As librarians repositioned themselves professionally, they were also dealing with increased expectations from the public. Patrons—in the sense of both users and financial supporters of the library—began suggesting that librarians should become more proactive within the community, rather than simply waiting for people to seek out the books on the shelves of the library.⁵ Despite the prevailing stereotype of hiding behind books, librarians actively began discussing the issue of accessibility, welcoming the public to make use of the library.

I can't help but think of what Ayn Rand wrote in her journal on Feb. 27, 1937:

Incidental question: a librarian writing about library building, insists that libraries must be made to look as accessible to the public as possible—to “bring the library nearer to the people… Spacious and inviting entrances are placed at grade level, close to the public thoroughfare, with as few steps as possible between the pedestrian and the building.”

This may be quite sound in relation to library architecture, but the question it raises, in a more general sense, is this: is it advisable to spread out all the conveniences of culture before people to whom a few steps up a stair to a library is a sufficient deterrent from reading?⁶