I am preparing this whole lecture with a fear that some one of this kind may think he is adapting his library to his locality when he is only standardizing it by himself. Self-deception may go far in matters of this kind, and there is something to be said in favor of hard and fast standardization without departure of any kind, in that it prevents aberrations such as I have just hinted at. I trust that no self-standardizer is in my present audience. Our conclusion from all this should be, I think, that a library should not only assimilate its methods to those of other libraries--which is standardization, but should react to the needs and conditions of its own surroundings, which is localization. If you would know the extent of this local reaction and the character of its results, ask the members of the library’s community, especially if that community is small. And we must remember that no library community is large, so far as its direct popular use is concerned. Whether it is in a village or a city, whether it is a central library or a branch, it is effective as a community centre only within a small circle, of perhaps half a mile radius. The residents of this circle are in a position to give testimony regarding the library’s local services. If it has succeeded in adapting itself to local needs its reputation will be that of a valuable, helpful, well-disposed institution; if not, the neighbors will be hostile, or at least indifferent. Libraries that are in constant trouble with their readers--the object of continual complaint and controversy, generally have the feeling that the fault is with the public. Sometimes it is; for a maladjustment is seldom on one side alone. But more often it is chiefly due to the fact that the library has overlooked its purely local functions, while possibly at the same time conforming most admirably to what are considered the best library standards. No library can afford to neglect its special duties to its locality and if these conflict with standardization, it should be the general standards and not the local adjustments, that should go by the board. INDEX Administration, Cost of, 217 Advertising. General, 277; In the library, 35, 172 Age limit for children, 210 Allen, James Lane, quoted, 66 A. L. A. catalog, 422; President’s address, 121 American Library Institute, 418 American idea of delegated authority, 57; Of propriety, 133 Americans as money-lovers, 156 Antin, Mary, quoted, 423 Appointments, 95 Appropriation for books, 24 Architecture of libraries, 315 Art, Not intellectual, 331 Assassins, Persian sect, 129 Autograph collections, 398 Auto-standardization, 425 Badness, Three kinds in books, 207 Beginners, Message to, 357 Beresford, J. D., quoted, 372 Best books defined, 141 _Biblia abiblia_, 288 Bibliographies for book selection, 19 Binding, Choice of, 25 Boards of trustees, 39, 49, 93 Book committees, 22, 147 Book-lovers, 99