Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/223

Rh and in order to induce a man to spend good money to join the museum you must show him that he is going to get something out of it. It is therefore customary to grant certain privileges to members. These include the right to free admission on pay days for himself and his family and house guests, free admission to lectures given by the museum, the receipt of the museum publication, and invitations to receptions given on the occasion of the opening of exhibitions or other events of a similar character. And just here let it be said in passing that to make the museum a social centre for all classes of the population of a city is a necessity if the largest function of the institution is to be fulfilled. Exclusive affairs to attract the moneyed classes, on whom the museum must depend for support, and democratic affairs to which the social settlement groups are invited, must be arranged by the up-to-date director.

Another reason for charging admission is to be found in the desirability of having certain days upon which classes can be held in the galleries or copyists given permission to work without too greatly interfering with the circulation of the public or in turn being disturbed by too many visitors.

The amount of the fee to be charged must always depend upon local conditions. Twenty-five cents is the usual sum chosen in America, on the