Lanterna Rally

Author: American Library Association

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-22

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 9781331976264

Excerpt from Papers and Proceedings of the Fourteenth General Meeting of the American Library Association: Held at Lakewood, N. J. With Sessions at Baltimore and Washington, May 16-21, 1892 The peculiar circumstances under which I assume this position will, I am sure, be sufficient to excuse the desultoriness of the few remarks which, on so short notice, I have been able to throw together for your consideration this evening. When, but a few days ago, I found that the duties of this position would devolve on me, it chanced that my mind was already occupied, to some extent, with a line of thought which I at once saw was the only one on which I could hope to be in the least prepared to speak on this occasion. In developing this line of thought, as best I could in the few days left me, under the pressure of other absorbing duties, it has presented itself to me under two phases, and I have hesitated which phase I should make most prominent by letting it give a name to my theme. Under one phase my subject would be, "The public library of the future;" this subject has peculiar fascinations for the castle-builder, and derives great interest from the marvelous development of library interests in the recent past, pointing to still greater things in the near future; but one must needs hesitate to assume the role of prophet when it is noted how rapidly the conditions, both physical and social, on which predictions must be based, are changing. Only a seer may venture to forecast the future, otherwise than by a careful study of present indications and past progress. The progress so far made and the indications at present available in this field are too full of variety, and even inconsistency, to furnish a basis for calculations as to the future, and delightful as may be the attempt to peer into that future, a sober second thought prompts me to come at my subject on the other and more practical side. Hence, I bring you as my theme, "Some library economies," and wish to be understood as using the word "economies" in its most usual and homely sense. "Library economy" is a much-abused and an ambiguous term. As a name for the craft of the librarian it is singularly infelicitous, and yet no other term is so much used - in fact none other has yet been found - to express in English the idea of the German "Bibliothekswissenschaft." "Library science" may be considered a literal rendering of this term, but it does not convey to the average mind the idea intended. He will confer an immense benefit on our fraternity who shall furnish an intelligible and satisfactory name for the science and art of "book-keeping" in its noblest sense. But whatever library economy may mean or may not mean, we can all understand library economies as signifying the practical carrying out of the third member of the triple expression serving as a motto for this Association. Lest some of you may have neglected to carry in mine so rudimentary an attachment of the Association as its motto, you will allow me to remind you that it is "The best reading, for the largest number, at the least cost." About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.