A Library Primer Part 8

WRITE LEGIBLY Author's surname, followed by given names or initials: Howard, George t.i.tle: Second Marriages Edition: 2 Place: N.Y.

Publisher: Stone Year: 1889 No. of Vols.

Size: D Total Price: $2 NOT in great haste NOT [stricken out] in haste I recommend the above for the library. Notice of receipt is NOT asked Signature: John Carr Address: Anderson Fill above as fully as possible. Cross out NOT, if notice is wanted, if in great need or special haste Put a ? before items of which you are not sure. Give reasons for recommending ON THE BACK.]

Do not be tempted by a large discount to give orders to irresponsible persons. A library should secure from 25 to 35 per cent discount. Do not buy ordinary subscription books or books on the installment plan.

Do not antic.i.p.ate revenues, and do not spend all your money at once; if you do you will miss many a bargain, and have to go without books that are needed more than those you have bought. Buy good but not expensive editions. Do not spend on a single costly work, of interest to few and seldom used by that few, a sum that would buy 20 or perhaps 100 volumes that would be in constant and profitable use by many.

Buy no book unless by personal acquaintance, or upon competent and trustworthy testimony, it is worth adding to your library. Do not feel that you must buy complete sets of an author, or all of any "series"; all the works of very few authors are worth having. Do not buy cheap editions of fiction; the paper, presswork, and binding is poor, and is simply a waste of money. The best is none too good in buying fiction, for it wears out fast, and has to be rebound, and then replaced. Do not buy a lot of second-hand fiction to put into the hands of the people. You cannot expect them to keep their books clean if you start them out with dirty pages, soiled plates, and a general hand-me-down air.

Books for young people must be interesting. No amount of excellence in other directions will compensate for dull books.

Do not trust too much to the second-hand dealer. Avoid subscription books. Do not buy of a book peddler; in nine cases out of ten you can find better and cheaper books at the stores. A well selected and judiciously purchased library, with such works of reference as are needed, will cost, on an average, $1.25 a volume.

The following notes were prepared by a bookseller of experience, and should be carefully considered before beginning to buy books:

Any bookseller worthy your patronage will be able to a.s.sist you by pointing out the most desirable edition for general library use.

There is every reason for placing your orders with your local dealer so long as he can care for them intelligently. A large discount should not be the sole factor in deciding where to buy, but keep in mind this, a conscientious bookseller can save you money by carefully watching your interests in the very many details that pertain to bookbuying. Having decided on your bookseller agent, place all your orders with him. It will save you time, which is equivalent to money.

Keep an exact duplicate copy of every order you place, and for this purpose a manifold book is preferable. In writing your orders never write on both sides of a sheet; arrange your items alphabetically by author, and make all your entries as complete and full as possible.

This is particularly important in the case of books in the field of science, history, and biography. The more clear and definite your orders are made out, the more promptly and completely can your bookseller supply them.

An ideal bookseller, qualified to act as your agent, is one who has familiarized himself with the various editions of books, and will always make selections with greater stress on quality than quant.i.ty; who will not send you the second edition of a scientific work when a third is out; who will avoid sending you expensive publications (even though you may have ordered them) until he is satisfied that you want them; who will exert himself to get desirable books that may be out of print or issued by an out-of-the-way publisher; who will always be prepared to advise you as to the latest work on any particular subject, as well as the best work.

These points are of greater importance to the live librarian than is the percentage of discount. Say nothing about per cents; to do so is misleading and unsatisfactory always. No one understands you.

It is safe to estimate that your purchases of fiction and juvenile literature will average inside of $1 per volume.

A general list, including reference books, of say 4000v., would average about $1.25 per volume, or $5000.

Make your purchases with the needs of your community clearly in mind, securing such books as will be constantly in use, and thereby get returns for your expenditure. The expensive publications and books that are called for only at rare intervals should be left to libraries with very large incomes, and to those making special collections.

Where possible to do so avoid buying large bills of books at long intervals. It is better to spend an income of $600 per year in monthly installments of $50, than it is to buy twice a year $300 lots.

The frequent purchase will bring you the new and talked of books while they are fresh in the minds of people, and there is greater economy of time in cataloging and shelving them.

Second-hand books are rarely cheap at any price.

Have confidence in your agent, for your interests are always his.

CHAPTER XVII

Ink and handwriting

For catalog cards and all other records use a non-copying black, permanent ink. Carter's record ink is good. It has been adopted, after careful investigation, by the state of Ma.s.sachusetts for all official records. The New York state library school, at Albany, has issued a little handbook on "library handwriting," which recommends Carter's record, and says they use Stafford's blue writing ink for blue and his carmine combined for red.

For all labels on the outside of books, and for all writing on surfaces which may be much handled, use Higgins' American drawing ink, waterproof.

The vertical hand should be used in all library work. The following rules, with the ill.u.s.trations, are taken from the Albany school handbook above referred to:

Brief rules

1 Ink. Use only standard library ink and let it dry without blotting.

2 Position. Sit squarely at the desk and as nearly erect as possible.

3 Alphabets. Follow the library hand forms of all letters, avoiding any ornament, flourish, or lines not essential to the letter.

4 Size. Small letters, taking m as the unit, are one s.p.a.ce or two millimeters high; i.e. one-third the distance between the rulings of the standard catalog card.

Capitals and extended letters are two s.p.a.ces high above the base line or run one s.p.a.ce below, except t, the character &, and figures, which are one and one-half s.p.a.ces high.

5 Slant. Make letters upright with as little slant as possible, and uniformly the same, preferring a trifle backward rather than forward slant.

6 s.p.a.cing. Separate words by s.p.a.ce of one m and sentences by two m's.

Leave uniform s.p.a.ce between letters of a word.

7 Shading. Make a uniform black line with no shading. Avoid hair line strokes.

8 Uniformity. Take great pains to have all writing uniform in size, slant, s.p.a.cing, blackness of lines and forms of letters.

9 Special letters and figures. In both joined and disjoined hands dot i and cross t accurately to avoid confusion; e.g. Giulio carelessly dotted has been arranged under Guilio in the catalog. Cross t one s.p.a.ce from line. Dot i and j one and one-half s.p.a.ces from line. In foreign languages special care is essential.

_Joined hand_. Connect all the letters of a word into a single word picture. Complete each letter; e.g. do not leave gap between body and stem of b and d, bring loop of f back to stem, etc.

Avoid slanting r and s differently from other letters. They should be a trifle over one s.p.a.ce in height. The small p is made as in print, and is not extended above the line as in ordinary script.

_Disjoined hand_. Avoid all unnecessary curves. The princ.i.p.al down strokes in b, d, f, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, t, u, and the first line in e, should be straight.

SPECIMEN ALPHABETS AND FIGURES

[Ill.u.s.tration: Joined Hand]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Disjoined Hand]

Make all the small letters, except f, i, j, k, t, x and y, without lifting pen from paper.

Make g and Q in one stroke, moving from left to right like the hands of a watch. Begin on the line.

Take special pains with the letter r, as carelessly made it is easily mistaken for v or y.

Make the upper part of B, R, and S a trifle smaller than the lower part.

_Figures_. Make all figures without lifting the pen. Begin 4 with the horizontal line. Make the upper part of 3 and 8 smaller than the lower part; 8 is best made by beginning in the center.