Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

BOOK IV.

Chapter III.

Internal

Administration; Routine Duties; and Finance.

(11.) The periodical examination of both departments of the Library, 'shelf by shelf and book by book; every book being duly marked off in the Shelf Catalogues.

(12.) The daily examination of the 'Vouchers' sent in by Applicants for admission to the Lending Department; their signature when approved of; the signature, entry, and delivery of tickets.

(13.) The frequent examination of the condition of both departments of the Library, as to Binding; the selection and entry of every book needing binding or repair; the preparation of "letterings;" the collation of Periodicals for binding; the Classification and chronological arrangement of Tracts of all kinds; the examination and chequing' of all books returned by the Binders; the verification and signature of the Binders' bills; the elimination and entry, or 'marking off' in the Shelf Catalogues, of books worn out by constant use.

(14.) The preparation of Monthly and Annual Reports of the progress of the Library, and of Special Reports from time to time; and their entry in a "Report Book."

(15.) The examination and signature of the Miscellaneous Accounts; the preparation of the Schedules of Salaries and Wages; the payment of Wages, and of Petty Cash accounts.

(16.) The general correspondence of the Library, as well for the information of inquirers, and of students, as for its ordinary and immediate business.

[blocks in formation]

(17.) The reception of Visitors and the assistance of Readers in their researches.

BOOK IV.

Chapter III. Internal Administration;

and Finance.

(18.) Attendance on Committees and Sub-Com- Routine Duties; mittees, and the special duties thence arising.

Salaries.

The probable expense of a Staff adequate, or toler- The Staff and ably adequate, for the strictly routine portion of these duties;—not including, therefore, any provision for the compilation of new Catalogues, or for other special and occasional duties,-may perhaps be usefully illustrated by a statement of the current expenditure under the head "Salaries and Wages" of the Town Libraries of Liverpool and of Manchester, the two largest ratesupported Libraries which have yet been established.

I. SALARIES AND WAGES-LIVERPOOL FREE LIBRARIES.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

II. SALARIES AND WAGES-MANCHESTER FREE LIBRARIES.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]
[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Abstracts of the expenditure of

Town Libraries.

The only explanatory observation which need be made on this head is that the Liverpool establishment includes a Reference Library and two Lending Libraries; the Manchester establishment, a Reference Library; three Lending Libraries; and three News-Rooms, all in actual operation.

The whole expenditure of these Libraries, respectively, for one year may be thus stated under heads:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

STAFF AND SALARIES AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

955

BOOK IV.

Chapter III. Internal Administration;

If the total expenditure of the six years during which the Manchester Chief Library (without its Branches) has been at work be taken collectively, it amounts to Routine Duties; £10,355. 11s. 7d., or, on the average, £1725 a year.

[blocks in formation]

and Finance.

at the British Museum.

Although it is impossible for me here to give any ge- Staff and Salaries neral view of the establishment and salaries of the great National Libraries of Europe,-a comparative statement of which would possess great interest, and would by no means lack materials,—an abridged schedule of the present staff and appointment of the Library departments of our British Museum will be useful, and will need no great space. It stands thus, in August 1858:

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

Comparison of these Salaries

in our Public

If to any reader this annual sum should appear startlingly large, the impression will vanish on a detailed acquaintance with the work which has to be done and with the manner in which it is done. No public money is more efficiently and thoroughly earned than are the Salaries of the Officers and Servants of the British Museum. One of the best results of the Commission of 1848-49 has been the impulse it gave to a re-consideration of the scale and apportionment of those Salaries. But the improvement has stopped short of the full merits of the case, and has left many anomalies and partial failures in equity which, as they have attracted somewhat of public attention, are, it may be hoped, in a fair way of removal. The lingering relics of a now antiquated system probably made it difficult to effect at once all that strict justice and wise foresight plainly call for.

In the evidence given to the Commission of Inquiry with the Salaries by Dr. John Edward Gray, there are some weighty observations on this, and on a cognate point, which have by no means lost their force and aptness, by reason of the subsequent modifications. It is still true that the

Offices.

1 Returns of the Salaries of all the Officers and Assistants in the British Museum. Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed, 6 and 7 July, 1858 (Sessional Paper 390); Account of the Income and Expenditure of the British Museum for the financial year ended 31 March, 1858; etc. Ordered, etc., 21 April, 1858 (S. P. 219).

« AnteriorContinuar »