TRUSTING THE PUBLIC.

Evening Star, Issue 22146, 28 September 1935, Page 2

TRUSTING THE PUBLIC.

■Mr M. H, Millcin, the founder of tho Ray Smith Libraries, who died a few weeks ago, stumbled into fame and fortune almost by accident. He -was already 53, and had spent a working lifetime in advertising, when in 1931 he opened a small library at Harlesden to provide a job for two young relations. Against the advice of publishers and everybody else-(says the '‘ Manchester Guardian ’) he determined to run his library on the principle of “ twopence per volume per week and no deposit. It had never been done before, and everybody told him that human honesty would not stand the strain to which he was subjecting it. _He began at Harlesden with five or six thousand volumes and a delivery system—two cars and four bicycles. At tho end of the week he had to buy another 10,000 books and cancel the delivery system, which was utterly unable to cope with the demand. A year later he opened a library at New Bridge street with 60 assistants, and Ray Smith’s libraries now have 11 branches and lend 100,000 books a week. The principle of trusting the public has been a triumphant success—perhaps one book in 10,000 is not returned. In many suburban branches there are regular customers who conic on the same day every week.