Page 90 - Training for librarianship; library work as a career

TRAINING FOR LIBRARIANSHIP

every case by such corporations or stock com-
panies, or by clubs or associations.
Their advantages are not only that they
offer a congregating place for those of simi-
lar interests and tastes, but that they are
enabled to extend services which other hbra-
ries for one reason or another cannot. Thus
they do not rival the pubhc hbraries in num-
ber of volumes, yet on the other hand, with
fewer borrowers the opportunity of securing
a desired book for a reader is greater. More-
over, the smaller number to be served enables
greater and more intensive service to the indi-
vidual. It enables the librarian and his
assistants to know and understand almost
every shareholder and subscriber, their indi-
vidual whims and interests. It makes pos-
sible purchasing books with more definite
purpose for their use, the extension of greater
privileges to readers and borrowers, and
enables greater contact between the hbrarian
and the user of the library. The librarian of
the Boston Athenaeum finds that:
" The proprietor of a library, which is
owned largely by educated people, feels
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