The man who desires to own books but who can afford only a small and select library can not do better than to make his selection on this basis—­to get together a collection of well-loved books any one of which would give him pleasure in re-reading.  Why should a man harbor in his house a book that he has read once and never cares to read again?  Why should he own one that he will never care to read at all?  We are not considering the books of the great collectors, coveted for their rarity or their early dates, for their previous ownership or the beauty of their binding—­for any reason except the one that makes them books rather than curiosities.  These collections are not libraries in the intellectual or the literary sense.  Three well thumbed volumes in the attic of one who loves them are a better library for him than those on which Pierpont Morgan spent his millions.

This advice, it will be noted, implies that the man has an opportunity to read the book before he decides whether to buy it or not.  Here is where the Public Library comes in.  Some regard the Public Library as an institution to obviate all necessity of owning books.  It should rather be regarded from our present standpoint as an institution to enable readers to own the books that they need—­to survey the field and make therefrom a proper and well-considered selection.  That it has acted so in the past, none may doubt; it is the business of librarians to see that this function is emphasized in the future.  The bookseller and the librarian are not rivals, but co-workers.  Librarians complain of the point of view of those publishers and dealers who regard every library user as a lost customer.  He is rather, they say, in many cases a customer won—­a non-reader added to the reading class—­a possible purchaser of books.  But have not librarians shared somewhat this mistaken and intolerant attitude?  How often do we urge our readers to become book-owners?  How often do we give them information and aid directed toward this end?  The success of the Christmas book exhibitions held in many libraries should be a lesson to us.  The lists issued in connection with these almost always include prices, publishers’ names, and other information intended especially for the would-be purchaser.  But why should we limit our efforts to the holiday season?  True, every librarian does occasionally respond to requests for advice in book-selection and book-purchase, but the library is not yet recognized as the great testing field of the would-be book owner; the librarian is not yet hailed as the community’s expert adviser in the selection and purchase of books, as well as its book guardian and book distributor.  That this may be and should be, I believe.  It will be if the librarian wills it.

Are we straying from our subject?  No; for from our present standpoint a book bought is a book reread.  My ideal private library is a room, be it large or small, lined with books, every one of which is the owner’s familiar friend, some almost known by heart, others re-read many times, others still waiting to be re-read.