Opening instructions for the Meridian Library

2901 · public reading copy

The opening library circular explains why teaching copies and operational originals are kept apart.

Receipt of material

Books, charts and exercise papers brought from the teaching rooms are to be listed before shelving. Record the supplying office and whether the item is a gift, a loan or an office copy. A handwritten name inside a cover does not by itself settle ownership.

Two catalogues

Keep a shelf catalogue for readers and a custody book for the library. The shelf entry states title, subject and location. The custody book also records the lender, restrictions and condition. Readers are not to be denied a title merely because its original remains elsewhere; request a teaching copy where one can properly be made.

Use in instruction

Instructors may reserve copies for a class but must state when the reservation ends. Corrections to a navigation example are to be attached to every teaching copy. Leave the earlier text recoverable so that a reader can understand why it was corrected.