Although the distinguishing mark of the library is its collection of hooks attractively arranged, one sometimes finds a room designated by this title in which there is a conspicuous absence of well-filled shelves "Where genius lies enshrined, Where reign in silent majesty The monarchs of the mind."

The library, more than any other room in the home, repays a generous expenditure of money. On the other hand, with taste and judgment, it may be fitted up effectively in quite simple fashion.

A colour effect should not be as dominating in the library as in the other parts of the house, although it should be carefully planned not only to be correct in itself but to unite harmoniously with the schemes of adjoining rooms.

Bright colours should be avoided on walls, furniture and floors and at the windows. Greens, blues, buffs and browns, in their many tones, are the most feasible colours to draw from.

The blending of colours in this room may be more subtle than in the other living rooms. A study of the tones in the autumn scenery will be suggestive for colour combinations in the library; the deeper shades for the floor, woodwork and furniture, the medium ones for window hangings, and the lightest for walls and small decorations.

White woodwork makes too vivid a contrast with everything with which it comes in contact to be a restful element in the library. A warm dark grey or a dark sage green is a better covering when paint must be applied to the wood finish. The hard woods that take a quiet finish of green or brown impart a feeling of wood texture that cannot be given by paint. Some new dull finishes for soft woods are welcomed in homes where cost is a serious consideration.

If the walls of the library are too decorative in their treatment, either with the paper or pictures, the main object of the room, namely, to furnish the means for mental concentration, is destroyed. A self-effacing pattern in two tones or two quiet contrasting colours may realise better, perhaps, than a plain colour the ideal covering for the library wall. In libraries that are wainscoted with wooden panels or bookshelves, the wall space above may be hung with cotton or wool tapestry in verdure designs and colourings, or with the heavy pressed paper that resembles leather, stencilled grass cloth or figured burlap.

If the wall is to be covered from floor to ceiling with a paper, a close-set pattern or a stripe in two tones of one colour will prove satisfactory. A frieze or border in the library, unless the ceiling is high, affords unnecessary and distracting decoration.

The pictures for the library walls ought not to exact too much attention, yet each should have sufficient interest to qualify it for its position. Paintings of landscapes or marines are usually reposeful in composition and tone. Portraits of celebrated authors, plaster reliefs and busts of the same, and pictures of the homes of great literary characters are also desirable acquisitions.

After the walls and woodwork, the bookshelves should receive a first consideration in planning a library interior. In style, quantity and placing, the shelves should conform to the proportions of the room, its occupants' interests and the remaining furnishings.

In Sir Walter Scott's library at Abbotsford nearly the entire wall space is set with bookshelves. Charles Dickens, too, worked in a room completely surrounded with volumes. Non-professional people, however, without the demands of authorship, may utilise wall space for general comfort, instead of fitting it with vast accumulations of literature.

Among the appointments of the home library a desk chair of the proper height for writing is always needed, and reading or study chairs may be Selected to fit individual demands. The Morris chair in its original character as an un-decorated, adjustable armchair is an excellenl choice for the library, and there are many new shapes on the mission order or modified from the mission lines.

A library sofa, to be suited to its location, should be dignified in style, upholstered in durable, unaggressive-coloured material. The idea of comfort need not, however, with these conditions, be discarded.

A writing desk and study table are, of course, essential. As the fancy lines of the French furniture, and some of our own designs, also, do not accord with the serious purpose of this apartment, the selection may be taken from the early English, Dutch or colonial forms or our own mission patterns. The old-fashioned writing desks with sloping fronts are so much desired that reproductions of them are being made, and whether new or old the type is dignified and well-suited to the library.

A study table must be for general usefulness, of good size and strongly constructed. The gate-leg, or thousand-legged table of the seventeenth century, oblong in shape when all of the legs are supporting the top, is historically interesting and convenient for the library. It was on a table of this kind that the Declaration of Independence was signed. A steel frame for holding a large dictionary is a practical article for the library. A stand to hold a complete set of encyclopaedias, and a revolving bookcase for reference works may also be near at hand. A chest of shallow drawers with labels attached on the outside is one of the best systems for preserving newspaper clippings, prints and memoranda in classified form. So many modern conveniences for the student are thought of nowadays that the library may become a literary workshop without interior confusion.

A poorly lighted library defeats the purpose for which it has been set apart, and a full provision of lamps and drop-lights is required for every part of the room that is occupied in the evening. The chandelier may be given up in this room, and if a table is placed in the centre of the room, a double Student lamp will radiate a soft, pleasant light in all directions. A white shade gives the strongest light, and green, in a light or a dark tone, is pleasant for continued use.

A carpeted floor, although it may be avoided in other parts of the home, prevents noise and gives a feeling of space, and in the library these points make its admission worth considering, even when rugs are the rule in other parts of the house. A plain colour may be chosen from the wool fillings in the domestic make or the English kind, or a velvet or Wilton may be chosen. Mottled effects or two-toned carpets come very near to the plain colour, and in patterns there are small, compact figures in three colours and copies of antique rugs.

The full allowance of window light may be granted ungrudgingly to the library, and whatever curtaining is chosen it should be so adjusted that it may be swung entirely away from the glass. Thick curtains to draw at night in cold weather will insure more than any other furnishing in this room a cosy, withdrawn feeling.

A fireplace that is designed for the library should carry in its architectural lines and facing of brick or tiles the simplicity that if attained in other parts of the room creates a restful atmosphere for the student. A seat built near the hearth, or a settle drawn to one side of the fire with cushions and footstool makes a picture of fireside comfort.