=79. Deputy-Librarian.=--It may be affirmed that appointments to any senior position should be subject to the same principles, and to conditions similar to those governing the appointment of chief librarians. In small libraries the means at the disposal of the committee do not always permit of a salary sufficient to attract a diplomate of the Library Association, or a man similarly qualified, but no assistant who is inexperienced or is without the certificates of the Library Association should ever be appointed to the important position of Deputy-Librarian. The duties of the Deputy-Librarian comprise the whole administration of the library system under the chief librarian, the general supervision of every department, and the direction of the duties of the whole staff. He becomes acting-chief librarian in every absence of his principal, and should be qualified to assume this position both by his knowledge and his personality. It is therefore clear that his technical training must in general be as sound and catholic as that of his chief; and in addition to this quality, he should possess initiative, disciplinary powers, discretion, and loyalty to his chief and to the existing system. In detail his duties will vary according to the size of the system; and in small libraries he will be merely the superior assistant, taking part in every operation (except the merely mechanical ones, which may be performed by untrained juniors) of the library; in somewhat larger libraries he may arrange the hours and duties of the staff and superintend them, and check all cataloguing and classification. In the largest libraries his work is almost purely administrative. The conditions of the appointment of a Deputy-Librarian are somewhat difficult to describe, owing to the divergences we have named. He usually, but not always, works similar hours to the remainder of the staff; has his own office, or, at any rate, private desk; and is usually invested with considerable authority. It should be the aim of the chief librarian to make this office a worthy one--and to see that only worthy persons occupy it. A good deputy gives tone to the whole staff, as he comes into more intimate contact with it than the chief librarian. The salaries paid to Deputy-Librarians are again matters which vary; they range from £100 to £300, and in a few places to much higher sums than this. [In the last edition it was laid down that the deputy should receive a maximum of not less than half of that of the chief; but we think any dogmatic statement of that kind objectionable, as being subject to numberless variations in various places.]