It is wrong to conclude from my words that books are the only library materials that matter to me. My point is that libraries must acquire materials and make them accessible so they can be used. This law gives definition both to the concept of an open-stack library and to a library that is appointed with tools and furnishings that make the books it contains useful. Books are to be taken from locked back rooms and brought out to welcoming rooms with open shelves. Shelves need to be accessible to more than one user at a time. Libraries are to be located in the midst of their communities. Whatever be the library location, hours of operation, type of furniture and the way in which books are kept, it is the Library Staff that ultimately make or mar a library. A Modern Librarian who has faith in this law is happy only when the readers make the shelves constantly empty.
This law reveals the fundamental issue of tension between the cost of materials and the basic right of all persons to have access t the materials they need. This makes acquisitions very important; each acquisition should call to mind a potential user. One must always be mindful that since no one individual can own all the 'books', the libraries must acquire a body of literature or research materials that will benefit each of its readers and researchers. The collection must be appropriate to the Library's Mission. Librarians must know the materials, its uses, and how to use it. Reference service gains its legitimacy and its purpose from this law. Clearly, it is the business of librarians to know the reader, to know the books, and to actively help in the finding by every person of his or her book.
This law addresses the fundamental issue of open access. Open access means that the collection can be examined with as much freedom as if it was the reader's private library. In addition, when a library user comes to the library, or gains access to the library's services, there are certain materials that will meet his or her needs. It is the library's job to ensure that the connection between the user and the materials are made, and that the connection is as speedy and practical as possible. There are many ways in which a library can connect its users to its resources:
Distribution of acquisition lists
New Book displays
Providing Research Guides
Newsletters
Book ListsThe use of a structured, well-thought out classification scheme is a necessity for connecting library users to materials, as it ensures uniformity of treatment of various materials on similar topics. Also important is the accurate arrangement of materials, as misshelving a book can make it all but invisible to the user.
Perhaps this law is not so self-evident as the others. None the less, it has been responsible for many reforms in library administration. A Library must examine every aspect of its policies, rules, procedures, and systems with the one simple criteria that saving the time of the reader is vital to the library's mission. Policies must formulate with the needs of the library's user in mind. For example, hours of operation must be set in order to ensure appropriate and convenient access, and the collection must be arranged in an inviting, clear, and obvious way so as not to waste the time of the users. Saving time of the user means providing efficient, thorough access to materials.
The 5th law tells us about the vital and lasting characteristics of the library as an institution and enjoins the need for a constatnt adjustment of our outlook in dealing with it. Libraries grow and change, and will always do so. Collections increase and change, technology changes and budgets change. Change comes along with growth, and in order to be healthy, that change and growth requires flexibility in the management of the collections, in the use of space, in the recruitment, retention and deployment of staff, and the nature of our programs.