Librarians by John Norton Loughborough

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jun 1, 1876

Librarians.

By John Norton Loughborough

In further considering the practical workings of the Tract and Missionary Society we will call attention to the duties of librarians. The duties of the librarian with the missionary members in his locality, are similar to the duties of the district secretary with the churches in his district.

The librarian is to take charge of the missionary documents of his church, charging to each individual the tracts and pamphlets taken from the library, with the number of pages and value of the same, giving the individual credit for all money he pays, such as membership, donations, and book sales.

In discharging his duties as librarian he needs two books. 1. A List Book, in which are enrolled the names of all persons in his vicinity or church who have paid $1.00 to become members of the State Missionary Society. He should especially interest himself to induce all who are favorable to the truth to become members of the society by paying $1.00. If any church member is too poor to pay the membership fee himself it would doubtless be a pleasure for those who are able, to pay $1.00 for him that he may also be a working member in the society.

2. The librarian will also need a Cash Book upon which he will enter on the first pages, under their respective dates, the missionary documents received from the director. The items of these entries should be furnished by the district secretary at the time the director sends the books to the librarian. This entry should specify the number of tracts, pamphlets, etc., with the number of pages and the total value.

All money received by the librarian, whether for memberships, donations, or book sales, should be paid over to the director at the first opportunity, accompanied by a concise statement respecting it. A copy of this statement should be forwarded by the librarian at the time the money is paid to the director, to the district secretary requesting him to give credit to the said church.

When the librarian reports to the district secretary the money received for memberships, he should be particular to give the names of the individuals who paid the money.

The librarian should supply the members with a small pass book, and see that they keep a minute of the books they draw from the library, with the number of pages and value, and also see that they keep a record of the visits made, the number of letters written in the interest of the truth, and the number of subscribers obtained for our periodicals, that they may be prepared to report at the close of the quarter.

Two weeks before the district quarterly meeting the librarian should place in the hands of each member a missionary blank for their reports. He should urge and assist them in filling out these blanks and see that they are all returned to him in season to report to the district quarterly meeting. On gathering in the blanks the librarian should fill out a blank containing the missionary workings of the society for the quarter. The items for the librarian's report are obtained by adding together the reports of the members of his church. His report should contain, in addition to this, the number of missionary members in his church and the number who report. A copy of this report should be placed in the hands of the district secretary in time for the district quarterly meeting. Should any of your members fail to report in season for the district quarterly meeting, see that their reports are obtained and a summary of them sent to the district secretary during the week following the quarterly meeting.

When the librarian sends to the district secretary a report of the workings of the society for that quarter he should also send an exact inventory of the amount of books on hand, stating if there is a demand for any particular book not in the library at that time. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.