Selecting books--Fitting the library to its owners


The selection of books should be left to the librarian, under the
general direction of trustees or book committee.

There should be made at the start a collection of encyclopedias,
dictionaries, gazetteers, and scientific compendiums, which should not
be lent. The extent of this collection will depend on the scope and
purposes of the library. No library, however small, can dispense with
some books of reference. But for a small library don't buy expensive
works. The Encyclopædia Britannica is an example of what not to get.

There must be taken into consideration, in determining the character
of the books to be purchased, these factors among others:

a) Presence or absence of other libraries in the vicinity, and their
character, if present.

b) The avowed purposes of the free, tax-supported public library,
to-wit: 1) To help people to be happy; 2) to help them to become wise;
3) to encourage them to be good.

c) The amount of money to be expended and the sum that will probably
be available for each succeeding year.

d) The manner in which the books are to be used; whether they are to
be lent, or are to be used only for reference, or are to form both a
reference and a lending library.