How much is the library appreciated? / by Charles Perry Fisher.

  • Fisher, Charles Perry, 1857-1940.
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: How much is the library appreciated? / by Charles Perry Fisher. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    HOW MUCH IS THE LIBRARY APPRECIATED. Discussion. Mr. Huntington, of Brooklyn, thought that Mr. Fisher’s experience was shared in common by librarians in most local- ities. The practitioners actively interested in the library were apt to be comparatively few, and it had been his observation that similar conditions prevailed in institutions and organi- zations of all kinds. In the medical library he believed that by personal solicitation and the right words spoken at the right time and place the librarian himself could do most in stimulating the interest and activities of those whose custom it was (if they took interest at all) to “point with pride” and self-complacency at the collection of books gathered through the efforts and sacrifices of others. Dr. Dock spoke of the exaggerated value some donors placed on old books simply because of the fact that they were old. Age itself did not necessarily mean value. He cited an anecdote of an old lady in his vicinity who possessed a copy of an old edition of Buchan’s “Domestic Medicine” which she knew was very valuable, but which she was willing to sell to the library for $ioo. She became most distrustful of the library authorities when her offer was politely declined, and she was told that the book had slight, if any, value. In another case a doctor in the country had been led to give to the library a collection of more recent, yet out-of-date, text- books when he was informed that they would not fetch more than five cents apiece in the market. After sending them to the library he got the idea into his head that he had been misinformed as to their value, and wrote and requested that they be sent back to him. Dr. Dock thought one function of the librarian ought to be to explain to people the rapid depreciation in value of old scientific books. Miss Metta M. Loomis, of Chicago, inquired as to the advisability of the library’s sending for books which it did not want. Mr. Fisher stated that it was his policy to send for every- thing that was offered. He had a push cart for this purpose and saved the expense of an expressman. Mr. Huntington thought it unwise ever to refuse a donation to the library, no matter how slight its value. Mr. Fisher, in response to an inquiry as to what the medical library should keep, stated that he did not believe