Page 148 - Training for librarianship; library work as a career

TRAINING FOR LIBRARIANSHIP

therefore, that the problem of classification
is not complex in the law library.
On the other hand, the law library is first
and foremost a reference library. As vol-
umes must be so arranged that they are freely
and easily accessible, so the law librarian
must be a master in their use. He must be
familiar with every law tool, must keep con-
tinually in close contact with the acts of legis-
latures and decisions of courts, but always he
must know where to find the law. It is not
necessary that he be a lawyer to do his work
well. It is necessary, however, that he have
an intimate acquaintance with the saUent
facts in the development of law, that he
understand sympathetically the work of the
lawyer, the legislator and the judge.
In the law library nothing is so certain to
lead to failure as superficiahty. Thorough-
ness is indispensable to successful work in it.
Added to that, an ability to appreciate the
importance of detail, the power to concen-
trate on a specific problem and follow it
through the maze of legal reports until a solu-
tion is reached, a sense of accuracy and
134