Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/34

16 umbrellas left from one rainstorm to the next by people who have entirely forgotten that they had an umbrella with them on entering the building. This, of course, is rather a minor matter, but the facility in controlling the exit in case of a theft is much greater where there is but one entrance. Every additional public entrance also increases the cost of service. This does not mean, however, that there should not be other entrances in the building. Indeed, a most important and often forgotten detail is the provision for the entrance into the museum of large objects of art. Many an architect seems to feel that objects grow in the museum and that it is not necessary to provide a special door for them to come in. Not only should there be some entrance, but that entrance should be large enough to admit even a crated statue of heroic size. Moreover, it should be arranged with a driveway and an unloading platform at the height of the ordinary truck and preferably also on a level with the floor of the receiving room. It is very necessary that where there is a lecture room in the museum there should be a special entrance which will admit people who go to the lecture without obliging them to pass through the exhibition rooms. There is no doubt that the public gains something from passing through exhibition galleries in this way, and where the museum