CHAPTER XXI

STATIONERY AND RECORDS

=322. Forms and Blanks.=--Most of the important forms and blanks have already been described and figured under the different departments to which they refer, and this section will, therefore, only deal with a few general forms. NOTEPAPER of various kinds should be provided, some in the ordinary business size, some post quarto, and some foolscap folio. On each of these sizes the usual heading should be printed, with the arms and name of the town, librarian’s name, and any other information thought necessary. All ordinary correspondence can be carried on with the business size, but official and complimentary letters should be written on the larger sizes. ENVELOPES to suit the various sizes should also be procured, and it is a good plan to stock some large-sized manila envelopes for sending off large documents, reports, etc. These can be had in a variety of sizes, and some of them have clasps instead of gummed flaps, which make them very useful for temporary filing purposes. Gummed postal WRAPPERS should also be stocked in a fairly large size, and LABELS for sending off parcels, with the name of the library boldly printed on them, will be found very useful.

=323. Writing Materials.=--INKS are manufactured in such a variety of kinds and colours that choice is made difficult. A good black ink should be procured, and also a bright red colour. Copying ink is not necessary even where press letter-copying is employed, as ordinary blue-black ink, if not blotted but allowed to dry naturally, will make perfectly good press copies. Care should be taken not to dry the tissue-paper leaves of the letter book completely when making copies. Other colours of inks, such as green, violet, etc., can be obtained if wanted for special purposes. INK-WELLS should be got in the modern reservoir form, with a constant level dipping place. Ink kept in such receptacles never gets thick or dirty, and the pen is never overcharged or underfed. These ink-wells with rubber tops can be obtained for about one shilling each, but for staff and committee use a better variety should be ordered as the rubber degenerates quickly under the chemical action of the ink. Ink-wells should preferably be associated with pen-_racks_ rather than with pen-trays. A rack sorts the pens and pencils out automatically in a visible order, while a tray wastes a large amount of time annually, owing to the groping and examining and fruitless fumblings necessitated before the right pen or pencil is found among its fellows. One pen one place, is a good motto for any librarian. Of course the FOUNTAIN PEN removes a great deal of the waste of time and trouble inseparable from ink-pot filling, pen selecting, pen dipping, etc., and every librarian ought to have one as part of his ordinary equipment. There are various sorts in the market, but the higher priced ones are, as a rule, the only reliable ones, and the cost is an investment on which a return is soon made. STYLOGRAPHIC PENS are very useful, but because of their tendency to spoil good handwriting, they are not so satisfactory as fountain _pens_, although they are much cheaper. For staff use in the numbering of book labels, charging, etc., stylographic pens would be found very useful, and every library of reasonable size should stock a few.

PENCILS for public use should be the ordinary cedar ones at about 5s. a gross. For note-book copying purposes a Rowney “H” pencil, retailing at twopence, will be found of great value, as it does not “set off” like the ordinary “H-B.” A hard pencil lasts much longer than a soft one, it does not require pointing so often, and the fact just mentioned, that writing done by its means does not blur or “set off” is an advantage not to be despised. Red and blue crayon pencils should be kept for checking purposes. Ordinary pen-holders and hard and soft pen-points are occasionally stocked in public libraries, as well as pencils, to lend out to the readers. Where this is done a certain amount of loss will have to be faced, as pens and pencils both disappear in the most mysterious ways. It is, however, a very great convenience to provide pens, especially in reference libraries fitted with special reading-tables provided with sunk ink-wells.

Blotting paper, foolscap paper ruled faint, scribbling pads, and common white paper in sheets about 15 inches × 9 inches for mounting slips, should be provided among the writing materials of a library.

=324. Library Stationery Cabinet.=--It is needless to set out in more detail the various desk accessories and miscellaneous stationery required in a library, and an enumeration of the minimum contents of a stationery cabinet, which ought to be had for every library will suffice. A cabinet of this sort could be made up in various sizes and prices, like medicine chests, and would be found much more useful than the random method of buying articles at present in vogue.

STATIONERY CABINET

Paper clips.

Stationery case. For holding a supply of envelopes, note-paper, etc. (large sizes).

Numbering machine (five figures).

Rubber dating stamps, with loose type and with band-changing apparatus.

Rubber printing outfit.

Nest of drawers, twelve in cabinet.

Cash-box.

Paper fasteners, corner clips, wire clips and brass clips.

Red tape, several spools (for documents only).

Pins.

Hand-rest for writing.

Tape measure or good two-foot rule.

Waste-paper basket.

Dispatch basket (wicker), for holding documents.

Letter scales, weighing to eight pounds.

Scissors.

Paste in bottles.

Rubber bands, assorted.

Rubber erasers.

Call bells, for public or office use.

Gummed labels, assorted sizes.

Sealing wax.

Twine of various thicknesses.

Ruled quadrille or squared paper (for planning).

Tracing paper or linen.

Case of mathematical instruments.

Paper knives.

Bone folders.

Leather book-carrying straps.

Reading and magnifying glasses.

Key rings and labels.

Writing pads or tablets.

Manuscript books of various sizes, 8vo, 4to, folio, for odd record purposes.

etc. etc.

=325.= The typewriter and its accessories are to be taken for granted in all libraries; and in connexion therewith its own special stationery, typewriting carbon, and stencilling papers, inks, etc. Most libraries of even medium size now employ a skilled stenographer who acts as secretary to the chief librarian, manages the correspondence filing, the duplicating work, copies catalogue cards, etc. The best typewriter is the cheapest machine in the long run, and it should be equipped with carding and tabulating apparatus. Those which have more than one fount of type, as roman and italic, large and condensed types, have much to recommend them. A duplicating machine is an invaluable accessory. For small libraries the flat stencil-duplicating machine, such as the Gestetner, will suffice, and probably the best copies of smaller work, card forms, etc., are obtained by this means. But for circulars, book-lists, programmes and other matters of which many copies are required a cyclostyle is desirable. By its means topical reading lists and the many circulars which a live library desires to issue almost every week can be prepared and circulated widely with the utmost dispatch. Such a machine is one of the best investments a library can make.

+-------+----------------+------------+---------+-----------+ | Date. | Description. | Price. | Vendor. | Location. | +-------+----------------+---+---+----+---------+-----------+ | | | £ | s.| d. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

FIG. 124.--Inventory Book (Section 326).

=326. Records.=--An inventory should be kept of all supplies ordered, with dates and quantities, and a very good plan is to use the cards described at Section 327. These could be ruled in a series of columns to show dates, quantities and prices, and kept in a box which would serve the double purpose of inventory and supplies index. But there are other supplies besides stationery, etc., and these would have to be added. An inventory should be kept of all movable property belonging to the library, such as furniture, pictures and other articles. It could be ruled as shown in Fig. 124.

=327.= The following is a good and simple method of keeping an inventory of supplies, and providing for their automatic renewal. Thin slips on tough paper are ruled and printed as in the examples shown (Figs. 125-6).

+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | PAPER | | | | DESCRIPTION--Foolscap, ruled faint and margin. | | | | LOCATION 4--2. Sample 359 | | | +---------+-------------------+---------------++--------------+ | Date. | Quantity. | Vendor. || Price. | +---------+-------------------+---------------++----+----+----+ | 1906. | | || | | | | April 6 | 2 Reams (A 6) | Wicer 8/6 || -- | 17 | -- | | | | || | | | | Oct. 20 | 2 „ (A 59) | „ 8/6 || -- | 17 | -- | | | | || | | | | 1907. | | || | | | | April 15| 2 „ (A 165) | Nobbs 8/- || -- | 16 | -- | | | | || | | | +---------+-------------------+---------------++----+----+----+

FIG. 125.--Front of Inventory Slip.

+---------+-------------------+---------------++----+----+----+ | | | || | | | | | | || Price. | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | +---------+-------------------+---------------++----+----+----+

FIG. 126.--Back of Inventory Slip.

This inventory does not prevent supplies from running out suddenly, and thereby producing undesirable misunderstandings. There are many ways of effecting this check, all more or less satisfactory, but none, perhaps, is quite so certain as an actual material check upon the running-out of supplies. In addition to the inventory it is necessary to establish an “emergency-supply” cupboard, safely locked up, and in it to place a small stock of everything which is liable to run out. Thus, if two reams of foolscap arrive, a five-quire packet must be taken from it, separately parcelled up, and deposited in the emergency-supply receptacle. Attached to this emergency bundle should be a luggage label, or other conspicuous tag, bearing the words “Foolscap, ruled faint, order No. 69, Stock exhausted. . . .” The blank space is for the date when the emergency supply is transferred to the ordinary stock cupboard. In course of time the accessible stock is used up, and the person who removes the last sheet, or the one who next goes, discovers the shortage, and is forced to ask the key-keeper of the emergency cupboard for the reserved stock. This is produced, the label is dated and handed to the person responsible for ordering a fresh supply.

=328.= All general library KEYS may be assembled on a special key-board. This should consist of a large board fitted with the necessary number of hooks, one for each key or group of keys, and a proper descriptive label and number should be pasted under each hook. The keys should be numbered and labelled to correspond, with ivory labels attached by rings to every key. In addition an alphabetical list should be fixed to the door of the key-board, so as to facilitate finding. In some libraries the departmental heads and assistants are provided with a master-key to all internal doors which concern them; but keys which give access to the building as a whole should be limited to the chief librarian and the chief caretaker. A large building requires many keys, and a card-index, entering of the name of each key and the person who holds it or its location, is a useful method of checking the safety of keys. When keys are removed from the building, they should be insured with one of the key insurance or registry offices.

There are several minor matters of routine or arrangement not dealt with in other places. Dusting is usually underdone in British libraries. For one thing there is rarely a sufficient supply of cloth dusters; often a dirty one, stowed away in a drawer, is all the provision for a large library. Clean dusters should be attached by means of rings or clips to every bookcase and cupboard throughout a library, and the staff should be required to use them on every possible occasion. Certainly a book should never be handed to a reader in a dusty condition, as not only may the reader be offended, but he must inevitably transfer the dust from the outside to the inside of the book in handling it. There would be much less dust among book-shelves if a liberal supply of dusters were allowed and constantly used. When books are being dusted systematically a large tray or box of wet sawdust should be provided. Into this the books should be dusted by means of a brush.

It is also a good plan, whenever possible, to take very dusty books out to the open air, and smartly beat them together, two at a time. This drives the dust out more effectually than anything else. Vacuum cleaners which work by means of suction are sometimes useful in cases where large accumulations of dust require to be removed, and not simply redistributed, but a powerful variety is necessary as the smaller vacuum cleaners remove the top layer of dust as a rule, and leave a solid substratum. Wood block and linoleum covered floors when treated with wax polish do not require to be scrubbed, and the surface remains smooth, and cleaning is reduced to a minimum. There are various floor preparations which are said to be effectual in keeping down dust, but most of them produce discoloration in the course of time, and periodical scrubbings should be arranged to restore the original colour of the flooring.