Trustees are very influential in working individually to obtain for a library the support in money which is needed.
They can be of great service in showing their appreciation of good work done by the librarian, by word and act.
It is almost too much to expect of a board of trustees that it should look out to see to it that a librarian receive a proper salary, and that his compensation be increased as his services grow in value, without being reminded that the remuneration is inadequate by a communication from that officer. Still it is very desirable that, when a communication is made, it should be sympathetically considered, and that members of the board should point out to one another the excellence of the services rendered by the librarian instead of expecting him to enlarge upon their value himself.
It should be understood, also, that it is a librarian's duty to state fully the worth of the services of his assistants, and seek adequate compensation for them.
A board of trustees can do much, and should always do as much as possible, to keep the interests of a library and of a librarian from being sacrificed to supposed exigencies of politics.
In some portions of the country the appointment and removal of librarians for political reasons has become a scandal.
A board of trustees owes it to its librarian to protect him from the vagaries of impracticable men who may by some chance become members of the board.
For example, it should quietly vote down unwise propositions, as they are made by fussy or narrow men; by those persons who, while they are self-confident, are also ignorant; by men who are so constituted as always to oppose or hold back, or go ahead recklessly; and by such persons as wish to have a hand in doing everything which it is the duty of the librarian to do, and yet are unwilling to give any time or thought to the conduct of affairs.
There is a tendency in many boards of trustees, when a single member is urgent in opposition to some measure proposed by a librarian, and the other members have no positive opinions regarding the matter, to yield to the objector.
Such oppositions may afford a proper excuse for the delay, but should not be allowed to become permanently efficacious in preventing the execution of a project, without the librarian has been given ample opportunities, for explaining the grounds of his recommendation. The librarian should always be treated as a cooperator, and not as an unintelligent servant. It would always be unwise in him to press the adoption of measures until their wisdom is generally recognized by the trustees. Still his reasons for advising action should be ascertained and duly considered.