FINE ARTS.--Books must be discarded very sparingly in this section. Collections of engravings, finely illustrated books, and collected music, not at all. THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY.--Philosophical works, particularly systems of philosophy, should never be discarded. Historical and explanatory text-books may be discarded as they become superseded by later works. Old theology, commentaries on the Bible, sectarian literature and sermons should be discarded very freely. Theological controversies should never be collected by general municipal libraries unless of local interest. SOCIAL SCIENCE.--This class requires frequent revision, especially in the sections devoted to political economy, government, law and other topics. Books on questions of momentary interest can be replaced by historical résumés. Constantly changing subjects like law, government and political economy should be kept up to date as much as possible, and the historical record kept by means of recent histories. Questions like parliamentary reform, slavery and chartism are illustrations of once burning topics which may just as well be represented by a few modern histories as by actual collections of the very voluminous literature attached to each subject. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.--Old grammars may be discarded without risk, and also ordinary school dictionaries. Books on literary history, bibliography and librarianship are tools, and should never be discarded. PROSE FICTION.--Novelists mentioned in literary histories should never be discarded. Minor novelists of all lands, who are not mentioned in literary histories, whose works have remained unissued for a year or two, should be promptly discarded. So, also, should merely topical novels of no permanent interest, which libraries are often forced to buy under pressure. Continuous popularity is a good reason for retaining any novel, provided it is not immoral. POETRY AND DRAMA.--Collective works should never be discarded unless efficiently superseded. But poets and dramatists of a day who are no longer read may be safely discarded, but no one who is named in histories of literature.