Part 27

Trustees of Free Public Libraries

In introducing this topic, Mr. C.C. Soule, who spoke as a trustee of the Brookline Public Library, said that he had found little or nothing about it in existing library literature, and that his paper had been shown to a considerable number of both trustees and librarians and modified in accordance with their views. His analysis of the subject is somewhat closer than President Learned's.

Charles Carroll Soule was born in Boston June 25, 1842 and graduated at Harvard in 1862. After serving in the Civil War, which he left as a captain of Massachusetts volunteers he became a publisher and after 1889 was president of the Boston Book Co. He was an active member of the American Library Association. He died at his home in Brookline, Jan. 7, 1913

This paper considers the constitution of elective boards of trustees of free public libraries, intrusted with the appointment of librarians and full control of their libraries.

The subject can be naturally treated under the following heads: Size of the board; term of office; qualifications for the position; duties; individual and collective; organization; and relations with the librarian.

1. SIZE OF THE BOARD

The weight of opinion seems to be in favor of small boards; and in small towns, where the duties are light, three trustees will usually work more harmoniously and effectively than a larger number. But in large towns and cities a more numerous board has two advantages--there is more chance of securing among its members one or two men who are exceptionally active, intelligent, judicious, and interested in library science; and the board may be more thoroughly representative of different sections of the town and different elements in the population.

2. TERM OF OFFICE

The usual and undoubtedly the best composition of a board of library trustees is to divide it into groups, one group going out of office each year. This provision secures stability by preventing sudden changes of the whole board by intrigue or popular caprice, and is intended to allow opportunity for gradual change whenever it is needed.

But does this provision alone insure sufficient change to prevent stagnation? The position of trustee of a library is so pleasant and honorable, that the incumbent may wish to retain it indefinitely. The men selected as trustees may be personally so worthy and popular that their townsmen are reluctant to retire them compulsorily, even when the feeling is prevalent that others might serve more acceptably. To effect a change under such circumstances requires an effort approaching revolution, with danger of that discord and bad feeling which are so unfortunate in library management.

Would it not be wise, in view of this possible danger, to follow the example of the graduates of Harvard College in electing overseers, and provide by law that no trustee shall hold office for more than (say) three successive terms of three years, or nine years in all? While a library might thus lose occasionally an active and efficient trustee (who could still be reelected after being only a year out of office), would it not gain much more than it could lose, in keeping that close contact with popular needs and with new ideas, which is so healthy and stimulating in the management of all public institutions?

3. QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE POSITION

The ideal qualifications for a trustee of a public library (a fair education and love of books being taken for granted) might be summarized somewhat thus:--

Sound character; good judgement and common-sense; public spirit; capacity for work; literary taste; representative fitness.

Men of character and position in the community are usually selected as trustees; but it may be assumed somewhat too confidently that, because a man has been prominent in political or business or social circles, he will make a good trustee. It is a mistake to put in such a position any man who has outlived his public spirit and energy.

Library taste is placed low on this list of qualifications, because in any administrative position, even in connection with a library, capacity and willingness to work, united with common-sense and a fair education, are much more useful than a taste for literature without the practical qualities. And of the different grades of literary taste, general culture and a wide range of reading are generally more serviceable to a public library than the knowledge of the scholar or the specialist.

In selecting men of prominence for trustees, there is danger of excluding too rigidly the younger men who might contribute to the strength and efficiency of the board. There is so much activity and progress in the library work of this generation, that the adage "Old men for counsel, young men for action" is not wholly inapplicable to the choice of trustees, whose work requires counsel and action in nearly equal degrees.

With a large board it would seem wise to select members with some reference to representation of different sections of the town, and different occupations, interests, or nationalities among the inhabitants. This tends to prevent dissatisfaction, and to adapt the purchase of books and the general policy of the library to the needs of the whole community, rather than to the wishes of special classes.

Neither politics nor religious opinion should of course enter into the choice of library trustees, except so far as it is unwise to constitute a board exclusively from one party or one denomination.

4. DUTIES, INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE

As an individual, the trustee of a public library ought to realize that he holds a high and sacred trust from the people; that he has been elected to preserve and extend the privileges and benefits afforded by the library in its modern development as "The People's University"; that library science is not to be comprehended by intuition, but can be learned only by intelligent observation and study; and that he has no right to accept or hold the position unless he can take a lively interest in the library, be constant in attendance at meetings and diligent in committee work, keep himself informed of the current library ideas by reading every number of the Library journal, and, if possible, by visiting other libraries than his own, and watch keenly the tastes and requirements of the constituency he represents.

The collective duties of the board includes the care of investments and funds, the careful and economical supervision of expenditures, the determination of the policy of the library toward the public and in its interior administration, the general direction of the choice and purchase of books, the selection of the librarian and his assistants, constant and critical observation of their work, occasional reckoning up of work done and progress made, comparison of results with those reached in other libraries, as a confirmation of merits and a corrective for errors, and such active work of detail as will assist the librarian in performing his duties.

5. ORGANIZATION

A large board ordinarily transacts business through a chairman, a secretary, a treasurer, and one or more committees.

The chairman has few active duties, but the position requires judgment in appointing committees, and tact in conducting meetings. The place is perhaps the highest public honor in small towns, and is usually and properly given to some trustee eminent for character and public services.

In Mr. Perkins's article, "How to make Town Libraries Successful," in the "Government Report of 1876 on Public Libraries," it is suggested that the librarian should act as secretary to the board of trustees; but, aside from the fact he usually has more than enough work to do in his own department, is it not at least doubtful whether an official, whose conduct may at any time be a proper subject for confidential discussion before the board, should serve as their secretary, and so be obliged to be present throughout all meetings? The duties of a secretary may properly provide occupation for some member of the board.

The treasurer, if he holds funds in his hands, should always be put under bond. No matter how trustworthy he may be, it is a sound principal that no official should handle public money without giving bond. His successor may not be so careful or so honest, and, unless the precedent is established while the danger of loss seems small, it will be difficult and invidious to insist upon a bond when occasion may require it. If no trustee is willing to accept the position of treasurer with bond, it is usually possible to leave the library funds in the hands of the already bonded town treasurer, and draw on them as needed to pay bills.

As to committees, it is better to have as many as can actively be employed, in order to enlist the cooperation or advice of every trustee. In large boards, even with small libraries, four standing committees can find occupation; namely, executive, book, finance, and progress.