We may attempt in every way possible to make general rules governing the efficiency of the library staff, and attempt to maintain certain definite standards, both for the sake of the public and in order to keep down the expense of maintenance, but with all this we shall never be able to reach a perfect system, partly because many employees give promise of much, but soon reach the limit of their capacity and cease to grow, and also because of the frequent unavoidable changes. There is some variance in the minds of librarians regarding the place of the library in a city, but without discussion we must all agree that first of all the free public library is a collection of books maintained for the use of the public. In order that these books may be available the employees must not only give efficient service, but they must also have a clear understanding of the public. It has been said many times that a few books in the hands of an intelligent and discriminating employee are of greater value than a large collection poorly handled. The employees constitute the medium by which the books reach the public and it rests with the buyer, the cataloger, the desk assistant, the reference librarian, and the children's librarian to see that these get into the hands of the right people at the right time. It is here that the careful discrimination of the librarian and assistants is necessary. The average library is much too large to be well used by the public and the employees of the library. In most libraries of 100,000 volumes there are possibly not more than 10,000 which are of real value. If the employees could know the authors, titles, and something of the contents of most of these it is quite as much as may be expected. If the assistant comes to the library with a reasonably good education and something of a desire to add to what she has, and will read regularly of books which are of general interest there is no reason why she should not learn to discriminate quite as carefully in the selection of books for the individual borrower as the assistant who has made a special study of the criticism of literature. No mention has been made of requirements for special positions in a library. This can only be settled after the employee has shown some fitness for special work. As the library is what the librarian and assistants make it, it rests with the librarian and those in the highest positions in the library to decide definitely on a policy, the result of which shall be prompt and efficient service from the time of the purchase of the books to their final distribution into the hands of the people. The CHAIRMAN: Next upon the program occurs the paper, "The efficiency of the library staff and scientific management," by ADAM STROHM, assistant librarian Detroit public library. THE EFFICIENCY OF THE LIBRARY STAFF AND SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT