Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/40

In arranging the rooms of a library, attention should be given to the probable use that will be made of them by the public. The most frequented parts, generally, are the rooms devoted to newspapers and periodicals, the room for boys, the lending library, and lastly, the reference department. If the library is on a busy thoroughfare, it should be remembered that the latter department must be located in the quietest part of the building. In a two-storey library the natural position of the rooms would be to place the lending library, newsrooms, and boys' rooms upon the ground floor, and the reference department and its book stores upstairs. The shelf accommodation required for the lending library will not be so great as that for the reference department, nor need such care be taken to give ample room for its future growth. The books in this department wear out quickly, and as many are of ephemeral interest, they do not require replacement. In our largest towns it is doubtful if a lending library of more than 50,000 volumes will ever be required, as, before that number is obtained, the annual withdrawal of worn-out and undesirable works will almost equal the additions. Another consideration upon this point is the provision of branch lending libraries and delivery stations. The experience of our larger towns show that the active sphere of work of a lending library does not extend more than a mile around it, and that branch libraries are necessary for the outlying and suburban districts of each town. It should, indeed, be an axiom that a