ORGANIZATION OF LIBRARIANS. 937 BOOK IV. Chapter I. aim of work; that the pursuit which is much affected by immediate rewards, or the want of them, must be Librarianship. either unworthy in itself, or be unworthily carried on. The discipline which forces a man to discover that, however much his heart may really be in his work, his failures belong, at the best, to shortcomings within, as well as to discouragements without, cannot but prove a wholesome and a fruitful discipline. In few ways will the full force of the weighty precept,-"Obedience is better than Sacrifice," get so well apprehended. The question, 'Is a professional organization of Librarians practicable and likely to be useful?' is one, of much interest. But at present the materials scarcely exist for any definite answer to it. If such an organization could be created upon a solid basis without ostentation, and without attempting to achieve too much, some, at all events, of the difficulties which beset appointments, under circumstances such as have been glanced at, would be put in a way of removal. In proportion as the number of Public Libraries shall increase and as the public concern in them shall be broadened, both the means and the desirableness of creating a Librarians' Association will, in all probability, evince themselves. Of late years we have seen instances of a like organization in Professions not much more numerous, and assuredly in no respect more important, and have seen their justification in good results both for the Profession and for the Public. But unless an Association bring with it increased means of systematic Professional Organization of BOOK IV. study, and of public evidence of the fruits of study, no Librarianship. result of much worth can be looked for. Chapter I. Meanwhile, every man who enters on this calling may give a powerful impulse to its elevation. It will never open for him a path to wealth or to popular fame. It is, and is likely to be, eminently exposed to social indifference and misconception. But, as a means of permanent usefulness, it presents opportunities which are surpassed only by those of the Pulpit or the Press. By the enlightened and zealous discharge of its functions, a man's work may be made to carry within it the unfailing seeds of many mental harvests, only to be fully gathered in, when he shall have long lain in his grave. CHAPTER II. BOARDS OF MANAGEMENT; TOWN COUNCILS; Il est vraiment à regretter que les trois quarts des Communes, grands et petits, mettent si peu d'importance, ou tant d'insouciance, à la formation de leur administration locale; elles la composent sans doute d'honnêtes gens, de bounes gens, mais quelles bonnes gens, grands dieux! Et à quoi sont-ils bons? Je connais une ville qui a pour Conseillers Municipaux trente bourgeois, de la meilleure pâte de bourgeois qu'on ait jamais vus sur la terre, tous hommes de bien et craignant Dieu, dévots à l'honneur, dévots à la Patrie, économes, rangés, probes, délicats, et qui se feraient mille fois écorcher plutôt que de prendre un liard à quelqu'un. Eh bien! il n'est pas moins vrai que ces trentes probités coûtent plus au pays que ne le feraient soixante Mandrins aidés d'autant de Cartouches....... Il semble que le vertige souffle sur eux, et lorsque le hasard leur a fait adopter une bonne mesure, ils trouvent le moyen de la paralyser par le mode d'exécution. BOUCHER DE PERTHES (Petit Glossaire, i, 160). BOOK IV. Chapter II. Boards of Management; To treat adequately of the many questions that link themselves with the constitution and the functions of Boards which have to govern Public Libraries, would Town Councils; require wider limits, longer experience, and larger spection. abilities than mine. Some observations, however, may and Central In BOOK IV. Chapter II. Management, &c. Trustees of the be offered as points for consideration and further inquiry. As respects Libraries on the largest scale, we have, The Board of in the Trustees of the British Museum, an instance of British Museum. a Committee, constituted at the outset for the control of what, for a generation or two, was little more than an attractive exhibition, and place of amusement, yet developing itself, without material changes in its composition, into a Board of Management which (well seconded by its Officers,) has dealt successfully with the most difficult and complicated questions, and has converted a pleasant lounge for the idlers of London into the greatest Repository of the stores of Learning and of Science that the world has seen. In its organization, very open to Criticism; in some of its less important acts and modes of procedure, actually under the censure of a Royal Commission, this Board has yet, in the main, a most indisputable claim to the gratitude of the British people, and might reasonably take pride in the fact that the year which closes its first century of active labour sees it officially proposed as a model to France. To pursue, therefore, somewhat more into detail, yet with brevity, that general notice of the Constitution of the Museum Trust which I have given in the preceding volume, will scarcely be a misapplication of the reader's time. With slight modifications, the Museum is still governed on the old system. In June 1850, so much of the existing Statutes as created Sub-Committees for specific Departments-MSS.; Printed Books; Zoology; BRITISH MUSEUM STATUTES. 941 etc. was cancelled. The functions theretofore assigned to those Sub-Committees were vested in the 'Standing Committee.' The latter was called into active instead of nominal existence. In place of being an open Committee, it was made to consist of a determinate uumber of Trustees, annually appointed. The principal Statutes relating to the Trust, as they were thus revised on the 1st of June, 1850, are as follows: "OF THE MEETINGS, FUNCTIONS, AND PRIVILEGES OF THE TRUSTEES. 1. There shall be four General Meetings [consisting by Act of Parliament of not less than seven Trustees] . . at the Museum in every year, namely, upon the second Saturday in February, May, July, and December. BOOK IV. Chapter II. Boards of Management, &c. British Museum Statutes. General Meetings. 2. Special general meetings may be summoned by the Secretary, upon receiving notice to that effect from any two of the Trustees. 3. There shall be a Standing Committee consisting of the three Standing Comprincipal Trustees and of 15 Trustees to be annually appointed, for this year on the present 1st of June, and in subsequent years at the General Meeting held on the second Saturday in May. 4. Vacancies in the said Committee shall be filled up from time to time by the General Board. 5. The said Committee shall conduct, subject to the authority of the General Meeting, all the ordinary business of the Museum, and shall report its orders and proceedings to the next General Meeting. 5. No business shall be transacted by the said Committee, unless three members of the said Committee be present. 7. The said Committee shall have power to affix the seal of the Corporation to any application to Parliament for money, and also to the memorial to the Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury, requesting payment of the same. 8. They are also to inquire, as often as they shall think fit, into the conduct of all the officers and servants; to receive any scheme or proposal for the better ordering or managing the Museum, or any part of it, as also any complaint of neglect, or of disobedience to the orders of the General Meeting or Committee; and to give such directions therein as shall seem expedient. 9. They are also to give to the officers such leave of absence as they shall think proper; provided that such absence do not extend beyond the space of six weeks in the year, to be taken be mittee. |