THE PUBLIC AND ITS PUBLIC LIBRARY. 249 



when such, a building is up for consideration, that it is a monu- 

 ment, not a library. When our architects have fully seized the 

 modern situation in its demands and its materials ; when the 

 spirit which put up the lying exteriors of the Chicago World's 

 Fair buildings, and thereby delayed our architectural emancipa- 

 tion by many a long day, has begun to die out, it may be pos- 

 sible to erect a thoroughly useful and entirely workable building 

 which shall be in every part a library and also an artistic monu- 

 ment. 



The point in the free public library to which the public comes 

 in the largest numbers is the delivery counter. The public side 

 of this delivery counter should be a room easy of access from the 

 street, with cloak and toilet rooms near its entrance ; well lighted, 

 that catalogues and lists may be easily consulted, and that the 

 work of the assistants may be done in the main without artificial 

 light; large enough to accommodate comfortably the greatest 

 crowd the library expects ever to attract ; and so closed in that 

 the talk and movement which necessarily accompany intercourse 

 between visitors and the library staff will not disturb workers or 

 readers in other parts of the library. A corner of this room, easy 

 of access from the counter, should be devoted to the information 

 desk, at which the stranger or the student will get prompt and 

 courteous and full replies to all questions in regard to the library's 

 methods and resources, and suggestions in regard to books or 

 departments to be consulted on any specific topic. Near this in- 

 formation desk should be the desk at which borrowers' or mem- 

 bers' cards, permits, etc., are issued. In the delivery room, or in 

 a room opening from it, should be the catalogue resources of the 

 library. The delivery counter should be so constructed as to 

 serve as an aid in the transaction of business as a means of com- 

 munication, not as a barrier between the assistants and the public. 

 Near to it and easy of access should be the books of the lending 

 department ; nearest to it, those most used. If for good reason it is 

 found necessary to forbid the public access to any part of the lend- 

 ing department, it may prove advisable to place such part at some 

 distance from the delivery counter, and to move the books to and 

 fro by means of lifts, belts, or like devices. But any plan by 

 which the attendant, to whom a request for certain books is made, 

 is prevented from easy access to them, stands in the way of the 

 library's educational work, especially where the would-be bor- 

 rower is himself denied the opportunity to see for himself, in any 

 department, the books he would select from. If a book asked for 

 is not in, another of equal or greater value on the same subject 

 may be in. The borrower, denied access to the shelves, should at 

 least have, if he wishes it, the benefit of the attendant's knowl- 

 edge of this fact. A delivery service made up largely of mechan- 



