model statute in order that the association might not commit itself at the time to any specific form of legislation and thus divide its forces on methods.
The policy thus laid down prevailed for a quarter of a century. Meanwhile one state copied from another, incorporating the bad as well as the good features of its laws, with the result that legislation developed in a much more unsystematic way than if there had been a model to follow. Reviews covering the acts of a given year or more were written from time to time, which brought out certain tendencies, but which never resulted in any action.
In 1897 Frank C. Patten for the first time presented in a concise form the essentials and an outline of a good law. The subject was again treated a few years later by W. R. Eastman and in 1909 a committee of the American Library Association prepared and published a model commission law. The chief features of these several papers with additions and modifications are embodied in the following:
Outline of a good library law.—Three essentials which a good law provides are:
- Careful and consecutive management.
- A sure and steady revenue.
- A central agency for supervision and promotion.
Most states have separate laws for local libraries, for the state library, and for the library commission, as well as for other library purposes. These should all be codified in the interest of brevity, simplicity, and comprehensiveness. The following outline is designed to accomplish these ends and to bring all the free public libraries of the state into a co-operative working system. It may be desirable to modify the plan to meet conditions in a given state. But by bearing the essentials in mind and securing the best legal assistance no mistake need be made in the preparation of a good law.
