Some Twenty Men And Women Are Kept Employed From
Morning Till Night In Carrying On This Circulating Library; And
There Is, Moreover, Attached To The Establishment A Large Reading-
Room Supplied With Papers And Magazines, Open To The Public Of
Boston On The Same Terms.
Of course I asked whether a great many of the books were not lost,
stolen, and destroyed; and of course I was told that there were no
losses, no thefts, and no destruction.
As to thefts, the librarian
did not seem to think that any instance of such an occurrence could
be found. Among the poorer classes, a book might sometimes be lost
when they were changing their lodgings; but anything so lost was
more than replaced by the fines. A book is taken out for a week,
and if not brought back at the end of that week - when the loan can
be renewed if the reader wishes - a fine, I think of two cents, is
incurred. The children, when too late with the books, bring in the
two cents as a matter of course, and the sum so collected fully
replaces all losses. It was all couleur de rose; the
librarianesses looked very pretty and learned, and, if I remember
aright, mostly wore spectacles; the head librarian was
enthusiastic; the nice, instructive books were properly dogs-eared;
my own productions were in enormous demand; the call for books over
the counter was brisk; and the reading-room was full of readers.
It has, I dare say, occurred to other travelers to remark that the
proceedings at such institutions, when visited by them on their
travels, are always rose colored.
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