In writing this paper on the opening of a children's room, I am presupposing the following conditions: That in a library whose work with the children has been confined to the general delivery desk, and the divided attention of clerks whose time an adult public would monopolize, there is to be set aside a commodious apartment to be known as the Children's Room; that, considering this work of enough importance to demand such a department, the trustees are prepared to support it by a reasonable outlay for new books, necessary and convenient furnishings, and especially by placing in its charge one who, by natural fitness and special training they believe to be so thoroughly capable of supervising the work, that she is to be given a free hand in deciding both how the room is to be made ready for opening, and how managed after it is opened. This being the case, I imagine the children's librarian, with opening day a few weeks or months ahead, planning her campaign with such wise foresight and attention to the smallest detail that, in the rush of the first weeks, there may be the least possible wear and tear on nerves and temper from petty inconveniences which assume gigantic proportions when one is hurried and tired, and the smallest amount of undoing and beginning over again as time goes on. It is difficult to be clear in speaking of furnishings without something more than verbal description for illustrating mistakes and excellences, but so much power can be lost by not having the parts of the machine properly fitted and well oiled that how to furnish the children's room becomes one of the most important topics under this subject. To begin with, the children's librarian must cultivate, if she does not already possess, the architect's faculty of seeing a completed structure in a flat piece of paper marked off by lines labelled 20 ft., 50 ft., etc. If 20 ft. does not mean anything to her she would do well to take a tape measure to an empty lot and measure off the exact dimensions of her room to be, until she can see its floor space clearly. She should live in her room before its existence, locating every door and window, the height of the windows from the floor, every corner and cupboard, the relation of her room to the other departments of the library. In proceeding to furnish the room she will learn what to adopt and what to avoid by visiting other children's rooms and asking if the tables and chairs are the correct height, if the exit is satisfactorily guarded, what working space is necessary for a certain circulation, whether the electric light fixtures are easily broken, and many other things. If she cannot make such visits, her knowledge of children and a study of conditions in her own library will answer.