Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/292

268 The contents of the library are divided into large classes of literature, and all books in any particular class are to be shelved in one room, which is also to be used by the readers of that particular class of literature. A person wishing to study American history, for example, would find in the entrance-hall a porter, who would direct him to the particular room in which the books he required were shelved. On reaching it he would find that about three-fourths of the room was occupied by double book-cases, 8 feet high, placed at right angles to the walls, and in charge of an attendant, who would have a special knowledge of this particular part of the library. The remainder of the room would have tables and desks for reading. If books in another class are wanted the reader must go to the particular room in which they are stored, or the books must be brought to him by an attendant.

Several special advantages are claimed by Dr. Poole for this plan, as compared with the alcove and stack systems of shelving books. He contends that he avoids the enormous waste of space in the centre of the building which occurs in libraries like the Baltimore Peabody Institute or the London Guildhall, and that he escapes the difficulty of uniformly heating large rooms 50 feet or 60 feet in height. By his plan, he says also, the danger of fire is greatly diminished, for if it broke out in any room it would be confined to that particular room, and could not spread. Another advantage claimed is that the attendants are more likely to know all about the comparatively few