivided into open, special and store collections. All this is very much a matter of administration to be settled by each responsible officer in accordance with his or her knowledge of the particular local conditions. We deal with this question more in detail in the chapters on the Reference Library (Division XII.).

=190. Special Collections.=--The most necessary work of the library, after it has formed its general collection, is to collect local literature; this we deal with in a separate chapter (XXVIII.). Most public libraries possess some kind of special collection in addition to the purely local collection. Examples of these may be specified in the Shakespeare and Cervantes collections at Birmingham; the Burns and Scottish poetry collections at Glasgow; music, shorthand, Chinese books, etc., at Manchester; fishes at Cheltenham; Welsh literature at Cardiff, etc. The literature of special local industries should always be collected. Representative works in foreign languages, particularly French, German and Italian, should also be collected, in addition to the Greek and Latin classics; and the large and more cosmopolitan cities may endeavour to represent every foreign literary output so far as their circumstances warrant and their finances permit them to do so.

=191. Sets of Periodicals.=--Some discrimination must be made in regard to the collecting of periodicals. Larger libraries settle the question by securing and preserving sets of all magazines of value which they can accommodate; but obviously the expense of the practice, the ephemeral character of much of this type of literature, and the large amount of shelf space it requires, makes that practice impossible for any but the largest libraries. Ephemeral, but otherwise wholesome, magazines may be used unbound for issue in lending libraries to good purpose; or may be bound and so used--but not replaced when they are worn out. Only periodicals which have a _reference_ value should be retained in sets, and then only where the geographical situation of the library warrants that course. A smaller town near a great town library may reasonably refer its readers to that library for sets of expensive periodicals. We are led to this view by the facilities now at the disposal of librarians through the Library Association. That body now publishes the _Subject Index to Periodicals_, hitherto called _The Athenæum Subject Index_--an invaluable and indeed indispensable tool for all librarians--and by an arrangement with the Central Lending Library for Students, Tavistock Square, London, W.C., any article recorded in the _Subject Index_ may be borrowed for a payment of about fourpence. The _Index_, moreover, gives a list of the principal periodicals, and is a rough guide to assessing their permanent worth as well as an admirable key to their contents.

=192. Music=.--Nearly every public library of any importance has now established a music collection, and the general experience is that it is one of the most popular and appreciated sections in the library. The provision should not at first extend to more than collections of pianoforte, violin, organ and vocal music in the form of bound volumes; operas, oratorios, cantatas and other vocal scores; the scores of orchestral and chamber compositions; and text-books on theory, history and various instruments. Single compositions in sheet form should be very sparingly introduced, if at all, unless collections of the songs of some of the best modern composers are formed and bound up into volumes. A large stock of compositions in single sheets, however bound or secured, would prove a great trouble in a public library. The compositions of local composers should be collected, however, and bound in volumes. In providing shelving for music, it is well to have special cases with uprights only eighteen inches apart, as it is very difficult to consult long rows of thin quarto books, when on shelves three feet long, owing to the weight of the books. This applies to quarto and folio books generally.

=193. Engravings.=--Save in book form, very few public libraries have done much in the way of collecting engravings, prints and etchings, unless they have been of local interest. Considerations of expense would deter most British public libraries from attempting this kind of collection, and it is rather a pity, because many prints and engravings which illustrate historical events have immense practical value. Portraits, too, are extremely valuable and useful, but as means are at present provided, the whole matter is one of pure speculation and sentiment. But perhaps the day will come when public libraries may be able to collect specimens of the etched work of great artists; engravings after the greatest masters; engravings and prints depicting leading events in the national history; and pictures illustrating costume, ceremonials, manners and customs, disappearing buildings, great engineering works, topographical changes, etc. The value of these graphic aids to the furtherance of knowledge is enormous, and it is a pity some systematic effort cannot be made to record, preserve and index them more generally and effectively than has been done in depositories like the British Museum.

[3]=194. Photographs.=--Collections of photographs which deal with local matters should be made by every public library (see