The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Library Primer, by John Cotton Dana

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Title: A Library Primer

Author: John Cotton Dana

Release Date: March 11, 2005 [EBook #15327]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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A Library Primer

John Cotton Dana

Third Edition

Library Bureau, Chicago
1903

Copyright, 1899, by Library Bureau

To Samuel S. Green, William I. Fletcher, and Charles A. Cutter

PREFACE.

A library primer was published in the first six numbers of Public
Libraries in 1896. It was quite largely made up of extracts from an
article by Dr W.F. Poole on The organization and management of public
libraries, which formed part of the report on Public libraries in the
U.S., published by the U.S. Bureau of education in 1876; from W.I.
Fletcher's Public libraries in America; from Mary W. Plummer's Hints
to small libraries; and from papers in the Library journal and A.L.A.
proceedings.

At the request of a number of people interested I have revised,
rewritten, and extended the original draft for publication in book
form. Additional material has been taken from many sources. I have
tried to give credit in good measure. The prevailing tendency among
librarians is to share ideas, to give to one another the benefit of
all their suggestions and experiences. The result is a large fund of
library knowledge which is common property. From this fund most of
this book is taken.

The Library Primer is what its name implies. It does not try to be
exhaustive in any part of the field. It tries to open up the subject
of library management for the small library, and to show how large it
is and how much librarians have yet to learn and to do.

The City library, J.C.D.
Springfield, Mass.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I, The beginnings--Library law 9

II, Preliminary work 10

III, What does a public librar