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For quite a number of years Librarians and Library Authorities have been urging the establishment of a magazine which will reflect accurately and systematically the various phases of modern Library work and progress. A demand has also arisen for a magazine of a more independent nature than anything hitherto issued, or, at least, one which is not hampered in any way by official connection with a society or other public body.

THE very earliest type of Ledger used in connection with Lending Libraries was a kind of receipt book, in which were entered particulars of the book borrowed, and this register was signed by the person who took away the book. We have not been able to find an actual specimen of this type of Ledger, but believe it was simply an ordinary blank volume, in which the entries succeeded each other without columns or other classified features. When Libraries were small and borrowers few in number there was no need for elaboration in the accounts of books issued and returned. As books multiplied and Libraries increased a gradual extension would occur all round, and the necessity would arise for some ready method of distinguishing books returned from those still on loan. Thus would the column method of ruling come into existence, with its many varieties and uses. One form was designed to show by the presence or absence of a signature, whether books were out or in.

THE practical outcome of the Twenty‐first Annual Meeting of the Library Association will not be a revolution either in library methods or policy. None of the papers were out of the common run, and the discussions were even more futile than usual. The only really suggestive contribution to the Conference was Mr. Frank Campbell's Analysis of Papers read at past Meetings, and his programme of work for the future. If the Council will act upon Mr. Campbell's advice and prepare a list of papers on systematic lines, treating of every aspect of library work and the progress of particular departments, there will be some hope for a fruitful and influential meeting next year. But the haphazard method adopted in past years of waiting for papers to be offered, will never do at all, and the sooner the Council recognizes this the better for the Association. We take it that one of the first duties of a Council is to promote or create lines of work and not to sit idle in the hope that outside suggestions alone will formulate programmes and initiate practical measures for the general benefit. We hope to see a vigorous effort made by the Council next year to requisition papers by competent men on all the leading subjects connected with library work, not only for the Annual Meeting, but for London and district meetings also. The social side of the Southport meeting was everything that could be desired, and we hope to see the “Souvenir,” which is to be issued from this office in a short time, recognized and widely taken up as a permanent record of what has become a very pleasant annual gathering of Librarians. Nothing of this sort has ever been done before, and a work which will be an album of portraits, and pictures of places visited, together with a sufficient descriptive text, should be well received by Librarians generally. It has always been a matter for regret that no combined historical and pictorial record was made of former meetings of this kind. If the present venture is sufficiently supported, we understand it is the publishers' intention to issue an annual illustrated record on similar lines.

Our article in last month's Library World has elicited some expressions of opinion from various sources, which we print as a contribution towards a general discussion of this important question. It, will be observed that several writers have not quite grasped the exact scope of our proposal, which was not an argument in favour of an increase of the Library Rate by Act of Parliament, but a plea for leaving the amount of the Rate entirely in the hands of the local authorities. This is a very different thing from asking Parliament to raise the amount of Rate all round from one penny to two pence or more per £. If local authorities can be trusted to levy the huge sums required under the various Sanitary, Police and Poor Laws, surely they can be trusted to ascertain the comparatively small needs of a Public Library, and make a Rate in accordance with local requirements. It is impossible to imagine that in any case this power would be abused. As a rule, rating bodies are extremely scrupulous and fearful about raising rates, and this fear and public spirit could be trusted to keep in cheek any tendency towards extravagance. Besides, it must be obvious to every observer that the needs of Public Libraries are not such as to call for lavish expenditure. At the same time, why should a town desirous of extending and improving its library system be debarred from doing so, because of an Act passed nearly fifty years ago, when educational legislation was only in an experimental stage? The more discussion and argument we can have on this subject, the quicker are we likely to arrive at a definite basis of agreement, and we therefore print the following opinions as an introduction to a general discussion.

Since our visit to England last year with the American Librarians, we have often mentally discussed the reason why so many of the libraries of the United States are in the hands of women, and so few in Great Britain. Tradition and habit are of course responsible to a great degree in the latter case. The majority of the libraries in Great Britain are not a new growth; they have always been in the hands of men, therefore they always must be. They have been built up slowly as conservators of the literature of the ages, and it is fitting that wise and learned men should have them in charge.

The desire to obtain authentic guidance as to the real nature, quality and value of food‐products and of other articles of necessity has grown rapidly during recent years, while the demand for amending and additional legislation, and for increased governmental and official activity, plainly indicates that general public attention to this most important of national questions is at length aroused.

The following report was brought up by Dr. P. Brouardel, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, President of the Commission, and was submitted for the approval of the Congress:

That the introduction of the Control system should have given rise to a considerable amount of criticism, both appreciative and adverse, was naturally to be expected. The appreciative remarks which have appeared in the press, and those also which have been privately communicated to the directors, indicate that the subject has been intelligently considered, and in some cases carefully investigated and studied. The opinions given are worth having on account of the position and influence of hose who have given them, and on account of the obvious freedom from bias which has characterised them. This is so far satisfactory, and goes to show that the success which has attended the working of the Control system abroad may well be expected to attend it in this country as soon as it is sufficiently well known to be appreciated by the manufacturers and vendors of good and genuine products, and by the general public, whose best interests it cannot but serve.

The method of dealing with the proposed additions varies in different libraries. In the Battersea Library, the librarian makes an author‐entry on a cataloguing slip for each book he proposes, with name of publisher, price, and, if necessary, a note as to the review of the work, and its suitability for addition to the library. Before each committee meeting these are arranged in alphabetical order, and at the committee the librarian calls them over and marks on each the decision arrived at. Afterwards the slips can be sorted into “rejected,” “postponed,” and “ordered,” and dealt with accordingly. The “ordered” slips can again be sorted into two lots, one for books to be purchased new, and the other for those whose purchase is deferred until they can be met with second‐hand. When the books are received from the vendors, the number of copies, and the branch libraries to which they are allocated, are marked upon the slips. By this means a rough record is kept of the additions to the library, which is of great use to the librarian.

“A Candidate, canvassing his district, met a Nurse wheeling a Baby in a carriage, and, stooping, imprinted a kiss upon the Baby's clammy muzzle. Rising, he saw a Man, who laughed.