The sun., 1919-08-24
CIR Gihrarian's g 0nrnrr
CONDUCTED BY
FRANK PARKER STOCKBRIDGE.
BUT WHAT FICTION?

TN world filled with Uplift, in which the Help-
L ing Hand is extended to even the most casual
passerby, who is adjured to strive for Higher
Things and seek Mental Improvement in his hours
of leisure it is refreshing to find that one OF the
most pressing and difficult problems of the libra
rian still is "What shall buy in tctioni"
Even the oldest and wisest Librarians (the two
are not necessarily identicaD admit they don't
know. As for the young and inexperienced ones In
the little villages and towns, with only trifie
of money to spend for all the new books they must
have, they are frankly up against it.
That's why one of the most important things
that are scheduled for the New York State Library
Association conference next month is the Oppor
tunity for these small town librarians to meet and
talk with the older and more experienced
hands, who are to serve as consulting librarians"
and answer the questions of the neophytes especial
ly that question of "What shall buy in ictioni"
But now comes one of the consulting librarians"
admitting that the question is poser. 81 am to
advise what fiction to buy writes this librarian.
"Well' whati l know what think, but want
to get some really worth while opinions.
A Fair Sampled .z-,..
Passing over the implied but undeserved eompli-
ment- don't know what fiction to buy for any
one but myself-let me quote further from this
librarians confession of perplexity.
"For example, I approve of Wolves and despise
such book as The Taker. buy the former, and
l pass up the latter for the present. If some one
really wants it may buy it. But it will be against
my own judgment. For to what possible end,
either of pleasure in pure artistry, for pleasure
simply, or for doing yourself good, would anybody
read iti To me it is eheapmindedness all through,
and cheaply portrayed. 1t isn't simply bad, it's
footless. If there are such persons Vernon and
his loves, they won t read it and be reformed and
it would be waste of time for anybody else.
"Yet Books and the Book World gives entire
front page to the one and does the other up in
short paragraph or two!'
Leaving the editor of Books and the Book World
to square himself from behind his veil of anonym-
ity, let point out that here is Librarian who is
far from being as helpless in the matter of fiction
the letter I have quoted from suggests. To know
what not to buy is ten thousand times impor-
tant than merely to know what one would like to
buy. That holds true whether the commodity TO
be purchased be books or baby ribbon. When one
has learned that he holds the key to contentment,
if not to happiness and success, in his hand.
The peculiar dilemma of the librarian in respect
of fiction purchases arises from the fact that book
selections must be made before promptly after
publication if the library is not to incur the stigma
of not being up to date while at the same time the
librarian feels keeny the responsibility for making
the available funds go far possible in provid-
ing the books that the greatest number of library
patrons are likely to want to read
Up to the Librarian,
1t takes no real power of discrimination to order
literally anything new signed by Harrington,
Harold Bell Wright or Gene Stratton- Porter; the
library simply must have them 1t is far less easy
to reject intellgently when one is buying books
for other peoples reading than for ones own en-
joyment But after all, there is no possible way of
making perfect score by any method of selection,
and the librarian who is neither a prude nor a
pedant is just as likely to hit it right if he (or
she) lets his likes and dslikes remain the con-
trolling factor.
This method presupposes breadth Of interest
and of tolerance on the librarian s part that does