=19. Appointment of Committees.=--The first step after the Libraries Acts have been adopted by a local authority will be the appointment of a committee, and it is desirable that only capable men should be elected. The best interests of the library will be served by a committee consisting of good business men and literary or professional men or women, in about equal proportions. It is quite evident that the legislature did not contemplate the formation of public libraries by committees consisting exclusively of the rank and file of local authorities, who are chiefly concerned with paving, drainage and other equally material matters. By Section 15, Sub-section 3, of the “Public Libraries Act, 1892,” it is ordained that “an urban authority may if it think fit appoint a committee and delegate to it all or any of its powers and duties under this section, and the said committee shall to the extent of such delegation be deemed to be the library authority. Persons appointed to be members of the committee need not be a member of the urban authority.” The “Public Libraries (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1877,” gives similar power to elect members outside the local authority. Section 4 ordains that “the committee in which the general management, regulation and control of such libraries, museums or schools may be vested under the provisions of the 12th Section of the principal Act may consist in part of persons not members of the council or board or commissioners.” By the “Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1887,” Section 18 ordains that the local authority shall “appoint a committee, consisting of not less than ten nor more than twenty members, half of whom shall be chosen from amongst the magistrates and council, or board, as the case may be, and the remaining half from amongst the householders of the burgh or parish other than the magistrates and council, or board, and three members of such committee shall form a quorum.” It is further ordained, Section 21, that this committee “shall manage, regulate and control all libraries and museums established under this Act, or to which this Act applies; and shall have power to do all things necessary for such management.” It is thus clear that local authorities are fully empowered to select the best expert advice it is possible to obtain in the district, and that the administration of the library should not rest entirely in the hands of the local authority. It is therefore advisable that library committees, while consisting of a majority of members of the local authority, should be strengthened by a good proportion of members selected from among the best qualified citizens. The principle of co-option is compulsory in the case of Education Committees, and so far as this principle is concerned the arguments for its adoption on Library Committees are equally cogent.