New-York tribune., 1911-12-10

CHAPTER J.
OF course YOU would be willing to nave
Sour daughter work In a library, where II
anvybere. she can enjoy quiet good ven
tuatiou. protection and harmonious sur
roundines But nowadays. with all the
library schools and colleges, people "I1
likely 10 think that no woman VINO haSN
snent wears in training can get start III
tb,s line of work That IL what you may
,binL but as q matter OF fact, II Is per-
,.c,Iv nossible for your daughter to start
TO work in a library as soon as the Ia"
allows her to work end 10 rise 10 'he eop
notch of her profession.
Many of the most successful hDrariahs
of to-day started as pages and errsnu
airls, and although a much mBher s'"hu
ard OF efficiency is required FOR nprary
employees now than was the case Ten vi
fifteen years ago. still. the plucky little PAGE
who starts to-day can, through sel-educa-
ton and perseverance, climb higher on the
ladder OF success.
Many Of the big libraries employ little
girls fourteen and over as pages ana oi-
fee girls. They must. In most cases nave
completed grammar school. To begin WITH
they usually are Ddlu buA FAV a. i'''''N''
have TO work from o'clock In the morn
Ing TO or $40 o'clock in the afternoon
with a half holiday one day OF the SIX.
The duties OF these little pages are some
what monotonous. From morning till night
they have TO fetch and carry books, but
before long, II they show progress. they
are allowed to help with the cataloguins'
and may by the time they are eighteen
years old be earning as much as so II
| month.
Upon application at a library employing
girl pages you could probably get almost
immediate employment for your daughter,
since these libraries. as a rule. have trouble
I'm finding enough clever, intelligent and
| well bred girls 20 do the work.
The quick witted girl while at work as
page may keep pace with school girls
OF her own age IL, during the intervals that
she has to sit waiting 10 be called. she has
her head I'm a book instead OF gossipins
with the other pages. Moreover by OBJ
servation and experience the library page
gets a fairly good training in library meth
DDS.
Such training as the bright page might
| secure III lOuF OF uNt stdAS III liit llhl til y
would qualify her for a position as as
sistant in a circulating library in one Of
. the smaller cities, where as yet there are
no definite examinations or requirements
set for library employees. The salary In a
position Of this sort would probably range
from $40 to $50 a month.
This is not merely a fairy tale OF what
might be done by an ambitious page. IL
is what actually has been done dozens Of
times by young women all over the coun-
try One young woman who began as "a
page at 81 a week now holds a place as
! head of the loan desk I'm the circulating
department In one Of the largest college
| libraries in the country. with a salary Of
| about 5000 a year. She got her start be
fore the days OF special library training
| schools and she worked without having
to take examination, from the bottom up
to the position she now holds. Then when
the college library for which she worked
required a library school diploma from its
| employees she took "A winter off, and from
the money she had managed TO save paid
for a winter at the library school and
| came back full OF new ideas ana enthusi-
asm. and was appointed TO the post she
had held before.
So you see. It is perfectly possible for
| a girl to-day to start in a library and
! work up from the bottom, and II your
daughter is naturally fond Of books and
study and you should find II necessary to
! take her out of school when she mas
reached the legal working age and add
her earnings to the family income. your
best move would probably be TO get her
= a place in library as a page or Office
girl. But. II possible. give her the ad'