Page 61 - Training for Librarianship Library Work As a Career

CHAPTER IV

The Social and Special Work of the
Public Library

As the work of the public librarian of the
past consisted mainly in the collection and
housing of books and kindred material, so the
librarian of to-day is concerned mainly with
the use of his collections. Inasmuch as no
library, whether pubUc or private, can
expect to gather and preserve the vast
amount of material that exists or that pours
from the printing presses continually, the
public library aims to get only that part
which has the potentiality of use.
It is this emphasis on collections for use
as against the old idea of collecting for the
sake of mere numbers and building up a vast
repository that is the distinguishing feature
of modem librarianship. But the public
library has not only gathered material in
print and made it available without charge
for use in pleasant rooms and buildings,
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