CHAPTER VI. THE REGULATION AND SERVICE OF READING In the Free Reference Library this Meeting hails Resolutions of the Public Meeting at Manchester, Resolved, That it be an instruction to the Free Li- Resolution of the City Council of Manchester, BOOK IV. Chapter VI. Regulations and Service of NEXT in importance to that main point of unrestricted access to Town Libraries, come the ancillary regulations which determine the rights, privileges, and Reading Rooms. duties of readers, when admitted to the Reading-Room; BOOK IV. and the methods by which their service can be best Regulations and facilitated. Chapter VI. Service of Reading Rooms. gestion of a pecuniary test for admission to But there now (1858) intervenes a preliminary question which, although it may be hard to discuss it with perfect gravity, and scarcely possible to discuss it with that entire respect for municipal wisdom which every right-minded citizen naturally feels, cannot in this place be passed over without notice. It' may, with much reason, be doubted whether during the whole four centuries and a half which have elapsed since the Town Council of Aix met, in 1418, to establish a Town Library for themselves and their fellow-citizens, it could possibly have occurred to any writer on the economy of Libraries to ponder the desirability of a regulation that persons entering a public Recent sug- Reading-Room should be called upon to state their "pecuniary resources." The duties of the officer who Reading Rooms. sits at the table of such a room, and those of the porter who is stationed at its door, are frequently multifarious, but certainly, until June, 1858, they were never supposed to include the inquiring from the readers, as they enter, 'Does your Banker's Book shew a balance on the right side?' Was your Baker's Bill paid last month?' In these days, when our best ideas have usually been stolen from us by writers and orators who have long passed from the public stage, it is a proud thing for an eloquent Town Councillor of Manchester, a man capable of thinking whilst on his legs. -that severe test of true oratory,—to give utterance, in the presence of his fellow-councillors, to an idea of such unquestionable originality. It would be defraud BOOK IV. ing Mr. Robert Rumney of his palm, not to mention the name of the author of the last of the Resolutions which Regulations and head the preceding page. But, due praise awarded, I fear, the new regulation would hardly be found to work well. It might, in the case of Readers of quick temper, disturb that bland equanimity which is so desirable in a Reading-Room. It would, almost certainly, involve discontent with their position, on the part of the officers or servants who had to enforce it. Frequent changes in the staff of a public institution are serious obstacles to its progress. In this way it might happen that large as would be the obvious increase of our statistical knowledge, the loss would exceed the gain. Chapter VI. Service of Reading Rooms. considered. Restricting our attention, therefore, to regulations Points to be less novel but better tested by experience, it seems that the chief points to be considered are these: (1.) Whether the books delivered to readers should be entered in a Register-Book, or be simply recorded by filing the slip or 'book-ticket,' by which the reader applies for the particular work he seeks? (2.) Whether any regulation be necessary, like that which obtains in many Continental Libraries, prohibiting readers from carrying books with them into the Reading-Room, unless examined on entry and on departure? (3.) Whether or not in Libraries which are largely frequented there should be special Reading-Rooms for particular classes of books or of readers? BOOK IV. Chapter VI. Regulations and Service of Reading Rooms. (1.) Book Tickets and (4.) What provision ought to be made of books of ordinary reference, to be accessible to Readers without specific application? (5.) What arrangements should be made to facilitate the quick service of readers, and the safe return of the books delivered? (1.) The use of a Register-Book for entering the works delivered to Readers has the advantage of immediate and permanent record, instantly available. It has, on the other hand, the disadvantages of being somewhat cumbersome, and of causing delays, when the staff is not large, and when the Readers are numerous and their demands come in quick succession. In largely frequented Town Libraries the use of such a ticket as that which appears on the opposite page will. I think, make a Register needless. To the proper working of the ticket-system, it is essential that the Reader should give as clear a description of the book he wants as is within his power. The Catalogues, therefore, must be thoroughly accessible to him. An ample supply of slips or printed forms, such as that suggested, must be always at his hand. Every distinct work should be asked for on a separate form or 'ticket." In ordinary Town Libraries it is not desirable to exact from the Reader that he should of necessity copy from the Catalogues either the "press-mark" of the work required, or its precise and full title. But readers should be kept clearly informed that the more care and pains they bestow in the accurate description of their **No BOOK is under any circumstances, or upon any pretext, to be taken from the READING ROOM. The Reader will please to return this Ticket with the Book. Every Reader must RETURN the Book delivered to him before leaving the Room. Readers are requested to return the Catalogues to their places when done with. |