British Museum Library : interview with a municipal librarian.

Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: British Museum Library : interview with a municipal librarian. 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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    &!,. /,?./. J BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY- INTERVIEW WITH A MUNICIPAL LIBRARIAN. Attention was drawn in two articles in the Morning Post last week to the condition of the British Museum Library. It was argued that the constitution of the Museum and the method of appointment of librarians was such as to make the Library administration unprogressive. The view was put forward that the abandonment of the idea of a subject index by the British Museum authorities was a most unfortunate decision. Criticism was directed against the methods by which the Library is maintained, the two chief lines of attack being that the authorities appear to have no wish to aim at a complete collection of English books, and that they purchase foreign books by language instead of by subject, with the result that foreign thought is very indifferently represented. It was suggested that a great deal more might be done for the convenience and comfort of readers, both as regards the arrangement of the reading-room and the hours during which it is open to the public. The conclusions reached were that it was essential that reforms should bo introduced with extreme caution, and that a Royal Commission should be held to investigate the whole question of the administration and government of the Museum. Mr. James Duff Brown, the Chief Librarian of the public libraries at Islington, saw a repre- sentative of the Morning Post on Saturday, and discussed some of the criticisms that had been ! made. “ I have for some time past,” he said, “ been expecting that the administration of the British Museum Library would form the subject of public criticism, and I hope that the two articles which have been published will make the public realise that, as has long been known by librarians and expert readers, the collection is very considerably less valuable than would be the case if it were efficiently administered. Method of Appointment. Your correspondent,” ho continued, was, t> my mind, very well advised in opening his case by considering the method of appointment