uld be sacrificed for mere
architectural effect.

The plan should be adapted to probabilities and possibilities of
growth and development.

Simplicity of decoration is essential in the working rooms and reading
rooms.

The building should be planned with a view to economical
administration.

The rooms for public use should be so arranged as to allow complete
supervision with the fewest possible attendants.

There should be throughout as much natural light as possible.

Windows should extend up to the ceiling, to light thoroughly the upper
part of every room.

Windows in a book room should be placed opposite the intervals between
bookcases.

In a circulating library the books most in use should be shelved in
floor cases close to the delivery desk.

A space of at least five feet should be left between floor cases. (If
the public is excluded, three feet is ample.)

No shelf, in any form of bookcase, should be higher than a person of
moderate height can reach without a stepladder.

Shelving for folios and quartos should be provided in every book room.

Straight flights are preferable to circular stairs.

The form of shelving which is growing in favor is the arrangement
of floor cases in large rooms with space between the tops of the
bookcases and the ceiling for circulation of air and the diffusion of
light.

Modern library plans provide accommodations for readers near the books
they want to use whatever system of shelving is adopted.

Single shelves should not be more than three feet long, on account of
the tendency to sag. Ten inches between shelves, and a depth of eight
inches, are good dimensions for ordinary cases. Shelves should be made
movable and easily adjustable. Many devices are now in the market for
this purpose, several of which are good."

Don't cut up your library with partitions unless you are sure they are
absolutely necessary. Leave everything as open as possible. A light
rail will keep intruders out of a private corner, and yet will not
shut out light, or prevent circulation of air, or take away from the
feeling of openness and breadth the library room ought to have.

For interior finish use few horizontal moldings; they make traps for
dust. Use such shades at the windows as will permit adjustment for
letting in light at top or bottom, or both. The less ornamentation in
the furniture the better. A simple pine or white-wood table is more
dignified and easier kept clean than a cheaply