Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-13

ment of this part Of the work. A bill au
thorizing the construction of the first
branch building at Takoma Park passed the
Senate al the last session and should be
pushed to passage in the House with the
opening of the next session. With this
branch authorized. appropriation for
stocking 1t with books should be secured.
Though it is important to secure the branch
system as rapidly as possible, it should not
be accomplished at the expense of proper
development of the work Of the central
library.
"3. The library should also look forward
to the establishment of system of dupli-
Gates for circulation through schools, Sun
day schools, police and fire stations, institu-
tons. department stores, etc. Some of this
settlements. has already been begun in a
modest way and should be developed as
rapidly as possible.
1T is, of course, not recommended that
an attempt should be made to occupy the
whole of this field Immediately; but such
work should find a legitimate plac here. as
II has in other cities. and these are the
lines of development along which the library
should be directed.
Decreasing Salary Average.
In connection with the estimates for the
next fiscal year, the librarian points out that
in all but the rarest cases, when Congress
has heretofore added to the library salary
list. it has been from the low-priced posi-
tons included in the estimates, with the re-
suit that the average salary paid to the
library force has been constantly going
down. 1t has fallen from S:hI0.S5 in 19B-04
to $546G6 in 1204-05, to S544.65 in 1905-O6
and now stands AT $519f2 for the entire
force This has, of course, been very dis
couraging. in view of the facts that both
! the quantity and quality of the library
work has been increasing at a rapid rate
and that in the other arm of the public edu
cationa service of the District. the public
schools, the salaries have just been greatly
increased.
"Inasmuch as the recent well-deserved
increases in the teachers salaries holds out
hope for betterment of the salary conditions
in this library, it is perhaps not out of place
to make comparisons between the two serv-
ices, not of course In spirit of jealousy
at the improved condition OF the teachers
as compared with that OF the library force
but with Il view to pointing out the reasons
for Improvement in the pay of the. library
service For the present year the Lowest
salary paid to the rank and file of the
teaching force is 500 and the highest
salary paid to a subordinate teacher is
S1,GO. The ordinary salary paid to Ii
hrary assistant is $3.50 a nd the highest paid
to other than department heads is S12)
Even some department heads get only $.2)
and, outside of the librarian and assistant
librarian, only three persons in the 'ibrary
force proper receive more than S721: one
81 ,utO and two 500 each.
1T should be further pointed out that
the teachers receive their salaries for little
more than nine months service ana; fO,'
five days work week, while the library
force works eleven months in year aai
SIX days in week. Teachers hours i'll the
school room are likewise shorter than the
hours of library service. In order II sue
| coed, librarians must spend just much
time outside study as teachers must. The
eduCa tional requirements for adm s:ioa TO
the local library service are just high
as those enacted of the teachers and the
librarys apprentice course is probably q
fair equivalent OF tie local normal school
course. So far possible a full college
course and full two years library school
course required of these seeking the
higher library positions ana fully high
administrative ability is required for
library department heads as for public
school principals, who receive from S1,O1O
to 5000 each.
Last winter when the teachers salaries
were under discussion it was often pointed
out that the local public schools were con-
stantly losing teachers Who left the city
to accept better salaries A similar condi-
ton prevails in the Public Library, except
that it is generally to the other libraries of
the District that public library employees are
called by more tempting salaries. The Ii
brary force constantly changing through
the loss of assistants who have been trained
In its work. 1t would suffer still more from
such changes except that most of the Ii
brary employees are held in Washington by
home ties or by deep interest in public
library work and by the hope that ultimate
ly justice will be done to the library force
as it has been done to the teaching force.
These adventurous circumstancessought not
to be used to the detriment Of the library
force when Congress passes upon the IL
Drary estimates