Only prompt vigilance on this point, combined with
the requirement of speedy return by the binder, will save the loss or
injury beyond repair of many books. It will also save the patrons of the
library from the frequent inconvenience of having to do without books,
which should be on the shelves for their use. How frequent this sending
of books to repair should be, cannot be settled by any arbitrary rule;
but it would be wise, in the interest of all, to do it as often as two or
three dozen damaged books are accumulated.

If you find other injury to a book returned, than the natural wear and
tear that the library must assume, if a book, for example, is blotched
with ink, or soiled with grease, or has been so far wet as to be badly
stained in the leaves, or if it is found torn in any part on a hasty
inspection, or if a plate or a map is missing, or the binding is
violently broken (as sometimes happens) then the damage should be borne
by the reader, and not by the library. This will sometimes require the
purchase of a fresh copy of the book, which no fair-minded reader can
object to pay, who is favored with the privileges of free enjoyment of
the treasures of a public library. Indeed, it will be found in the
majority of cases that honest readers themselves call attention to such
injuries as books have accidentally received while in their possession,
with voluntary offer to make good the damage.

All unbound or paper covered volumes should be reserved from the shelves,
and not supplied to readers until bound. This rule may be relaxed (as
there is almost no rule without some valid exception) in the case of a
popular new book, issued only in paper covers, if it is desired to give
an opportunity of early perusal to readers frequenting the library. But
such books should not be permitted to circulate, as they would soon be
worn to pieces by handling. Only books dressed in a substantial covering
are fit to be loaned out of any library. In preparing for the bindery any
new books, or old ones to be re-bound or repaired, lists should be made
of any convenient number set apart for the purpose, prompt return should
be required, and all should be checked off on the list when returned.

No shelf in a well-regulated library should be unprovided with
book-supports, in order to prevent the volumes from sagging and straining
by falling against one another, in a long row of books. Numerous
different devices are in the market for this purpose