The Daily Missoulian., 1913-04-21
Modern Women
By Frederic J. Haskin.

| The great library movement is re-
sponsible for opening un a new pro-
fession to which educated women are
! called in larger numbers than men. 1t
| is distinctiVely an educational work
! which in some respects may be com
! pared with teaching, although the diff
| ferences between the callings are more
| pronounced than the smilarities. Both
require a certain amount of ducation,
| and each plays a part in the dissem-
| nation of knowledge. The remunera-
ton of each is a small one Financially
! The teacher has the advantage of a
! long vacation in the summer months
and of shorter hours at work. The
| librarian has no work to take home.
| When she closes her desk at the Ii
| brary she is free until she reopens it,
| while the teacher may have to spend
| a long evening correcting papers and
| preparing for the next days lessons.
Until the time of the Centennial ex-
position in Philadelphia, in 1876, the
| library efforts of the country had been
rather fragmentary and desultory.
| After the convention held in Philadel-
| phia at that time, the organization Of
the American Library association be-
came more complete and the different
| states began to form branch organiza
tions. Advanced systems of cata-
Logging were arranged and schools Were
opened to teach library methods. From
the beginning, a larger percentage of
women than men attended these
schools.
The fact that the president of the
American Library association last year
was woman, indicates the position
Of women in the estimation of the
librarians of the country. Before her
marriage, Mrs. Elmdorf was in charge
of the public library of Milwaukee,,
position calling for no small amount of
executive and administrative ability.
Since her marriage, she has been un-
officially useful in the public library
OF Buffalo, Of which her husband is
the chief. Another woman who long
was prominent in the library organi-
cations of the country is Mrs. Minerva
A, Saunders, the librarian emeritus of
the public library of PaWtucket, Rhode
Island, whose death recently was an
Ilohnceu. MIS-. saunders was 4 IL
hrarian Of most progressive ideas, and
was the first one in the country to
publicly advocate the opens shelf sys-
TEN. At the meeting of the American
Library association in st. Louis, when
this subject was first discussed in
1889, she was the only librarian who
would rise to be counted in favor of
it. Largely through her influence, this
system has become popular in most IL
hraries now and has materially added
to their value to the public as well as
lessened the work Of the librarians.
The complaint frequently is made
that while there are d larger proper
tion of women than men engaged in
library work, the most important posi-
tions are never given to women This
is only partially true. While at pres
ent all of the largest libraries of the
country are administered by men there
is an increasing disposition to favor
women. The largest city library now
under the control of a woman is that
of Minneapolis, in which Miss Gratia
Countryman is responsible for the
care and circulation of over 200, 900
books and the expenditure of an an
nual income of over $4,000 a year.
Such a position calls for a consider
able amount of administrative ability
and financial Judgment. as well us the