Page:The Library, volume 5, series 3.djvu/446

 432 THE NEEDS OF of another librarian who has the special knowledge required for all three departments. In another Scottish city, the librarian has a salary equal to the hapless triune librarian mentioned, while the art curator has an equal salary, and no museum work is attached to either of these two. In a third Scottish city, the salary of the chief librarian exa<5tly coincides with that of the chief of the Cleansing department ' Scavengers ' we call them in Scotland while in still another, a triplicate Librarian, who has devoted a life-time to the mastery of his profession, has exadtly the same salary as a clerk in a municipal department, whose principal duty is to make up a weekly pay-sheet, and allocate accounts. These are not fairy tales, but adtual fa<5ls. Then as to the staff: it is unfortunate that female labour has been thrust into library work, with the result that the supply of juvenile labour in library work has been much curtailed, because it is now regarded as a profession not worth adopt- ing. So far as Dundee is concerned, I think I may say conscientiously that I have done what I could to raise the standard wages. Within six years I have arranged increases amounting to 100 per annum to the staff; and by a new Graded Scale for remuneration and promotion there will be 60 to 70 per annum added to the wages bill. But it is evident that this increase cannot go on indefinitely unaided. It may be suggested, therefore, to the United Kingdom Trustees, that they should con- sider whether certain cities and burghs, after the examination of accounts, should not have grants