Library Essays; Papers Related to the Work of Public LibrariesBostwick, Arthur E. (Arthur Elmore)
Science
Library Essays; Papers Related to the Work of Public Libraries
Bostwick, Arthur E. (Arthur Elmore)
Library science; Public libraries
In concluding, it may be well to call attention again to the fact that
such schemes as these are designed to aid an appointing body or officer,
not to control him. They would be of little value to a municipality
desiring to limit a political mayor’s power for evil, or to a mayor
wishing to keep his board of library trustees within bounds, or to a
board anxious to curb its librarian’s propensity to appoint personal
favorites. Such a plan pre-supposes that appointment and promotion for
the good of the service are desired, and it serves to bring this about
so far as it may. A board, or a librarian, could depart from it or
violate its provisions in a dozen ways. What, then, is the use of it? In
a small staff, it has no uses. It would be as silly to grade such a
staff and make rules for its promotion as it would be for a housekeeper
with a cook and one maid to call the former Class A and the latter Class
B, and draw up rules for their appointment and promotion. But as soon as
the size of the staff exceeds that at which the officer in charge can
know each member and her work with intimate personal knowledge, then
something of the kind becomes imperative. The members of such a staff
are better satisfied that they are being treated with uniform justice,
and that merit is properly recognized, if it is done in some systematic
way like this, and the officer on whose recommendation appointments and
promotions are made runs much less risk of making mistakes. Every
librarian should, I believe, examine himself to make sure that his
present scheme of service, whatever it may be, is sufficient for these
purposes and adapted to secure their attainment smoothly and
satisfactorily.
EFFICIENCY RECORDS IN LIBRARIES
In the foregoing article the present writer gave the result of his
experience in formulating and establishing systems of service in four
large libraries, and, incidentally, stated his conclusion that such
systems should always remain in the control of the library authorities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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