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A Library Primer
John Cotton Dana
Third Edition
Library Bureau, Chicago
1903
Copyright, 1899, by Library Bureau
To Samuel S. Green, William I. Fletcher, and Charles A. Cutter
PREFACE.

A library primer was published in the first six numbers of Public Libraries in 1896. It was quite largely made
up of extracts from an article by Dr W. F. Poole on The organization and management of public libraries,
which formed part of the report on Public libraries in the U. S., published by the U. S. Bureau of education in
1876; from W. I. Fletcher's Public libraries in America; from Mary W. Plummer's Hints to small libraries; and
from papers in the Library journal and A. L. A. proceedings.

At the request of a number of people interested I have revised, rewritten, and extended the original draft for
publication in book form. Additional material has been taken from many sources. I have tried to give credit in
good measure. The prevailing tendency among librarians is to share ideas, to give to one another the benefit of
all their suggestions and experiences. The result is a large fund of library knowledge which is common
property. From this fund most of this book is taken.

The Library Primer is what its name implies. It does not try to be exhaustive in any part of the field. It tries to
open up the subject of library management for the small library, and to show how large it is and how much
librarians have yet to learn and to do.

J. C. D.
The City library,
Springfield, Mass.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE
I, The beginnings\u2014Library law
9
II, Preliminary work
10
III, What does a public library do for a community?
12
IV, General policy of the library
15
V, Trustees
17
VI, The librarian
20
VII, The trained librarian
23
A Library Primer
1
VIII, Rooms, building, fixtures, furniture
25
IX, Things needed in beginning work
30
X, The Library Bureau
35
XI, Selecting books
39
XII, Reference books for a small library
46
XIII, Reference work
53
XIV, Reading room
57
XV, List of periodicals
61
XVI, Buying books
63
XVII, Ink and handwriting
69
XVIII, Care of books
73
XIX, Accessioning
76
XX, Classifying
78
XXI, Decimal classification
81
XXII, Expansive classification
84
XXIII, Author numbers or book marks
91
XXIV, Shelf list
92
XXV, Cataloging
94
XXVI, Preparing books for the shelf
99
XXVII, Binding and mending
103
XXVIII, Pamphlets
108
XXIX, Public documents
110
XXX, Checking the library
113
XXXI, Lists, bulletins, and printed catalogs
114
XXXII, Charging systems
116
XXXIII, Meeting the public
122
XXXIV, The public library for the public
123
XXXV, Advice to a librarian
126
XXXVI, The librarian as a host
128
XXXVII, Making friends for the library
131
XXXVIII, Public libraries and recreation
133
XXXIX, Books as useful tools
134
XL, Village library successfully managed
135
XLI, Rules for the public
137
XLII, Rules for trustees and employ\u00e9s
140
XLIII, Reports
146
XLIV, Library legislation
147
XLV, A. L. A. and other library associations
152
XLVI, Library schools and classes
154
XLVII, Library department of N. E. A.
156
XLVIII, Young people and the schools
157
XLIX, How can the library assist the school?
160
The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Library Primer by John Cotton Dana
John Cotton Dana
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L, Children's room
163
LI, Schoolroom libraries
164
LII, Children's home libraries
166
LIII, Literary clubs and libraries
168
LIV, Museums, lectures, etc.
170
LV, Rules for the care of photographs
171
Library Primer
CHAPTER I
The beginnings\u2014Library law

If the establishment of a free public library in your town is under consideration, the first question is probably
this: Is there a statute which authorizes a tax for the support of a public library? Your state library
commission, if you have one, will tell you if your state gives aid to local public libraries. It will also tell you
about your library law. If you have no library commission, consult a lawyer and get from him a careful
statement of what can be done under present statutory regulations. If your state has no library law, or none
which seems appropriate in your community, it may be necessary to suspend all work, save the fostering of a
sentiment favorable to a library, until a good law is secured.

In chapters 44 and 45 will be found a list of state library commissions, important provisions in library laws,
and the names of the states having the best library laws at present.

Before taking any definite steps, learn about the beginnings of other libraries by writing to people who have had experience, and especially to libraries in communities similar in size and character to your own. Write to some of the new libraries in other towns and villages of your state, and learn how they began. Visit several such libraries, if possible, the smaller the better if you are starting on a small scale.

CHAPTER II
Preliminary work

Often it is not well to lay great plans and invoke state aid at the very outset. Make a beginning, even though it be small, is a good general rule. This beginning, however petty it seems, will give a center for further effort, and will furnish practical illustrations for the arguments one may wish to use in trying to interest people in the movement.

Each community has different needs, and begins its library under different conditions. Consider then, whether
you need most a library devoted chiefly to the work of helping the schools, or one to be used mainly for
reference, or one that shall run largely to periodicals and be not much more than a reading room, or one
particularly attractive to girls and women, or one that shall not be much more than a cheerful resting-place,
attractive enough to draw man and boy from street corner and saloon. Decide this question early, that all effort
may be concentrated to one end, and that your young institution may suit the community in which it is to
grow, and from which it is to gain its strength.

Having decided to have a library, keep the movement well before the public. The necessity of the library, its
great value to the community, should be urged by the local press, from the platform, and in personal talk.
Include in your canvass all citizens, irrespective of creed, business, or politics; whether educated or illiterate.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Library Primer by John Cotton Dana
Library Primer
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