16.1.1.1 THE DUTIES OF THE GREAT LIBRARIAN

The ministry of the Librarian is responsible for the Great Library of the city, the librarian is responsible for the amount of books, the quality of the works, the growth of the great library publishing new public books and upholding the quality of works in rival libraries. The position is an important one, as large amounts of power are gained or lost by the decisions made by the Librarian, and finding the correct person to fill this post might even be more important than having people actually write the books. As a ministry, the librarian is entitled to having aides, a librarian is cautioned in choosing these however, as an irresponsible aide can easily damage a great library's credibility and culture.

City librarians have a number of abilities to manage their great libraries, some of which need a little extra explanation. Among these abilities is the ability to criticise other books for their quality, this is a very serious ability that should only be used under extreme circumstances since if used incorrectly it may backfire and ruin your own Grand Library. Please read HELP CRITIQUING before using this ability.

Once a book is placed in a great library it is permanently there, the Library must pay for copies of books for those who wish to borrow it, each copy costs 10,000 gold. If there are no copies, none can be checked out. The writer or editor of a book can CHECKOUT ORIGINAL <book> and edit it. This has no impact on library copies (which can still be checked out), costs no library fee, and the original will eventually return to the library. At this point, the author of the book can take the book to a printing press and make another original (to place in personal bookcases, etc.). Once a book has been edited and returned, it will automatically be published as a "new edition".

LIBRARY ARCHIVE <book ID#> AS [SCHOLARLY|LITERARY]
This process is the initial archiving of a book in a library. This costs 10,000 gold for a great library and includes one copy of a book. Note that only the book's author may check out the original of the book. It is not possible to archive a book which has been archived in another Great Library or shelved in a private library, even if the author checks out the original. This action cannot be undone. If the category of the book must be changed, please ISSUE your need.

LIBRARY SET <book ID> [ACCESS|SUBJECTS] <variable(s)>
The librarian can reset the access level (public, restricted, secret) and subjects of a book. Books can have multiple subjects (or key words) to help with cross-referencing and searching. When setting access, restricted access includes public access and secret includes both restricted and public. When setting subjects, this replaces the prior list of subjects (if any) rather than adding subjects to the list.

LIBRARY MOVE <book ID>
This moves a book from wherever it is in the library to the annex where the librarian is currently at.

LIBRARY NAME [ANNEX|LIBRARY] <name>
This ability renames the library or annex (Head Librarian only).

LIBRARY ISSUECARD <ply> [RESTRICTED|SECRET]
This ability issues a library card to a person and can grant access to restricted or secret works. (Note: Those with access to Secret works can also view any Restricted works.)

LIBRARY REVOKECARD <ply>
This removes the library card from a person. NOTE: Great Libraries always allow public access to their own citizens or commune members, a privilege which cannot be revoked.)

LIBRARY MAKECOPY <book ID #>
The librarian may order an extra copy of a book that can be checked out. This process costs 5,000 gold for a Great Library.

LIBRARY SETFEE <amount>
This ability sets the fee for checking out a library book.

LIBRARY SETPERIOD <days>
This sets the number of days a book can be checked out. Books automatically reset to the library at the end of this period if they have not already been checked in.

LIBRARY SUBMIT <book>
This submits the book to the prestige contests. Each city/commune may submit two works, one from the Scholarly and one from the Literary category. Submission time lasts four years leading up to a voting year. Voting takes place on years that are multiples of 5 (the year 655, 660, 665, etc.). Please note that books more than 50 in game years old will be scored very low in the prestige contest, as we encourage active creation of new works. See PRESTIGECONTEST for more details.

LIBRARY PUBLISH <book>
At a cost of 15,000 gold, a librarian can order a book to be published. This is no small matter as published books impact the city or commune's culture. Once published, every Great Library in the realm will receive a copy of the book. For the next year, all other librarians in rival Great Libraries will be able to critique the book. At some point after the critique stage, scholars will review the critiques. If the critiques are found valid, the book will be considered inferior and negatively impact the library's credibility. Further, such books will not be counted for any scores that will help the cultural standing of a library. However, if there are no critiques or the critiques are found invalid, the publishing is considered a success and will help increase the culture of the city or commune. (Please note this is not the same as LIBRARY ARCHIVE). See PUBLISHING for more details.

LIBRARY CRITIQUE <book> <reason>
Librarians may critique books published by rival libraries. They have exactly one year from the date of publication in order to write the critique. (Note: all critiques are considered negative critiques of books.) Critiques have a 250 word maximum. WARNING: If scholars find the critique to be invalid or frivolous, the Great Library who submitted the critique will lose credibility. See CRITIQUING for more details.

LIBRARY AUDIT [CARDS|PUBLISHING|BOOKS|LIBRARY]
Auditing cards will list all library cards, showing their access level and to whom they were issued. Auditing publishing will list all books published by rival Great Libraries that may be critiqued. Auditing books will show what books are checked out, who checked them out and how many days left until due. Auditing the library lists the basic statistics of a library.

The audit of the library reviews the following information:

Current Year Credibility: This tracks the current year credibility. It does not impact the current culture score.

Last Year Credibility: Last year's credibility rating impacts the culture credibility score. Power is awarded to those Great Libraries who achieve the highest, second highest and third highest credibility rating.

Current Year Growth: This tracks the weight of books that were published in the past year. (Check HELP GREATLIBRARIES for information about book weight)

Last Year Growth: Last year's growth rating impacts the culture growth rating. Power is awarded to the Great Library who achieves the highest growth rate.

Scholarly Book Rating: This rating of the number of published, scholarly books. Submitted prestige scholarly books that did not win have 25 extra weight points. Winning prestige scholarly books have 100 extra weight points. Only books that have gone through the critique process are counted for this rating. Power is awarded to those Great Libraries who achieve the highest, second highest and third highest scholarly book rating.

Literary Book Rating: This rating of the number of published, literary books. Submitted prestige literary books that did not win have 25 extra weight points. Winning prestige literary books have 100 extra weight points. Only books that have gone through the critique process are counted for this rating. Power is awarded to those Great Libraries who achieve the highest, second highest and third highest literary book rating.

Total Book Rating: This rating of the total number of published books (both literary and scholarly). Submitted prestige books that did not win have 25 extra weight points. Winning prestige books have 100 extra weight points. Only books that have gone through the critique process is counted for this rating. Power is awarded to those Great Libraries who achieve the highest, second highest and third highest total book rating.

NOTE: If a book was critiqued and found to be an undistinguished, below-standard publication, then it is not counted towards any rating.

Annexes to the Great Library can be bought for a fee as your library grows. Ask your organisational leader to submit a city or commune Patron Request for pricing information.

See also: GREATLIBRARIES, CRITIQUING, CULTURE, PRESTIGECONTEST, PATRONREQUESTS