New-York tribune., 1911-12-10
Your Daughters Vocation.
Though the Pay Is Not Large. the Quiet. care
Free Life of Librarian Lures Many
By Mary Marshall.

: vantage Of regular library school train
! ing when she has reached the prescribed
age. which, generally speaking, is twenty
/ years.
There arc many library schools scattered
/ throughout the country, in most cases con-
uected with large libraries. and here 1t is
! that the majority of the librarians Of the
/ future are being trained. Admission to
| these schools in most cases depends on
satisfactorily passing a written eXamina-
tion. In some schools this examination is
| not required OF college graduates, but in
| other schools. for Instance. the Pratt Id
| brary School, in brooklyn, no concession
! is made to holders of degrees. Applicants
are advised not TO attempt the examination
unless they have finished high school or
acquired the equivalent OF a high school
course through sef-training. The examina-
| tions are usually exceedingly broad in
scope and aim to make a fair test OF the
general information of the applicant by
I means of questions from history. current
events and general information, as we'll as
her ability TO translate French and Ger
| man. A specimen set Of examination ques-
! tions Will be sent from most Of the library
schools upon application.
| The course in a school usually covers
eight or nine months. beginning with the
middle OF September or the first of Octo-
| Der. In some schools there is a second
years work open to those who have COM
pleted the first year. and in one or two
/ instances the student receives pay for the
practical work done during the second
| year.
/ The tuition ranges from Si5 to SO a year.
with an extra S25 or $50 for supplies
! Board in the vicinity of the schools can
| usually be secured for 81 a week. Prac-
| tice In book selecting visits to publishing
houses and binderies, study OF printing,
| library buildings and supplies and cur
rent events besides the regular training
In cataloguing. indeXing and typewriting
aim to ft the student to cope with the
! library problems that will later face her
| There IS at present a greater demand
| for trained librarians than the schools are
! able to fll one OF the most coveted po-
/ sltions among young librarians is that Of
! high school ibrarian-for in many Of the
larger high schools in the big cities a
| trained librarian IS employed TO take
charge OF the school library. Here the
| hours of work are from 10 2:9O o'clock
] five days I'm the week with two months
| vacation In the summer, besides the Christ
mas and spring holidays. The salary for
"A position Of this sort is usually 500 a
! year 20 begin with, with a gradual rise 10
| 81 90 a year I'm seven years. In order to
qualify for appointment to high school
! library. the librarian must pass special
/ examination and must likewise in most
/ cities. have had three years library eN-
/ rerience besides a year in library school.
! II she has had no experience she must
! have had two years work in the library
/ school, or one year in the library school
besides a college degree
BY all odds the greatest number Of Ii
brary school graduates step into public
! library positions, where they may begin
with routine work on the card catalogues
! or at the loan desk Of the circulating de-
partments The initial salary Is usually
! so or SIS "A month. In the larger cities
the Librarians receive an annual increase
of s. month. working up 10 about so
in about five years. After few years
experience I'm the routine OF a public H.
brary, the librarian Is eligible To a posi-
ton as head librarian of "a public library
! or as instructor in library school where
she may get as much as $50 a month.
But the demands for trained Librarians
do not come from libraries and schools
and colleges alone. Business houses, pub
fishing houses and newspapers In many
cases have felt the need of a librarian
trained in indeXing and hlng.
one young woman-a high school grad
uate-on completing "A course OF one year
at a library school, went on recommenda-
ton OF the director OF the school to a
business man who had come to the con-