=3. The Library Staff.=—The duties of the staff vary with the size of the library. In the smallest libraries the librarian may be the only one engaged in the actual work of the library, but in such cases the library hours must be restricted to such as one person can take care of. The next step in growth is to have some one relieve the librarian at the desk and to do the more clerical work. Next come special assistants to look after special tasks like cataloging and classifying, desk work and so on. The staff, whether large or small, should consider itself responsible to the librarian and should not, except in extraordinary cases, go directly to the board of trustees with petitions. The librarian should always be the spokesman for the staff. Going over his head indicates a lack of sympathy and cooperation between the librarian and staff that argues badly for the welfare of the institution. =Qualifications for Library Work.=—The best preparation for library work is a thorough, systematic general education. To this should be added a special preparation secured either through apprenticeship, a training class, or a regular library school. Different positions call for different qualities in assistants but library service in general demands tact, perseverance, adaptability, habits of precision and accuracy, with a fair amount of speed, ability to distinguish between essentials and non-essentials, and a strong desire to be of service. A certain familiarity with books and famous characters in history and in fiction is expected of every one in a library. Personal neatness, good temper, and a sense of humor are valuable assets in this as in other lines of work. No one will succeed in library work who goes into it merely for the money that can be got out of it. Loyalty to the institution and its officers is essential to efficient service. If the assistant cannot feel this sense of loyalty, the sooner a new position is secured, the better for all concerned. Dignity, self-possession, and self-reliance are valuable qualities in any part of the library, but are especially needed by assistants at the reference desk. Qualities that unfit one for library work in general are physical weakness, deformity, poor memory, a discontented disposition, egotism, a lack of system in one’s method of work, and inability or unwillingness to take responsibilities, a tendency to theorize, criticise, or gossip, inability to mind one’s own business, fussiness, and long-windedness. One librarian advocates listing the virtues and personal qualities of the staff and apprentices by having a questionnaire like the following filled out for each assistant: