Page:Library Administration, 1898.djvu/40

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THE LIBRARY AND ITS STAFF
23

3. Draw up instructions for the binding of books for a lending library. Mention any special defects in an ill-bound book.

4. How would you proceed in selecting a library of 2000 volumes, and what means would you take to acquire the books?

5. Name the principal subjects to be considered in the formation of a "local collection."

6. Give a list of the works of reference suitable for a news-room; name the newspapers of the United Kingdom which ought to be obtainable in a news-room, marking those which should be filed for future reference. (In asking this question it is presumed that all books and papers can be obtained by the readers themselves.)

7. What do you consider the best method for preserving pamphlets? Give reasons for your answer.

The employment of women as assistants and even as principal librarians is an established practice in the United States, but in this country was almost unknown ten years ago. There is as yet no serious question—such is male arrogance—of employing women in the more scholarly libraries, though when the British Museum took over the Tapling collection of postage stamps, a lady was engaged to assist in the delicate work of arranging and cataloguing them. There seems to be no objection, other than those commonly alleged against women's work, to the employment of women in libraries, especially in such as have developed a Juvenile Department, where their aid would be invaluable. In this country there is the advantage—if so it may be called—of the cheapness of women's work to be considered, but in the United States very