Page:Library Administration, 1898.djvu/192

 CHAPTER V

ACCESS AND PRESERVATION

THE REFERENCE LIBRARY, DAYS AND HOURS OF OPENING

The books being gathered in and arranged, it becomes the duty of the librarian to make them accessible to the public, and to take care that they sustain no damage in the process.

The means of access will depend, in the first place, on the number of days a. library is open, and here the Sabbath question will present itself. No library existing mainly for research is open on Sundays in this country or abroad, but there is a growing tendency to throw open the popular free libraries on that day. This is a matter, however, that can only be settled as popular opinion dictates, and need not, perhaps, be considered in a manual of library administration.

There will always be a necessity for closing for a certain number of days in the year that portion of a library which is constantly open to the public, for cleaning and repairs. A few typical instances are appended. 175