Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 168, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1917 — Duty of Librarians. [ARTICLE]

Duty of Librarians.

O. G. Sonneck of the Library of Congress, writing In the Art World on the specific subject of fiiusic In public libraries, has this to say in reference to books in .general:— "A librarian ought not to content himself with giving to the public what It happens to want, but ought to help create a demand for what the public heeds; no self-respecting library can afford to be without. certain cultural documents whether they be consulted frequently or seldom; the needs of one solitary scholarly specialist should weigh with librarians just as heavily as the wants of a hundred “general” and generally superficial and unproductive readers. “After all,” he adds, “it is not the frequency of use that counts, but the use to which a book is put. A costly and rare book consulted only once in ten years, but then by a man of farreaching research or codification of research, has justified Its acquisition just as much as an inexpensive commonplace book consulted every day for more receptive information.”