The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1911-02-17

NWRYN Qulre lou OF literary
NWE knowledge which, before
one can get very far up
- the ladder, means the
equivalent Of a college education,
with lot of extra learning be-
sides there will be room in this
profession for your boy, just the
same, if only he possesses the grit
and application that the average boy
that gets on in the world does. 1t is
one of the few lines of progress that
gives every opportunity to enable the
young man to improve himself, and
| when he does get to the top he has
the satisfaction of being in an occu-
patton that is not exceeded in all that
makes a thoughtful life worth living
by any IN the world.
OF course, education and adaptable
ity mean everything, if the aspirant is
the whole learning of the world, and
can't apply it instantly, it is worthless
to him and he will not succeed as H.
brarian. For instance. a graduate of
Oxford and holder of several college
degrees failed to display the adapta-
bility OF boy of eighteen. when given
a job il a big city library, just be-
cause he kept his knowledge of liter
ature pigeonholed where he could not
find it readily; and so he had to go.
But, taking up the profession from
the beginning, your boy, after having
| finished the grammar school, should
apply to the librarian of the city he
wishes to settle in. The larger the
city, the better; for largest cities have
the largest libraries, which means
more extensive training, and, there
fore, greater ability. Librarians in
smaller cities are generally chosen
from those trained in the larger. New
York city, for example, frequently
sends out men and women to take
charge of libraries elsewhere, even to
such important institutions as those
having half million volumes.
If your boy wishes to start in New
York city, and can convince the libra
rian that he is bright and ambitious,
and there is an opening, which Is by
no means improbable, he will be put
to work at salary Of SIS a month.
He will be employed from eight to
five o'clock, with an hour off for
luncheon, and will be kept largely at
the desk, to learn the methods of get
! ting books for readers and returning
| them to the shelves, how application
slips are made out and handled, the
| keeping of records, and the general
conduct of the business. After proving
| himself for three months, his pay is
increased to $3.50 a month, which
will be the rate for the next year.
By this time your boy will begin to
get hold of himself, as it were, and
know some of the things he must &C.
quire if he expects to get on. 1t looks
simple enough for a boy to take the
visitors slip asking for, say Hegel's
PHILOSOPHY of History" but there are
thousands of works on philosophy and
history scattered through the library,
over yards and yards of shelves, under
different headings and groupings, and
1t is the duty of the boy to go at once
to the exact shelf and position on the
shelf for that particular work. The
sooner he acquired the knowledge of
the library and method Of indexing
and placing books, the sooner will he
make himself valuable in that depart
ment.
His pay grows to $25 a month the
second year, and then he will be learn.
ing to return books to their proper
places, which is more difficult than
to find them, for misplaced book
is lost, even if it should be on an ad-
joining shelf. Where, for instance,
would he put Tyndall's Science Of
Sound" under Science" or "Ac-
coustics," or Sound or "Tyndall," or
"Physics," or what, and after having
found the proper heading, in what par
ticular place on the shelf?
AS he goes on he becomes some
what Of skilled analyst in finding
books that have been misplaced
through carelessness or ignorance.
The book is in the library, he knows,
and it has been misplaced. Now,
where would the bungler be apt to
have put it. There is an opportunity
here, as you can see for your boy to
display lot of cleverness and by so
doing attract favorable attention to
himself from those over him.
After year at s25 month, admit
ting ability, your boy becomes what
is known as half-attendant at $40 a
month, when he is employed largely
at the desk, as we'll as assisting in
the cataloguing department. Suppose
the patron asks where he can find
something about the Magma Charta
or Sheridan's ride from Winchester,
or the salary of the librarian IF con-
gress, or the number of murders com.
mitted in Chicago last year, or Presi-
dent Roosevelt's speech in San Fran
cinso, it Is the attendants business to
know just what book or newspaper or
magazine contains it and get it for
him at once. He must not send the
inquirer to an encyclopedia; for the
reader has already looked there. OF
course, library workers are not ex-
pected to be ominiscfent; but the near
| ,er they approximate to this the more
promising is their outlook
It would be incorrect to say that
there are regular steps of advance.
'1aant year BY year: but generally
IS 3 4 Z y = .