Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-08-04
THECHARM OF BOOKS
-oi. LIBRARIES APE REGARDED BY
ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE

STErS-E EIFlttg4 1-fz- 2 rE1-rs-fE 4ll II
trzrzes IN Themselves which Considering
bsy7r LITTLE h rsslIz how rslueszus be i 20
ssezad any measurable proportion q his
frcoszA= oEs fs1ssk= and hosE absolutely he r.
fzs@s 70 pay Librarians even decent AL
z-5e= l. osse Il rkss n.o=st izseKpIleabls fsa-
tares II ni= complex character The i'm
p.=zsfTeuezs Il library i felt By class
far outside the che which passes iss life in
using books- The ordinary population q
an o-Iiiuarr TORN. though Il VIII nos al
<zyz ro<e rbs cn=t q a free library, i
Drva6 90 beljeTe that the town library - a
good Gre re2ar-is ia Increase a. something
70 - rscorsies with triumph and enters the
ROOMS IN which * il kept with a kind q
awe
se-- a good library, and a house viii sell
better b~czuze there il room in Is which
has been devoted 70 the keeping Il books,
and that 70 men who would regard a day
sp@uz arkong bsoirz. even IN that most en-
i0yabls u AL arnBsensntz, book slipping.
a. inso]erably tedious
We have been told On good evidence.
though we cannot Ourselves youch for the
far thar this feeling extends 70 those who
cannot r-ad-a class DOW dying Oat-and
IL &. urfiG-I i-sfi IS true that rvautz though
they Will neglect a library 10 any extent.
and apparently believe that dust On book
sbelTes l. matter In the right place, viii
they are accumulated in any NUMBER
They respect them, and Will. If left in sole
charge. leave them TO molder away In
more peace and honor than they will leave
furniture
We suppose the true reason il that, as all
men respect knowledge and especially
knowledge Of which they only dinly per
ceive the use, they regard a library as a
deposit Of bottled wisdom, by which they
can hardly profit indeed. but which they
had rather not iDjure or disperse- That
undoubtedly - the feeling Of that extra
ordinary elias. the born Librarians, the
men who become by zort Of voluntary
selection attendants in Enthusiastically
the wort paid for the work involved o.
all varieties Of clerkship-and who. al
though they rarely read, and are still more
rarely litteratesrs, have a sort OF worship
OF books 70 which they will occasionally
confess. They are seldom seen in London
except occasionally in secondhand book
shop, but they are frequently 10 be met
with ia country towns, sometimes. though
not often. with an extraordinary knowl-
edge Of and interest in photography. They
do not know books. bss they know about
books: they handle them reverently and
they grow irritstei by the i'll usage of any
book 70 the shaking off Of all conventional
reticenc= OF language
Indeed. we are not sure whether the
has not a great influence with the Guilt
waited also. They know OF course, or would
know il they thought about it, where the
charm Of a great collection Of books lies,
namely. it, power, IL well consulted, OF
transforming the students relation to any
given subject He becomes when he has
read up A topic-reaIly read it up, that is
with al open mind and a keen attention as
regards that topic a new man, bigger,
wiser and more OF a superior than he was
before, and this sometimes to a degree
which j. startling in his own eyes. The
depository or containing casket of power
like that il sure of respect from the man
who knows Of it's existence.
II i a fact which every owner OF library
will confirm that the reluctance to weed
one is the greatest Of all obstacles TO its
collection. 4 private man who loves books,
unless exceptionally rich, il always as he
advances in life, tormented by the difficulty
Of finding room for them. They grow and
grow and the wall space does not grow,
and the shelves do not grow either; and
unless he resorts to the unspeakably de-
testable expsdient of reduplicatiug the
books on each shelf-a device which not
only destroys the back rows, but imper1ls
their owners chance of heaven. the book
| wanted being Invariably lost for the time
| being with results in evil wishes and Ian
guage-there comes a time when ne Is AT
his wits end.
Not one room in ten will allow Of shelves
being set at right angles 10 the walls in
stead of along them, though that quadru-
pies book space, and the collector, with
weary signs, either heaps books above each
| other or leaves them in packing cases, or
| in desperate emergencies puts them on the
floor All this while If he would only
weed them there would be plenty Of room.
| and the opportunity of wedding Is almost
| Iimitless.
| We venture to say there are not five men
| in England possessed of 5000 books apiece
| who not know perfectly well that half their
| volumes are lumber. books which they
| will never read or consult open for any
| purpose whatsoever. They are the books
| Of forgotten periods of life, the books Of
| within, the books OF abandoned studies, or,
| more numerous than all, the books about
| which their ow ner's only thought is a
| wonder how the devil they ever got there;
| books he can no more account for than he
/ could account for the fooIishness of carly
| day dreams or for the morseis of absolute
| ly useless knowledge packed away in his
| memory.
| He knows perfectly well the lumber
| ought TO go the auctioneer, but he never
| sends H., unless indeed he changes his
| house; nor, if lac is rich enough tokeep a
| librarian" or library clerk, will that in
| valuable person send it; he is indeed in
| suited or made lachryInose by the very
| suggestion. Master and servant have both
| contracted a feeling which they would
| never defend feeling of respect for the
| library as = library, and independent some
how of what j. in it.-London Spectator