ion which the borrower signs should be brief and plain.
Name, residence, place of business, and any necessary references,
should be written in by the librarian on one side; the signature to an
agreement to obey the library rules can be written by the applicant
on the other. All borrowers agreements should be filed in alphabetical
order. They should receive borrowers' numbers in the order of their
issue, and the date. The borrowers' cards should state that they
expire in a definite number of years from the date of issue, and
the date of issue should be stamped on them. An index of borrower's
agreements should be kept by their numbers. This need contain only the
borrower's number, his name, and, when necessary, his address. It is
conveniently kept in a book. It is better to keep it on cards.

[Illustration: No. 5. Fine slip. (Reduced; actual size 12-1/2 x 7-1/2
cm.)

The City Library Assocation
Springfield, Mass.

Fines received FEB 14

No. 34. 5-82 D.

4
2
16
6
22
8
2
4
6]

CHAPTER XXXIII

Meeting the public

If the public is not admitted to the shelves, it will be necessary
to supply catalogs for public use as well as slips on which lists of
books wanted can be made out; but the fullest possible catalogs and
the finest appointments in the delivery room cannot take the place
of direct contact between librarian or assistants and the public.
Wherever possible, the person to whom the borrower applies for a book
should go himself to the shelves for it.

The stranger in the library should be made welcome. Encourage the
timid, volunteer to them directions and suggestions, and instruct them
in the library's methods. Conversation at the counter having to do
with wants of borrowers should be encouraged rather than discouraged.
No mechanical devices can take the place of face to face question and
answer.

The public like to handle and examine their books, and it is good for
them to do it. They like the arrangements in the library to be
simple; they object to red tape and rules. They like to have their
institutions seem to assume--through, for example, the absence of
signs--that they know how to conduct themselves courteously without
being told. They don't like delays. They like to be encouraged to
ask questions. They like to be consulted as to their wants, and as
to changes in arrangements and methods. They like to feel at home in
their library.

CHAPTER XXXIV

The public library fo