Page:The Library, volume 5, series 3.djvu/125

Third Series, No. 1 8, VOL. V. APRIL, 1914. THE LIBRARY. CO-OPERATION AMONG GERMAN LIBRARIES BY MUTUAL LOANS AND THE INFORMATION-BUREAU. S the question of library co-operation is now being discussed in the United Kingdom, it has been thought that English readers will be interested to learn how the German libraries co- operate by mutual loans and an information-bureau. The subje6l may be considered from many points of view. There is the social point of view : by lending their books throughout the country the libraries enable the research student to do his work praftically at any place ; so the subje6l touches the land problem. There is the learned point of view: the general catalogue of incunabula, for instance, can be prepared in the thorough and uniform way in which it is being done only by the aid of the inter-library loan service. There is the historical point of view : between the Grand-ducal Library at Darmstadt and the University Library at