Part 15 (1/2)

All he will have to do is to mark on the t.i.tle of each volume, in small figures, its schedule number, and, when the books are done, put down the prices and add up the column of figures, and make out his statement as per the number of schedule.

This method gives the librarian a complete list of volumes sent and returned, and by laying away these schedules she has for handy reference a very complete list of prices. It saves the binder from writing out the name of each volume on his bill, and as the librarian must keep a list of books sent, why not keep them this way as well as any other? I have mislaid or lost hundreds of lettering slips, which are the bane of a bookbinder's existence. Lay down some rules for the cutting of books, placing of plates, binding of covers, and advertis.e.m.e.nts, style of lettering, etc., and have your binder follow them.

Don't ever cut with a folder before sending to binder, as it makes the sewing more difficult.

Don't pull to pieces or take out t.i.tles and indexes. The binder always takes care of that.

Don't take off ads, as it sometimes leaves unsightly tears or takes away pages, and if all leaves are paged the binder is at a loss to know if the book is complete.

Don't ever use mucilage or glue. Your bookbinder will send you a little paste, or you can make it by boiling flour and water and sprinkling in a little salt. If you wish to keep it for a long time, mix a few drops of oil of cloves with it and seal up.

Of course there are cases where some of these rules don't apply, such as volumes made up from leaves taken from several other volumes or pamphlets.

In case of a book of this kind place every leaf in correct order, and write directions very carefully.”

Many books will need repair. A few hours spent in the bindery, studying the methods of putting a book together, will be helpful, not only in the matter of securing good binding, but in the repairing of books that have gone to pieces. Mend and rebind your books the minute they seem to need it. Delay is the extravagant thing in this case. If you are slow in this matter, leaves and sections will be lost, and the wear the broken-backed volume is getting will soon remove a part of the fold at the back of the several sections, and make the whole book a hopeless wreck forever.

CHAPTER XXVIII

Pamphlets

Save all pamphlets having to do with local history, and save also those of a general nature which promise ever to be of any importance.

In a small library, however, or in any library in which money for salaries is limited, and the work to be done in the regular matter of attending to the public, lending books, etc., is great, do not waste time in trying to arrange or catalog pamphlets. Simply let them acc.u.mulate, arranging them roughly in cla.s.ses. Bind at once only those that seem absolutely to demand it. In the history of almost any library the time will come when it will be possible to sort out pamphlets, arrange them properly, catalog such as are worth it, bind them singly or in groups, and incorporate them into the library. But any system of arranging and sorting pamphlets which does anything more than very roughly to arrange and store them, and attempts to make them, without much labor, accessible to the general public, is almost sure to be a failure. This is not true of pamphlets to which the public has not access. But pamphlets not fully cataloged and not accessible to the public are, no matter how scientifically arranged, almost useless plunder. To keep them clean and in order nothing is as good as a pamphlet case, which any boxmaker can make, of cardboard about 9 inches high, 7 inches deep, and 2 inches thick, open at the back. They will cost from 4 to 12 cents each, according to quality of board used and quant.i.ty ordered. For holding a few pamphlets together temporarily Ballard's ”klips” are best. Sold by H.H. Ballard, Pittsfield, Ma.s.s.

[Ill.u.s.tration: L.B. pamphlet case. (Various sizes.)]

CHAPTER XXIX

Public doc.u.ments

Adelaide R. Ha.s.se, of the New York Public library

How issued

Government doc.u.ments are issued in two sets or editions, viz.: the Congressional or sheep, and the Departmental or cloth. The annual reports of the heads of departments, with many of the serial and occasional publications of the various departments, are contained in the sheep set, and in addition, all the reports of committees, and records of the transactions of congress, except the debates which are contained in the Congressional record. The cloth set contains all the publications of the various departments, irrespective of the fact that some of them may have appeared in the sheep set.

To whom issued

The depository libraries receive the sheep set by law from the superintendent of doc.u.ments. Each department has its own list of ”exchanges” (i.e., designations) which receive gratis the publications of that department intended for general distribution. Non-depository libraries receive their doc.u.ments regularly from the departments when on the department exchange list, or irregularly from their representatives in congress. ”Remainder libraries” receive from the superintendent of doc.u.ments such doc.u.ments as can be supplied from the fractional quotas sent to him after the editions ordered for the use of congress have been equally divided among the senators and representatives.

”Special libraries” are those libraries specially designated by members of congress to receive the publications of the geological survey.

Many thousands of books have been sent on special application to libraries not on the list. The depository, remainder, and special libraries together now number over 1300.