Charging Machines

COMPARATIVELY the development of SPEAKING, the use of charging machines in libraries has been a slow process. It took many years before librarians themselves were aware of the possibilities of their use in circulation procedures, although in some instances, especially in the college and university field, many office routines in these institutions had been mechanized with satisfactory results. I t was only when library administrators realized that machines could not only speed up the charging process and reduce some of the clerical work involved, but also pay for themselves through the resultant saving in staff time and salaries that they began to experiment seriously with their use. This in turn has led equipment manufacturers to develop charging machines which have met at least some of the requirements laid down by librarians. Although it was not until the late 1920’s that any charging machine was put on the market, it is interesting to note that librarians began to explore the possibilities of mechanized circulation procedures as early as 1900. It was in this year that E. W. Gaillard of the New York Public Library constructed a machine for this purpose at a cost of $3,500, but it proved to be unsuitab1e.l The mechanization of charging routines seemed to be almost forgotten after the failure of this experiment, probably due to the introduction in public libraries of the Newark system of book charging which, because of its simpler routines, was a marked improvement over the Browne system generally found in libraries prior to this time. However, in the late 1920’s G. F. Bowerman, librarian of the District of Columbia Public Library, appealed to the U.S. Bureau of Efficiency for assistance in finding a machine, simply constructed and operated, and low enough in cost to be of use to both small and large public libraries. Various companies submitted models, but it was not until 1927 that the Dickman Book Charger, manufactured by the Library