Los Angeles herald., 1905-07-27
MEETS
LIBRARY BOARD
SAYS WILL ASSUME DUTIES
SEPTEMBER |
MAKES MANY SUGGESTIONS
Favors Card System Of Listing Books,
Compilation Of Daily History From
Newspapers and Employ
nent Of Pages
MAKES MANY SUGGESTIONS

Charles #. Lummis, the eminent
author journalist who was recently
appointed librarian Of the Los Angeles
public library, for the frst time at
tended the regular directors meeting
last night in his official capacity.
The board asked Mr.. Lummis to as
sumo the duties of librarian on the
first day of August, but he asked to be
allowed until September 1, saying he
needed the time in which to prepare
his latest book, work on California,
for his publishers and get his other
affairs arranged He further said that
whatever time he was able to spare in
the interim should be put in at the Ii
brary without salary.
BY formal action the board fixed his
salary at $3.50 per month. After the
regular meeting, President Trueworthy
requested Mr.. Lummis to make any
suggestions he might wish along the
line Of improvement in the library and
state what he hoped to accomplish. Mr..
Lummis prefaced his remarks with a
brief statement of what he hoped ulti-
mately to accomplish and then pro-
ceeded to make the following sugges.
tlons:
Recommends Card System
II find that the most useful inven-
ton made in a century for persons
engaged in any kind of research or Of
record, has no use in this library, ex-
cept for the mere listing of books:
that is the card catalogue system.
would suggest in general that this Ii
brary take every practical advantage
of this simplest, cheapest and most
effective system of reference.
I'm a circulating library, pure and
simple, the only object of catalogue
is to tell what books are on the shelves,
leaving the reader to select at his or
her proper risk. In such library, 1t
is all that is cared for. A public IL
brary, however, in progressive Amer
lean city, acquires responsibility in
without doubt exercise broadminded
censorship as to mere reading
simply by refraining from the pur-
chase of reading" known to be nox-
ious or unworthy. na-s4. aac.
But it seems to me time to realize
generally that a public library of this
size is somewhat more than AN
amusement CENTER 1t has a proper
function and obligation to furnish
good reading and plenty thereof to
those who read for pleasure only. 1t
has no less it's recognized obligation
to furnish text books to those who
wish to read for more than amuse-
ment. 1t is probably not extreme. as
that in the latter more permanent
function the library has an equal re-
sponsibility.
in every department of study there
is today a horde of books; some of
them are good, some bad some worse
than bad, since the latter not only
waste the time of students, but give
wrong or inadequate information
which 1t requires long labor to rid of.
Favors cataIoguing
"Briefly, 1 believe that every public
library of this Importance owes it to
itself and to it's public (Which is some
thing more than its patrons') to see
that persons of any age or sex, who
wish to learn about a given subject,
shall have not only list of such
books as the library contains, but
some guidance as to their worth. 1t
is what. by awkward translation of
the French phrase, we call reasoned
catalogue. There is no reasoned cata-
logue of any value on any topic in the
Los Angeles public library today.
II feel very strongly that on every
important topic of human knowledge,
there should be such catalogue made
by experts whose personal RESPONSE
bility shall appear; not only worthy
of credence so far as 1t goes. but go
ing far enough to be in proportion to
the intellectual activity of this grow
ing and particularly book-using city.
There is another matter so obvious
In It's practical common sense and it's
practical usefulness. that l am conf
dent the outline of 1t will meet your
appreciation.
II think no one will maintain that
1t is a credit to our intelligence If
we wilfully leave our history to be
written up without facts nifty years
after date. This city is making his
tory every day. Every day its news
papers record something OF that his
tory Gas well as many things which,
II of Importance to the daily consumer
would not be valued by the chronicler),
The needs of daily journalism and of
q lasting record are very different,