LM_NET: Library Media Networking
For some Friday humor, I thought you all might enjoy this piece from the
student literary magazine at The Woman's College of Baltimore titled
"The Ideal Librarian."
In order to make his work a success, a librarian must have certain
well-defined qualities. He must have not only a college education and
college training, but must be open to every form of knowledge. "A little
Latin and less Greek" are very well in their way, but he should be able also
to read German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish,
Bohemian, and Russian; a smattering of Hebrew and Sanskrit would not be
amiss, while a bowing acquaintance with cuneiforms would add still further
to his usefulness.
Above all things, he should know books- from a bibliographical as well as a
literary standpoint. He should know the publication date of every book, and
how many editions it has passed through, the price when published, and its
present value; he should be able to give personal details about the author,
and about every man, woman, and child mentioned in the book.
An ideal librarian should have a thorough knowledge of history, of all the
sciences and all the arts, fine and useful, and should be able in an instant
to suggest a reading list on any subject. An ideal librarian ought to be
familiar with all branches of library economy, and to be in touch with the
latest library appliances. Cutter's rules should be at his fingers' ends,
and Cutter's, Dewey's, and every other system of classification be as simple
as the alphabet to him.
Then he should "read, read, read" all the books, all the magazines, all the
newspapers. Above all, he should read the Library Journal from cover to
cover, not stopping at the advertisements. He should be ready at all times
to attend to the wants of anyone entering his office, and, like Justin
Winsor, stop in the midst of writing a sentence to greet a visitor, prepared
to finish the sentence and take up the thread of thought at the caller's
departure. Every reader's wants ought to be known to him instinctively,
whether he is asked for the right book or not. For instance, if he happens
to be a college librarian, and a student asks him for "Morley," he must
forget that his library contains several books by John and a number by Henry
Morley, and must know by some occult power that the book desired is Masson's
"De Quincey," in the English Men of Letters series, the whole series edited
by John Morley. In a word, a librarian should have the learning of a Bacon,
the manner of a Chesterfield, the patience of Job, the divining power of a
wizard, and the temper of an angel. Besides, he must not only be born a
librarian, but must continue to make himself one as long as he lives.
(The Kalends, October 1898 )
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