s thought are of great
and sometimes permanent advantage. The knowledge which we acquire is
comparatively barren, until it is shared with others. And whether this be
in an appreciative circle of listeners, or in the press, it gives a
certain stimulus and reward to the thinker and writer, which nothing else
can impart. To convey one's best thought to the world is one of the
purest and highest of intellectual pleasures.

Let me add that there are two sides to the question of authorship, as
concerns librarians. On the one hand, their advantages for entering that
field are undoubtedly superior, both from the ready command of the most
abundant material, and from experience in its use. On the other hand,
while authorship may be said to be the most besetting temptation of the
librarian, it is one that should be steadily resisted whenever it
encroaches on the time and attention due to library duties. If he makes
it a rule to write nothing and to study nothing for his own objects
during library hours, he is safe. Some years since it was a common
subject of reproach regarding the librarians of several university
libraries in England that they were so engaged in writing books, that no
scholar could get at them for aid in his literary researches. The
librarians and assistants employed in the British Museum Library, where
the hours of service are short, have found time to produce numerous
contributions to literature. Witness the works, as authors and editors,
of Sir Henry Ellis, Antonio Panizzi, Dr. Richard Garnett, Edward Edwards,
J. Winter Jones, Thomas Watts, George Smith, and others. And in America,
the late Justin Winsor was one of the most prolific and versatile of
authors, while John Fiske, once assistant librarian at Harvard, Reuben A.
Guild, William F. Poole, George H. Moore, J. N. Larned, Frederick
Saunders and others have been copious contributors to the press.

* * * * *

In a retrospective view of what has been said in respect to the
qualifications of a librarian, it may appear that I have insisted upon
too high a standard, and have claimed that he should be possessed of
every virtue under heaven. I freely admit that I have aimed to paint the
portrait of the ideal librarian; and I have done it in order to show what
might be accomplished, rather than what has been accomplished. To set
one's mark high--higher even than we are likely to reach, is the surest
way to attain real excellence in