he does his work well. At best he must do much which is difficult, is not comprehended by the public, and is ignored by perhaps the majority. Many have regarded his work as purely mechanical, classed him far below the professions, estimated his services by those of the laborer, and been satisfied with the work of a shoddy contractor. This is illustrated by the case of a fine town library containing several thousand volumes and kept to public satisfaction. In its catalogue one finds new chemistry and manual of chemistry in different places, an and the treated as leading words, and no assistance in topical research. When people look through a large library and then remark: "how long it must take you to read all of these books," we are not surprised if they think that in some way every book can take care of itself. But there are those who are familiar with the results of the best work and do not begin to appreciate the high grade of experience and education which enters into it. As Mr. Winslow remarks, doubtless having certain Boston officials in mind, "they say we have nothing to do and are fully equal to it."
Not long since one of the most flourishing New England cities, almost persecuted a cataloguer who spent over two years on ten thousand volumes instead of disposing of them in six months as was expected. Take the matter of catalogue, or as it has been called "the eye of the library," and we have a work which is never completed. It alone requires more labor than is publicly supposed to be necessary for the entire administration of a library. "The catalogue of the Boston Athenaeum library will cost $100,000; and the cataloguing of Harvard College library has employed eighteen persons for sixteen years, and the work is not more than half completed." But cataloguing, although the heaviest, is only one of the eighteen routine duties mentioned by Rhees in his library manual. Again, routine work is not sufficient; there is a demand for as high a grade of education and as much training as enters into any of the professions. More, there is a claim that library administration does belong to a profession rather than an employment. Not that librarians, in imitation of quacks and slight of hand performers, will bestow upon themselves the title of professors of bibliography. Nor will colleges soon be likely to follow the suggestion made by Mr. Perkins, and appoint professors of books and reading, although it would be both practical and useful.
But at least librarians may claim the same distinctions as are made elsewhere; as are made between the man who pumps the organ and he who fingers the keys; as are made between the teacher of a primary school and the ripe culture which fills the chairs of a college. They have a right to claim that the man who comes to the business with the training of years, or has by experience fitted him- self far the work, shall no more be classed with the man who can do nothing about a library, except to dust books and charge them in a ledger, than the inventor shall be classed with the hod-carrier or the lawyer with his copyist. Not to say much of the qualifications of a librarian — whether business ability shall be first, or whether the book-worm is alone competent, or again whether the man is best whose mind is a cyclopaedia, inert in itself but useful to any one that cares to turn the leaves. Leaving out these questions, it is evident that a good general education is necessary, and that it must be only the basis for his training. It is this special training which will develop library science, give it a rank with the public, and allow the public in turn to be helped by it. In Germany a plea for this science has been made by Dr. Rullman[1] of the University of Freiburg. He argues the advantages of a uniform system, and says in regard to special training, "Both theoretically and practically the opinion is gaining ground that only a man specially trained for it can successfully fill the place of librarian. Such training belongs very properly to the university course." The plan
- ↑ See government report on libraries. The statistics used are mostly from the same source.
