A Library Primer Part 9

CHAPTER XVIII

The care of books

Books of moderate size should stand up on the shelves. Large books keep better if they are laid on their sides; when they stand, the weight of the leaves is a pull on the binding which tends to draw the books out of shape, and sometimes breaks them. Books which stand up should never be permitted to lean over, but should be kept always perfectly erect; the leaning wrenches them out of shape, and soon breaks the binding. A row of books which does not comfortably fill a shelf should be kept up at one end by a book support. There are several good supports on the market. The Crocker is excellent; so is the one described in the Library Bureau catalog.

[Ill.u.s.tration: L.B. book supports. (Reduced.)]

Books as they come from the dealer are not always perfect. To make sure that their purchases are in good condition some libraries collate all their books as soon as received, that is, look them through with care for missing pages, and injuries of any kind. Imperfect volumes are returned. But save with very expensive books this labor is unnecessary, and doesn't pay. The time spent on it easily amounts to more than the cost of replacing the very few books which may by chance be later found imperfect. In fact, any responsible dealer will usually replace an imperfect copy with a good one even if the former bears a library mark, and has been handled a little.

Use care in cutting pages. Don't cut them with anything but a smooth, dull edge. Cut them at the top close to the fold in the back.

The worst enemies of books are careless people.

Another enemy is damp. It is bad for the binding; it is very bad for the paper.

Gas, with heat, is very destructive to books, especially to the bindings.

Books should occasionally be taken from their shelves and wiped with a soft cloth. The shelves should at the same time be taken down and cleaned thoroughly.

Don't hold a book by one of its covers.

Don't pile up books very high.

Don't rub dust into them instead of rubbing it off.

Don't wedge books tightly into the shelves.

Those who use a public library are all desirous that its books be clean and neat, and with a little encouragement will take pretty good care of them. There are exceptions, of course, and especially among the children. These must be looked after and reasoned with.

Don't cover your books. The brown paper cover is an insult to a good book, a reproach to every reader of it, an incentive to careless handling, and an expense without good return.

A few simple rules like the following can be brought in an un.o.btrusive way to the attention of those who use the library. Always be sure that the library sets a good example in its handling of books.

Keep books dry.

Do not handle them when the hands are moist; of course never when the hands are soiled.

Use them to read, and for nothing else.

Never mark in them.

Do not turn down their pages.

Do not lay them face downwards.

Do not strap them up tightly.

Never let them fall.

Open them gently.

The book you are reading will go to others. Pa.s.s it on to them neat and clean, hoping that they will do the same by you.

CHAPTER XIX

Accessioning books

A careful record should be made of all books received. Use for this purpose what is called an accession book. This is a blank book, ruled and lettered and numbered especially for library invoices. (See the Library Bureau catalog.) It is the library's chief record, and should contain a complete history of every volume on its shelves. The items entered in the accession book concerning every volume in the library are commonly the following: date of entry; accession number; cla.s.s number (religion, sociology, etc.); author; t.i.tle; place of publication and name of publisher; date of publication; binding (cloth, leather, etc.); size (octavo, quarto, etc.); number of pages; name of dealer from whom purchased; cost; remarks (maps, plates, etc.; books rebound; magazines, etc.; lost, worn out, replaced by another book, etc.).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Accession book, left-hand page. (Reduced size.)

Date 29 5 '92

ACCESSION F.T. CLa.s.s BOOK VOL. AUTHOR t.i.tLE 7581 428 B88 Bunce, O.B. Don't 7581.93 82 Z713 Zola, E. Soil Scr.15.92 83 973.1 F54 v.1 Fiske, J. Discovery of Amer.

84 973.1 F54 v.2 " "

85 ]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Accession book, right-hand page. (Reduced size.)

PLACE AND PUBLISHER DATE BINDING SOURCE COST REMARKS N.Y. App. 1885 pa. Scribner 28 Bind No. 354 L. Vizetelly 1888 cl. " 81 " " 355 B. Ho.M. 1892c " " } 2.97 " " " " " } ]

Each book and each volume of a set has a separate accession number and a separate entry. Each entry occupies a line; each line is numbered from one up to such a number as the library has volumes. The number of each line, called the accession number, is written on the first page after the t.i.tle-page of the book described on that line. The accession book is a life history of every book in the library. It forms such a record as any business-like person would wish to have of property entrusted to his care. It is also a catalog of all books in the library, and a useful catalog as long as the library is small. Never use an old accession number for a new book, even though the original book has disappeared from the library.

Record should be made of all books, pamphlets, reports, bulletins, magazines, etc., received by the library as gifts; and every gift should be promptly and courteously acknowledged in writing, even if previously acknowledged in person. Keep this record in a blank book, alphabetizing all gifts by the names of the givers, with dates of receipt. Books given should appear on the accession register the same as books purchased.

CHAPTER XX

Cla.s.sifying books

The smallest public library should be cla.s.sified and cataloged. This will make its resources more easily available, and will prevent the confusion and waste of labor which are sure to come if systematic treatment of the books is deferred. Get the best advice obtainable; consider the library's field and its possibilities of growth, and let the first work on the books be such as will never need to be done over.

To cla.s.sify books is to place them in groups, each group including, as nearly as may be, all the books treating of a given subject, for instance, geology; or all the books, on whatever subject, cast in a particular form--for instance, poetry; or all the books having to do with a particular period of time--for instance, the middle ages. Few books are devoted exclusively to one subject and belong absolutely in any one cla.s.s. The cla.s.sification of books must be a continual compromise. Its purpose is not accurately to cla.s.sify all printed things, this can't be done; but simply to make certain sources of information--books--more available. Any cla.s.sification, if it gets the books on a given subject side by side, and those on allied subjects near one another, is a good one.

Books may be cla.s.sified into groups in a catalog or list, yet themselves stand without order on the shelves. For convenience in getting for anyone all the books on a given subject, and especially for the help of those who are permitted to visit the shelves, all books should stand in their appropriate cla.s.ses. Each book, therefore, should bear a mark which will tell in what cla.s.s it belongs; distinguish it from all other books in that cla.s.s; show where it stands on the shelves among its fellows of the same cla.s.s; and indicate which one it is of several possible copies of the same book.

This mark can be used to designate the book in all records of it, instead of the larger entry of its author and t.i.tle.

There are two cla.s.sification systems worthy of consideration, the Dewey, or decimal, and the Cutter, or expansive. They are outlined in the following chapters. Don't try to devise a system of your own.

Having decided on your system of cla.s.sification, begin to cla.s.sify.