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PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



ELEVENTH GENERAL MEETING 



OF THE 

j 



AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 



HELD AT THE 



FABYAN HOUSE, WHITE MOUNTAINS 



SEPTEMBER 8-u 



IOQO 



BOSTON 

LIBRARY BUREAU, 146 FRANKLIN STREET 
1890 



CONTENTS. 



Title. 

President's address 

Classification from the reader's point of view 

The proper lighting of library rooms 

Report on library architecture 

Report on gifts and bequests 

Library experts 

Trustees of free public libraries 

Library work from the trustees' standpoint 

The duties of trustees and their relations to librarians . . . 

The function of the library and the school in education . . . 

On browsing 

How the books were bought for our library 

Antediluvian libraries 

The future of the free public library 

The South African Public Library, Cape Town 

Report on library legislation 

Report on reading for the young 

Libraries and the federal government 

Report on catalogs and classification 

Report on aids and guides 

Proceeedings 85-171 

First Session 85-90 

Hon. J. W. Patterson's address of welcome . 85-87 

Secretary's report 87-89 

Amendment of St. Louis proceedings .... 89 

Stenographer 89-90 

Second Session 90-105 

Report of Finance Committee 90 

Report of Cooperation Committee ... 90, 103-104 

Reports on Library School 91-95 

Report of Com. on Public Documents 95-100, 104-105 

Dining by States and classes 100 

Some thoughts on classification 100-102 

Linderfelt's Dziatzko ' . . 101 

Miscellaneous 102-103 

Revision of the constitution 103 

State librarians 104 

Third Session 105 

Fourth Session 105-114 

Committees 105 

Treasurer's report 106-107 

Newberry Library 107-111 

Worcester Free Public Library in 

Exhibit of library appliances 111-114 

Mimeograph 113 

Harvard College catalog books 113-114 

Zinc guides 114 

Fifth Session 114-116 

Library work in U. S. Bureau of Education . 114-115 

Library experts 115 

Sixth Session 116 

Seventh Session 116-118 

Public documents 116 

Relation of librarian to book committee . . . 116-117 

Endowment 117, 123-124, 127, 128-129 

Public library and public school 118 

University extension 118, 120, 122 

Eighth Session 118-127 

Finance Committee 118-119 

Sunday opening 119-120 

University extension 118,120-122, 131 

World's Fair library exhibit 122-123 

Endowment 123-124, 127 



Author. 

. F: M. Crunden . . 

. W: . Foster . . . 

. W: I. Fletcher . . 

. H: M. Utley . . . 

. Miss C. M. Hewins . 

jlfiss H. E. Green . 

. C: C. Soule . . . 

. J. C. Learned . . . 

. S: S. Green . . . 

. W: T. Harris . . 

. J. K. Hosmer . . 

. C: A. Nelson . . . 

. . C. Richardson . 

. L'. H. Steiner . . 

. D: P. Todd . . . 

. T. Soiberg .... 

. Mrs . M. A . Sanders 

. W.Flint . . . . 

. K. A: Linderfelt . 

. W: Beer . 



Page. 

i 

6 

9 

, 75 

M 

>5 

'9 

23 

34 

27 

33 

38 

4 

44 

48 

50 

58 

64 

67 

73 

Next meeting 124, 125-128 

Excursions 124-125 

Ninth Session 127-130 

Patent Office index 127 

Endowment trustees 128 

Endowment 117, 123-124, 127-129 

Finances 129 

Election of officers 129-130 

Regrets 130 

Questions 130 

Tenth Session 130-139 

International copyright 130, 133-134 

Constitution 131 

World's Fair 131 

University extension 118, 120-122, 131 

Members' expenses paid 131 

Libraries in South Africa 131 

Trustees 131-133 

Mr. Rosenau 134 

Questions 134-135 

Trustees' Section 135-136 

Book selecting 136-137 

Vote of thanks 137 

Officers 137 

A. L. A. Publishing Section 139-140 

College Library Section 140-143 

Relation of librarian to faculty 140-142 

Seminary library in the university 142-143 

Association of State Librarians 143-153 

Report on Exchange of State Documents . . 149-152 

Trustees' Section, A. L. A 1 53~'54 

New York Library Association 154-156 

State clearing-houses for duplicates .... 154-155 
Cooperation between the libraries and the edu- 
cational institutions of the State 155 

Subsidies to public libraries '55-'56 

Early libraries in New York 156 

The social meeting 157 

The Post-Conference Excursion 157-164 

W: F: Poole's remarks at Boston 164-166 

Necrolngical addenda 166 

Attendance summaries 167 

Attendance register 167-171 




CONFERENCE OF LIBRARIANS. 

4 

*" * 

FABYANS, SEPT. 8-n, 1890. 



ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, FREDERICK M. CRUNDEN, LIBRARIAN OF THE ST. LOUIS 



"* PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



"^LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE AMERICAN 
jo LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: 
^- Not being present when my election was 
' announced, I find this the first opportunity I 
JThave had to thank you for the honor you con- 
ferred upon me in choosing me as your Presi- 
dent. I have tried to return my thanks in the 
most substantial and acceptable form, by mak- 
_ ing every effort to call out a large attendance, 
r and to make the meeting profitable and pleas- 
w * to those who come. One of these ends is 
already secured ; and it insures, I think, the 
; attainment of the other. 

Aside from the natural beauties which have 
'drawn us to this spot, it seems especially 
. appropriate that the A. L. A. should meet in 
3 New Hampshire, which was the first State in 
Jthe Union to adopt a general library law, and 
tpOne of the first three States to form a State 
Library Association. New York, through the 
of our ever-alert Secretary, took the 
by two months ; and Iowa was the 
second to join this movement, which I trust 
l)vill spread rapidly throughout the Union. 
c Our meetings have covered a considerable 
portion of country, from the White Moun- 
>tains, in the Northeast, to St. Louis, in the 
Southwest; and this year invitations from 
^the Pacific slope will be presented. The 
practical results of our conferences are seen 
Jn better library buildings and the begin- 
. .ning of a new era of library architecture, 
in improved methods of administration, in 
"~ Poole's Index and other working aids, in the 



rapid multiplication of libraries, in the eleva- 
tion of librarianship to the dignity of a pro- 
fession, and in the spread and development of 
the public library throughout the United 
States. Nor have the results of our asso- 
ciated effort been confined wholly to our own 
land. Our Association led to the formation 
of the L. A. U. K. ; and the name and fame 
of the A. L. A. are known throughout 
Western Europe. 

The events of the year in the bibliothical 
world will be fully set forth by the various re- 
porters. The year has been signalized by the 
opening of the Minneapolis Public Library and 
the Carnegie libraries at Alleghany and Edin- 
burgh, and the addition to the list of this philan- 
thropist's benefactions of $1,000,000 for a free 
library in Pittsburg. To these must be added 
the completion of the $400,000 fund for the 
Hartford Public Library, the adverse decision 
in the Fiske will case, and an adverse, though 
not a final, judgment regarding the Tilden 
trust. 

An exhaustive list of the year's bequests 
and endowments will be given in Miss Hew- 
ins's report; but special mention must be made 
of the magnificent fund left by John Crerar 
for the establishment of another free library 
in Chicago. 

I have already alluded to the initiatory 
steps which have been |taken for the forma- 
tion of three State library associations. The 
New Hampshire association, which meets 
with us this week, has back of it a State law 



324923 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



the first legislation of the kind in the coun- 
try. 

Another admirable law passed this year by 
the progressive State within whose borders 
we are assembled, is that which authorizes 
the Trustees of the State Library to reprint 
each year ten pamphlets that have become out 
of print. 

The most important legislation since our 
last meeting is chapter 529 of the New York 
Laws of 1889. This goes deeper, and takes a 
broader view than has been before attempted. 
It recognizes the best libraries as " colleges 
for the people," and provides that such as 
have been inspected and found to meet the 
standard, shall have in the University Convo- 
cation a seat of equal rank with the colleges 
and universities of the State. It gives to the 
regents, who are the guardians of higher edu- 
cation in the State, with power to grant, 
amend, or repeal charters of colleges, the 
same powers over any libraries which they 
admit to the University. Such libraries must, 
like colleges, make an annual sworn statement, 
in such form as the regents prescribe, and are 
invested with various privileges in receiving 
State publications, loans from the State li- 
brary, etc. 

A law of great significance and potentiality 
is that recently passed in Massachusetts, 
providing State aid for establishing free 
libraries in all towns that do not already 
possess them. The effectiveness of this 
statute must depend on the character of the 
commission appointed to execute it. The 
A. L. A., I am sure, will watch its results 
with great interest. 

In my State, too, the first library has been 
organized under the law of 1885. 

The action taken by the citizens of St. 
Joseph, Mo., is noteworthy, as furnishing a 
pleasing and encouraging contrast between 
the old way and the new. Instead of fitting 
up rooms and arranging everything so as to 
make the administration of the library as 
troublesome and ineffective as possible and 
handicapping their librarian with conditions 
which only a new building and a complete 
reorganization could remedy, their represen- 
tatives wrote at once to the officers of the 



Association, asking how they should proceed. 
They were, of course, advised to choose a 
competent librarian first, and take all subse- 
quent steps in consultation with him. They 
further showed their wisdom in resisting the 
clamors of local applicants, in determining to 
get the best, and in offering sufficient induce- 
ments to secure no less a prize than the 
Treasurer of the A. L. A. Such action marks 
the advent of a new era, and is a cause for 
general felicitation. 

Two deaths have occurred in our ranks. 
The last was that of Dr. Edward Aken, of 
Amherst, N. H., who had done good work in 
the New Hampshire State Library. The 
other was that of John N. Dyer, a Councillor 
of the Association since its organization. In 
him I mourn the loss of a colleague and 
friend; and the profession loses one who, in 
many qualities, may serve as an exemplar. 
Mr. Dyer was a man of good business judg- 
ment and remarkably equable temper; and 
he possessed in the highest degree those 
essentials to success in the librarian's call- 
ing indefatigable industry and never-failing 
courtesy. He had reached the fruition of his 
life's hopes and endeavors, when he fell a 
victim to his over-conscientiousness in the 
discharge of what he believed to be his duty. 

To the credit of hjs fellow-citizens be it 
said that the good he did was not interred 
with his bones. It lives after him in the 
beautiful structure which owes its existence 
to his singleness of purpose, and in the hand- 
some bronze bust which his friends have 
placed therein to commemorate his twenty- 
seven years of faithful service. May all such 
earnest workers meet with the same measure 
of appreciation ! 

I desire to express my thanks to all who 
sent replies to my circular, and to acknowl- 
edge my indebtedness for the many valuable 
suggestions they contained. A majority of 
the recommendations, your Executive Com- 
mittee has carried out in the arrangements for 
this meeting. It was impossible to act on all 
at any one conference. Many were in the 
form of topics for papers or discussion. 
These could not all be included in one pro- 
gram. Others, again, relate to questions of 



CRUNDEN. 



policy, which the Association as a whole 
must determine. 

The chief of these is whether we shall 
continue to discuss elementary questions, or 
assume these to be settled, so far as they can 
be, and go on to higher things. One writer 
alone urges the latter course, referring novices 
to past proceedings and the columns of the 
Library journal ' ; but the general voice seems 
to be for more of this discussion of elemen- 
tary topics. If these suggestions can be 
taken as an index to the prevailing opinion, it 
is five to one in favor of the latter policy. 
The case calls for some nice adjustment ; but 
it is not so complicated as it appears at 
first glance. There is no doubt in my mind 
as to the proper course. 

We are likely always to have among us a 
large number of new members. I hope the 
number of such will increase rapidly, for we 
should rejoice more over the ten new mem- 
bers gained than over the one old member 
whom we know we shall always have with 
us. A majority of these new members are 
naturally novices. They are, so to speak, 
primary pupils. They want to study addi- 
tion, multiplication, and vulgar fractions. 
What interest can they have or what profit 
can they find in the quizzing of our senior 
wranglers on the intricacies of the differen- 
tial calculus ? On the other hand, our post- 
graduates and prizemen cannot be expected 
to sit contentedly on the hard benches of the 
lower preparatory forms, listening to an ex- 
planation of the square of (a + b) or the 
repetition of Latin paradigms through the 
whole conference. Clearly, then, the only 
plan is to arrange a program which shall 
offer something of interest and profit to all 
grades and conditions. This your committee 
has tried to do. The papers and addresses 
cover a wide range, and contain matters of 
interest to all from kindergartners to post- 
graduates ; while under the heading " General 
questions and informal discussion," which 
you will find repeated in several sessions, 
may be brought up any question, however 
simple, any topic, however elementary, that a 
member may wish answered or discussed. 

In deciding the question, how much of our 



time to give to primary and advanced work, 
these considerations, it seems to me, should 
be borne in mind : 

1. That, while we are all much beholden to 
the Association, it is the novices whom it can 
most benefit, and that the development of the 
library system of America must depend on the 
general prevalence of correct methods through- 
out all our libraries, large and small, rather 
than on the existence of a few accomplished 
librarians in the great centers of population. 

2. That, while new members can hardly be 
expected to take much interest in papers and 
discussions that are, to quote an expression 
used in more than one of the letters I received, 
" fired over their heads," older librarians ought, 
and doubtless do, find great interest and pleas- 
ure in helping their less experienced brethren 
to reach conclusions. 

And, finally, it must not be forgotten that 
we do not reach conclusions with the cer- 
tainty of a mathematical demonstration, that 
new solutions to old problems are constantly 
arising, and that veterans may sometimes 
learn from younger men, who approach a 
given subject without prejudice or prepos- 
session. In his old age Marshal Wiirmser 
learned the fundamental principles of the art 
of war from the youthful Corsican. 

And here let me urge that no one hesitate 
to put into the question box any topic on 
which he desires light. Put in all questions 
as soon as possible. So far as practicable 
they will be classified, and announcement will 
be made of the class of subjects about to be 
taken up. It is hoped that this special pro- 
vision for informal discussion will call forth a 
great deal of that spontaneous interchange of 
ideas, which is often the most valuable part of 
a conference. 

A word of comfort and reassurance to any 
who may be dismayed by the apparent length 
of the program. A more careful examination 
will show thatit is not so formidable as it looks. 
You will see that the afternoon sessions are 
given almost exclusively to section meetings, 
which will leave the great body of members 
free for excursions and other diversion. 

Another recommendation sent in response 
to my request for suggestions relates to a 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



subject which has been under discussion at 
several meetings. It is that the date of the 
conference come within the usual summer 
vacation. This question will necessarily 
come up Friday morning. I refer to it simply 
to say that the committee tried to have this 
meeting called for the first week in September, 
but found it impossible to secure the nec- 
essary accommodations for that time. 

The number of topics suggested for papers 
and discussions shows how idle was the fear, 
formerly expressed, that the Association 
would in a few years run out of subject 
matter, and must either die or resort to trien- 
nial or quadrennial sessions. 

All the suggestions made were good ; and, 
with regrets that they could not all be em- 
bodied in action at this meeting, I shall turn 
them over to the favorable consideration of 
my successor. 

And this leads me to a subject of the 
greatest importance, which I wish to lay 
before you. The continued growth I may 
say the very existence of an organization 
like this requires active work on the part of 
a permanent officer, who shall conserve all 
past achievement, and point out the paths 
of future progress. He must be a man of 
energy and resource and an enthusiast in 
the cause for which this Association stands. 
Such an officer we have had in our Secretary, 
who initiated the movement that resulted in 
the formation of the A. L. A., and who has 
labored faithfully in its interests for fifteen 
years. Always a busy man, he has lately 
assumed new duties, which make it impos- 
sible for him to give as much time to the 
affairs of the Association as he has done 
heretofore. He declared to me a few days 
ago his intention of resigning or declining 
reelection at this meeting. Since then I 
have given considerable thought to the ques- 
tion of supplying his place. While, of course, 
we have other men competent to fill the posi- 
tion, I think it is not too much to say that we 
can hardly find any one able and willing to 
bestow upon the duties of the office the time 
and energy which Mr. Dewey has so freely 
given in the past, not to mention the greater 
demands which will be made by the future. 



We can no longer expect Mr. Dewey to 
perform all the clerical work he has hitherto 
done for us ; but I hope that we may still 
retain the benefits of his resource and organ- 
izing ability, and, above all, his intimate 
knowledge of the affairs of the Association 
and his extensive acquaintance with its mem- 
bers (a knowledge and acquaintance pos- 
sessed by no one else), by giving him a paid 
assistant to attend to the clerical details 
under his direction. I therefore suggest that 
our present Secretary be reelected, and that 
a salary, not to exceed $200 a year, be paid to 
an Assistant Secretary, nominated by him 
and approved by the Executive Board. 

If this work could be done as well by dif- 
ferent persons succeeding each other, such 
action would not be necessary. The burden 
might well be borne by each of us in turn for 
a year; but this plan will not do. We must 
have a permanent officer who shall be a con- 
servator of past experience, a depositary of 
information, and a source of universal refer- 
ence on all matters relating to the Associa- 
tion. We can thus centralize the work, and 
put the responsibility on one person. The 
great trouble experienced in arranging for this 
conference arose from the want of some one 
whose service could be commanded as can 
only that service which is paid for. The 
Association has sponged long enough. It has 
now money in bank and an income sufficient 
to pay in some measure for the service it 
requires. If its present revenue is not large 
enough, it can be made so. My answer to 
the question, "Where is this proposed allow- 
ance to come from?" is that a thorough- 
going, as compared with a partial, attention to 
our affairs will easily make a difference of 
$200 in the money receipts. 

I would, however, further recommend an 
increase in the dues. On the exact amount of 
this increase I am not inclined to insist, 
except that I would make the annual fee $5 
to all persons not connected with libraries. 
For librarians and library trustees, I would 
suggest the present annual dues, with a $2 
entrance fee. 

I cannot leave this general subject without 
reference to the valuable work done for years 



CRUNDEN. 



5 



by Mr. Davidson. This service has been ren- 
dered to us individually, contributing greatly 
to our personal comfort and convenience, at 
cost of much labor and care, and with little 
honor and profit to him. There has been, in- 
deed, no profit, but a direct pecuniary loss to 
him and the corporation he represents. I 
trust that the Association will not fail to ex- 
press its appreciation of this service in an em- 
phatic manner. 

Permit me to make one more suggestion. 
It is that we all do our utmost to encourage 
every cooperative scheme. In no other way, 
I think, can we do more for our respective li- 
braries and for the library cause. I hope we 
shall hear from Mr. Lamed further particulars 
concerning a plan, proposed by a gentleman 
in Buffalo, for the collection and distribution 
of the reports and publications of charity or- 
ganizations and benevolent institutions. I 
fear it has fallen through for want of adequate 
support. If so, it illustrates the shortcoming 
with which we, as a whole, are fairly charge- 
able. In urging this, I do but ask you to do 
yourselves a favor. 

" T is as I should entreat you wear your gloves, ' 
Or feed on nourishing dishes, or keep you warm, 
Or sue to you to do a peculiar profit 
To your own person." 

The program of this conference marks a 
new departure in its provision for section 
meetings. The extension of this feature will 
serve to harmonize conflicting views on the 
character of topics for debate, to which I 
have before referred. The process of dif- 
ferentiation will probably go on until ulti- 
mately half our time will be given to meetings 
of sections, so arranged that no one need be 



perplexed by discussions beyond his range, 
or wearied and bored by those on questions 
aside from his interests or on others which 
he settled for himself years ago. 

I am particularly pleased to have the Asso- 
ciation of State Librarians with us, and to 
witness the inauguration of a movement to 
form State library associations. An active, 
wide-awake State librarian, gathering about 
him the librarians of his State, can do much 
to awaken general recognition of the impor- 
tance of libraries in a system of public educa- 
tion, to shape legislation, to influence public 
opinion, and to direct the current of private 
philanthropy in such a way as to promote 
the development of the free public library, 
which must eventually take its place by the 
side of the free public school, and which 
is already recognized by such thoughtful 
students as the late Prof. Jevons as the most 
effective of all means of social amelioration. 
I trust that the number and strength of these 
State associations will rapidly increase ; and 
I hope, too, that they will endeavor to hold 
meetings annually with the A. L. A. 

If, free from all exigencies of place and 
accommodation, it were left to me to fix a 
date for our annual conference, I should 
choose this time of year, when we can meet 
fresh from our vacations (except the President 
and the Secretary), and go back to our regular 
work full of that enthusiasm which is knowl- 
edge and strength combined. I trust that the 
present meeting will be fruitful of good to all 
of us ; that we shall return to our homes eager 
to embody in action the ideals which the 
fervor of associated effort and the flash of 
sympathetic contact have made clearer, more 
real to our vision. 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



CLASSIFICATION FROM THE READER'S POINT OF VIEW. 



BY W: E. FOSTER, LIBRARIAN PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



T IBRARIANS have sometimes been re- 
proached with forgetting that the system 
of classification is or should be made for the 
reader not the reader for the system. In 
other words, the system of classification is 
a means to an end, not the end itself. We 
do not believe that this important principle 
has been very widely lost sight of by li- 
brarians. Nevertheless, it may be well for us 
to turn our attention to it for a short time 
to-day, particularly in some of its practical 
bearings. 

One antidote which ought always to be 
effectual in counteracting any tendency to 
regard classification as apart from any rela- 
tion to the use to be made of it by readers, is 
the fact that the librarian himself is a reader, 
and that he not unfrequently has occasion to 
appear in the character of a reader, rather 
than an official, at libraries other than his 
own. Nor does he always appear in the same 
character. Indeed, he is something of a Pro- 
teus. Sometimes he merely runs in to turn 
to a book of reference, and slip out again. 
Sometimes he goes to ascertain whether some 
specific book possibly a book coming under 
the description of light reading is in. Some- 
times he conies with a list of three or four or 
five books which are all he wishes to see. 
At other times, indeed, he is the true student, 
and requires to see, if possible, all that the 
library contains on the subject in question. 
There is really no reason, then, why, in decid- 
ing on this or that detail in the plan of 
classification at his own library, he should 
not be able to put himself in the reader's 
place, and see the subject with his eyes. 

Now, it is probably beyond question that 
skill and intelligence in working out a 
classification system were never known to be 
inherent reasons for its non-adaptedness to 
the reader. The non-adaptedness if it 
exist exists simply from a failure to connect 
the system with what are the reader's specific 



needs at the particular time under consider- 
ation. If he is coming for a copy of " Lorna 
Doone," and going out immediately if that is 
not in, an elaborate system is of no special 
use to him. A dictionary catalogue will 
serve his purpose better. Again, if, having 
read one of Tolstoi's books, he has simply a 
desire to get others by the same author, the 
dictionary catalogue will be his best reliance. 

Suppose, however, that his desire is not at 
all of this nature, but to obtain and use 
materials bearing on a given subject, it then 
becomes of the highest importance to us to dis- 
cover in what way best to serve his purpose. 

Let us clear a path by suggesting a few 
general principles. 

One of these is that it is useless to expect 
that individual minds will ever move in pre- 
cisely the same grooves in planning systems 
of classification, considered as logical crea- 
tions of the mind. As many as are the 
classifiers, so many will be your different 
systems. 

But the converse of this is equally impor- 
tant ; namely, that in order to use as a tool 
any system of classification, which is not 
needlessly obscure, one does not need to 
master the system, but only turn to its key, 
the subject index. The criticism, therefore, 
that you cannot expect the average reader at 
a public library to have exhaustively studied 
all classification theories has no weight. 

Again, as our associate Mr. Fletcher has 
well pointed out, so long as books are made 
up as they now are in innumerable in- 
stances made up of material on many 
different subjects, instead of on the plan of 
one subject to any given book, there is no 
such thing as an absolute classification of the 
contents of the library on the shelves. It is 
not possible to point to shelf after shelf, all 
through the library, and say : " Here you 
will find all that the library contains on the 
subject you wish." 



FOSTER. 



And yet, conversely, it does not follow 
from this that, by flying to the other extreme, 
and giving the books little or no classification 
on the shelf, you most perfectly serve the 
inquirer's purpose. If you are on a train 
running from New York to Chicago, and you 
wish to communicate for a moment with your 
friend, and find that he is not in the same car 
with you, it is something to be thankful for, 
is it not, if he is in another car of the same 
train, and that a vestibule-train, rather 
than on another train on a different railroad. 

Once more, a subject catalogue, while fur- 
nishing a certain assistance, cannot do all 
that a bibliography can, both because the 
latter confines itself to one subject, and does 
that exhaustively, and because the library of 
which it is a catalogue may lack some of the 
more fundamentally important works on the 
subject. 

Yet, conversely, as a guide to the shelves 
of the particular library which the reader is 
using, the service rendered by a subject 
catalogue has its own unquestionable value. 
Mr. Cutter's recent instance of etherization, 
in the Library journal, is a strikingly appo- 
site case in point. Moreover, in libraries 
other than its own, the subject catalogue 
fulfills a constant and indispensable service, 
by supplementing and complementing the 
less minute treatment adopted in the local 
catalogue, by permitting at one glance a view 
of many different sub-kingdoms of the gen- 
eral domain of knowledge, impossible in a 
separate bibliography, and in general by 
supplying an additional and reserve source of 
information to appeal to; just as in looking 
up the name of some public character in a 
biographical dictionary, the cataloguer is 
never known to complain of having too many 
different biographical dictionaries accessible, 
but not infrequently too few. 

These are the three main points under which 
this subject presents itself to the reader 
the scheme of classification not his own but 
the cataloguer's, and yet the key to it in his 
own hands ; the arrangement of the books on 
the shelves a close classification or the 
reverse; and the public catalogue of the 
library a subject catalogue or otherwise. 



And here, before we advance farther in our 
consideration of the subject, we find that we 
must face the subject of access to the shelves 
by the readers. All librarians are looking 
with undisguised interest at the experiment 
which Mr. Poole is about undertaking; they 
have read with scarcely less interest the 
account which Mr. Brett has recently given 
of his practical application of the principle 
at Cleveland. There is perhaps little doubt 
that in the future there will be decidedly 
more, rather than less, freedom of access to 
the shelves by readers, even in the larger 
libraries. Moreover, if we assume, in our 
consideration of the question of classification, 
access to the shelves by the reader, rather 
than the reverse, we cover both cases, in 
reality ; for even in those instances where the 
reader does not personally visit the shelves, 
he does so vicariously, so to speak, in the 
person of the librarian or assistant who looks 
up the subject for him. Once more, if we 
are to assume in our consideration of this 
question the conditions represented by the 
reader requiring most, rather than least, 
assistance, we adopt the principle which 
should govern. As in the case of a water 
supply contained in a reservoir, if the reser- 
voir contains too little water for the demand, 
the remedy is not an easy one. If, however, 
it contains too much, nothing is easier than 
to shut it off at a point exactly proportioned 
to the demand. 

I propose now to take up in succession a 
few applications actually made, during recent 
weeks, by readers at the library with whose 
workings I am the most familiar, which may 
fairly be considered typical of the different va- 
rieties represented. They will, I think, throw 
important light on the point which I wish to 
make prominent. 

No. i. A reader wishes to use whatever 
relates to electric motors. He can find the 
entry of this subject in the subject index, and 
is, therefore, readily enough guided to the page 
of the classed catalogue, where works on this 
subject are entered. He finds the classification 
a sufficiently close one to give him these en 
tries by themselves, instead of being mingled 
in with others on the electric light, electro- 



8 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



metallurgy, etc., and in this way his time is 
saved, and his researches are expedited. 
Moreover, it so happens that he is one of 
those readers who are admitted to access to 
the shelves. He finds the arrangement on 
the shelves of inestimable service to him, so 
far as it goes. That is to say, he finds it a 
help that these works on electric motors 
stand by themselves on the shelves, and yet 
with the works on other applications of elec- 
tricity in close proximity. But, as Mr. 
Fletcher reminds us, in consequence of the 
failure of grouping in volumes, to correspond 
to abstract classification, he finds it necessary 
to go a little farther away for the equally 
essential material on his subject in files of 
electrical periodicals, and still farther away 
for that in the more general periodicals, in 
works of reference, volumes of scientific and 
other essays, pamphlets, etc. Here, of course, 
is where he appreciates the service of a sub- 
ject catalogue, which brings all this material 
together under his eye on a single page. He 
would appreciate also a separate bibliography 
devoted to electric motors, but he may not 
have this wish gratified. It may happen, how- 
ever, that the librarian has, within a day or 
two, posted a special list of references on this 
very subject, and this he, of course, makes use 
of. His access to the shelves, serviceable as it 
is, he finds it an advantage to supplement 
(and this, I think, we must regard as the ideal 
form in which to apply this important princi- 
ple), by the use of a special study-room, di- 
rectly adjacent to the book shelves, but where 
he can have books, etc., as above indicated, 
brought to him from all parts of the book- 
cases, by the library attendants. That is to 
say, he must have his own use of the shelves 
supplemented by that of the library attendants, 
especially in such a case as this of electric 
motors, where the reader or student, who is 
making any serious study of the subject, 
cares almost as much for what is to be found 
under electricity as a natural force (that is, 
natural science), and for works on railway 
transportation in general (that is, social 
science), in their bearings on his own subject, 
as he does for those on his subject (which is 
a matter of applied or practical science). Once 



more, in the case of a subject which is gath- 
ering volume, and growing almost appreciably 
from day to day, as in any one of these ap- 
plications of electricity, he will certainly do 
well to consult with the librarian, who, no 
doubt, can tell him of some patent specifica- 
tion, or annual report, or newspaper hearing, 
or testimony of an expert, which has come to 
hand even since the list of references was 
posted. That is to say, he must have all his 
own care and observation and familiarity sup- 
plementedand complemented by the librarian's. 

No. 2. A reader desires to construct some 
representation of the so-called ceremony of 
the " Marriage of the Adriatic," at Venice, 
by the study of Venetian costumes, vessels, 
scenery, etc. He is observed to have before 
him a certain number of volumes, all on Ven- 
ice. So far as this, the subject index has 
helped him, but it leaves him still unsatisfied. 
The librarian gladly undertakes to supple- 
ment the incomplete work of classification 
system, arrangement on shelves, subject 
catalogues, bibliographies, etc., for this is a 
case where the two last mentioned would not 
extend their aid, and, by searching through 
indexes to contents of picture galleries, in- 
dexes to bound volumes of the Art Journal, 
etc., works descriptive of the paintings of 
Turner and other artists, works on the tradi- 
tions of mediaeval Europe, etc., finally places 
in the hands of the inquirer all that he re- 
quires. Here, again, all that the general sys- 
tems of assistance can possibly do needs to 
be supplemented by specific assistance di- 
rectly adapted to the individual reader. 

No. 3. The applicant is an officer of a local 
School of Design, and wishes to have before 
him all that the library can yield, on neck- 
laces, particularly those of the bead descrip- 
tion, for the purpose of comparative studies 
of design. He may or may not find the 
subject index serviceable here. He will cer- 
tainly find access to the shelves of inestimable 
service. He will especially appreciate a close- 
ness of classification which not only places 
works on design apart from those on the more 
technical discussions of art, but those on de- 
sign in objects of ornament apart from those 
on architectural design, and which, moreover, 



FLETCHER. 



separates those on costume proper from all 
the other varieties. At the same time, the 
benefit of having these various gradations of 
the subject more or less directly at hand, that 
he may refer back to them, in his compara- 
tive studies, is fully appreciated. No doubt, 
therefore, his consultation and study of Raci- 
net, Kretschmer and Rohrbach, Gerlach, and 
others, will be full of benefit to him ; but you 
may be assured that he will least of all regret 
having asked the librarian for additional sug- 
gestions, which shall bring to supplement 
those just named, such works from other 
portions of the library as Schliemann's 
" Tiryns," Dennis's " Etruria," Jacquemart, 
Perrot and Chipiez, files of Gewerbehalle, 
L 1 Art pour Tous, Artistic Japan, etc. Once 
more, what the inquirer needs, is all the as- 
sistance that he can derive from all sources. 
The reply, over and over again, to readers at 
my own library, who hesitatingly inquire how 
many books they are at liberty to ask to have 
brought them, to look over in the library, 
is, as many as they wish 100 or 200, even, if 
necessary. 

What, then, is our conclusion from this 
brief study of specific instances ? What 
does the putting ourselves at the reader's 
point of view lead us to infer as to methods 
of classification, arrangement, and cata- 
loguing? In brief, this: Let the reader 



whose need is limited to finding a specific 
thing be able to find it by that ready refer- 
ence, the " dictionary arrangement." Let the 
reader whose need is that of the literature of 
a subject find the library classified by a com- 
prehensive system, sufficiently closely classi- 
fied to respond to his varying needs, supplied 
with a subject index, as a ready key to the 
whole, arranged on the shelves with as close 
an approach to correspondence to abstract 
classification as is found practicable, and the 
shelves accessible to the intelligent student 
wherever practicable. But even if he has all 
these, the reader must still have them, plus 
the privilege of a special study-room where 
the bringing of books from other por- 
tions of the library may correct the inade- 
quacy of shelf arrangement already referred 
to; plus the helps furnished by bibliographies 
in supplying a bird's-eye view of the subject, 
not possible in this particular library ;- plus 
the helps supplied by subject catalogues, for 
subjects on which no bibliographies have 
been printed ; plus all reference lists and 
other miscellaneous varieties of help and 
even this is not sufficient, unless we add, also, 
plus the librarian himself, that he may correct 
and supplement all deficiencies and inade- 
quacies of the various kinds specifically men- 
tioned above, by his own trained, interested, 
and effectual service of the reader. 



THE PROPER LIGHTING OF LIBRARY ROOMS. 



BY W: I. FLETCHER, LIBRARIAN OF AMHERST COLLEGE LIBRARY. 



T ET there be light ! " was the first creative 
word, and from that time to this, who- 
ever would accomplish any work worth doing, 
must have light. There are deeds of darkness, 
and men who love darkness, rather than light; 
but these are evil men and deeds. Good men 
are children of the day, and good deeds are 
best done with the fullest light. And there are 
many kinds of work that make special de- 
mands in this line. Among them, foremost 
I might have said, is work with books. This 
has always been recognized. From the first, 
schoolrooms and libraries were well supplied 



with large windows. An ancient engraving of 
the library of the University at Leyden shows 
a room in the form of a parallelogram, fully 
twice the height of the book-cases it contains 
(which, by the way, are arranged in two rows 
down the room, as in our modern libraries), 
the upper half of the side walls being full of 
large windows. 

Most libraries built with alcoves have had a 
good window in each alcove, so that the books 
were superabundantly lighted, the reading- 
tables in the middle of the room taking their 
leavings. But with the rapid growth of libra- 



IO 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



ries in recent years, and the consequent de- 
mand, especially in the cities, for economy of 
room, the wall space which would otherwise 
have been taken for windows, has been pre- 
empted by shelving, and light has been intro- 
duced at the top of the room, where shelving 
cannot be put by any device yet known, even 
to the Library Bureau. But roof light has its 
disadvantages; and, with the advent of the 
electric light, daylight has come to be at a dis- 
count with some librarians, the proposition be- 
ing gravely made and entertained, to dispense 
with it altogether as a means of lighting book- 
shelving. In Mr. Cutter's apocalyptic vision 
of the Buffalo library in 1983, he saw that 
there was no need of the sun, neither of the 
moon, to give light therein, for the electric 
light was there in all its glory. 

It is my present purpose to answer the 
question, " Shall daylight be abolished ? " 
and, answering it in the negative, to indicate 
how it may best be made available in rooms 
used for the storage of books. 

The coming man, as viewed in the light of 
current tendencies in civilization, is not an 
attractive figure. It has been demonstrated 
by our scientific friends that he will be sans 
hair, sans teeth, sans eyesight. The coming 
bookworm, built in this way, will, of course, 
work in the library at noonday by the electric 
light. But, after all, are we content to let 
this coming man hasten his coming? Some 
of us hope not to live to see him. We 
would rather place obstacles in his way. 
We would study the requirements of nature, 
and try to reintroduce the natural man, who 
seems to be disappearing, rather than give 
way to the reign of artificialism. To this end 
we are putting into our schoolrooms furniture 
calculated to check the stooping habit, so 
productive of myopia. Medicine is being 
reduced to a system of nature-aiding; and 
the remedies of nature, so finely set forth 
by Dr. Oswald a few years since, are the 
coming pharmacopeia. That which is natural, 
which smacks of out-doors and the clear sky, 
is recognized as more wholesome for both 
body and mind than the artificial, even though 
some of our devices "beat natur'all holler." 

This temper of mind prepares us to demand 



daylight in our libraries, as being worth the 
sacrifice of other apparent advantages. We 
may well say, " Give us daylight, even if we 
have fewer books, or have to travel farther to 
find them." After all, it is to compactness of 
storage that daylight has generally been sacri- 
ficed, and this needlessly. It might as well 
be frankly confessed here, that this paper is 
but another plea for a certain method of 
library construction ; namely, that so ably ad- 
vocated by Dr. Poole, and now so well exem- 
plified in the new building at Yale University. 
Approaching it from our present point of view, 
we recognize in this construction the ideal 
method of lighting book-shelving. It fur- 
nishes light in the form in which it is most 
useful ; namely, in a diffused form. Large 
side windows let too strong a light upon the 
books near them, to their decided injury. 
Roof light is not available in the lower part of 
a high building, and in the upper part it is 
accompanied by roof heat. Floors of per- 
forated iron or of heavy glass are only mod- 
erately translucent. In the central portion of 
a large stack, what do we find for light ? 
Looking directly upwards, we see that a few 
broken pencils of light reach our eye from the 
skylight. But when these touch the backs of 
the books, it is only vertically, and they give 
little help in reading their titles. From the 
large side windows, light is poured in abun- 
dantly ; but twenty feet away from the side of 
the room, one looks at the windows as a per- 
son standing in a tunnel looks out through its 
mouth. Not much of the light from the en- 
trance rests upon the side walls ; or, where it 
does, it is so lateral that its effect is confus- 
ing, rather than illuminating. So in these 
passages in the stack. There may be " all 
out doors " at the end of the passage, but, 
reaching the books only laterally, it does not 
make it easy, a few feet away into the pas- 
sage, to read their titles. 

One thus comes to see that the proper 
lighting of shelves is not a question of the 
way in which light shall be introduced in 
rays or streams, for neither vertical, lateral, 
or slanting streams of light will fall upon the 
backs of all the volumes in closely placed cases 
in such a way as to fairly light them up. By 



FLETCHER. 



ii 



only one method can this be accomplished, 
and that is by diffusion. And only one way 
of providing this diffused light between cases 
placed in rows has been suggested, and that 
is the method of construction I am advocat- 
ing, by means of which an ample space above 
the cases is flooded with light, which diffuses 
itself through the spaces between the book 
cases, and lights every part nearly evenly. 
It is not claimed that any room, even on this 
plan, gets a good supply of daylight in all weath- 
ers ; but this is the one known way by which 
what daylight there is can be appropriated. 

A room 60 feet wide can be well filled 
with diffused light by windows, 6 to 8 feet 
high, placed at the top of the side walls as 
thick as they can be placed without taking 
out too much of the wall. In the new Yale 
building they are not over 6 feet high, and 
occupy about one-half the wall space laterally. 
I am not sure, from an examination of those 
rooms, that the light is ample. The window 
area could easily have been 50 per cent 
greater, and then I feel sure it would be. The 
diffusion of the light, or, rather, its reflection 
downwards, is aided there, as it should always 
be, by white ceilings. 

Of course the near proximity of other high 
buildings will render nugatory almost any pro- 
vision for window light. But no library build- 
ing of any importance should be erected with- 
out at least two sides free from the possibility 
of the near approach of other buildings. In 
the larger cities, with the modern tendency 
to erect much higher buildings without widen- 
ing the streets, windows on the street may not 
be very productive of light in the lower sto- 
ries. But it is being shown by the Mercantile 
Library building in St. Louis, and the one 
now about erecting for the New York Mer- 
cantile, that a half-million volumes can be ac- 
commodated in the upper stories of a moder- 
ately high building. It may yet appear that 
the modern rapid-running elevator sets the 
key for city-library architecture more than any 
other influence whatever. 

The demand for a good diffusion of light 
among books in situ on the shelves, turns to 
some extent, it must be admitted, on the 
methods of use in vogue. 



If readers are confined to reading-rooms, 
and only attendants frequent the shelves, a 
good light there seems less essential. Even 
then, however, it is very desirable for the 
avoidance of the mistakes so constantly oc- 
curring, where attendants get and replace 
books in the dark. An electric light which 
can be turned on at any moment is only a 
partial, remedy, as an attendant, with hands 
occupied, will often work in the dark, to avoid 
the slight trouble of turning the button and 
handling the light. 

But the whole idea of library books being 
stored away in places whence they are to be 
brought to readers one or two at a time is 
falling into discredit. In the reports of some 
college libraries, special emphasis is, nowa- 
days, laid on the increase, year by year, of 
admissions to the shelves. In many of the 
public libraries, while the general access of 
the public to the shelves is not thought of, 
provision is made for those specially needing 
such access for purposes of study to have it. 
More and more students perceive the value 
of, and demand, opportunities for the use of 
books where they stand. Especially is this 
true if the classification is what it should be, 
and one can expect to find together the books 
on a given subject. 

If I am not mistaken, the genius of our 
public-library system, as so well set forth by 
the remarks of Senator Patterson at the open- 
ing of this conference, favors this idea of 
access to the book shelves for the student. 
It is safe to predict that there will be a con- 
stant increase of shelf use of our libraries, 
and to assert that it is a mistake to erect a 
new library building regardless of the exigen- 
cies of this use. One of the first of these 
exigencies is abundant and well-distributed 
light. Another is, room to work among the 
books. These combine to protest against an 
excessive economy of room in library build- 
ings. It ought to be accepted as an axiom 
in library architecture, as in all other, that 
room can be provided for all necessary pur- 
poses. When so necessary purposes as good 
light, comfortable temperature, and decent 
ventilation demand room, they can have it, 
whether in dwelling, school, or library. 



12 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



REPORT ON LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. 



BY H: M. UTLEY, LIBRARIAN DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



HP* HERE is a story, probably of antediluvian 
origin, of a man who went forth to lecture 
on the subject of intemperance, and took along 
his brother, a picturesque drunkard, whom he 
exhibited as a " frightful example." In li- 
brary architecture it is not necessary to seek 
far to find things to be avoided ; for even in 
these modern times inexperienced, though 
well-meaning, architects and building com- 
mittees have erected library buildings that 
are little less than monstrosities. I visited 
one a few years ago that comes near deserv- 
ing this classification. It was built at public 
expense and at considerable cost. It con- 
sisted of a single room, with one gallery 
about nine feet above the floor. The books 
were arranged about the walls and in the 
gallery. There was a desk at one side, at 
which the public applied for books, being 
separated from the cases by a railing which 
ran between the posts which supported the 
gallery. There was no place for the librarian 
to sit down, or even to hang his hat; there 
was no place for the library assistants to 
deposit their umbrellas or to wash their 
hands. In fact, there was not a single one 
of the many conveniences necessary for 
doing the work of the library no place for 
unpacking, classifying, and cataloguing books ; 
no place for labelling, numbering, repairing 
books ; no place for reading or for anything 
except taking books from the shelves and 
handing them to applicants, or reversing the 
process. The people who contrived the build- 
ing apparently acted on the theory that this 
was the only thing to be done in a library. 
They grossly misappropriated even the space 
at their disposal, for they left the room open 
to a lofty ceiling, instead of converting their 
gallery into a second floor, which would have 
nearly doubled the floor area of the building. 
Then, with a few partitions they might have 
provided convenient rooms for all the various 
purposes desired. But they left the librarian 



and attendants to improvise the necessary 
conveniences as best they might. The li- 
brarian drove a nail into a window casing upon 
which to hang his hat ; he drove nails into 
the book cases upon which the attendants 
hung their wraps ; he put a table into one 
corner for his own seat, and into another for 
his cataloguer ; he fixed up a dark basement 
for a reading-room. If these people had 
been building a stable , they would have had 
some idea what was wanted ; but of a library 
they had no knowledge whatever. It is to be 
feared that there is more than one library in 
this country, fair without and impressive to 
look upon, but within as ill-contrived for its 
purposes as possibly could be. 

There is fashion in library architecture, as 
in other things. Probably it would be a better 
statement of this idea to say that there is a 
prevailing style, which varies at different 
periods. There was an era of the gothic 
cathedral style ; the interior one large and lofty 
room with galleries, and the books arranged 
in alcoves along the walls. This style is no 
longer popular. In some eastern cities where 
they have more churches than they know what 
to do with, it happens sometimes, even now-a- 
days, that they convert an old church into a 
library. The main floor and the galleries are 
utilized for book cases. But the old shell is 
usually supplemented by a modern wing, with 
reading-rooms, work-rooms and offices, for the 
convenience of all concerned. In this arrange- 
ment there is immense waste of room. But 
we cannot be altogether divorced from 
tradition, and it is not strange that some peo- 
ple should consider an old church just the 
thing for a library, especially if they cannot 
do better. In some western cities it is a 
popular expedient to move the library into the 
city hall, which is usually a central and com- 
modious building. This may answer as a 
temporary device, pending the construction of 
proper quarters. I have in mind a narrow 



UTLEY. 



escape from an attempt to remodel an old 
municipal building for library purposes. Fort- 
unately the trustees gave the matter a sober 
second thought, razed the old building, and 
commenced their new structure with the 
foundation. 

The current idea as to style of architecture 
for libraries of moderate dimensions is the 
Romanesque, generally modified in some 
particulars ; material, stone of two contrasting 
colors, or brick and stone ; roof, tile or slate. 
The interior shows a handsome vestibule, 
spacious hallway and offices for the librarian 
and cataloguers. There are separate reading- 
rooms for men and women and a room 
devoted to the public who seek books that 
circulate. All these are, or should be, on the 
ground floor. Usually provision is made in 
the basement for packing-room, with lift to 
the cataloguer's room, directly above it, as 
well as for heating apparatus and fuel storage. 
The second story is usually arranged for a 
lecture hall and art gallery, with possibly 
special reading and study rooms for seminary 
work, which is becoming one of the features 
of intellectual development in connection with 
enterprising libraries. The books themselves 
are stored compactly in closely arranged 
stacks, generally two stories of 7^ to 8 feet 
each in height. This stack-room is a rear 
wing of brick, severely plain both without and 
within, lighted by lofty windows, and separated 
from the main edifice by very solid walls, as 
security in case of fire. The book wing is 
properly so planned that it can be extended as 
the increase in number of books demands 
more room, while the front or main portion of 
the building remains unchanged. 

It is the book-quarters which are con- 
stantly crowding. If the library is to grow, 
wise foresight makes provision, not only for a 
reasonable period in the future, but plans for 
all possible enlargement without disturbing 
the general arrangement. I have in mind 
a building erected for a library, which was 
planned with a capacity of five times the 
number of volumes then on hand. This 
seemed at the time to be an immense number 
of books, and the date when that number 
would be reached appeared in the dim and 



hazy future so remote that it was not worth 
considering. Accordingly no possible loop- 
hole was left after the limit has been reached. 
The trustees must either destroy all that has 
been built, and begin anew, or they must 
erect a new and separate building, and divide 
the books, very greatly to the detriment of 
the interests of the library and its patrons. 
It is one of the advantages of the stack 
system, almost universally adopted in recent 
buildings, that it admits of indefinite expan- 
sion at a minimum of cost and inconvenience. 
A novelty in the stack, understood to be the 
suggestion of Prof. Dewey, has been adopted 
by the architects of the Albright Library, at 
Scran ton, Pa. The first floor of the stack- 
room is dropped 3^ feet below the delivery 
desk floor. The stacks are 7 feet high, and 
consequently the upper stack is 3^ feet 
above the delivery floor. This affords great 
convenience in taking books from the stack 
to the delivery desk or in returning them, as 
they can be handed by the attendant to the 
delivery clerk, or vice -versa, without making 
use of elevators. 

The facts gathered for this report show 
that the library interests of this country are 
advancing. The report presented last year 
by Mr. Van Name covered the ground very 
completely, and made mention of a large 
number of building enterprises then in con- 
templation or in progress. This confines me 
to strictly new projects, since I have not 
thought it worth while to further discuss any 
of the buildings heretofore mentioned. It is 
necessarily the case that important and exten- 
sive ones occupy several years in construc- 
tion, but, having "been once described, the 
limits of an annual report forbid repetition. 

Dealing, therefore, with the new enter- 
prises, I have specifically mentioned some 
forty, the aggregate cost of which exceeds 
$3,000,000. A considerable proportion of 
this sum is made up by the buildings of the 
Mercantile libraries of New York and San 
Francisco and the Public library of St. Louis, 
which are in a certain sense business schemes ; 
that is, the buildings are designed to produce 
a revenue from commercial uses and only 
incidentally for library purposes, though they 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



are none the less admirably adapted to such 
purposes. 

It is worthy of mention that activity in li- 
brary matters is confined to no section of the 
country, but prevails in the new states of the 
extreme west and in Canada, as well as in 
New England and in the central states. Com- 
paratively few in number, though some of the 
chiefest in importance, of the enterprises 
mentioned, are prosecuted with public funds. 
In several instances the municipality coop- 
erates with private munificence in furnishing 
a site, or in assuming to undertake and per- 



praiseworthy spirit of enlightened individual 
liberality mentioned in earlier reports on this 
subject, and more completely covered by 
another report at this meeting, is shown 
throughout the whole land. Men and women 
of wealth are founding in the places of their 
birth or residence perpetual memorials of 
themselves or members of their families, in 
the form of libraries. Best of all, these noble 
establishments or endowments are not now- 
a-days left as bequests to the tender mer- 
cies of heirs and executors, but are ante- 
mortem gifts, whose fruition the benefactors 
themselves in some measure share. 



petuate plans originated by others. The 

The detailed accounts of the buildings, which were not read at the Conference, will be published 
by the Bureau of Education, and should be bound at the end of this volume. 



REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. 



BY CAROLINE M. HEWINS, LIBRARIAN HARTFORD LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 



T AST June, 800 postal cards, asking for 
statements of gifts and bequests received, 
were sent to the libraries in the United 
States reporting 5,000 or more volumes in 
the Library journal for January, 1887 and 
1889. Only about 200 of these libraries have 
answered the cards. Some request more 
definite information as to whether all gifts, 
or only gifts of money, are to be counted. 
Others write, " no gifts, no bequests." Many 
send minute particulars, many more only 
vague generalities. Some tabulate their 
statements, others scatter them through let- 
ters of several pages. From these answers, 
and the files of the Library journal, some 
incomplete returns have been gathered. 
Many of the largest and best-endowed libra- 
ries in the country are yet to be heard from. 
Those from which reports have been gathered 
show that they have received $22,043,997.63 
in money, and 268,401 volumes. In many 
cases, there is a delicious vagueness in the 
answers. One librarian reports, " Gifts of 
books, in the last few years, enough to make 
a library of respectable size." (Opinions 
vary concerning the stage at which the size 
of a library reaches respectability, and the 



imagination of the reader may play anywhere 
between the limits of ten volumes and 10,000.) 

The gifts, not uncommon in our New Eng- 
land libraries, of five, or ten, or twenty, or 
fifty thousand "dollars, look small beside the 
millions of Andrew Carnegie, John Crerar, 
Walter Newberry, Dr. James Rush, or our 
loved and honored brother, Lloyd P. Smith. 
These lesser gifts, however, must be held in 
grateful remembrance. They often reveal 
much of the giver's personality, tastes, and 
habits. It is a wise, far-seeing man of busi- 
ness who makes the provision that only three 
fourths of the income of his bequest shall be 
spent, and the other fourth added to the prin- 
cipal for a specified number of years. This is 
the best form in which a library can receive a 
gift. An old lady, living in a Massachusetts 
country town, left to the town library $2,000, 
all she had; another the income of $1,000, 
specifying, as Mr. Crerar did, that it was for 
purchasing books of a good moral character. 

One librarian suggests that, if her library 
were named for the town and not for the 
giver, it would receive more books. This is 
worth consideration. A building named in 
honor of the rich man who has founded it, or 



GREEN. 



the member of his family to whom he wishes 
to erect a memorial, never has the same hold 
upon the people of a town or city as the 
simple "Free Library" or "Public Library." 
Let his name be perpetuated in a hall, a 
collection, or an alcove ; but, unless he gives 
a sum which will keep the library in good 
condition, it is better that it should be known 
as the gift of Mr. Rindge is in Cambridge, by 
the name of the city. 

It is to be desired that librarians should 



urge the endowment of special alcoves or the 
purchase of special collections. Most libra- 
ries are cramped and crippled, unable to keep 
up with the newest works on any subject. Let 
the man who has $20,000 to give, endow an 
alcove of science, or history, or whatever 
subject he pleases, and allow one fourth of 
the income to accumulate, and he will do a 
library more lasting benefit than if he gave 
a building, or spent the whole of the money 
at once in books. 



The replies from the libraries, which were not read at the Conference, will be published by the 
Bureau of Education, and should be bound at the end of this volume. 



LIBRARY EXPERTS THEIR RIGHTS AND DUTIES. 



BY MISS H. E. GREEN, ASSISTANT, BOSTON ATHENAEUM. 



/ T*HE ordinary dictionary definition of the 
word expert, used as a substantive is 
"one taught by use, practice, or experience." 
It seems to me that this is not quite enough; 
that it takes something more than experience 
alone to make a thorough expert. We have 
all, probably, seen, in various libraries with 
which we are acquainted, sundry persons of 
many long years' experience, if that were all, 
whose opinion no one would consider of any 
value, except, perhaps, in mere matters of 
fact, who have plodded along for years in 
the same rut, doing the same work, day after 
day, in the same perfunctory way, never think- 
ing of the reason for its being done in that 
manner, never improving on the old methods, 
and resenting the smallest attempt at change, 
because it involves the labor of accepting a 
new idea. Who would think of considering 
these as anything but fossil remains ? 

A better definition seems to be, " one 
thoroughly versed or skilled in any depart- 
ment of science or art ;" and, in the legal 
sense, " one possessing a knowledge of any 
subject greater than can be possessed by men 
in general." Both these definitions embrace 
the first one ; the knowledge must be neces- 
sarily based on experience, and on principles 
which have been tried and tested bv its light. 

J O 

The true expert, taught both by general knowl- 



edge, and by use, practice, and experience in 
applying it, not to one system alone, but to 
the best parts of as many as exist, has clear 
and well-defined reasons on which his prin- 
ciples rest. He does a thing in a certain way, 
not because he has always seen it done so, 
but because he has looked into the results of 
such a method, and, either by his own or 
others' experience, has found it best adapted 
to the end he has in view. And so he is 
able to accomplish whatever work he has in 
charge with the greatest thoroughness and 
economy, not of money alone, but of time, 
which is money, though, as every one knows, 
it does not always appear in the accounts ; he 
does not fall into the error of doing work 
which afterward turns out to be worthless. I 
have seen hundreds perhaps I might say, 
thousands of dollars as absolutely wasted as 
if they had been thrown into the fire, in doing 
a large quantity of work in a certain way, 
which was, a few years afterward, abolished, 
and every bit of it pulled out and destroyed. 
And it says a great deal for the progress of 
library science in the last twenty years, that 
the gentlemen by whose authority, and under 
whose direction, this work was done, were, at 
that time, considered experts than whom 
there were none greater. But they were not 
experti of this method ; they had not tried 



i6 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



it; they could evolve the system only out 
of their own inner consciousness, and it 
failed. 

Some people seem to use the word expert 
in the sense of a person who has studied any 
subject, no matter how short a time or how 
superficially. Not long ago, it was said to me> 
in speaking of some young man, " Oh, he is a 
chemical expert; he has been through the 
course at the Institute of Technology!'' 
Granting that the student had made the best 
possible use of his opportunities, I think no 
one who understood the meaning of words 
would take the one to be the consequence of 
the other. I have more than once been asked, 
when applied to for some piece of catalogue 
work which I had to refuse, " Could not we 
get a real expert from the Library School?" 
and I have had to reply that the Library 
School did not supply real experts. And I 
think, in this careless understanding of the 
idea, lies a danger for the school, even among 
its friends the danger of expecting too 
much. It turns out its students, just ready to 
begin the work of making themselves experts ; 
it gives them the thorough grounding in all 
the details of library work, which enables 
them to form opinions and principles, to be 
tested by after experience, which no working 
in one well-defined rut of any one library 
could give, in much more than the two years 
devoted to the school. But it cannot do more ; 
and this idea is constantly impressed on the 
pupils by the authorities of the school, who 
never lose an opportunity of inculcating this 
idea. An expert is not made by theories ; the 
familiarity with the practical results of differ- 
ent systems of work, which gives the power 
to extract and combine the best parts of each, 
to suit the needs of different surroundings, 
must come from the actual, practical, varied 
experience and responsibility of each person. 
I do not wish to convey the idea that none of 
the graduates of the Library School are fitted 
to undertake any work on their own responsi- 
bility. Not at all ; some of them have filled 
the posts to which they were appointed in the 
most satisfactory manner. Neither would I 
say that the very best among them have ever 
seemed to me in the least inclined to pose 



as experts ; on the contrary, they are apt 
to err on the side of too much diffidence. 
I think that, in cases where the personal re- 
sponsibility is an important one, there is a 
risk in entrusting it to a person who has not 
given proofs of excellence in that particular 
line of work. The student leaves the school, 
perhaps to take the whole responsibility of 
some library, or department of a library, 
where, little as he or she knows, in compari- 
son with the whole amount which needs to be 
known, it is more than the knowledge pos- 
sessed by any one else in the vicinity, even by 
those in authority. Work that is never criti- 
cised is seldom perfect ; the worker makes the 
blunders of inexperience, and, for want of a 
competent authority, these blunders repeat 
themselves. This danger seems to me greater 
in my own special line of work dictionary 
cataloguing than in any other. A dictionary 
catalogue is very much a thing of tradition ; that 
is, its headings are determined, in the majority 
of cases, by the usages of libraries whose cata- 
logues have been printed, and can be consulted. 
But it is impossible for the printed catalogue 
of a library large enough to be a model to 
others to keep up with the times ; and so the 
inexperienced worker is left, in many cases, 
without a precedent, and makes mistakes 
which are repeated, and, in time, -crystallize 
themselves, until the librarian awakes to the 
consciousness that some parts of his cata- 
logue are in a state of confusion, which it 
will take much time and money to set straight. 
I have seen some of my own pupils appointed 
to positions, to the needs of which, I felt 
sure, they were incompetent. Fortunately, 
my opinion was not asked on the subject ; 
and until a library examiner is appointed by 
the government to examine into the affairs of 
libraries, as a bank examiner does into those 
of financial institutions, it is very possible 
this incompetency may never be discovered ; 
and, if it is, I think the responsibility should 
rest with the authorities who were ignorant 
of the requirements of the case, and not 
with the Library School, which sent the best 
material it had, or the graduates, whose only 
fault was the lack of the experience, which 
no training school on earth could give. 



GREEN. 



An expert should have the courage of his 
opinions, and be ready to resist any undue 
interference with his work. There are many 
details in the arrangement and administration 
of a library, which are, after all, only matters 
of taste ; and in these a person of tact will 
know when to yield. But in matters affect- 
ing the real advantage of the library and its 
constituency, I believe in the expert standing 
by his colors, and maintaining the principles 
on whose justice he is, more than any one 
else, qualified to decide. I know a young 
woman I am proud to say, a pupil of the 
Library School who was employed to cata- 
logue and arrange a library. Her employer, 
one of those worthy persons whose principal 
idea of the arrangement of books is to have 
them look pretty, and who thinks that any- 
body can learn in a week to take charge of 
them, almost insisted on her doing her work 
in a certain way. My young friend, who had 
borne without question various things of 
which she did not approve, but in which, as 
she said, there was no real principle involved, 
at last resisted, and informed her employer 
that there was a right and a wrong way to do 
most things, and that, for the good of the 
library and her own professional reputation, 
she could not consent to the wrong way, as 
long as she had the responsibility of the 
work; she preferred to give it up entirely. 
The employer had the good sense to yield, 
and I believe the work was properly finished. 
It seems to me not only the right but the 
duty of the expert, for his own dignity and 
that of the whole profession, to resist non- 
professional interference in technical matters, 
which it is his business to know and judge of 
better than any one outside. The trustees 
of a hospital, when they have placed at the 
head of it a physician of whose character and 
general practice they approve, are not ex- 
pected to interfere with details of internal 
management, which can be settled by medical 
authority alone. They do not think of going 
into the wards, and issuing independent 
orders to the nurses as to the feeding and band- 
aging the patients, or the ventilation of the 
rooms. A member, even the chairman of 
the Congressional Committee on naval or 



military affairs, does not take it upon himself 
to interfere in the details of fitting out a frigate 
or garrisoning a military post. Yet I have 
seen just such interference as this exercised 
in the interior details of libraries, in some of 
whose departments the condition of the work 
has been assisted some distance toward a 
state of chaos by the unpractical and igno- 
rant interference of trustees, and, it must be 
confessed, the want of energy and decision 
of the executive heads. I hope to see the 
day when the legislative and executive 
branches of the government of a library will 
be as distinct in their authority as the re- 
spective branches of the State and national 
governments, and when it shall be as much a 
matter of course for the librarian to see and 
maintain the limits of his exclusive authority, 
as to be thoroughly acquainted with the 
details of his administration. 

One of the duties very often expected of a 
library expert, and one of the most difficult 
and least appreciated, is the training and 
education of local talent to take his place and 
carry on the work which he has begun. The 
persons who have it in charge to open to 
their community a well-arranged and useful 
library, can very seldom be made to see that 
one skilled permanent assistant will save the 
institution, in actual dollars and cents, the 
pay of two or three ignorant ones, who very 
often obtain their places through the influence 
of local politics, or the fear of the trustees 
of making themselves unpopular. And this 
raw material, often of the most hopeless 
description, must be worked over by the un- 
happy expert, in the time, always short 
enough, allowed for the task of bringing the 
library itself into condition to be thrown open 
to an impatient public, which cannot under- 
stand why there is so much work made in 
preparing the books to be issued. If it knew 
that the person who expected to devote his 
whole time to the cataloguing and arrange- 
ment of the books, was obliged to spend half 
of it in keeping an infant school for persons 
who, as happened in one instance, do not 
know whether to spell Europe with a capital 
E, or whether Washington Irving was a real 
name or not, the delay might be more intel- 



i8 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



ligible. In making an estimate of the time 
required to arrange a new, or, what is worse, 
to rearrange an old library, the question next 
after, " How many books does your library 
contain ? " should be, " How many raw recruits 
am I expected to drill?" or the expert will 
find himself far out in his calculation. It 
takes a long time enough to train the most 
promising subject ; and I believe it would be 
an actual pecuniary saving to every new 
library, if its places must be filled by local 
talent, to send some such promising subject 
to the Library School for a year, at the public 
expense ; its authorities would certainly find 
out how not to do it for a smaller price than 
by the present popular method. 

With the increase in the number of real 
and thorough library experts, comes an in- 
crease in liberality of the spirit in which their 
compensation is regarded. The days are 
gone by when any broken-down editor or 
clergyman, or any unoccupied woman, was 
considered entirely competent to be a libra- 
rian; when the librarian regarded his books 
as his own property, and resented any attempt 
by any one else to obtain one ; and when, as 
in a country town which I know, the librarian, 
a woman this time, could take it upon herself 
to force upon the applicants for books such 
as she considered it proper for them to read, 
with the alternative of none at all ; and gave 
as a reason for the delay in issuing some 
anxiously looked for new books, that "she 
had not read them herself yet; she had had 
too much dressmaking to do ! " Such officers 
as these might, perhaps, be considered amply 
remunerated by the smallest pittance which 
would keep soul and body together; but that 
old order has changed, and the pay of library 
experts is steadily growing better ; although 
there is still much room for improvement ; 
more, it must be said, here at the East, than 
in some places farther west, where ideas 
seem to broaden as they go toward the setting 
sun. I believe that in many a western city or 
town, where we hear every month of some 
new library being established, its trustees 
would consider it disgraceful to offer to its 
employe's such prices for their time and labor 
as are considered enough for skilled work in 



some of our old-established eastern libraries, 
where one would think the sun of enlighten- 
ment should have risen the highest. It was 
an old joke in a place where I once was, that 
the laboring men, who were employed to move 
the books in some grand house-cleaning con- 
vulsion, did not know enough to set them 
right side up, and were paid therefor three 
times the price per hour of the persons who 
catalogued them. Without going into the 
question of women's rights, for which this is 
not the place, and of which I am not a spe- 
cially zealous apostle, I must say, that it 
seems to me a relic of barbarism, that intel- 
lectual work, if it happens to be a woman's, is 
worse paid than the manual labor of the man 
who carries up and down stairs books which 
the woman must be acquainted with two or 
three languages to catalogue. In one library 
with which I am acquainted, there are women 
whose experience, faithfulness, knowledge, 
and general efficiency render them almost 
indispensable in the economy of their depart- 
ments ; and their pay is less than half that of 
men who might depart any day and hardly be 
missed. I remember remarking on the in- 
justice of such an arrangement, and being 
answered in perfect seriousness, " But you 
know that young man may want to get married 
some day!" It is unnecessary to say that it 
was not a woman who brought forward this 
weighty argument, which certainly had as 
much effect as another in silencing me. It is 
easy for such people to say that if women do 
not like their pay, they need not do the work. 
That is exactly the principle which some of 
us are trying to maintain. I have myself 
more than once refused work which I should 
have enjoyed exceedingly, because the com- 
pensation offered was so absurdly out of pro- 
portion to the ability and labor expected. It 
was not that I could not afford to do it ; I 
could have afforded it in a money point of 
view perfectly well ; but I did not choose to 
cheapen the work by performing it for less 
than a fair price. I am willing to do mis- 
sionary work, and have done it, but it must be 
for real objects of charity, and not for im- 
postors. I believe there is no other profession 
in which so much caprice, inconsistency, and 



SOULE. 



injustice is exercised toward its experts ; and 
I think the cause lies in the absolute ignorance 
of people in general of the details and value of 
careful library work. People whose first idea 
is to obtain a cheap librarian, will probably be 
perfectly satisfied with cheap work ; although 
we all know perfectly well that the one is by 
no means a natural consequence of the other. 
In no other profession is there more enthu- 



siasm, faithfulness, and absence of self-seeking 
than in ours. And I hope, as every year 
sends out a fresh class of devotees, armed 
and equipped for the task of making them- 
selves experts, that much of the injustice of 
which we complain may disappear. At pres- 
ent, the best advice I can give the student is 
in the words of Horace Greeley, " Go West, 
young woman, go West ! " 



or the discussion of this paper see PROCEEDINGS (Fifth session). 

TRUSTEES OF FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 



BY CHARLES C. SOULE, TRUSTEE OF THE BROOKLINE, MASS., PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



[Mr. Soule said, in introduction, that on having 
this topic assigned to him, he had found there 
was little or nothing relating to it in existing 
library literature. It seemed necessary, therefore, 
to treat it in an elementary manner. 

In considering the subject, it became apparent 
that there were many kinds of trustees, with vary- 
ing relations to their libraries. To make the 
treatment practical, it appeared best to exclude 
the peculiar circumstances of State, college, and 
proprietary libraries, and of trusts established by 
private benefaction, and to confine attention to 
the most numerous class; that is, free public 
libraries. 

And as any essay on library affairs is valuable 
in proportion to the extent and variety of expe- 
rience it embodies, the first draft of this paper 
was shown to the librarians or trustees of a large 
number of libraries in different parts of the 
country, and has been considerably modified and 
developed in accordance with their suggestions.] 

This paper considers the constitution of 
elective boards of trustees of free public 
libraries, intrusted with the appointment of 
librarians and full control of their libraries. 

The subject can be naturally treated under 
the following heads : Size of the board ; 
term of office ; qualifications for the position ; 
duties, individual and collective ; organiza- 
tion ; and relations with the librarian. 

i. SIZE OF THE BOARD. 
The weight of opinion seems to be in favor 
of small boards ; and in small towns, where 
the duties are light, three trustees will usually 
work more harmoniously and effectively than 
a larger number. But in large towns and 
cities a more numerous board has two advan- 
tages there is more chance of securing 
among its members one or two men who are 



exceptionally active, intelligent, judicious, and 
interested in library science ; and the board 
may be made more thoroughly representative 
of different sections of the town and different 
elements in the population. 

2. TERM OF OFFICE. 

The usual and undoubtedly the best com- 
position of a board of library trustees is to 
divide it into groups, one group going out of 
office each year. This provision secures sta- 
bility by preventing sudden changes of the 
whole board by intrigue or popular caprice, 
and is intended to allow opportunity for 
gradual change whenever it is needed. 

But does this provision alone insure suffi- 
cient change to prevent stagnation? The 
position of trustee of a library is so pleasant 
and honorable, that the incumbent may wish 
to retain it indefinitely. The men selected as 
trustees may be personally so worthy and 
popular that their townsmen are reluctant to 
retire them compulsorily, even when the feel- 
ing is prevalent that others might serve more 
acceptably. To effect a change under such 
circumstances requires an effort approaching 
revolution, with danger of that discord and 
bad feeling which are so unfortunate in 
library management. 

Would it not be wise, in view of this pos- 
sible danger, to follow the example of the 
graduates of Harvard College in electing 
overseers, and provide by law that no trustee 
shall hold office for more than (say) three 
successive terms of three years, or nine years 



20 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



in all ? While a library might thus lose occa- 
sionally an active and efficient trustee (who 
could still be reflected after being only a 
year out of office), would it not gain much 
more than it could lose, in keeping that close 
contact with popular needs and with new 
ideas, which is so healthy and stimulating in 
the management of all public institutions ? 

3. QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE POSITION. 

The ideal qualifications for a trustee of a 
public library (a fair education and love of 
books being taken for granted) might^be sum- 
marized somewhat thus : 

Sound character ; good judgment and com- 
mon-sense; public spirit; capacity for work; 
literary taste ; representative fitness. 

Men of character and position in the com- 
munity are usually selected as trustees ; but 
it may be assumed somewhat too confidently 
that, because a man has been prominent in 
political or business or social circles, he will 
make a good trustee. It is a mistake to put 
in such a position any man who has outlived 
his public spirit and energy. 

Literary taste is placed low on this list of 
qualifications, because in any administrative 
position, even in connection with a library, 
capacity and willingness to work, united with 
common-sense and a fair education, are much 
more useful than a taste for literature with- 
out the practical qualities. And of the differ- 
ent grades of literary taste, general culture 
and a wide range of reading are generally 
more serviceable to a public library than the 
knowledge of the scholar or the specialist. 

In selecting men of prominence for trus- 
tees, there is danger of excluding too rigidly 
the younger men who might contribute to the 
strength and efficiency of the board. There 
is so much activity and progress in the 
library work of this generation, that the 
adage " Old men for counsel, young men for 
action," is not wholly inapplicable to the 
choice of trustees, whose work requires coun- 
sel and action in nearly equal degrees. 

With a large board it would seem wise to 
select members with some reference to repre- 
sentation of different sections of the town, 
and different occupations, interests, or nation- 



alities among the inhabitants. This tends to 
prevent dissatisfaction, and to adapt the pur- 
chase of books and the general policy of the 
library to the needs of the whole community, 
rather than to the wishes of special classes. 

Neither politics nor religious opinion 
should of course enter into the choice of 
library trustees, except so far as it is unwise 
to constitute a board exclusively from one 
party or from one denomination. 

4. DUTIES, INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE. 

As an individual, the trustee of a public 
library ought to realize that he holds a high 
and sacred trust from the people ; that he 
has been elected to preserve and extend the 
privileges and benefits afforded by the library 
in its modern development as " The People's 
University ; " that library science is not to 
be comprehended by intuition, but can be 
learned only by intelligent observation and 
study; and that he has no right to accept or 
hold the position unless he can take a lively 
interest in the library, be constant in attend" 
ance at meetings and diligent in committee 
work, keep himself informed of the current of 
library ideas by reading every number of the 
Library journal, and, if possible, by visiting 
other libraries than his own, and watch 
keenly the tastes and requirements of the 
constituency he represents. 

The collective duties of the board include 
the care of investments and funds, the care- 
ful and economical supervision of expendi- 
tures, the determination of the policy of the li- 
brary toward the public and in its interior ad- 
ministration, the general direction of the 
choice and purchase of books, the selection 
of the librarian and his assistants, constant 
and critical observation of their work, occa- 
sional reckoning up of work done and prog- 
ress made, comparison of results with those 
reached in other libraries, as a confirmation 
of merits and a corrective for errors ; and 
such active work of detail as will assist the 
librarian in performing his duties. 
5. ORGANIZATION. 

A large board ordinarily transacts business 
through a chairmain, a secretary, a treasurer, 
and one or more committees. 



SOULE. 



21 



The chairman has few active duties, but the 
position requires judgment in appointing com- 
mittees, and tact in conducting meetings. The 
place is perhaps the highest public honor in 
small towns, and is usually and properly given 
to some trustee eminent for character and 
public services. 

In Mr. Perkins's article, "How to make 
Town Libraries Successful," in the " Govern- 
ment Report of 1876 on Public Libraries," it 
is suggested that the librarian should act as 
secretary to the board of trustees ; but, aside 
from the fact that he usually has more than 
enough work to do in his own department, is 
it not at least doubtful whether an official, 
whose conduct may at any time be a proper 
subject for confidential discussion before the 
board, should serve as their secretary, and so 
be obliged to be present throughout all meet- 
ings ? The duties of a secretary may properly 
provide occupation for some member of the 
board. 

The treasurer, if he holds funds in his 
hands, should always be put under bond. No 
matter how trustworthy he may be, it is a 
sound principle that no official should handle 
public money without giving bond. His suc- 
cessor may not be so careful or so honest, 
and, unless the precedent is established while 
the danger of loss seems small, it will be dif- 
ficult and invidious to insist upon a bond 
when occasion may require it. If no trustee 
is willing to accept the position of treasurer 
with bond, it is usually possible to leave the 
library funds in the hands of the already 
bonded town treasurer, and draw on them as 
needed to pay bills. 

As to committees, it is better to have as 
many as can be actively employed, in order to 
enlist the cooperation or advice of every 
trustee. In large boards, even with small li- 
braries, four standing committees can find oc- 
cupation ; namely, executive, book, finance, 
and progress. 

The executive committee can take charge 
of the daily work of the library, of purchases, 
and of the care of the building. They should 
be efficient men, with prompt business habits, 
with an active interest in the library, with 
leisure to attend to their duties during library 



hours, and with sufficient discretion to sift and 
formulate business to be presented at the 
meetings of the trustees. While discharging 
their executive duties promptly and thor- 
oughly, they ought to be careful not to assume 
too much of the power and responsibility 
which properly belong to the full board, whose 
will they are appointed to execute. 

[In very large libraries, these duties of an 
executive committee are sometimes subdivided 
among additional committees on building and 
grounds, on purchase of supplies, on reading- 
room, and so on, as different departments in- 
crease in importance.] 

Inasmuch as the range of reading, the 
literary taste, and the critical faculty, which 
qualify a man to select books for popular use, 
are not necessarily united with executive 
ability, it will often be best to intrust the 
choice of books to a book committee, selected 
for that purpose alone. This is a sufficiently 
important duty to 'occupy all the spare time 
of a committee, even where the initiative is 
taken by the librarian, and appeal on doubt- 
ful points is made to the full board. 

The duties of a finance committee are often 
confined to a perfunctory and occasional ex- 
amination of accounts, but they may be made 
very important. To make and watch invest- 
ments, to provide that money on deposit shall 
always draw the best interest, to see that 
purchases of books and supplies are made on 
the most favorable terms, to keep close watch 
on all the controllable expenditures,'to exam- 
ine and verify bills, and to audit carefully the 
treasurer's accounts, will give full employ- 
ment to a good committee of business men. 

In addition to these obviously useful com- 
mittees, there is another, a "Committee on 
Library Progress," which may often serve 
to increase the activity and efficiency of the 
library. Constituted from among the younger 
or more active men, and from those trustees 
who can find opportunity for visiting other 
libraries, such a committee can do good work 
in watching the experiments made elsewhere; 
in placing before the board information in 
regard to improved methods of library work; 
in comparing the library with other libraries 
similarly situated; and in encouraging their 



22 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



own librarian, if he be progressive, or in 
stimulating him, if too conservative. In 
short, such a committee, if both active and 
wise, could keep even the smallest town 
library in the full tide of modern progress. 

It will be best not to leave too much dis- 
cretion or power permanently to any com- 
mittee, but to require all committees to 
report their acts and plans frequently for the 
approval or criticism of the full board. 

6. RELATIONS WITH THE LIBRARIAN. 

The relations of the trustees with the libra- 
rian will vary greatly according to circum- 
stances. Some general principles may be 
suggested, subject always to "the exceptions 
which prove the rule." 

First of all, it should be borne in mind that 
the trustees are the responsible managers of 
the library, and that so far as they choose to 
act, the librarian is only their agent, bound in 
honor to carry out their wishes promptly, 
thoroughly, and cheerfully. 

If they are fortunate enough, however, to 
have a first-class librarian, with superior abil- 
ity, training, knowledge, energy, wisdom, and 
tact, the trustees ought to leave the manage- 
ment of the library practically to him, work- 
ing only to lighten his labors and strengthen 
his hands. 

But if as sometimes may happen the 
librarian has human limitations, and while 
strong in some directions is weak in others, 
it is the part of the trustees to try to supple- 
ment, without impeding, his abilities. If, 
after ascertaining his limitations, they decide 
that he is the best librarian they can get, 
under the circumstances of the case, they 
should note in what lines he needs help, and 
select for committees the trustees best fitted 



to do that part of library work which he can- 
not satisfactorily perform. 

If, however, the librarian has executive 
ability, it will be wise for the trustees to let 
him control the selection, management, and 
dismissal of all his assistants; if he has good 
judgment and what may be called "the libra- 
rian's faculty," it will be wise to let him 
arrange the methods and details of library 
work; if he has literary taste, it will be espe- 
cially wise to allow him at least the initiative 
in the choice and purchase of books, for he has 
(or ought to have) constant contact with the pub- 
lic and an intelligent knowledge of their wants. 

Although it may not be considered best for 
the librarian to act as their secretary, the 
trustees should take him into their confidence, 
consult him freely, and invite his presence 
during some part of each board meeting and 
of all committee meetings where his advice 
might be of service. The librarian can prop- 
erly reciprocate by allowing the board and 
the committees frequent opportunities for 
private conference and "executive session," 
unembarrassed by his presence. 

In brief, while the trustees cannot forget 
that they control both library and librarian, 
they should remember that the librarian is 
chosen to be their expert adviser and their 
executive officer, and, so long as he fills these 
positions satisfactorily, they ought not to 
hamper or interfere with, so much as to 
assist and sustain him by their actions. 

The relations of an active librarian with an 
active board of trustees demand discretion 
and consideration on both sides. But if the 
librarian is sensible, and not too sensitive, 
and the trustees are reasonably harmonious 
and judicious, the cooperation herein outlined 
may be carried out with success. 



LEARNED. 



LIBRARY WORK FROM THE TRUSTEES' STANDPOINT. 



BY REV. J. C. LEARNED, PRESIDENT OF THE ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



A N old play has it that " trustees are not to 
T*" be trifled with," and, as they are not only 
allowed but invited to come among the libra- 
rians to assert their rights and their authority, 
why should they not do it vigorously ? Did 
they not originate the librarian ? " Shall the 
thing formed say to him that formed it, ' Why 
hast thou made me thus ? ' " 

Yet to assume such creative power must 
load us down with responsibilities greater, 
I fear, than some of us have joyfully accepted. 
In fact, do not trustees incline, as a rule, to 
throw too much of the burden of library ad- 
ministration upon the librarian? If the in- 
cumbent of this office is fairly willing and ca- 
pable, is he not suffered to do pretty much as 
he, pleases, except it .may be with regard to 
such large measures as the construction of 
buildings and the management of investments? 

Proportioned to the authority of trustees, 
however, is their responsibility. To whom 
much is given, of them much is required. And 
the position of the better sort of trustee valu- 
able to the best work of the librarian, is not 
that sinecure seat sometimes depicted. He 
must constantly stand as the able and ready 
adviser of the librarian, and for the honor and 
defence of the library. He will be made the 
court of ultimate appeal in many matters, both 
practical and curious. He will receive letters 
from all sorts of people, some with gifts in 
their hands, and some with complaints on 
their lips ; some seeking favors, possible and 
impossible. Col. Higginson's humorous way, 
recently, of introducing Phillips Brooks^as the 
man whom nobody in the Cambridge library 
could find out the height of, until at last the 
inquiry was brought to him as trustee to an- 
swer, may illustrate the point. 

Lately an article in one of the English 
reviews treats of the "Perils of Trustees." 
And while no statute makes us responsible, 
as innocent parties were held to be under 
British law, in the failure of the Glasgow 



Bank, yet the library trustee carries risks, 
both moral and financial, and the place should 
be offered to none who will not give it a bona- 
fide service. There is no room for a mere 
figure-head or ornamental name on a working 
library board. Every member of a directory, 
rightly organized, should take his share in 
the administration, and have some knowledge 
of what goes on in the library world. 

It is true there have been instances where 
some ambitious and irrepressible spirit has 
exceeded his official duties and privileges ; 
has been disposed to dictate the whole policy 
of the library, reducing the librarian's office 
to that of a mere secretary. I knew a direc- 
tor in a large library who resigned because 
he could not buy the books and write all the 
reports. He hungered for more to do. But 
I have known more than one to keep himself 
as far away from the board as possible, after 
one or two sessions of three or four hours 
each, in the necessary deliberations of the 
book committee. 

Edward Everett Hale says that the great 
essential for the directors or trustees of any 
institution is, that they "keep their end in 
sight," as Dr. Watts's hymn reads. If it is an 
institution to help old women, or save poor 
children, or find situations for the idle, does 
it really do it ? Or is it so taken up with the 
mechanism of the concern, so absorbed and 
happy over methods and details, that it loses 
sight of the object? This is especially to be 
considered in the management of a public 
library. What is the library for? Is it ac- 
complishing its work ? Is it doing its utmost 
to promote the virtue, refinement, and intelli- 
gence of the community ? 

A library may be likened to a bank where 
literary reserves are kept. It is organized to 
promote the circulation of a sound literary 
currency. The directors must see to it that, 
though there may be counterfeit and worth- 
less money in the vaults, the cashier or 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



librarian must pay over the counter for gen- 
eral circulation such only as will maintain 
the institution's standard of credit and con- 
fidence in the community. The gold basis 
must be maintained, and no "wild-cat" bills 
pass out through the window. 

It grows increasingly evident that very few 
libraries in the world can indulge in the 
luxury or license of buying all books written. 
The ambition to supply any man with any 
work he calls for must therefore be held in 
check. Thus it becomes increasingly impor- 
tant that much care and deliberation be 
exercised in the choice of books to be 
bought, whether to complete deficient depart- 
ments or for the daily circulation. The pur- 
chase of poor books makes a market for poor 



authorship. Hereafter, less than ever should 
libraries be the dumping place for indiscreet 
publishers, for questionable or incompetent 
authors. The public library exists for civili- 
zation ; that is, for moral ends. It is the 
record and history of civilization, as well as 
the ally of progress. It is "the friend and 
helper of all those who seek to live in the 
spirit." For this reason, therefore, the char- 
acter of the books in a library is of more 
importance than mere numbers; and the 
value of a library to the community may be 
imperfectly shown by the statistics of circu- 
lation. No aim can be higher, however, than 
having a good library, to make its resources 
known, and to multiply readers in the remotest 
and obscurest parts of our towns and cities. 



THE DUTIES OF TRUSTEES AND THEIR RELATIONS TO 

LIBRARIANS. 



BY SAMUEL SWETT GREEN, LIBRARIAN OF THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, WORCESTER, MASS. 



T N the symposium in which we are now 
engaged, I understand that I am to con- 
sider the subject which we are talking about 
from the standpoint of a librarian. 

The position can be stated in a few words. 

A librarian should be regarded as holding 
relations to his trustees similar to those held 
by the agent of a factory or the cashier of a 
bank to the governing board of the factory or 
bank. 

Some cashiers and some agents have more 
power than others. The power conferred 
depends upon the knowledge, training, expe- 
rience, industry, enterprise, good judgment, 
and ability of persons holding such positions. 

If the board of trustees of a library is more 
competent to manage its affairs than the 
librarian, and if it is ready to give the time 
that is necessary to the discharge of the 
duties of management, it has a perfect right 
to do so, and the librarian need then be only 
a clerk. 

So, too, if on any board of directors there 
is one man of leisure who has especial 
qualifications for conducting the affairs of a 
library, the board may delegate to him the 



performance of the more intellectual portions 
of the work of a librarian. 

Even, however, in such cases as those the 
individuality of the librarian should be con- 
sidered, because, although his position may- 
be very humble, yet he can do better work if 
allowed to work in his own way, rather than 
in accordance with the provisions of rules 
laid down by others which he is required 
to strictly observe. 

When a librarian is accomplished, it will 
be found wise for a board of trustees or 
directors to ascertain his views on most sub- 
jects before acting, and it will generally 
appear manifest that it is well to give very 
careful consideration to those views. 

A board which encourages its librarian to 
initiate measures, will administer its trust 
more satisfactorily than it can if it reduces 
him to the position of a mere executive offi- 
cer, who is only to carry out the plans which 
it has formed. 

I should say that the wisest course for a 
board of trustees to pursue is to let a good 
librarian do pretty much as he thinks best, 
only keeping a watchful eye on him for the 



GREEN. 



purpose of seeing that things are not going 
wrong under his conduct of affairs. It is 
better, generally speaking, for a board to 
change its librarian than to undertake to man- 
age matters, unless its members are willing 
to give much time and thought to the subject. 

Mr. Greenough, at that time the President 
of the Board of Trustees of the Boston 
Public Library, said to me, just after Mr. 
Winsor gave up his position of Superintend- 
ent of that library, that he wished in his 
successor the qualities of a librarian (using 
that designation in a restricted sense) and not 
those of a superintendent, and that the title 
of the new officer would be librarian and not 
superintendent. 

Mr. Greenough had had a long connection 
with the Boston Public Library as a trustee 
and as President of the Board of Trustees, 
and felt that he knew, better than any person 
whose services the library was likely to 
secure, how to conduct its affairs. 

Judge Chamberlain, Mr. Winsor's succes- 
sor, accepted the situation, and stated in an 
early report, in substance, that the duty of a 
librarian is merely to carry out the wishes of 
the board of trustees. 

But Mr. Greenough became disabled after 
a while, and Judge Chamberlain gained expe- 
rience ; and I venture to say that, during the 
latter portion of the short time which he was 
connected with the Boston Public Library, 
he found that in the long run a librarian must 
take upon himself the lion's share in the 
entire management of a library. Now that 
Judge Chamberlain has resigned his place, 
the Trustees of the Boston Public Library 
are understood to be looking around for an 
accomplished superintendent. 

The ideal executive head of a large public 
library let me say it emphatically should 
have the qualifications of both librarian and 
superintendent. Perhaps, in the case of some 
of the largest libraries, it is well to have both 
a superintendent and a librarian; but when 
such a distribution of duties becomes desir- 
able, it is certain that the superintendent 
should have something of the spirit of a libra- 
rian, and as much of his technical knowledge 
as possible, and that the librarian should be 



often consulted in regard to questions of 
management, and have, himself, no mean 
qualifications as an executive officer. 

A good librarian should be allowed to make 
experiments (observing, of course, reasonable 
limits), without consulting the board of trus- 
tees, with the purpose of satisfying himself 
as to the desirability and feasibility of adopt- 
ing new methods, and of obtaining evi- 
dence that will enable the board to form 
intelligent opinions in regard to the value of 
changes recommended by him. 

Experiments may often be undertaken, with 
good prospect of success, by persons familiar 
with kinds of work which a board of trustees, 
unacquainted with such kinds of work, would 
not care to try, but which, nevertheless, it is 
very important should be tried. 

A librarian should have the appointment of 
his assistants in his own hands, and should 
himself consult heads of departments in the 
choice of persons to serve under them. 

He should be allowed to buy such books as 
are needed between meetings of library com- 
mittees and boards of trustees, just as a 
trusted cashier is permitted to loan money to 
a bank's customers between meetings of its 
board of directors. Both the librarian and 
the cashier should, of course, give an account 
of such proceedings to the committee or 
board over him at the meeting next after the 
transactions. 

Generally speaking, a competent librarian 
should be allowed large freedom, and held 
responsible for wisdom in management. 

On the other hand, the board of trustees 
should insist upon the observance by the 
librarian of such forms as have been adopted 
as safeguards. 

While it should allow much liberty to its 
executive officer, it should also see to it that 
he keeps the machinery, by which work is 
done, in order; so that, if in the exercise of 
a careful oversight, it shall become advisable 
at any time for it to resume the power con- 
ferred on the librarian, it may be able to do 
it promptly. 

Trustees and directors may render ser- 
vices of the greatest value to libraries and 
librarians. 



26 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



Not long ago I had upon my board of 
directors an influential member, who used to 
say regularly at the first meeting, after new 
men came on it, "Gentlemen, our only duty 
is to support the librarian." 

That is saying too much, certainly. It is, 
however, the duty of a board of trustees to 
second heartily a librarian in his efforts to 
make his administration energetic, useful, 
and progressive, and to do all that it can to 
secure patient and generous consideration by 
town and city governments, and by citizens, 
of all wise measures which he may adopt. 

Trustees are very influential in working 
individually to obtain for a library the sup- 
port in money which is needed. 

They can be of great service in showing 
their appreciation of good work done by the 
librarian, by word and act. 

It is almost too much to expect of a board 
of trustees that it should look out to see to it 
that a librarian receive a proper salary, and 
that his compensation be increased as his 
services grow in value, without being re- 
minded that remuneration is inadequate by a 
communication from that officer. Still it is 
very desirable that, when a communication 
is made, it should be sympathetically con- 
sidered, and that members of the board 
should point out to one another the excel- 
lence of the services rendered by the libra- 
rian instead of expecting him to enlarge upon 
their value himself. 

It should be understood, also, that it is a 
librarian's duty to state fully the worth of the 
services of his assistants, and seek adequate 
compensation for them. 

A board of trustees can do much, and 
should always do as much as possible, to 
keep the interests of a library and of a libra- 
rian from being sacrificed to supposed exigen- 
cies of politics. 

In some portions of the country the ap- 
pointment and removal of librarians for politi- 
cal reasons has become a scandal. 

A board of trustees owes it to its librarian 
to protect him from the vagaries of impracti- 
cable men who may by some chance become 
members of the board. 

For example, it should quietly vote down 



unwise propositions, as they are made by 
fussy or narrow men ; by those persons who, 
while they are self-confident, are also igno- 
rant ; by men who are so constituted as always 
to oppose or hold back, or go ahead reck- 
lessly; and by such persons as wish to have 
a hand in doing everything which it is the 
duty of the librarian to do, and yet are un- 
willing to give any time or thought to the 
conduct of affairs. 

There is a tendency in many boards of trus- 
tees, when a single member is urgent in oppo- 
sition to some measure proposed by a libra- 
rian, and the other members have no positive 
opinions regarding the matter, to yield to the 
objector. 

Such opposition may afford a proper excuse 
for delay, but should not be allowed to be- 
come permanently efficacious in preventing 
the execution of a project, without the libra- 
rian has been given ample opportunities for 
explaining the grounds of his recommenda- 
tion. The librarian should always be treated 
as a cooperator, and not as an unintelligent 
servant. It would always be unwise in him 
to press the adoption of measures until their 
wisdom is generally recognized by the trus- 
tees. Still his reasons for advising action 
should be ascertained and duly considered. 

A board of trustees will always do well to 
have the librarian present at its regular meet- 
ings. His knowledge and experience will be 
found of value. 

His plans will be the better understood. 
He, too, by being present will not only com- 
prehend better than in any other way the 
wishes of the board of trustees (and its mem- 
bers), but, that which is of great importance, 
will catch the spirit which animates it, and be- 
come aware of the general principles which it 
desires should underlie the administration of 
the institution. 

Trustees should bear in mind that unneces- 
sary delays are to be avoided, and that, in 
order to keep the members of a community in 
a contented frame of mind, their wants must 
not only be supplied, but supplied promptly. 

Trustees should remember that it is impor- 
tant to give librarians and some of their as- 
sistants time in which to aid users of libraries, 



HARRIS. 



27 



instead of keeping every attendant constantly 
employed about routine work. 

Trustees should guard themselves against 
the notion that library work is easy, and that 
it is only the occupations which they are usu- 
ally engaged in, in which employment is wear- 
ing and hard. 

It must not be supposed, from anything 
which I have said, that the position of a di- 
rector or trustee of a library is, in the opinion 
of librarians, a sinecure. 

Our idea is far from this, as will be seen if 
the remarks already made are carefully con- 
sidered. 

It should be said, in conclusion, that one of 
the most important duties of trustees is to 
look around among libraries in different towns 
and cities, to read library reports and ac- 
counts of meetings of librarians, with the pur- 
pose of finding out whether they are getting 
as much and as good service from librarians 
in the communities whose interests they have 
to look after, as citizens are obtaining in 
places where libraries and their management 
have attained a high standard of excellence. 

With the same end in view, they should see 
to it that librarians are provided with the 
current issues of the best library journals 
and with a collection of the best bibliograph- 
ical works. 



They should also put themselves, and in- 
sist upon librarians putting themselves, into 
vital relations with other libraries, and with 
the whole body of librarians. 

Librarians should never forget that the real 
authority in a library rests with the board of 
trustees, or fail to render immediate and cor- 
dial submission to its directions. 

They should also seek and accept with 
gratitude all practical suggestions that may 
be made to them by trustees or other persons. 

When any members of the board of trus- 
tees are specialists, they should be urged to 
give the library the benefit of their special 
knowledge, by proposing for purchase lists of 
books known to them to be of particular value. 

I wish to add to what I have written, the 
statement that I have always been very fortu- 
nate in having over me a body of directors of 
unusually good judgment, and of the kindest 
disposition towards me. 

In fact, the remarks which I have made re- 
garding the duties of trustees have been sug- 
gested to me by observation of the happy 
results which have followed the administra- 
tion of the affairs of my own library, by a 
board of directors who have governed them- 
selves by rules almost identical with those 
which I have recommended for use by boards 
of trustees and directors generally. 



THE FUNCTION OF THE LIBRARY AND THE SCHOOL IN EDUCATION. 



BY HON. W: T. HARRIS, COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



TN the year 1876, Gen. Eaton, then Com- 
missioner of Education, collected statis- 
tics giving information concerning 3,647 pub- 
lic libraries in the United States. This list 
included all public libraries containing 300 
volumes and upwards that could be heard 
from. Ten years later (1884-85), undertaking 
to revise this list, he succeeded in obtaining 
returns from 5,338 libraries, thus increasing 
the former list by 1,691, or nearly 50 per 
cent. 

The expression "public library" in this 
list included school, college, and college so- 
ciety libraries; medical, theological, and law 



libraries ; historical, scientific, and sanitary 
libraries ; social libraries, society libraries, 
including those of the Y. M. C. A., those of 
I. O. O. F., and Learned Societies ; gene- 
ral libraries, including free libraries supported 
by taxation, and subscription libraries ; gov- 
ernment libraries ; and, in brief, all libraries 
for the use of the public at large or for insti- 
tutions, societies, or special classes of people. 

The aggregate of volumes of these 5,338 li- 
braries was 20,622,076, giving an average of 
nearly 4,000 volumes to each. 

Preeminent among States was the showing 
of Massachusetts, with its 569 libraries and 



28 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



3,560,085 volumes. Next came New York, 
with 3,168,508 volumes in 780 libraries. 

During the past six years since the above 
list was made, there has been, it is believed, a 
quite unprecedented growth in the libraries of 
this country, both as to number of separate in- 
stitutions and as to volumes catalogued. 
There have been new State laws encouraging 
the support of town libraries by taxation. 
Each year many additional towns take advan- 
tage of such laws. Large benefactions have 
been left for the founding of new libraries. 
And, meanwhile, there has been an era of un- 
paralleled activity on the part of the librarians 
of the country; an era of wise activity because 
it has been concerted activity. This organ- 
ized association is the central vortex in this 
beneficent movement. 

The new statistics regarding libraries, 
which, it is hoped, may be tabulated the 
coming year by the Bureau of Education, will 
show the significance of these encouraging 
signs in the shape of results. 

All persons interested in the subject of 
education will note with satisfaction the prog- 
ress of the library. Next after the school 
and the daily newspaper comes the library 
in educative power. These three institutions 
are the great secular means which our people 
have to prepare themselves for their singular 
destiny. 

The school, for the most part, finds its 
function in teaching how to read. The news- 
paper and the library furnish what to read. 

We consider a person educated when he is 
qualified to add to his own experience the 
experience of his fellow-men. This is rather 
only the first stage of education, the pre- 
liminary preparation for education. For the 
person must not only be qualified to make 
this addition to his experience, but he must 
actually have done it to be worthy of the 
name of " educated." 

Hence we see that the school gives the 
preliminary preparation for education, and 
the library gives the means by which the 
individual completes and accomplishes his 
education. 

I have often pointed out that the Ameri- 
can school has some sort of justification for 



its much-blamed adherence to the text-book 
method of instruction. The pedagogues of 
other nations, and especially those of Ger- 
many, condemn our system for its worst 
features the slavish use of the book and 
the frequent acceptance by our teachers of 
parrot-like repetition of the text, in the place 
of an intelligent understanding of what is set 
down in the book and a critical investigation 
of the subject at first hand. 

This is doubtless the weakest side of our 
school education. But it has, I repeat, this 
great good thing to counterbalance in some 
measures its evil. It has by a happy sort of 
instinct been guided towards a new and 
higher method than that which our critics 
would put in its place. For they would sub- 
stitute the oral method for the text-book 
method, and thereby make the school boy 
more dependent on the living voice of his 
teacher for what he gets from mankind. The 
boy who is taught how to use the printed 
page properly how to weigh its statements, 
and critically test them by such experiments 
as he can make, or compare them with other 
authorities by aid of the library is a far 
more shifty boy than the one who has merely 
received his instruction orally. For it is not 
usual to receive from the living teacher his 
words in a critical and questioning attitude. 
Few teachers are able to encourage in their 
pupils the spirit of scepticism and independ- 
ent verification, to the extent of letting their 
own teachings submit to this treatment. There 
is something too personal in this exclusively 
oral method, this lecturing method, and it has 
its weak sides as weak as those it con- 
demns in the American school. For if there 
are pupils in every school and whole classes in 
exceptional schools that memorize the words 
of the book without comprehending their 
meaning, on the other hand there are pupils 
taught by the oral method who write out the 
words of their teacher, and piously repeat 
what has been dictated to them. Moreover, 
not having before them the full and well- 
balanced discussion of the text-book, they 
get a one-sided, distorted view of the subject 
matter. They cannot, if they come to a 
point where they lose the thread of the dis- 



HARRIS. 



29 



course, go back and pick it up. They are 
dragged from point to point by the necessity 
of keeping up with the lecturer, and lose 
entirely what they fail to grasp on first hear- 
ing. Such pupils, too, grow up with the 
tendency to require oral explanation made to 
them, and a reluctance to go to the scientific 
treatise, and dig out the whole subject for 
themselves. 

What there is good in our American sys- 
tem points towards this preparation of the 
pupil for independent study of the book by 
himself. It points towards acquiring the abil- 
ity of self-education by means of the library. 

Instead of parrot-like repetition of what is 
in the text-book, our model school requires 
the pupil to re-state, in his own language, the 
ideas of the book. But even this is a small 
part of what it requires ; for it insists on a 
critical examination of the statements of the 
book, in view of all the facts that can be other- 
wise ascertained and adduced by pupils and 
teacher, and also in view of the same author's 
statements elsewhere in the book. 

The text-book is impersonal, and does not 
impose on the individuality of the pupil the 
weight of authority that the living teacher car- 
ries with him, in spite of all efforts that he may 
make to encourage independent judgment. 

This is the good element in our American 
method, I repeat again, and, when our coun- 
try was everywhere sparsely settled (as it is 
even now, except in a few sections), it was ob- 
vious that the individual must depend on the 
printed page of the book for what he should 
get from his fellow-men in the way of scien- 
tific observation of the world and man, and in 
the way of thought and reflection on the data 
recorded. The library is the storehouse of the 
aggregate observations of all mankind on the 
phenomena of the universe, not of what the 
senses of one single man have perceived, but 
of what the senses of all men have perceived. 
More than this, the library holds the record of 
the reflections of all human brains on these 
data of observation. And even more than this, 
the library holds, in its works of literary art, 
the portrayal of human nature as it has been 
lived and is lived by all stages of civilization, 
and by the various races that people the earth. 



It holds this vast mass of observation, reflec- 
tion, and insight, not in its crude form, but 
winnowed out each grain that the library 
preserves was taken from a mountain of chaff. 
Doubtless it holds still on its shelves much 
chaff, but, considering the crude material of 
human experience from which it has been 
saved, it is all precious grain. 

The school is set at the task of teaching the 
pupil how to use the library in the best man- 
ner that, I take it, is the central object 
towards which our American school methods 
have been unconsciously guided. In order 
that the pupil shall acquire the ability to use 
the library, he must first learn to read. This 
involves learning the alphabet and the spell- 
ing-book, and much more. For the school- 
boy must in school set about acquiring a new 
and higher vocabulary of words. He brings 
with him from home a colloquial vocabulary, 
meagre in its number of words and in their 
quality to express subtle distinctions or pre- 
cise definitions, or elevated sentiment, or pro- 
found thoughts. In school he commences 
by learning first how to recognize the words 
of his colloquial vocabulary in a printed and 
written form. Before this epoch he has only 
known them by ear; they were sounds to 
him ; now they must be represented to his 
eye by conventional characters. 

After he has learned to recognize the 
words in printed form that were already 
familiar to him by ear, he is set to mastering 
a series of text-books which use strange tech- 
nical words, new to his ear, new to his eye, 
and likewise expressing ideas new to his 
mind. He learns a special vocabulary of 
these for arithmetic and other branches of 
mathematics ; another for geography and his 
relations to the earth and its inhabitants; 
another for history and his relations to his 
fellow-citizens, his nation, his race, and the 
stream of generation down which he and his 
contemporaries have descended. He learns 
to recognize in the institutions of society the 
organized form of his higher selves that have 
been unfolded and realized for him in those 
institutions. A special vocabulary has to be 
learned for these things and also for the 
study of language in grammar and philology. 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



Language is the first revelation of human 
nature, its structure being an embodiment of 
the logical laws of the mind. 

Every special science has its own special 
vocabulary, larger or smaller, of new words. 
The school-boy must learn their external 
forms and their Internal meanings. 

But literature is language as a fine art, and 
its content is the revelation of human life in 
its aspirations and actions, in its victories and 
its defeats. Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and 
Goethe are the great leaders of the sacred 
army of men who have made and are making 
this revelation of human life. Every literary 
writer has a literary style of his own, which 
his readers must learn to master. The school 
teaches a hundred or more of these styles by 
choice extracts in the higher school-readers 
the selections being intense and impassioned 
pieces of prose and poetry calculated to 
arouse the imagination, refine the taste, and 
kindle the aspiration of the youth, as well as 
give him some acquaintance with the special 
vocabulary and peculiarities of style that he 
uses. For this purpose a book of selections 
like the typical school-reader is far better 
than any other device that can be thought of. 
But it should be supplemented by other read 
ing which deals with entire works of literary art. 

I come now to mention a practical device 
by which the common school can especially 
fit its pupils for the use of the library, and a 
device, too, that any library can aid indefi- 
nitely in carrying out in its neighborhood. 

The regular reading lesson in the school 
does not and cannot occupy much time on the 
daily program. Not many pages can be read 
over, because the pupil must be questioned 
and cross-questioned on the meaning and use 
of the words, and on the power and effect of 
the style used, and on the near and remote 
thoughts suggested. No pupil, after a good 
drill on a literary piece, ever reads a similar 
piece in book or periodical without looking, 
consciously or unconsciously, for some of the 
points that have been brought out in his les- 
son. He is now of a capacity to get more 
from his reading than was before possible to 
him. His vocabulary has been increased, but 
not so much as his power to increase it. If 



he would only take home with him a book 
from the library, and read a whole story writ- 
ten by the author whose literary gem he has 
carefully studied in school, he would be able 
to increase his higher vocabulary far more 
rapidly than he will do otherwise. He will 
moreover fix and assimilate this higher vocab- 
ulary in such a way that it will always remain 
his own. Still better, he will become a home 
reader and a user of the library for life. 

Let us suppose that he has read for the day, 
with his class at school, a charming selection 
from Walter Scott's " Lady of the Lake." The 
teacher has ten copies of " The Lady of the 
Lake," and lets the ten best pupils in the class 
take home the poem for a week, and read it 
through ; a week is sufficient for this. The 
entire poem is the topic for an hour's conver- 
sation on a Friday afternoon. The next week 
the second ten pupils take this poem to their 
homes ; a third week another set of ten ; and 
so on, until all the class has read this poem, 
which will make a memorable epoch in their 
lives. A selection from Swift's " Gulliver's 
Voyage to Lilliput, or to Brobidgnag " would 
perhaps be found in the child's fourth or fifth 
reading-book, and the whole story could be 
read at home by the children, if ten or twenty 
copies of the book belonged to the school 
library. 

In a town of Massachusetts where I was a 
member of the School Committee for three 
years, we appropriated fifty dollars ($50) for a 
few works of this character, buying ten cop- 
ies of each, and requiring the teachers to keep 
a record of the pupils who read these books. 
When one school had read the books, they 
were to be sent to another district. I think 
that the object was, to a degree, attained in 
that town, or was at least in a way to be at- 
tained. But I believe that the town library 
should provide itself with boys' and girls' 
classics in large numbers, ten or twenty 
copies of each, and that, by a little effort 
made by the librarian with the teachers, such 
a systematic reading of whole works of literary 
art could be brought about, and at the same 
time in such connection with the town library 
as would insure life-long continuance of a use 
of it. 



HARRIS. 



The library is the most important link in 
that great movement that has recently spread 
hither, into this country, from England. I re- 
fer to the university and school extension. 
Few children complete their course even in 
the primary school. Only one in four who 
enter the high school completes it. The great 
desideratum, therefore, is some method by 
which the school influence can follow the pu- 
pils who leave school before completing their 
work, or who, graduating from it, ought to 
continue their work. Having learned how to 
read, they should now use their acquired 
power to some purpose to master the fields of 
human learning. 

I have spoken of the preeminent value of 
works of literary art for giving the pupil a 
higher vocabulary of thought and feeling, and 
for making him acquainted with himself. By 
this self-knowledge I do not, of course, mean 
a knowledge of his own petty idiosyncrasies 
and peculiarities, but a knowledge of human 
nature at large, a knowledge of what is sub- 
stantial in character and profound in human 
thought. Literature is the best, but it should 
not by any means be the exclusive, course of 
reading. 

For the supplementary reading to be done 
at home, there should be intermingled books 
of history, books of travel, popular exposi- 
tions of the different sciences. Some people 
would have these books exclusively, and 
would call them alone the " solid " books, 
while the pure literary works they would de- 
nominate "trash." In my opinion they could 
not commit a more serious error. I have 
known many parents possessed of the science 
craze who tried to educate their children on 
science, to the exclusion of literature ; but 
their results were pitiable. Their children 
were deprived of an insight into human life 
into the springs of human character and the 
motives that prevail among the people with 
whom they must live. This knowledge of 
human life obtained through the writings of 
genius should occupy the first place on the 
list of studies essential to direct self-preserva- 
tion using the expression of Mr. Herbert 
Spencer, and pointing out, by the way, that 
his own scheme of studies is very far from 



corresponding to the requirements of the 
principles that he lays down. 

On the other hand, one must be careful not 
to commit the opposite mistake of excluding 
science and history, or of slighting these stud- 
ies for literature. They are all necessary. 

It must not be forgotten that this work in 
supplementary reading is a work of self-help 
on the part of the pupil, and is of very great 
value from this point of view. It assists very 
much to neutralize the effects of bad school 
methods, where they happen to exist. Another 
great point is that the books taken home 
by the pupils into families who have no ac- 
cumulation of books, or at best of such books 
as lack popular interest these books taken 
home are picked up by the parents and older 
brothers and sisters and read by them. This 
makes the supplementary-reading system an 
educator of the people as people an exten 
sion of the school that is of vital importance. 

The library should get hold of this phase 
of school extension, and so manage it that all 
who begin it are drawn into the use of the 
library. 

Fiction is the bait by which we create a 
love of reading, and it should lead out to 
other reading, especially in the line of science 
and history and philosophy. But I have 
tried to show that it is not a hopeless case if 
it does not lead out into these fields to any 
great extent, for the reading of fiction has 
the substantial benefits which I have stated. 
But there is fiction and fiction. Fiction writ- 
ten by an author who has deeply lived, deeply 
felt, and deeply thought is of value to all 
men, whether simple or learned. But the 
weak and shallow writer who has not sounded 
the depths of life, not seen its ethical sub- 
structure, such a writer is immoral and 
misleading in his views of life, even though 
he supposes himself to be very religious, and 
be, in fact, engaged in writing Sunday-school 
books. 

I think that our national system of educa- 
tion, or the system and methods generally 
prevalent in the United States, is destined to 
be vastly improved by the efforts of librari- 
ans. What is called the "seminary" method 
the method of studying up a topic, mas- 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



tering the wealth of knowledge extant on 
the subject, sifting and criticising what is 
recorded, and verifying what is true by ex- 
periment such a method can be carried out 
only by aid of the library, and it makes the 
library an essential instrument of school 
work. At present it is quite well developed 
in some universities (as at Johns Hopkins 
and Harvard and some others). But it can 
obviously be extended with profit to all col- 
leges and in some degree to high schools, 
yes, and even to lower schools. The libra- 
rian and the teacher working together can 
make this needed extension, and realize new 
and valuable features in our American school 
methods. 

The practice of forming select lists of works 
on special subjects is a good one. But any 
that I have seen may be greatly improved by 
helpful notes, telling the reader what to read 
if he is entirely unfamiliar with the subject, 
and then what to read after he has made the 
first studies in the subject. 

Graded courses of reading are most needed. 
To name a hundred books in a list for boys is 
not advisable. It is best to begin with a list 
of the ten best say the ten best books of 
travels, the ten best story books, or the ten 
best novels for youth, the ten best books of 
history for boys. The youth should be 
directed to such a number as he may hope by 
diligence to read. The librarian need not, 
unless he chooses, give out such a list as his 
own, unsupported by the authority of others. 
He may collect the votes of connoisseurs, and 
get a briefly expressed opinion from each, as 
was done in England for the hundred best 
books, or in this country for the ten best novels 
some years ago. What the young or the 
inexperienced reader wants is the names of a 
very few books that have the power of genius 
to arouse him and stimulate his attention as 
with the power of a magician. The book for 
the untrained reader must be intense in its 
power to charm, because it has to overcome 
the resistance which comes of the real labor 
involved at first in making out the words by 
the eye instead of the ear. 

The school teaches how to read ; how to 
use the printed page to get out of it all that it 



contains. The library furnishes the what to 
read ; it opens the storehouse of all human 
learning. These two are complementary 
functions in the great work of education. 

I would, however, call attention again to the 
periodical as the third great educational ap- 
pliance of our time, and especially to its most 
marvelous product, the daily newspaper. 

In this day we are all acquiring a new con- 
sciousness by the aid of this instrument. 
Every morning it is customary for the 
dweller in the city to take a survey of the en- 
tire life of the globe a brief glance at the 
nations most remote, a fuller view of those 
more nearly related to him, and a complete 
survey of what is in his neighborhood. The 
correlation of the near and remote, the cus- 
tom of carrying in his mind the world affairs, 
developes a sort of epic consciousness, vastly 
more educative than the former village gossip 
that prevailed in the tavern or in the shop. It 
elevates the individual into a higher plane of 
thinking, substituting the universal for the 
particular. It would seem as though the 
world, as a whole, is bound to grow into this 
newspaper civilization, and that it is a neces- 
sity of all newspaper civilizations to be demo- 
cratic in their form of government. But it is 
evident that this newspaper species of educa- 
tion needs the cooperation and perfecting in- 
fluence of the library. The school is essen- 
tial to the newspaper reader to give him that 
knowledge of a printed vocabulary of words, 
and that smattering of geography, history, 
grammar, and science required to understand 
and follow the newspaper articles. 

So the town library should have devices by 
which it may interest the reader of the daily 
newspaper in following up his topics into the 
weightier articles of the magazines, and still 
further into the literature of the subjects 
as treated in books. 

Reading circles are of prime importance in 
this work. The history of the Chautauquan 
movement is full of instruction to us, who are 
seeking to extend the influences of the library 
to the community, and to elevate a community 
of mere newspaper readers into readers of 
good books. 

The reading circle can create and retain an 



HOSMER. 



33 



interest in a subject which solitary reading 
cannot do so well. Discussion with one's 
fellows awakens questions that have slum- 
bered a dogmatic slumber. 

A hint still nearer to the librarians of this 
convention is to be found in the labors of 
such men among you as have in late years 
formed bibliographic lists in various fields, 
who have constructed indexes to periodical 
literature, and critical histories of America, 
and works of similar significance. Here is a 
field in which the librarian prepares the mass 
of human learning for the use of his less per- 
sistent or less plodding fellow-citizen the 
newspaper reader,;or at best the popular-book 
reader. The learned librarian leads him to 
original sources, and offers these sources in 
a compendious form for his use. Indexes 
and collections of original sources do wonders 



to deepen and make accurate the scholarship of 
a nation. Those familiar with German schol- 
arship need only to be reminded of the vast 
number of works of this order, which facili- 
tate the complete survey of special subjects. 

The school and the newspaper and the 
library working together may be each helped 
by the other, and all may be united into one 
very potent instrumentality of education for 
the universal democracy that is on its pro- 
cession in all the nations of the world. It is 
locally self-governed, but interested with a 
truly cosmopolitan spirit (and shall I not say 
with a missionary spirit ?) in all other peoples 
around the globe. On this line we see infin- 
ite possibilities of growth in perfection, infin- 
ite possibilities of that education which adds 
to the individual life vicariously the life and 
life's experience of all his fellow-men. 



ON BROWSING. BY A BOOK-WORM. 



BY PROF. JAMES K. HOSMER, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. 



'"THE writer of the present paper is a 
worm, a member of that class of the 
great family of annulata, known as the book 
worms. Hitherto the worms have been the 
most diffident of creatures, submitting to be 
squelched by every passing foot, and to be 
contumeliously cited on all occasions by 
human kind, as the very type of abjectness. 
Since Darwin, however, in the case of our 
kin, the earth-worms, has done a great work 
of vindication, proving that they possess no 
slight intelligence, and that upon their hith- 
erto despised activity rests the existence of 
the entire animal and vegetable world, the 
annulata in general have plucked up courage. 
Why do we need to be abashed in any 
presence ? Why should not the book-worms 
have a hearing even before a convention of 
librarians ? The present worm trusts that his 
effort before this august assembly will be 
received in a spirit of fairness, that he will 
not be captured to serve as fish-bait, or 
crushed by any sudden blow from the gavel 
of the presiding officer, or expelled from the 
apartment by the insidious application of any 



form of vermifuge. All professions tend to 
become narrow and technical. For ministers, 
lawyers, teachers, doctors, it is healthy to be 
struck now and then by a breeze from 
outside. Possibly even through a worm-hole 
an air may creep, which will ventilate, in a 
way not quite unsalutary, the atmosphere of 
the deliberations of bibliographers. 

From the vermicular point of view, what is 
often looked upon as the librarian's first task, 
namely, to keep safe the literary matters 
entrusted to his keeping, is to be esteemed 
of comparatively small importance ; while, on 
the other hand, what many hold to be the 
librarian's second duty, namely, to make 
access to these matters as convenient as 
possible to book-worms, and such others as 
may crave food of this kind, is of paramount 
significance. The duty of guarding books, 
the present worm, like his kind in general, 
looks upon derisively. We are sworn allies 
of the mice ; the spiders are congenial to us, 
with whose webs we gladly festoon ourselves, 
as we perform in alcoves our great work of 
perforation. We are, however, not withcu 



34 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



candor, I hope. Conceding something to 
the prejudices of the unenlightened, I admit 
that the librarian must be, while facilitating 
access to his books, to some extent a guardian. 
How to strike a mean ? How combine safety 
for a collection while respecting sufficiently 
the demands of book-worms and others ? This 
is the point, I conceive, upon which the 
librarian should concentrate his attention, and 
I humbly submit that it is both fair and 
expedient for this body to understand and 
weigh the vermicular view. The moderate 
demand of the present worm for himself, and 
the great fraternity he represents, is that 
they may have the privilege of browsing. 
The book-worms, like cattle in general (surely, 
with horns, and tail, and a genius for hump- 
ing not surpassed even by the bison, we are 
cattle), find their chief felicity in browsing- 
What terms shall I use in order to magnify 
duly before my audience this great matter of 
browsing ? 

Once, while boring my way through a pon- 
derous tome, written, as I took pains to 
ascertain, by one Bacon, I penetrated to a 
sentence, which from internalevidence I am 
persuaded was especially designed to serve 
as advice to creatures of my kind. I quote 
from memory, but am sure of having caught 
the spirit of the passage referred to : " Some 
books," says Bacon, "are to be brushed merely 
by the feelers ; others to be touched by the 
mandibles in a mere cursory nibble ; into still 
others, you may expediently work your way 
in a considerable perforation ; while, in the 
case of a few, the demands of duty will not 
be satisfied until they are thoroughly honey- 
combed in a labyrinth of burrows." What is 
here advised, I conceive, is simply to browse. 
One catches a bite here in a momentary 
twist; elsewhere, he feeds at length, the 
pasture proving sweet and nutritious. Brows- 
ing is the proper Baconian method of reading. 
The rapture of having at command an entire 
alcove ! As you pass along the shelves, it is 
enough, in the case of most books, merely 
to touch the title page with the antennae ; with 
others, a paragraph may here and there be 
tasted ; as to a few, content does not come 
until a chapter has been devoured ; while, for 



two or three, the conscience will not be 
appeased until they have been chewed and 
digested from cover to cover. Who can tell 
what books he wants without preliminary 
tasting ? Titles often mislead, and never 
do more than hint at the contents. Time 
and again I should have starved had the 
catalogue and librarian's desk stood between 
me and my pabulum ; time and again I have 
failed to be adequately nourished until, having 
been turned loose among the shelves, by 
a nibble here, and a bolder bite there, I 
have hit at last upon the exact morsel I 
required. I assure my audience that (speak- 
ing always as I do from the vermicular point 
of view) no librarian performs his task in a 
proper manner unless, in the midst of his 
anxiety for the safety of his charge, he at the 
same time affords abundant liberty to browse 
a freedom of access to books far too rarely 
found, I fear. 

I have sometimes, indeed, found libraries 
the rules of which were as wise as if they had 
been made by the book-worms themselves. 
In July, 1886, crawling into the famous por- 
tals of the British Museum, I took my 
sinuous way to the library, there presenting 
a note of introduction from a brother book- 
worm to Mr. Richard Garnet, at that time a 
high official, and since then promoted to be 
"Keeper of the Printed Books," the chief 
librarianship. To receive a card of admis- 
sion, it was only necessary to be vouched for 
as respectable by some reputable citizen of 
London a requirement waived in my own 
case, for the letter of my congener was held 
to be sufficient. I was at once led into the 
main room, a vast circular space surmounted 
by a dome scarcely inferior in dimensions to 
that of St. Paul's Cathedral. Through this, 
upon long desks radiating from the circular 
table of the superintendent in the centre like the 
spokes of a wheel from a hub, fell an amount 
of light to true book-worms quite superfluous, 
but a concession necessary, no doubt, to 
mere human weakness. From the base of 
the dome to the floor below, the space was 
unbroken by windows, and occupied about 
the entire circumference of the room by con- 
centric series of shelves containing the refer- 



HOSMER. 



35 



ence library. The term " book of reference " 
has, in the British Museum, a most liberal 
interpretation. The number of such books 
must rise into the hundreds of thousands. 
In the department of English history, with 
which I was especially concerned, were not 
only dictionaries and encyclopaedias, biog- 
raphical, chronological, etc., but every stand- 
ard work upon English history, together with 
a great many of the documents which are to 
be regarded as the sources. In other depart- 
ments of knowledge, apparently, the term 
" reference book " was interpreted with equal 
liberality. To all these hundred thousand 
and more of books under the dome, access 
on the part of those admitted to the room 
was quite unrestricted. They were not be- 
hind glass or wire, or in any way shut in. 
All present, whether mere humble book- 
worms or great gods of the literary firmament, 
with or without advice and help from the at- 
tendants, were free to browse as they pleased 
along the shelves. As regards the million or 
more of volumes not in the main room, 
access was made almost equally easy. As is 
usual in libraries, anything asked for was 
brought by an attendant; as is not usual, the 
worm or the god, as the case might be, if 
wishing it, was conducted out to the shelves 
themselves. "Where," thought I, "shall I 
find for myself the juiciest banquet, most 
appetizingly seasoned with mold and mildew, 
and where I can be most sure of falling into 
the companionship of honest perforators like 
myself?" In a collection, I judged, known 
as the Thomasson Tracts, some 4,000 vol- 
umes, in which are bound up the fugitive 
literature of the iyth century,- sermons, 
political pamphlets, news-sheets, ballads, 
broad-sides, plays, even the hand-bills of the 
time. I was taken into the room in which 
they were contained, and allowed to inspect 
them on the shelves. As I could not con- 
veniently bring my mandibles to bear upon 
the feast as it stood thus arranged, I was 
placed close at hand, at an ample table, and 
the volumes were brought to me, a shelf-full 
at a time, twenty or thirty in number. There, 
with the help of a careful index the book- 
worm's bill of fare the present reptile bored 



at his leisure through some hundreds of 
volumes, biting his way forward on this side 
and that, and rolling under his tongue many 
a most satisfactory morsel, which he could 
never have come upon but for browsing. So 
far as my purpose was concerned, the great 
collection was put, as it were, into my 
clutches, the evident study of the manage- 
ment being to content every library appetite, 
however voracious, with the greatest possible 
expedition and convenience. The main room 
every day was thronged, crowded sometimes 
uncomfortably, with book-worms, and those 
having no use for books except to verify a 
reference or kill an idle hour. All were free 
to go to the shelves of the main room ; and 
to the spaces behind, to which reference has 
been made, all persons with a serious pur- 
pose, certainly all worms of sincere mind and 
sharp appetite, were freely admitted. There 
are, to be sure, certain rigid restrictions. 
Nothing short of an act of parliament would 
enable one to carry a book away from the 
Museum, or to set foot within it except 
during the proper hours. A Cerberus at the 
door makes sure that each visitor has his 
card ; and an army of attendants, while help- 
ing you in every way, watch carefully for 
thieves and mutilators. Within certain lines, 
however, the widest freedom prevails, and it 
is hard to see how 2,000,000 books, with 
regard for their preservation, can be made to 
afford a better field for Ijrowsing. 

But it is time to look at home. How fare 
the browsers in our American public libraries ? 
The present worm recalls an experience in 
one such library, located in a famous city. 
Entering its door, I found myself presently 
in a lofty hall, the floor of which was in great 
part occupied by the card catalogue, contained 
in innumerable drawers, all lettered alpha- 
betically. The hundreds of thousands of 
books in the library were visible only dimly 
and afar off, in alcoves at the side, carefully 
closed from entrance by screens of iron-work. 
To these alcoves there was no access, except 
in very special cases. To obtain a book, a 
title must be written on a card, with the name 
and residence of the worm attached ; this 
must be presented at a desk, the book in due 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



time to be handed out, and perused at a ta- 
ble. My appetite was keen, but precisely 
what viand I required I was not sure. Could 
I not look along the shelves, try here and 
there, according to my nature : in a word, 
browse, until I hit upon the exact bit ? By no 
means. The books in their distant isolation 
coldly turned their backs upon me ; they could 
only be touched on the lofty shelf by the of- 
ficial hand. I went from drawer to drawer, 
accumulating my list of titles. I presented 
myself at the desk among a throng of appli- 
cants, and, after a weary wait, found myself at 
the hole through the screen. An attendant con- 
fronted [me with an unsympathetic face. The 
glitter in his eye was as hard and pitiless as that 
from the diamond stud of the hotel clerk. He 
evidently at once recognized the applicant as 
a reptile, and the self-respect of your worm, 
not at that time having been fortified by a pe- 
rusal of Darwin's treatise, was quite inadequate 
to the situation. He writhed as only a worm 
can writhe, but presented his list, and, after 
another weary wait, received his volumes, with 
which he retired to his table. The books, se- 
lected almost at a venture, with only such 
slight hints as the cards conveyed, were none 
of them satisfactory. I had again recourse to 
the cards, made out another list, congealed 
myself once more before the ice of the atten- 
dant's countenance, returning with a new pile 
to the table, only to find them as unsatisfac- 
tory as the former. *O, for fifteen minutes' 
browsing along the shelves ! But it was out 
of the question. " I will go to the reading- 
room," said I, "and see what is new in the 
periodicals. Running over the tables of con- 
tents as they lie displayed on the desks, I can 
easily see what I want. I can read here a par- 
agraph, here a page, here a whole article if I 
choose, and so skim the cream of the month by 
a cursory dipping into a dozen or more, in the 
course of an hour or two." How vain the ex- 
pectation ! In the periodical room, reviews 
and magazines were out of sight, in a care- 
fully closed case, before which stood a guard, 
the frigidity of whose demeanor fairly pro- 
duced a fit of torpor. A sight of the pam- 
phlets could only be obtained by an elaborate 
application for each, a ponderous proceeding 



involving all sorts of tedious waiting and ex- 
planation. No quick browsing along an open 
display of the fresh pasture of the month. 
The appetite for it soon broke down beneath 
the delay and inconvenience in getting at the 
pabulum. The heart of the present worm 
sank within him. He looped off at last to a 
second-hand bookstore, under an old church, 
where, having propitiated the proprietor by a 
ten-cent purchase, he foraged unrestrained 
along the shelves, with far more satisfaction 
than he had been able to obtain in the great 
public library. 

Such amount of restriction as has been 
described, is, no doubt, unusual. I know of 
another public library in another large city, 
the system prevailing in which offers some 
mitigation of the rigor. Here the treasures 
can no more be come at by the general public 
of book-worms and others, than in the former 
instance. They stand in cases of glass which 
are always carefully locked, and no volume 
can be touched except by the intervention of 
an attendant. The essayist regards it, how- 
ever, as some alleviation of the hardship that 
he and his kind may pass before these locked 
doors, and through the glass darkly (some- 
times in that smoky atmosphere very darkly) 
read the lettering upon the backs. Access to 
the shelves is perhaps not entirely out of the 
question. A worm of pertinacity and dis- 
tinction may, if it be a quiet time in the 
library, have a case opened, and, with an 
attendant at his elbow, possibly, in rare 
instances, quite unattended, be allowed to 
taste, chew, and digest as he chooses. Such 
conduct, however, is certainly not encouraged, 
and the soul of any sensitive worm becomes 
abashed within him at the thought that he is 
the mark of special courtesy which must 
cause more or less of trouble. In the read- 
ing-room of this library the same half-way 
relaxation of the bond prevails. While maga- 
zines, reviews, and the more elaborate week- 
lies are kept shut up in a closet, only issued 
one by one upon an elaborately written appli- 
cation, the newspapers lie in files, open to all, 
offering to the brotherhood of browsers all 
needful opportunity. 

The book-worm knows of only one public 



HOSMER. 



37 



library whose methods he, in his present 
character of spokesman of thej browsers, can 
thoroughly approve. This library, the third 
American library touched upon in this brief 
review, has just been housed in a new build- 
ing, beautiful and in every way well adapted 
to its purpose. Every household in the city 
of 200,000 in which it stands, can have a 
membership without pay, and there is a broad 
hospitality for strangers. Users of the library 
for the most part receive and return their 
books at a desk, consulting the catalogue for 
what they wish, and presenting a card, the 
certificate that the easy conditions have 
been complied with. All, however, who have 
reached years of discretion, and can satisfy 
the librarian that they have a serious purpose, 
above all the great fraternity of book-worms, 
who must browse or starve, can be admitted 
to " shelf-room privileges," be allowed to go 
to the shelves upon which the books stand, 
where they may disport their joints, and per- 
forate as their appetites may require. The 
shelf-room is a spacious, airy, well-lighted 
hall, in which the shelves are arranged in 
alcoves, uninclosed by screens either of glass 
or wire ; chairs, tables, pens, and ink, con- 
veniences for note-taking, are at hand. Here 
the happy worm may work his will, applying 
his feelers superficially, as his fancy may 
dictate, or laboriously bringing to bear his 
powers of excavation, if a serious task opens 
before him. What books the burrower dis- 
places, he is expected not to put back him- 
self, but to leave on the tables, an attendant 
restoring each according to the library marks. 
As regards the reading-room, a similar liberty 
prevails. Newspapers in their files lie free 
upon racks, periodicals in alphabetical order 
upon open desks. Each visitor may browse 
as he pleases along the row, now straighten- 
ing his spine or rolling easily forward on his 
rings (according as he is a vertebrate or an 
annulate) while in two minutes he runs down 
the table of contents of halt a dozen maga- 
zines; now burying himself in an arm-chair, 



or squirming into whatever position of com- 
fort, while he fastens upon the solid article of 
the Edinburgh or the Quarterly. The libra- 
rian avers that this freedom of access is 
attended by no so great inconvenience or 
bad result as to make it inexpedient. Shelf- 
room privileges have too seldom been abused 
by the theft or mutilation of books to form a 
reason for abrogating them. The presence 
of worms and others in the alcoves has been 
no trial worth speaking of to the unhysteri- 
cal attendants ; the regulation requiring that 
books shall be returned to the shelves by an 
official prevents any disarrangement. A very 
few times in the course of a year periodicals 
disappear, and now and then, on crowded 
days, pamphlets and newspaper files fall into 
a confusion which the attendant cannot rec- 
tify in a moment. But the trouble arising 
from this freedom of access is slight, not to 
be weighed for a moment, against the advan- 
tages of the plan. 

I have in this paper discussed library man- 
agement as it presents itself to the vermicular 
apprehension. The question is embarrassed 
by the circumstance that it would be quite 
wrong not to show a certain respect to human 
ideas and conditions. I trust I have shown a 
spirit of candor. The custodians of the li- 
brary of the Vatican, unless report belies them, 
recognize only one duty, that of keeping their 
books safe, unconcerned by any consideration 
so entirely irrelevant as that the books should 
be used. The book-worms, on the other 
hand, recognize their duty of browsing, re- 
garding it in their hearts as quite irrelevant 
that books should be preserved. Between the 
Vatican and vermicular extremes, the precious 
brotherhood of librarians maybe found at vari- 
ous intermediate points, too often nearer to the 
good Roman fathers than to my own congen- 
ers. Let the humble plea of the book-worms 
be heard. We ask but a modicum of right. 
With us, it is browse or starve. We concede 
that our charge should be guarded ; but ex- 
clude not the browsers from their fit pasture. 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



HOW THE BOOKS WERE BOUGHT FOR OUR LIBRARY. 



BY C: ALEX. NELSON, LIBRARIAN HOWARD MEMORIAL LIBRARY, NEW ORLEANS, LA. 



TT may seem to many that showing how 
books were selected and bought for a li- 
brary will be simply repeating the A B C of 
the knowledge which every librarian already 
possesses ; but those of us who have forgotten 
the glimmering dawn of our library day in the 
flood of light which wide and varied experi- 
ence has shed about our noontide, should 
bear in mind that there may be in our midst 
some to whom the alphabet of finance in li- 
brary economy will not be unwelcome. 

My engagement with the Howard Memorial 
Library was made some months before the 
work upon the Astor Library catalog was 
finished in July, 1888. Therefore, as the new 
library was to be a reference library, modeled 
after the one whose catalog I was then com- 
pleting, the first list prepared was one of the 
books of reference most used in the Astor 
Library, supplemented by a list of the biblio- 
graphical works found most useful in prepar- 
ing the Astor Library catalog. Discretion, 
however, was exercised in ordering from these 
lists, as many of the works listed would not 
be absolutely necessary in a new library at its 
inception, but could be ordered as its lines of 
growth became more clearly defined. 

Late in July, 1888, there was offered for 
sale by auction in New York an admirably 
selected private library. The time of year was 
specially favorable for buying ; and, as the 
catalog contained many standard works in 
excellent editions and bindings, I decided 
that it was an opportunity not to be lost ; but 
it was not till the first day of the sale that I 
was able to submit the catalog for approval, 
and get permission to buy. Nearly 400 
volumes were bought, at a cost much below 
usual auction prices. 

The catalogs of the leading American 
publishers Appleton ; Harper ; Putnam ; 
Scribners; Houghton, Mifflin & Co.; Little, 
Brown & Co. ; Roberts Bros.; Lee & Shepard; 
Lippincott; Dodd, Mead & Co.; Holt; Whit- 



taker; Armstrong; Funk & Wagnalls; and Van 
Nostrand ; and also those of Cassell ; Long- 
mans; Macmillan ; and Spon were carefully 
examined, and the books to be ordered from 
each were checked, the checked catalog 
serving as an order list by which the books 
were laid out by the publisher for examination 
before shipment. A long experience in the 
book trade and acquaintance with the publish- 
ers enabled me to make such terms that, with 
a few exceptions, the orders were placed di- 
rectly with each publisher. As the best books 
on each catalog were ordered, this arrange- 
ment was the more easily effected. 

The American and English catalogs were 
secured as early as possible, and the general 
encyclopaedias and dictionaries were among 
the first books ordered. Several sets of peri- 
odicals and some miscellaneous books were 
ordered of the Boston Book Co., and a large 
number of standard and miscellaneous works 
were selected from the general stock of the 
Putnams by personal examination. The vari- 
ous auction sales from August to October 
were attended, and many bargains secured, 
especially at the* fall parcel and trade sales. 

In order to avoid the purchase of duplicates, 
the books, as soon as ordered and bought, 
were cataloged on the standard order slips 
of the Library Bureau, which slips are used 
as the official catalog of our library. 

In checking off the books, careful attention 
was paid to providing for the probable de- 
mands that would be made upon the library. 
Naturally, everything relating to the history 
of Louisiana would be looked for on our 
shelves, and, as it is purposed to make the li- 
brary one of the leading reference libraries of 
the South, works relating to the South, or by 
southern authors, have been, and continue to 
be, purchased. For the same reason, books 
on Mexico, Central America, and South Amer- 
ica, and on inter-oceanic canals and railways 
are among our specialties. 



NELSON. 



39 



From an agricultural point of view, works 
on the culture of sugar-cane, cotton, rice, and 
tobacco, as well as those on the manufacture 
of sugar and cotton goods were selected. Ex- 
posed to the annual floods of the Mississippi 
River, we had to provide the best information 
on the hydraulics of rivers and canals, and 
the building of levees and embankments ; and 
on the subjects of drainage, sanitation, and 
yellow fever too much light could not be 
thrown. Water-supply, also ice-making, light- 
ing by gas and electricity, road-making, rail- 
roading, and electric engineering were sub- 
jects of vital interest and importance. New 
Orleans, being one of the largest ports of en- 
try and export in the country, the best works 
on harbors and docks were procured, and, 
with an eye to the future, on bridge-building, 
also. In view of the numerous branches of 
manufacture carried on in the city, mechan- 
ics and the useful arts were fully represented 
in the books selected. 

The catalogs named presented us with a 
liberal supply of admirable works in natural 
science, to which others were added of the 
popular order. A few hundred volumes, by 
some of the best writers on theology, were se- 
lected, a few shelves full of authorities in 
philology, and a full supply in sociology, es- 
pecially in political economy ; while liberal 
place was given to representatives of the va- 
rious schools of philosophy. In fine arts, 
general and special histories, and many of the 
leading books of ornament and design were 
secured, and especially books of costume ; 
and such as would give suggestions for the 
grand pageants of Mardi Gras. Athletic 
sports and yachting also received special 
attention. 



To meet the wants of the literary societies 
among the ladies of our city, of which I 
will name but two, the Geographies and the 
Quarante Club, works relating to the relig- 
ions of the East were procured for the first- 
named, and those on the literatures of Greece, 
Rome, Italy, Spain, and France for the other. 
The large French element in the city induced 
the selection of several hundred volumes in 
modern French literature. The standard Eng- 
lish and American poets were procured, but 
in fiction only a selection from the best books 
was made. Biography and history are very 
fully represented, and a good beginning has 
been made of a collection of books on our 
civil war, a department of the library which 
will be made as complete as possible. 

In checking off and ordering scientific 
books on the catalogs of Van Nostrand, 
Spon, and others, I had the advice and assist- 
ance of Mr. C: E. Speir, of D. Van Nostrand 
Co., whose wide knowledge of scientific pub- 
lications, sound judgment, and, I can also 
add, disinterestedness, proved of the greatest 
value to me, as I am confident they will also 
prove to others who may consult him in 
selecting this class of books. I wish also to 
acknowledge my indebtedness to the late Mr. 
G: E: Brett, manager of the American branch 
of Macmillan & Co., for his courtesy and full 
and free counsel in aiding me to cull from the 
admirable list of publications of this house 
those best adapted to library use. That 
librarian is wise who complements his own 
(shall I say it?) not always infallible judg- 
ment with what aid he can draw from such ex- 
perts ; for if he be discreetly silent (as per- 
haps I have not been), will not the net result 
redound to his own credit? 



40 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



ANTEDILUVIAN LIBRARIES. 



BY ERNEST C. RICHARDSON, PH.D. 



paper has at bottom the sober, his- 
torical purpose of clearing the ground 
for the proper history of libraries. It is an 
introductory chapter on the mythical period 
of library history, and may perhaps be fol- 
lowed somewhere some time by a chapter 
on the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian 
libraries and their interesting library economy. 

Schmidt in his Handbuch d. Bibliotheks- 
wissenschaft (Weimar, 1840) contains (pp. 6 
and 7) a list of treatises on antediluvian li- 
braries, and mentions also some earlier writers 
who have maintained the existence of libraries 
before the flood. As none of these were at hand 
from which to draw material, this paper is neces- 
sarily limited to the meager results of original 
investigation. It purposes to examine what 
accounts, if any, we have of antediluvian li- 
braries, their character, contents, extent, and 
methods of administration, with some critical 
examination of the relative value of those 
methods. 

Such an examination as this might perhaps 
begin with a study of Adam's library what it 
consisted of, how it was arranged and where 
kept, and whether it was formed before Eve 
was, and who was librarian; on all of which 
questions there are easily accessible sources. 
But there may perhaps be critical pre-adamit- 
ists here ; or one, perchance, who, fed by Plato 
or Wordsworth, thinks the soul is preexistent, 
and 

"... trailing clouds of glory do we come 
From God, who is our home." 

and if preexistent souls, why not preexistent 
libraries ? I do verily assure you that I do 
not believe the tales of pre-adamitic and pre- 
existing libraries to be wholly true ; but, to be 
scientific and forestall captious critics, we will 
begin before the beginning and treat : 

1. Preexistent libraries. 

2. Pre-adamitic libraries. 

3. Antediluvian libraries proper. 

The first known library is what is now com- 
monly called the " Veda." This, you know, is a 



collection of various works, including poetry? 
philosophy, religion, theology, etc. 

It used to be thought that Brahma, the Cre- 
ator, existed first and produced the Vedas, 
but no, it appears from the Institutes of Manu* 
that this library existed even before the Creator 
created himself. After the Creator created 
himself in the form of Brahma, and had made 
the soul, consciousness, mind, he formed all 
creatures and assigned to them (1.21) "dis- 
tinct names, distinct acts, and distinct occu- 
pations, as they had been revealed in the 
preexisting Vedas" (Some books, you see, 
existed before mind was created, and this we 
can believe.) 

Kalluka Bhatta, in his commentary on this 
passage (Muir. Sanskrit texts v. 3 : 6) explains 
how the preexisting Vedas were preserved. 
" The same Vedas which existed in the pre- 
vious mundane era (Kalpa) were preserved 
in the memory of the omniscient Brahma, 
who was with the Supreme Spirit. It was 
these same Vedas that, in the beginning of 
the [present] Kalpa he drew forth from Agni, 
Vaya, and Surya"(Muir. v. 3). 

In other words, at the beginning of this 
world, the Creator first created himself, and 
then gathered from various sources whether 
libraries or publishers is not mentioned 
the collection of books known as the Vedas, 
and on the basis of this (cf. Ssk. texts, passim) 
all things were created. There was thus a 
library. Brahma was librarian, and kept all the 
books in his mind. Brahma was thus in him- 
self a library, and for a long time the deposi- 
tories of the Vedas were in the minds of 
men, but were, I venture to say, proper 
libraries. 

In the case of Brahma this literature was 
classified under four heads, in Dr. Poole's 

* Even if the Institutes of Manu do not, as Sir William 
Jones thought, date from 1250 B. C.) or even as Elphinstone 
claimed, from 900 B. C., yet it will be safe at least to take the 
testimony of Prof. Monier Williams (Sanskrit Wisdom, p. 
215), that they cannot be put later than the fifth century, 
B. C., while portions of them are older still. 



RICHARDSON. 



compartment system, and, as in the Boston 
Public Library, different classes of literature 
were issued from different places. "From 
the eastern mouth of Brahma . . . issued . . . 
the rich verses. . . . From his southern 
mouth . . . the yajash verses. . . . From the 
western mouth . . . the saman verses and the 
metics. . . . From the northern mouth of 
Vedas (Brahma) was manifested the entire 
Atharvana" (Muir. 3 : 12) the classification 
being thus by subjects with notation accord- 
ing to the points of the compass. 

ODIN'S LIBRARY. 

A second group of preexistent libraries 
may be gathered under the head of Odin's 
Library. This is represented under various 
forms in the northern mythology, but these 
may be simplified to two, and these, in fact, 
are identical the fountains of Urd and 
Mimer and the mead of the gods. 

There is an exquisite philosophy under it 
all, but this in the main and all details of 
proof must be left, only saying that the 
points have been worked out with care. The 
history of the first form of this library is 
briefly as follows : It appeared first in the 
form of Kvaser. Kvaser was wisest of all 
the gods (Fooling of Gylfe, 54), so wise that 
no one could ask a question which he was 
not able to answer, and he traveled about 
the world to teach men knowledge. He was 
slain by the dwarfs, who gave out that Kvaser 
had drowned himself in his own wisdom, 
because, as it were, no one could ask ques- 
tions enough to draw off the superfluous 
learning (some members of the A. L. A. were 
not then born). His blood was saved in two 
jars Son (expiation) and Bodn (offering) 
and a kettle called Oclrorer (that which moves 
the mind). This blood, mixed with honey, 
constituted a mead, the drinking of which 
made a man a " poet and man of knowledge." 
The dwarfs bartered the mead with the giant 
Suttung, from whose daughter Gunlo'd Odin 
stole both heart and mead. Odin escaped, 
closely pursued by Suttung. Almost over- 
taken, he threw out a little of the mead, 
which, sprinkled about on earth, is what the 
poetasters have ; but the rest was saved, and, 



jealously kept in jars, is distributed to the 
gods and poets (Brage's Talk, 3sq). 

This mead is knowledge, the spring of 
life and thought, like the apples, which Iduna 

The sorrow-healing maiden, 

Who the Asa's youth-preserving apples kept, 

plucks from the tree of knowledge and of life, 
and is served, as you will remember, by the 
Valkyries. 

But the mead is said to be in part identical 
with the water of life in Urd, the fountain of 
heavenly wisdom, which, with Mimer (mem- 
ory), fount of terrestrial knowledge, waters 
Iggdrasil, the great tree of knowledge and 
life ; and this water of life is knowledge. 

The source of nourishment for the tree of 
life is thus represented to be a great library 
of universal knowledge, classified into theol- 
ogy, including fine arts and belles lettres, and 
natural science; the former being in charge 
of Urd and the three Norns wisest of 
women while the latter is under the charge 
of the grim Mimer. Every day Urd and the 
Norns sprinkle the tree of life from the foun- 
tain of knowledge, and everything which that 
water touches is purified to snowy whiteness. 
There is no time for philosophy now, but it 
is a curious and suggestive fact that, in all 
the ancient mythologies, the food and drink 
of life, whether nectar, soma, haoma, or mead, 
the apples of Ida or Iduna, or whatever the 
figure, are knowledge. Is it not Socrates 
who says : "What is the food of the soul? 
Why, knowledge, it is the food of the soul." 

As a man's knowledge is, so is his life in 
kind and amount; and those who feed the 
souls of men through books are forming lives. 

To return to this library, there will be 
noticed of it the predominance of female 
librarians. The mead of inspiration and life 
was served to gods and heroes by the Val- 
kyries, and the apples were in charge of Iduna; 
while in the great world library all literature 
and art were in charge of Urd and the Norns. 
The one prominent male librarian of this 
library Mimer appears in a most ungra- 
cious light; for so stern was he that even 
Odin, when he wished to draw a book, had 
to deposit one of his eyes as a pledge for its 
safe return. 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



This will do for preexisting libraries. It 
may be objected respecting them that it was 
knowledge thus gathered, not books ; but 
what are books but materialized knowledge, 
a sort of essence of truth ? It is a novelty to 
think of drawing books by the pint or quart 
from a spigot rather than as now by the 
pound or yard from a lot of boxes, but it 
amounts to the same thing. Any thought 
put in a fixed form of expression, for trans- 
mission in that form, is a book, whether writ- 
ten on stone or paper or the molecules of a 
brain; and where several are systematically 
stored, with a view to being drawn in that 
exact form, they form a proper library, so 
that, e. g., the early oral transmitters of the 
Vedas were real libraries. , 

2. PRE-ADAMITIC LIBRARIES. 

Any librarian knows that dust gathers at a 
maximum rate of say one millimetre per year. 
Any book, therefore, found buried more 
than six metres deep must be Pre-adamitic Q. 
E. D. In modern excavations of Akkadian 
libraries, therefore, we are prepared for the 
statement of Berosus that the capital of the 
world 250,000 years B. C. was called Panta- 
biblionor the Universal Library, which shows 
that the Pre-adamites had advanced notions 
on the dignity of the profession. 

With this single mention in this class to 
which belong also the libraries of Egypt with 
their dynastic monstrosities of chronology, we 
pass into the region of conventional chro- 
nology, where the first library of which we 
have account is naturally that of Adam. 

3. ANTEDILUVIAN LIBRARIES PROPER. 
ADAM'S LIBRARY. 

In 1884 Dr. William Galloway, of Edin- 
burgh, published " Dissertations on the Phil- 
osophy of the Creation," a very exhaustive 
and amusing study of traditions. It contains 
some interesting matter to our point. I draw 
from this and various old traditions found in 
various sources the following authentic details. 
On the seventh day Jehovah, it is said, wrote 
a work on the creation in several volumes, 
primarily, to teach Adam the alphabet, and 
secondarily, to preserve the record of the 
creation. For some time this seems to have 



formed Adam's entire library. After the fall, 
however, Jehovah published a new edition in 
one volume on stone, and added another work 
on another stone. These were placed by him 
in a " Beth" or " House " on a mount east of 
the Garden of Eden, which also contained the 
Cherubim. This was the first library build- 
ing, and presumably the Cherubim were the 
first librarians. The library was bequeathed 
by Adam to Seth, by Seth to Enoch. It 
formed a part of the library of Noah, and 
was consulted by Moses, who incorporated 
the Elohistic and Jehovistic accounts in the 
Pentateuch. 

But this was not the only pretended his- 
torical library. Besides this we have record 
of various collections, one e. g. of astronomi- 
cal and astrological works by the children of 
Seth; a collection of heretical writings by 
Ham, written before the flood, which he was 
not allowed to take into the ark with him 
(Joh. Cassianus); and the many libraries of 
Greek works destroyed by the flood, of which 
the Egyptian priest told Solon. 

But facile princeps in interest is the library 
of Noah. It contained that of Adam, with 
very many additions. At the time of the 
flood Noah was commanded to bury his books 
"the earliest, middle, and recent" in a 
pit dug at Sippara. From this it appears that 
the library must have been very large if there 
was room for all the animals, and not enough 
for the books. According to Joh. Cassianus, 
some books were taken into the ark prob- 
ably a select library suitable for ocean travel, 
or perchance the same ancient volumes now 
at times recommended for unwary travelers 
to take to foreign shores. 

After the flood this library was dug up by 
Noah, and preserved in his Beth at Nisibis in 
Peraea, or, according to Berosus, was dug up 
by the sons of Noah, after their father had 
been translated, and formed the nucleus of 
the Babylonian libraries. 

The Hindu account of this library (Sir 
William Jones i, 288) has an interesting 
variation and witnesses to the fact of the 
library. It states that the flood came be- 
cause the sacred books, having been stolen 
from men, men had become wicked. After 



RICHARDSON. 



43 



the deluge Vishnu slew the thief, and restored 
the books to Noah. 

Of course, seriously speaking, all these 
accounts point simply to one historical prob- 
ability the single grain of historic wheat in 
this bushel of chaff the probability that 
there were, in fact, libraries before the flood, 
or at least before the conventional date for 
the flood. This probability is emphasized by 
something like real evidence in the Akkadian 
works discovered in recent years. Up to 
within a few years 2200 B. C. was almost the 
earliest date really claimed ; but later discov- 
eries claim an earlier date, and antediluvian 
libraries may for the first time fairly demand 
the attention of the strict historian. 

But let us return to the chaff, yet not 
without hope of a second grain of wheat, 
and consider briefly what sort of libraries 
these were claimed to be, what they contained. 

One of the most curious lines of apocryphal 
literature is this class of works supposed to 
have been written by the antediluvians. 

Though not usually mentioned in histories 
of fiction, some have furnished suggestions for 
many a modern writer, including, perhaps, 
indirectly at least, Ame'lie Rives. 

The handiest collection of such pieces is 
Fabricius Codex Pseudepigraphus Veteris 
Testament! (Hamb. 1722). 

Asking what books Noah may have had in 
his library, we find that it may have contained, 
besides the Elohistic and Jehovistic docu- 
ments mentioned, the following works by 
Adam, e. g. (a.) " De nominibus animantium." 
(b.) A census report of the Garden of Eden, 
which included all living things and must have 
been of the greatest value to Noah in collect- 
ing the animals for the ark. (c.} The Q2d 
psalm, (d.) A poem on the creation of Eve, 
and various other works, all, it is to be pre- 
sumed, written after the fall ; for the very same 
authentic chroniclers who ascribe these works 
to Adam declare that he was born at three 
o'clock, sinned at eleven, was " damnatus " at 
twelve, and driven out of Eden early next 
morning which left little time for literary 
work, one may suppose. 

The library might have contained also 
works by Cain, Seth, Enos, Enoch, Methu- 



selah and others, and various works by Noah 
himself, including his history of the world to 
his own time written before the flood and 
published in two editions, one on wood and 
one on stone. 

One can imagine Noah's sons, 

"In the spring-time, when a young man's fancy 

Lightly turns to thoughts of love," 
drawing a slab or two of Adam's poem on the 
creation of Eve, and see their disappointment 
at the calm way in which he invites her to 
"shake hands and kiss him." 

The books were written generally on brick 
or stone, but sometimes on wood those on 
brick or stone furnishing a curious inversion 
of a modern problem by making the books 
fire and water proof instead of the buildings. 
Shall we perhaps come to asbestos books ? 



There has been much controversy as to the 
universality of the deluge, but there are right 
here in Amerca libraries which do not seem 
to have been touched by the flood, not even so 
much as to have had their floors cleaned. 

They cannot be post-diluvian, for they are 
very old, and it must have taken a great deal 
of time for them to become so old. 

I do not propose to enumerate such libraries, 
but only to give a very few characteristics out 
of our study of the traits which are peculiar 
to extreme antediluvian libraries ear-marks 
or rules for recognizing such libraries. 

By noting the fact that certain evolutionary 
stages were reached at certain times, it appears 
that 

1. When a library (a) excludes poetry or 
fiction, (b) has no adequate protection against 
fire and water, (*r)has no special suitable build- 
ing or room, (</) does not admit more than 
one copy or edition of a work, it is pre- 
adamitic Adamites and antediluvians in- 
cluded poetry and fiction, had protection 
against fire and water, had special buildings, 
and kept more than one edition or copy of a 
work. 

2. When a library admits its function to 
be anything less than primary in importance, 
it is pre-pre-adamitic or preexistent. 

3. and finally. When a library is treated as 
the exclusive property of t) e librarian, when 



44 



FA BY AN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



it refuses to employ women librarians, when 
it includes only contemporaneous literature, 
or when it is not classified, it antedates the 
preexistent. 
We may learn many a lesson from these 



ancient tales, but chief of all we learn that 
libraries are depositories of knowledge and 
sources of life ; that librarians are custodians 
of knowledge and dispensers of life. May 
they live up to their high calling. 



THE FUTURE OF THE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



BY LEWIS H. STEINER, LIBRARIAN ENOCH PRATT LIBRARY, BALTIMORE. 



T ARGE libraries, filled with collections of 
the written and printed learning of the 
wise men of the world, have been known for 
ages. They were for the few ; for those who, 
retiring from the attractions of business and 
the allurements of public life, lived among 
books, and ardently desired no greater occu- 
pation, no higher honor than to swell the 
number of such monuments of man's intel- 
lectual power. No ambition to extend the 
treasures of learning to the unlearned seemed 
to animate the student of those days. To 
preserve and enlarge these wondrous mauso- 
leums of laborious genius was the chief 
object of their ambition. The great majority 
of the race had no part in such treasures, was 
content to dig and labor for a precarious 
existence, and to die, as it were, glebce 
adscriptus. Such was the relation of man- 
kind to the huge collections of books, known 
as libraries, in the early days of learning. 

But as years and centuries passed by, the 
people began to feel that they had a right to 
whatever was good and ennobling in the 
lands where their lot was cast. There might 
be a divine right inherent to kings, but there 
was also a divine right inherent to every 
human being to enter the halls of learning, 
and, seizing everything that could intensify 
and enlarge the intellectual powers, aspire to 
the attainment of all that tended to make him 
master of the world and its varied secrets. 
The attainment of scientific knowledge, politi- 
cal knowledge, of all forms of knowledge, 
must be made possible. Man had been made 
in the image of his Maker, and therefore it 
was his right to aspire to mastery, and to use 
everything within his reach as an adjuvant to 
such an end. And so knowledge grew, and 



learning became widespread; and libraries, 
instead of remaining the property of a chosen 
few, became the most democratic institutions 
known to man. And with this change, libra- 
ries ceased to be known as reserved for the 
few. Their doors were flung wide open to 
any one who could utter the magic "open 
sesame," which was simply the articulate cry 
of the hungry soul for that which would 
make it wiser, better, and more like that 
Image after which it had been created. 

It would be a curious and not an unprofit- 
able line of study to trace the Genesis of the 
free public library, from the nucleus which 
was hidden in the libraries that had first been 
established solely for the learned, until it 
reached its present stage of development 
until, shorn of all exclusiveness, it became 
the freest instrument known to the ipth 
century for the elevation of the race from 
ignorance, and the best and dearest friend of 
every one whose aspirations impelled him to 
acquire the secrets of the past and present, 
as well as to battle for himself, his family, 
and fellow-citizens in the future. But such 
a study is denied me at present. Let me, 
however, try to set forth, as clearly as practi- 
cable, some thoughts concerning the future 
of this mighty, democratic agency of the ipth 
century. It may be well to pause for a while 
in the technical details of our professional 
work although these are so important, and 
must necessarily claim much attention during 
our annual conferences and, for a few min- 
utes, look at what may be the future develop- 
ment of the public library, and at what it will 
require of those who are honored with its 
charge. 

I take it for granted that the free public 



STEINER. 



45 



library has secured such a hold upon the af- 
fections of the people, that it can safely en- 
dure all possible antagonisms which may arise 
from indifference or penurious considerations. 
Communities are already bearing cheerfully 
the necessary taxation for its support, and 
millionaires have learned to regard it as a fa- 
vorite object for the bestowment of the over- 
flow of their bank accounts. A thirst for 
knowledge has seized the people, and this can 
be satisfied in no way so well as by resorting 
to our literary reservoirs for continuous sup- 
plies. The public library is closely connected 
with the civilization of the age so closely 
that the two are becoming almost inseparable. 
So long as a free people possesses this thirst 
for knowledge, and looks upon its gratifica- 
tion as a means of advancing its welfare, of 
freeing it from the curse of caste, and of mak- 
ing its homes brighter and happier and better, 
the public library, with its treasures of that 
which will amuse, interest, and instruct, must 
remain an institution very dear to their hearts. 
i. Our schools do but fit their scholars for 
its use, and it is no misnomer to speak of it as 
the people's university, where every aspira- 
tion for knowledge should receive, not only 
kindly encouragement, but direct and invalu- 
able assistance. And this brings me to my 
first proposition, that " the public library 
must be kept in thorough sympathy with the 
people," by furnishing not only the treasures 
of the past, but whatever may belong to pres- 
ent discovery, both in arts and sciences, or to 
topics that have come to the front as of burn- 
ing value to mankind. It must always be a 
living fountain of refreshment to the human 
soul. It cannot fossilize itself by mere collec- 
tions of the productions of the past. It is no 
place for the mere hoarding of the severely 
classic. It must also furnish the results of 
whatever the present brings forth, and be 
ready to supply this on call of every age and 
condition. It must disdain to furnish infor- 
mation on no subject, on account of its seem- 
ing triviality, nor shrink from the task of sup- 
plying draughts from the most profound sources 
of human wisdom, should these be solicited. 
It must become an encyclopaedic helper to 
the community, never at a loss for an answer 



to a question, if the same can be found on the 
printed page. On the lookout for the first 
rays of any light that penetrates the dark cor- 
ners of the mind, it must gather up all these, 
and preserve them for those who will be most 
in need of their assistance. In this univer- 
sity there must not only be knowledge, but 
that prescience which may predict and recog- 
nize the faintest indication of the appearance 
of a new discovery or a new application of a 
recognized principle, and then generously put 
the same at the disposal of all its pupils. It 
must, by loyalty to its sphere of duty, show 
its indispensability to its patrons, so that no 
public institution will become more intrinsi- 
cally valuable to them, and none be looked 
upon with deeper affection and more ardent 
love. In this way it will be true to its high 
mission, and demonstrate its right to the con- 
fidence of the people ; and these will learn, 
through the recognition of such sympathy 
with their wants and needs, to come to it al- 
ways for aid and assistance in the various 
problems that meet them in the daily strug- 
gles of life. 

2. Who, then, is equal to the task of 
developing the capabilities of this great uni- 
versity, and how can these be made most 
useful to the crowds that will throng its 
halls ? There is much technique to be mas- 
tered. We meet and discuss this with 
earnestness. Classification and mechanical 
appliances to assist in the details of adminis- 
tration, the best methods of doing this and 
that, the best forms of blanks wherewith 
accounts can be kept and statistics made 
practically available, how time and labor can 
be saved by such an invention, these and 
thousands of other subjects demand our 
attention; and our time is so frequently 
occupied with them this tithing of "mint, 
anise, and cummin" that we are in great 
danger of forgetting " the weightier matters 
of the law" the great trusts confided to our 
hands, the immense responsibilities that have 
been voluntarily assumed, and which must 
never be overlooked. He who is to be the 
mentor of young and old, who come with 
their unending questions on every subject to 
the library, must not be content with a mere 



4 6 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



acquaintance, however exhaustive it may be, 
with the details of library management. He 
dare not despise these, since they are essen- 
tial to system and the successful performance 
of his daily duties. They must be familiar 
to him and his assistants, but they belong 
only to the mechanical performance of duties, 
while there are others of greater importance 
that inhere to his professional position, which 
should never be neglected, and without an 
attention to which he will fall far short of the 
usefulness he should attain. Constant study, 
some familiarity with what has been done by 
the human mind in all spheres of its activity, 
with the novelties of the age as presented by 
specialists whose activity at present is truly 
marvelous ; in fine, with the learning of the 
world. All this would not more than meet 
the requirements of the situation occupied by 
the librarian. Who is sufficient for all this ? 
No one would arrogantly claim for himself 
such omniscience. What then? He can 
possess himself with an acquaintance with 
the sources whence such varied information 
can be obtained, so as to be able to point the 
road that the inquirer must take to secure 
correct answers to his queries. And this, I 
believe, must be the line of study to be taken 
by the public librarian, so that he can help, 
advise, aid, and assist, if he is unable to 
furnish the full information required. He 
may have his own special subjects of study, 
but he dare not prosecute them to the detri- 
ment of this more important portion of his 
duties. 

The library, in the future, must not only be 
a collection of books to amuse and instruct, 
to aid and assist those who are hungering and 
thirsting for knowledge, but it must furnish 
guidance and direction for all who are unable 
to secure this from its stores. It must fur- 
nish counsel for those who would employ its 
treasures, and this function belongs naturally 
to him who has been intrusted with its man- 
agement and conduct. He must not only 
cater to existing public tastes, but assist in 
the creation of new ones on the highest pos- 
sible plane. He must become the superin- 
tendent of a class of assistants, who shall also 
be relieved of technical details, of duties con- 



nected with the receiving of the fresh mate- 
rials that a growing library will be acquiring 
daily, of classifying and making these readily 
obtainable from its shelves, of all duties con- 
nected with the economic administration of its 
daily work, and, in fine, of everything that 
will interfere with the most practical instruc- 
tional work. These assistants will employ 
the keys that unlock the treasures of the li- 
brary, and make their contents available in 
the most intelligible way for the hungry stu- 
dent. The Bureau of Information, that some 
librarians have already felt themselves forced 
to establish in their libraries, will increase in 
dimensions until,it is so organized as to dis- 
tribute its duties among those who are to be- 
come specialists in the different departments 
of human study. 

The ideal public library of the future will 
thus not only be a warehouse of books, 
where the most complete adaptation of the 
best technical methods for their arrangement, 
classification, and management shall be em- 
ployed, but a realization of a people's uni- 
versity, supplied with instructors whatever 
names be given them fully competent to 
guide and instruct its pupils, and to make its 
books of incalculable value ; over all of which 
will preside the one mind that is full of 
sympathy with its students, and, at the same 
time, broad enough and wise enough to com- 
prehend all necessary practical details, while 
it commits these to subordinate officers 
some to manage those of a mere technical 
character, and others to exercise those in- 
structional duties that are demanded, in order 
to make the library most useful to the great- 
est number. 

It may be said that to accomplish all this 
will require a large outlay of money, but the 
same can be said of all enterprises under- 
taken for the instruction and advancement of 
the race. Still, we have found that, when 
the ideal of any such enterprise approves 
itself to the judgment of the public, the 
money for its full accomplishment comes 
sooner or later. Our colleges have rarely 
sprung into existence fully equipped for the 
tasks they have undertaken. They have 
generally struggled under difficulties of the 



STEINER. 



47 



most disheartening character. But when 
their instructors have proven themselves 
equal to their tasks, have made their pupils 
and the great public see the beneficial 
results of their labors, we have found that 
the money needed for their support, for the 
erection of suitable buildings, and the proper 
supply of books and instruments and the 
necessary appliances for illustration, has come 
at first in little rills, then in larger steams, 
and finally in quantity sufficient to supply 
these, as well as adequately to compensate 
the able and conscientious men who have 
devoted their energies to such noble work. 
The collegiate institutions that have been 
ushered into existence through large and 
bountiful benefactions are simply evidences, 
in these latter days, of what the people have 
learned to admire and put confidence in, in 
the case of those that have fought the good 
fight in previous years, and thus secured con- 
fidence in the grand ideal. Moreover, the 
age has begun to feel that money can be 
profitably employed in the establishment of 
vast institutions for the training of the young 
in industrial pursuits, in the practical appli- 
cations of the fine arts, and, indeed, in a 
thousand lines of work, in which in former 
days unaided genius was content to struggle 
and labor without aid or assistance. The 
tide of generous benefaction has been already 
directed towards the foundation and support 
of libraries, and it is manifesting itself in all 
directions in the form of gifts from the mil- 
lionaire, who has begun to see how he may 
link his name inseparably with great good 
for his fellow-men by founding public libra- 



ries. This movement will not be checked, 
but rather increased, when the management 
of the library shall show the practical results 
here set forth as possible. The fully equipped 
and intelligently managed people's university 
will continue to claim support from the hands 
of those who have great personal wealth, or 
directly from the people for whose benefit it 
is conducted. 

A word now as to the quarter, whence may 
come, in the future, baneful influences, which 
will not only fetter the movement towards 
the attainment of the ideal here presented, but 
even seriously interfere with the work of the 
library in whatever shape this may be done. 
Already signs of such influences have shown 
themselves, and have done some injury. I re- 
fer to the active agency of partisan politics in 
the selection of its officers and its general man- 
agement, so that these shall be made to agree 
with the dominant majority, who, in accor- 
dance with the prevalent claims of machine 
partisan politicians, are entitled to the control 
of everything of a public nature in the body 
politic. The public library is a non-partisan 
institution ; the public librarian is a non-par- 
tisan citizen, however pronounced may be his 
political views, and however he may feel 
called upon to cast his ballot. If he cannot 
keep his political views from controlling his 
conduct as librarian, he should not undertake 
such duties. But when true to the functions 
of his high calling, he should be kept free 
from the perturbations of party, and guarded 
from fears that he may be made a victim either 
of its erratic likes or dislikes. 



4 8 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



THE SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC LIBRARY, CAPE TOWN, 

With Statistics of the Chief Public Libraries and Reading-Rooms of the Cape Colony. 



BY PROF. DAVID P. TODD. 



A DJACENT to the Parliament Buildings, 
' and situate on the west side of the main 
avenue of the Government Gardens, in 
close proximity to the Botanic Gardens, is 
the building occupied conjointly by the Mu- 
seum and the South African Public Library. 

This building was built in 1858, and the 
Library Hall was inaugurated by His Royal 
Highness Prince Alfred the i8th September, 
1860. The first volume deposited on that 
occasion by His Royal Highness was a very 
valuable Greek manuscript, " Lectionarum 
Grascum," of the loth century, presented by 
His Excellency Sir George Grey, then Gov- 
ernor of the colony. The library now con- 
tains about 45,000 volumes. 

A general catalogue was published in 
1881,* divided into the five branches theol- 
ogy, jurisprudence, sciences and the arts, 
history, and belles lettres. 

Of course it will be no news to the Asso- 
ciation that a fine library has been growing in 
South Africa for a half-century and more; 
but, as information about the library is not 
generally accessible in the United States, I 
present a few facts gathered in a short so- 
journ at the Cape last January. 

" The South African Public Library of the 
Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, established 
in 1818, was designed," says the " Govern- 
ment Proclamation," "to lay the foundation 
of a system which shall place the means of 
knowledge within the reach of the youth of 
this remote corner of the globe, and bring 
within their reach what the most eloquent of 
ancient writers has considered to be one of the 
first blessings of life, ' home education.' " 

The library was first opened to the public 

*A General Catalogue of Books in the South African 
Public Library, Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, with a 
List of Donors, Office-bearers, and the Regulations of the 
Institution. Compiled by Frederick Maskew, Chief Libra- 
rian. London: Henry S. King & Co., 1881. 



on the 3d January, 1822. Wine was then the 
staple export of the colony, and the funds for 
the support of the library were derived from 
charges upon every cask passing through the 
market of Cape Town. Six years later, gov- 
ernment aid was withdrawn by the repeal of 
the wine-tax. The circulating branch of the 
library was inaugurated in 1829, and, from 
that time down to 1862, the library revenue 
was almost exclusively derived from local 
subscriptions. The affairs of the library, at 
first administered by a board of trustees, were 
subsequently managed by a committee of the 
subscribers to the institution, and are now ad- 
ministered under " Ordinance No. viii. of the 
year 1836," which prescribes the terms of sub- 
scription and specific regulations for all li- 
brary interests. Following 1862, the library 
received an annual grant of ^600 from the 
Colonial Parliament for a period of twenty 
years. 

One of the divisions of the library is enti- 
tled the " Dessinian Collection," being a col- 
lection of books, with a few manuscripts and 
paintings, which were bequeathed by Mr. 
Joachim Nicolaas von Dessin in the year 1761, 
" to serve as a foundation of a public library 
for the advantage of the community." This 
valuable collection formed originally the nu- 
cleus of the whole library, and by the will of 
the donor is vested in three trustees, elected 
annually by the consistory of the Dutch Re- 
formed Church in Cape Town from among its 
own members. This division of the library 
has distinct regulations, and a separate cata- 
logue compiled in 1821 by Kaufmann and 
Von Manger. The number of volumes 
amounts to 4,565, in the Latin, German, 
French, and Dutch languages. This special 
library is richest in theology and history. 

A farther division of the library, entitled 
the Porter Collection, has an interesting 
history. It was presented to the library by 



TODD. 



49 



the subscribers to a fund for the purpose of 
having a life-sized portrait of the Hon. Mr. 
Porter painted, to be deposited in the South 
African Public Library, as a recognition of 
the many and valuable services rendered by 
him to the colony. Mr. Porter declined to 
sit for his portrait ; and the Cape Town sub- 
scribers resolved that the amount subscribed 
by them should be devoted to the purchase 
of standard works to be placed in the library, 
and styled " The Porter Collection." 

The most important part of the South Afri- 
can Public Library is the celebrated Grey 
Collection of about 5,000 volumes, presented 
by Sir George Grey. This collection is rich 
in costly and valuable manuscripts, ranging 
from the loth to the I7th centuries, in Latin, 
Italian, Flemish, etc., besides many rare edi- 
tions of black-letter and early English printed 
books. There are about 130 manuscripts, 
mostly on vellum and parchment, a large 
number of which are very handsomely illumi- 
nated; for instance, a missal which belonged 
to Margaret de Valois. Some vulgates are 
splendidly written ; also a copy of Livy and 
Caesar's " Bellum Gallicum." Most of the 
manuscripts are of a theological and devo- 
tional nature. There are also two very valu- 
able Dante manuscripts, one of which has 
some palimpsest leaves. Among other Italian 
poets are Boccaccio's " Fiammetta," and sev- 
eral handsomely written manuscripts of Pe- 
trarch. The Grey Collection also boasts the 
possession of one of the earliest copies of the 
" Roman de la Rose," a Hebrew Bible of the 
I3th century, with Moorish embellishments; 
also two very old maps of the world, pre- 
sented by Charles A. Fairbridge, Esq., the 
one 1489 and the other 1546. Both maps 
show the central African lakes. There is 
also a very old Flemish manuscript of Sir J. 
Mandeville's " Travels," and Caxton's " Poly- 
chronicon," 1482, and the first edition of the 



collected works of Shakespeare, 1623. The 
collection of native literature of South Africa", 
Polynesia, and New Zealand is unrivaled, and 
includes manuscripts by the first mission- 
aries, Van der Kemp and Schmelen, for ex- 
ample, and unpublished letters and vocabu- 
laries of Livingston. There is also an excel- 
lent photographic collection of the native 
types of South Africa, Bushmen, Hotten- 
tots, and Bantu, Ovambu, Herero, Zulu, 
Kafir, and Basuto, and a good number of 
rock paintings of the Bushmen. 

Seven or eight years ago a philologist was 
appointed by the colonial government to the 
office of custodian of the Grey collection, and 
a catalogue* of the collection was prepared by 
him. It is little more than a list merely, but 
it is rich in titles quaint and curious. It is 
divided into eight parts, among which are 
manuscripts and incunabula; early English- 
printed books ; early printed classics and 
mediaeval Latin and other writers ; science of 
language and comparative philology, Sir 
George Grey's specialty ; Cape literature ; 
and geography, travels, and ethnology. 

While at the Cape I passed many pleasant 
hours with this splendid collection, through 
the courtesy of Mr. Francis Samuel Lewis, 
for a period of years assistant at the Bodleian, 
and lately appointed chief librarian at Cape 
Town. 

Appended is a table of the public libraries 
and reading-rooms of the Cape Colony, in- 
tended to include all above 1,000 volumes 
By the aid of Map No. 28 of Bradley, any one 
interested in locating them with precision can 
readily do so. The Association will be glad 
to know that Mr. Lewis contemplates an 
early organization of a South African Library 
Association, after the American fashion. 

* An Index of the Grey Collection in the South African 
Public Library, by Th. Hahn, late Grey Custodian. Cape 
Town : Saul Solomon & Co., 1884. 



50 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND READING-ROOMS OF CAPE COLONY, 1889. 



NAMB. 


Established. 


No. of Volumes. 


No. of Subscribers. 


Attendance of 
Visitors per diem. | 


* 


Liabilities. 


Additions 
Volumes. 


Receipts. 


Expenditures. 


LIBRARIAN. 


Gov'nm't Grant. 




"h. 
o 

2 

CO 


1 

H 


Salaries. 


Books. 


Periodicals and 
Newspapers. 


Sundries. 


"3 

2 




1818 
1863 
1882 


42,643 
8,903 


269 
294 


96 
72 


270 
2,300 



92 


273 
1,013 

57 
494 
6 
129 
117 
124 
154 

32 
40 
87 

159 
14 

IOO 




400 

200 
300 
200 
I 5 
IOO 

40 

35 
56 
27 
29 
3' 
28 

IOO 

24 

88 
25 

IOO 

25 

32 

36 

25 

36 
63 

37 

4' 
43 

69 

25 




427 

347 
944 
411 
774 
88 
33 
59 
63 
25 
26 
31 
32 
104 
33 
62 

21 

I2 9 
41 

4S 
34 

32 
57 

26 
29 
63 

'33 
26 

46 
107 
4' 
33 
106 
35 
27 
29 

86 
23 

38 



1,040 
664 
1,300 
654 
924 
188 
127 

97 
119 
69 
55 
77 

102 
209 
78 
I 5 8 
47 
229 
66 
338 
92 

102 
121 

149 
I2O 
8? 

'37 
216 

S 2 
54 
217 
69 
70 
IQ5 
87 
78 
59 
173 

66 
90 




363 

i So 
4*0 
132 
426 

at 

18 
36 
'5 
16 

1 


ao 

22 
14 
IOO 
15 

'3 
6 
16 
27 

8 

33 

12 
24 
52 

5 
3 

28 

13 

13 

43 

12 
14 

42 

33 

T 
95 




264 
134 
407 

120 
200 

a 
*6 

45 
32 
11 

7 
32 
32 

50 

40 
33 
39 
23 
72 

25 
47 
52 
ii 

54 
23 
30 
130 
21 
31 

'65 




134 
119 

7 
137 
44 
18 
28 

25 

20 

10 
21 

5 
13 

22 

16 

60 
27 

I 
12 
7 
IO 

9 

12 
28 

7 

35 
18 

12 

38 

IS 
II 

8 
9 
24 

33 
8 


142 
75 
150 
238 
255 
So 
24 
19 
7 

26 
a 
>3 

19 

4 
40 
16 
88 

19 

4 

21 

57 

19 
25 

38 

75 
8 
39 
64 
18 
16 

20 

29 
10 

15 
25 
84 

15 

M 



769 
523 
1,156 
560 
1,018 
184 
89 
92 
"3 
67 
53 
26 
83 
157 
37 
134 
46 
248 
56 
75 
55 
93 
fl 
146 
64 
9 
116 
214 
42 
54 
214 
69 
70 
193 
58 
62 
53 
165 
125 

22 
8l 


F. S. Lewis. 
N. E. Norris. 
S. T. Solomon. 
A. Duncan. 
G. Oettle. 
A. Brown. 
H. L. Dampier. 

Miss Gunn. 
P. Behrens. 
P. Smeer. 
G. A. Whiting. 
F. J. M. Clementz. 
Miss A. S. Kidger. 
Miss Williams. 
Mrs. Nel. 
Miss Bayman. 
Miss Liesching. 
F. Melvill. 

A. Gedder. 
T. Ronne. 
M. Wimmer. 
A. Sheard. 
Mrs. G. Brider. 
Miss M. Wiggett. 
Mrs. Wilson. 

Mrs. Groenwald. 
W. J. Kleinschmidt. 
Miss Prouse. 
J. Rademeyer. 

Miss Smith. 
J. Mader. 

L. G. Rawstome. 
J. Hoare. 
P. F. McDougal. 
R. G. Pettit. 
Miss Uys. 






King William's Town 
Port Elizabeth 


1861 
1848 
1870 
1881 


10,788 
J6.493 
2,225 


267 
4" 

5* 


75 
250 
27 


2,729 
4,759 
1,695 

,6 


2,100 
165 
301 


Aliwal North 


Barkly East 


Beaufort West 


1857 
1874 
1862 


1,220 
2,234 


S* 

55 


IS 
20 


72 

308 


17 


Bedford 




Carnarvon 
Ceres 


1879 
1883 
1852 
1865 
1860 
1875 
1840 
1847 
1868 


1,468 
1.374 

2^87 
J.756 
1,998 
3,ooo 
5,400 


*9 

42 
47 

120 

5< 

50 

125 


12 

6 

25 
5 


37 
24 

22 
391 
321 

S3 
4,010 


13 

6 
14 
400 
16 




Cradock 
East London 
Fort Beaufort 




Graaff-Reinst 




Komgha 
Lonsdale 


1876 
1868 
1858 


1,908 
6,620 


41 

66 




524 
269 
264 


i 


306 
37 
9 1 
138 
237 

93 
168 

212 
80 




1877 
1858 
1858 
1882 


1,756 
3,818 
3,163 


32 

50 
32 


25 


3 
3 

133 
32 


8 
28 




Murraysburg 


p aar l 












1876 
1872 
1862 


2,000 
2,138 


86 
30 


6 
3 


60 
32 


.... 






Queenstown 
Richmond 


1859 
'857 
1874 
1866 
1859 
1838 
1877 
1858 
'859 
1884 


',547 
1,094 
3,5oo 

2,190 
1,475 
2,138 
1,330 


99 

69 
43 
29 
48 
60 
3 


IS 
30 

6 
25 
IS 


102 
64 
I? 
1,262 

266 
67 

674 

77 
23 


61 

22 
3 

2 
IO 


146 

145 

1 60 

"64 
136 


IOO 

25 

27 
88 

31 

26 

27 

5 
32 
26 
3' 


Somerset East 
Stellenbosch 
Swellendam 
Tarkastad 




4 
232 
29 


190 

i 
i 
47 








1858 


1,848 


36 


5 


16 


20 





Of the above the first five receive special grants ; the remainder, grants under governmental regulation. 
Libraries at Adelaide, Bredasdorp, Burghersdorp, Clanwilliam, Humansdorp, Ladesmith, Prieska, Riversdale, Wellington, 
and Woodstock have less than 1,000 but more than 500 volumes. 

Libraries at Barkly West, Butterworth, Caledon, Cathcart, Montagu and Mowbray have less than 500 volumes. 
The total of Receipts includes other items than are in the two previous columns. 



REPORT ON LIBRARY LEGISLATION, JANUARY, 1889- JUNE, 1890. 



BY THORVALD SOLBERG. 



npHE topic selected for me to make a report 
upon is library legislation not the 
ideal legislation which the A. L. A. might like 
to suggest, but the legislation actually passed, 
be it good, bad, or indifferent; and the period 
intended to be covered by the report is the 
year 1889 and the first half of 1890. The 



legislatures of most of the States and Terri- 
tories now hold biennial sessions, and the 
time of meeting of some of them was in the 
early part of this year; but for such legisla- 
tures as met in 1890 I have only been able to 
find for the States of New York and Massa- 
chusetts any printed volumes of laws. As 



SOLBERG. 



regards the session laws examined, I experi- 
enced the same difficulty as my predecessors 
who have reported on legislation, in feeling 
certain that I had always discovered all the 
new laws, owing to the wretched indexes so 
common in that kind of literature. 

The legislation relating to libraries falls 
readily into two divisions : first, that which 
may be deemed of purely private or local 
interest, such as the acts incorporating spe- 
cial libraries, the acts making appropriation 
for the support of libraries, or the salaries of 
librarians, etc. ; second, such as relates to the 
establishment or building up of public or free 
libraries a kind of legislation decidedly in- 
teresting to all librarians, without regard to 
the locality legislated for. In my report, I 
have intended simply to refer to the first sort 
of legislation in a way that would enable any 
one interested to discover what laws had been 
passed ; while the legislation of the second 
class has been summarized somewhat more 
fully. Here I will only advert to the leading 
provisions of the few more important acts of 
a general character, or of special interest. 

In Connecticut a law was passed whereby 
the State contributes $5 for each 100 pupils in 
the public schools of any town, for the pur- 
chase of books and apparatus to be used in 
such schools, provided the town contributes 
an amount equal to that paid by the State 
during the same year. 

The General Assembly of Illinois amended 
the library act of 1872 to the effect that the 
city council of each incorporated city shall 
have the power to establish a public library 
and reading-room, and maintain it by an 
annual tax of two mills on the dollar on all 
taxable property. In the case of cities of 
over 100,000 inhabitants, however, the rate of 
taxation is reduced to one-half of a mill on 
the dollar. An act was also passed, estab- 
lishing the State Historical Library at Spring- 
field for the preservation of books, manu- 
scripts, and other documents relating to 
the history of the State. The collection is 
to be placed in the State House, and is to be 
under the control of three trustees, to be 
appointed by the Governor. Two thousand 
five hundred dollars annually was author- 



ized to be paid out to establish and carry 
on the library, the librarian's salary being 
limited to $500 per annum. 

In Indiana an act was passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembly, which became law without the 
Governor's approval, authorizing cities having 
30,000 or more inhabitants to levy a tax each 
year of two fifths of a mill on each dollar of 
taxable property, the proceeds to be distrib- 
uted by the boards of school commissioners 
in the purchase of books for free libraries in 
connection with the public schools. Impor- 
tant changes relating to the administration of 
the State Library were effected by another act ; 
and the State provided $60,000 for a fire- 
proof library building for the Indiana Univer- 
sity at Bloomington. This was, apparently, 
the only State aid furnished during the period 
of this report for library building. 

The tax-payers of Kansas are authorized by 
an act passed March i, 1889, to vote them- 
selves a public library in any township of 
more than 1,000 inhabitants, and maintain 
it by an annual tax of three mills on the dol- 
lar on all the taxable property in the town- 
ship, provided the citizens of the township 
first donate not less than $2,000 towards the 
library fund. 

An important act to promote the establish- 
ment and efficiency of free publicjilibraries 
was passed by the General Court of Massa- 
chusetts on the 28th of May of this year. Its 
chief provision is the establishment of an un- 
paid board of library commissioners, to be 
appointed by the Governor for a term of five 
years, a new member to come into office each 
year. The Board of Commissioners is author- 
ized to expend up to $100 for books for any 
town not already having a free public library, 
provided the town, at a regularly called town 
meeting, elects a board of library trustees 
who can assume the custody and distribution 
of the books, and also annually provides, by a 
dog-tax or otherwise, for the maintenance of 
the library not less than $50, if its last as- 
sessed valuation was $1,000,000 or upward"; or 
not less than $25, if the valuation was between 
$1,000,000 and $250,000; or not less than $15, if 
said valuation was less than $250,000. Per- 
haps the most important function of this 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



board is that of giving advice to any librarian 
or to the trustees of any public library who 
may ask for help in regard to the selection of 
books, the cataloguing of the books, or any 
other matter pertaining to the maintenance or 
administration of the library. The board is 
to make an annual report which is to be 
printed. 

During the year 1889, the laws relating to 
the University of the State of New York were 
revised and consolidated, and careful pro- 
vision was made for the increase, develop- 
ment, and proper administration of her great 
State library. 

Ohio amended her library law of 1888 by 
an act of March 12, 1889, to the effect that, in 
case the library tax of any city should pro- 
duce more than $15,000, the rate is to be re- 
duced, but not enough to make the result less 
than $13,000 annually. Provision is also 
made for selling $35,000 worth of bonds, the 
proceeds to become a fund for making new 
library buildings fire proof, and for furnishing 
them and ornamenting their grounds. 

Pennsylvania appropriated $50,000 to aid in 
the establishment of a memorial " Free War 
Library and Museum," this amount to be paid 
only when $100,000 has been raised by private 
subscription for the same purpose. 

ARIZONA. [" Acts, 1 5th Legislative Assembly, 
begun the 2ist of January, 1889."] An act was 
approved March 24, 1889, providing $1,750 for the 
expenses of shipping the territorial library from 
Prescott to Phoenix (p. 55). An act was approved 
April 10, 1889, appropriating $1,200 to pay the 
librarian of the Territory for the years 1889 and 
1890 (p. 97). 

ARKANSAS. ["Acts of the General Assembly, 
passed at the session, Jan. i3~April 3, 1889."] In 
the act approved March 30, 1889, making appro- 
priation for the Branch Normal College of the 
Arkansaw Industrial University for 1889-90, pro- 
vision is made to pay for books for the library, 
$500 (p. 91). 

CALIFORNIA. [ " Statutes and amendments of 
the codes, passed at the 28th session of the Legisla- 
ture, 1889."] An act was passed March n, 1889, 
making an appropriation of $89.31 for the defi- 
ciency in the appropriation for the use of the 



library of the Branch State Normal School at Los 
Angelos (p. 138). In the appropriations for the 
years 1889-90, approved March 21, 1889, $15,400 
is provided for the State Library; salary of State 
Librarian, $6,000 ; salaries of two deputies of the 
State Librarian, $7,200; porter, $1,800; contin- 
gent expenses, $400 (p. 441). - 

COLORADO. [ " Laws passed at the 7th session 
of the General Assembly, convened 2d January, 
1889."] An act was approved April 8, 1889, 
appropriating $2,500 for the purchase of law books 
for the Supreme Court Law Library (p. 446). 

CONNECTICUT. [ " Public acts passed by the 
General Assembly, 1889."] By an act approved 
March 13, 1889, the joint board of selectmen and 
school visitors in each town are given power to 
appropriate money for the purchase of books and 
apparatus, to be used in the public schools of the 
town. The money thus appropriated is to be ex- 
pended by a committee on libraries and apparatus 
which shall be annually appointed by the school 
visitors. The treasurer of the State is ordered to 
pay annually, upon the order of the secretary of 
the State Board of Education, to such committee 
$5 for every public school within said town 
for each 100 scholars, or fractional part of 
100 scholars in actual attendance, provided, 
however, that no greater amount is paid by the 
State than is paid during the same year by the 
town; and provided that any amount paid by 
the State under section 2,218 of the general stat- 
utes, to any district or for any high school, shall 
be deducted from the amount payable under this 
act. The books purchased are to become the 
property of the town (p. n). In the appropria- 
tion act of March 22, 1889, there is a provision to 
the effect that the " State Librarian may annually 
purchase for the State Library such elementary 
books and reports of foreign judicial decisions as 
the State Library Committee may deem necessary, 
at an expense not exceeding $1,000 in any one 
year" (p. 31). By chapter 104, approved April 
17, 1889, section 1,428 of the general statutes was 
amended so as to provide that the wilful deten- 
tion of any book, belonging to any public or in- 
corporated library, for thirty days after notice, 
shall be fined not less than $i, nor more than 
$100 (p. 59). The appropriation act for the two 
fiscal years ending June 30, 1891, approved May 
1 6, 1889, provides as follows for the State Library: 
salaries, $4,100; purchase of books, $2,000; in- 
cidental expenses, $800 (p. 186). 



SOLBERG. 



53 



[ " Special acts and resolutions passed by the 
General Assembly at the January session, 1889."] 
Various acts were passed incorporating new 
libraries, as follows : Liberty Hill Circulating 
Library, approved April 2, 1889 (p. 907) ; Bill 
Memorial Library, at Groton, approved April 10, 
1889 (p. 950) ; Hebron Library Association, ap- 
proved April 10, 1889 (p. 951); Putnam Library 
Association, approved April 18, 1889 (p. 981) ; 
and an act confirming the charter of the Bradley 
Library Association was approved April 18, 1889 
(P- 981)- 

DAKOTA. ["Laws passed at the i8th session 
of the Legislative Assembly, January 8-March 9, 
1889."] The general appropriation bill for the 
ensuing two years, approved March 8, 1889, pro- 
vides #i,oooeach forjthe libraries of the University 
of Dakota and the University of North Dakota 
(p. 12). 

DELAWARE. [ " Laws passed at a session of 
the General Assembly, commenced Jan. i, 1889," 
v. 18, part 2.] A joint resolution was passed 
March 27, 1889, appointing a committee to "con- 
sider the necessity of repairs or improvements to 
the State House and Library," with powers to 
invite an architect to view said buildings and to 
pay him for it (p. 998). A joint resolution of 
April 24, 1889, appointed a committee to make a 
biennial settlement with the Attorney-General and 
State Librarian (p. 1007). 

FLORIDA. [" Acts and resolutions adopted by the 
Legislature of Florida, at its second regular ses- 
sion, (1889)."] In the act making appropriations 
for the years 1889 and 1890, approved May 31, 
1889, the salary of the librarian of the Supreme 
Court is made $300 a year, and $500 each year is 
appropriated for the purchase of books (p. 61). 

GEORGIA. [" Acts and resolutions of the General 
Assembly, 1888-9."] ^ n * ne deficiency appropria- 
tion act of Nov. 12,1889, section 9 appropriates $350 
additional salary for the State Librarian for 1889 
and for 1890, and an equal amount for the assist- 
ant State Librarian for each of the two years (p. 7). 

ILLINOIS. [ " Laws passed by the 36th General 
Assembly at the regular biennial session, gth Jan.- 
28th May, 1889."] The appropriation act for 
1888-90, section 10, provides $1,500 per annum 
for the purchase of books and incidental expenses 
of the State Library ; also 1,000 per annum for 



the salary of the assistant librarian. Section 32 
provides $350 per annum for the purchase of books 
for the library of the South Illinois Penitentiary, 
at Chester ; and section 33, $300 per annum for 
the purchase of books for the library of the Illi- 
nois State Penitentiary at Joliet (p. 39.) On 
May 25, 1889, an act was approved, amending a 
previous law of March 7, 1872, whereby the city 
council of each incorporated city shall have the 
power to establish a public library and reading- 
room, and maintain the same by imposing a tax 
of not to exceed two mills on the dollar annually 
on all the taxable property in the city, provided, 
however, that in cities of over 100,000 inhabi- 
tants, the tax shall not exceed one-half of a mill 
on the dollar annually. In cities of over 10,000 
people this tax is not to be included in the aggre- 
gate amount of taxes as limited by law (p. 198). 
Another act approved May 25, 1889, provides for 
the " establishment of a State Historical Library 
at the Capitol." After a preamble to the effect 
that " it is important and desirable that all books, 
pamphlets and other printed matter, manuscript 
monographs and other writings, illustrative and 
descriptive of the history of the State, be col- 
lected and preserved in some permanent form, 
before it is too late to rescue from oblivion the 
memory of its earlier history, and those who 
founded it, as well as those who have been con- 
nected with its rise and progress in later days," 
the law provides that an ante-room of the State 
Library rooms in the State House shall be set 
apart for the use of the State Historical Library, 
and that free access to it at all reasonable hours 
shall be forever had and maintained. Section 3 
provides that the library shall be under the con- 
trol and management of three trustees "well 
versed in the history of the State, and qualified 
by habit and disposition to discharge the duties 
of their office," who shall be chosen and appointed 
by the governor, by and with the consent of the 
Senate, for the term of two years. The said trus- 
tees shall receive no compensation except for 
actual expenses. By section. 4 the trustees are 
given power to make all necessary rules and regu- 
lations for carrying into effect the purposes of the 
act, and are authorized to procure from time to 
time, as may be possible and practicable, at rea- 
sonable cost, " all books, pamphlets, manuscripts, 
monographs, writings, and other materials of his- 
torical interest and useful to the historian, bearing 
upon the political, physical, religious, or 'social his- 
tory of the State of Illinois from the earliest 
known period of time," and to select a librarian, 



54 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



who is to be paid not over $"joo per annum. $2,500 
per annum is appropriated out of the State 
treasury to carry out the provisions of the act 
(p. 199). 

INDIANA. ["Laws of Indiana, passed at the 
56th regular session of the General Assembly, be- 
gun loth Jan., 1889."] By chapter 21, the sum 
of $60,000 is appropriated to the Indiana Univer- 
sity, at Bloomington, " to erect, furnish, and equip 
a fire-proof library building," approved Feb. 
23, 1889 (p. 30). The act (chapter 40, approved 
March, i, 1889, to take effect March 31, 1889) 
providing for the regulation and support of the 
State Library, etc., made important changes in 
relation to that library. The State Geologist, the 
chief of the Bureau of Statistics, the State super- 
intendent of public instruction, one member 
appointed by the Indiana Historical Society, and 
the State Librarian, with the latter as secretary, 
are constituted a purchasing board for the li- 
brary, and it is made the business of this board to 
decide what books, maps, etc., shall be purchased 
for the library, and to supervise and direct the 
expenditure of all appropriations for the purchase 
and binding of books. The board is ordered to 
report biennially to the Legislature on the con- 
dition and wants of the library ; $5,000 was 
appropriated by that act to be expended between 
April r, 1889, and April I, 1890 for books and 
binding, but not over $1,000 was to be used, in 
the discretion of the above board, for the prepa- 
ration of a card catalogue. It is also provided that 
thereafter $2,000 is to be used annually for pur- 
chasing books and for binding. The State Li- 
brarian is ordered to transfer to the library of the 
Supreme Court all state laws, except those for 
Indiana, or those of which the Supreme Court 
Library contains duplicate copies. The State 
Librarian is made the custodian of the State 
documents instead of the Secretary of State ; and 
it is made his duty to distribute them according to 
law, while the custody of the archaeological and 
historical relics is transferred from the State 
Librarian to the State Geologist. The salary of 
the State Librarian is fixed at $1,500, and he is 
authorized to appoint a first assistant at $1,100 a 
year, and a second assistant at $900 a year 
(p. 58). The general appropriation act of March 
u, 1889, appropriates for the State Librarian's 
office, as follows : Salary of State Librarian, $1,500 ; 
first assistant, $1,100; second assistant, $900 ; the 
distribution of documents, $900; janitor, $600; 
while for the salary of the law librarian, $1,200 



is provided, and an extra compensation of $900 as 
payment for making the catalogue of books in the 
Law Library (p. 404). Chapter 233 became a law 
on March II, 1889, by lapse of time without the 
Governor's consent. By authority of this act, the 
boards of school commissioners in cities having 
thirty thousand or more inhabitants, according to 
the census of 1870, are authorized to levy a tax 
each year not exceeding two-fifths of a mill on 
each dollar of taxable property. This money they 
are authorized to distribute in the purchase of 
books for free libraries in connection with public 
schools, in fitting up suitable rooms for such li- 
braries, paying salaries of librarians, etc. The 
boards of school commissioners are also authorized 
to make and enforce, by prescribed penalties, 
such regulations as they may deem necessary for 
the proper care and circulation of the books be- 
longing to the libraries (p. 432.) 

KANSAS. [ " Session laws of 1889."] An act 
was approved March i, 1889, to the effect that, 
upon the written petition of fifty tax-payers, of any 
township, having more than 1,000 inhabitants, to 
the board of county commissioners, said board 
shall put the question of the maintenance of a 
free library before the legal voters of the township 
at the next annual or a specially called election ; and 
if the vote is affirmative, the township board shall 
thereafter annually levy a tax of not to exceed 
three mills on the dollar on all the taxable property 
in such township. But this election is not to be 
called until there shall have been donated to the 
township petitioning for the election, not less than 
$2,000 in money, or its equivalent in property, the 
title to which shall be vested in the township, for 
the use and benefit of the said library fund. This 
fund is to be under the control of the township 
board, which is to have charge of the construction 
of any library building, or the fitting up of library 
rooms, and shall purchase books, appoint libra- 
rians, etc., and make rules and regulations for the 
government of the libraries (p. 248). 

MAINE. [" Acts and resolves of the State of 
Maine, 1889."] By a resolve approved Feb. 19, 
1889, $500 each for the years 1889 and 1890 was 
appropriated to purchase books for the State 
Library, and for incidental expenses, and $300 for 
the preparation of a catalogue (p. 83). On March 5, 
1889, a resolve was approved to appropriate $200 
for the purchase of books for the library of the 
State prison (p. 109). By an act approved Feb. 19, 
1889, the salary of the State Librarian was in- 



SOLBERG. 



55 



creased to $1,000 per annum (p. 176). On Feb. 
19, 1889, an act was approved to incorporate the 
Eliot Library Association (p. 597), and on Feb. 26, 

1889, was passed an act incorporating the Buck 
Memorial Library, in Bucksport (p. 669). By an 
act approved Feb. i, 1887, the treasurer of each 
county was directed to pay to the treasurer of the 
law library association of his county, for the use 
and benefit of the county law library, 10 per cent, 
of all fines paid into the treasury in violation of 
certain laws, provided the sum so paid by the 
county treasurer should not exceed Jioo per 
annum. ("Acts and resolves, 1887," p. 6.) By 
an act approved Feb. 26, 1889, the limit of money 
to be so paid for the benefit of the county law li- 
brary was raised to $300 (p. 193). An act was passed 
Jan. 16, 1889, whereby all the powers, immunities, 
and franchises and affairs of the Portland Insti- 
tute and Public Library (which is henceforth to be 
styled the Portland Public Library) were passed 
to be perpetually governed by a permanent board 
of trustees, not exceeding twenty members, to be 
elected in the first instance by the life members of 
the corporation, with power to fill vacancies in 
their own ranks. The corporate property, it is 
declared, shall be used and improved for a free 
public library, and shall be exempt from liability 
to be taken by the city from the management, 
direction, and control of the said board of trus- 
tees, which is to make all laws and regulations for 
the government of the library, etc. (p. 469). 

MASSACHUSETTS. [ " Acts and resolves passed 
by the General Court in 1889."] The act of 1888 
(chapter 304), relating to the election, powers, and 
duties of trustees of free public libraries and read- 
ing rooms in towns, was amended by an act 
approved March 14, 1889, whereby section 2, lim- 
iting the number of trustees not to exceed nine in 
all, was changed to provide that the board of 
trustees should consist of any number of persons 
divisible by three which the town might decide to 
elect, one third thereof to be elected annually for 
a term of office of three years. No person shall 
be ineligible by reason of sex. The board is to be 
elected by ballot, and shall organize annually by 
the choice of a chairman and secretary from their 
own number (p. 863). 

["Acts and resolves passed by the General 
Court, 1890."] An act was approved on May 28, 

1890, "to promote the establishment and efficiency 
of free public libraries," which is of more than 
usual interest.* It provides that the governor, 

*The full text of this act was printed in the Library 
journal tor July, 1890, p. 807. 



with the advice and consent of the council, shall 
appoint five residents to terms of one, two, three, 
four, and five years as a board of library commis- 
sioners, the subsequent term of office to be five 
years. Section 2 of the act provides that the 
librarian or trustees of any public library may ask 
said board for advice in regard to the selection of 
books, the cataloguing of books, and any other 
matter pertaining to the maintenance or adminis- 
tration of the library, and the board is directed to 
give such advice as it shall find practicable. The 
board is to make an annual report, which is to be 
printed as a public document. By section 3 of the 
act this board is authorized and directed to expend, 
upon the application of the board of library trus- 
tees of any town having no free public library, 
owned and controlled by the town, a sum not 
exceeding $100 for books for the town, the books 
to be used by the trustees for the purpose of 
establishing a free public library. The board of 
commissioners are to select and purchase the 
books. But, according to section 4, no town shall 
be entitled to the benefits of this act until it .has 
accepted the provisions of it at a regularly called 
town meeting, and has elected a board of library 
trustees, as provided in chapter 304 of the acts of 
1888, and until said trustees shall have provided, 
in a manner satisfactory to the board of commis- 
sioners, for the care, custody, and distribution of 
the books furnished in accordance with this act. 
Section 5 provides that any town accepting the 
provisions of the act shall annually appropriate 
from the dog tax, or shall otherwise annually pro- 
vide for the use and maintenance of its free public 
library, a sum not less than $50, if its last assessed 
valuation was one million dollars or upward, or 
not less than #25 if said valuation was less than 
one million and not less than two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars; or not less than $15 if said 
valuation was less than two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars. The board of library commis- 
sioners, according to section 6, are to receive no 
compensation, but provision is made to pay for 
clerk hire and other expenses up to #500 (p. 318). 

NEBRASKA. [ " Laws passed by the Legislative 
Assembly at its twenty-first session, begun Jan. i, 
1889."] Section 59 of the act approved March 
30, 1887, incorporation metropolitan cities, and 
defining, regulating, and prescribing their duties, 
powers, and government, was amended by an 
act approved March 16, 1889, so as to read as 
follows : 

" The mayor and council shall have power to 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



establish and maintain public libraries, reading- 
rooms, art galleries, and museums, and to provide 
the necessary grounds or buildings therefor; to 
purchase books, papers, maps, manuscripts, and 
works of art and objects of natural or scientific 
curiosity and instruction therefor, and to receive 
donations and bequests of money or property for 
the same in trust or otherwise. They may also 
pass necessary by-laws and regulations for the 
protection and government of the same " (p. 96). 

NEVADA. [" Statutes passed at the fourteenth 
session of the Legislature, 1889."] Chapter 96, 
approved March 9, 1889, appropriates $750 to be 
paid to Mrs. Jennie Fisher for the compilation of 
a catalogue of the State Library, after such com- 
pilation has been examined and approved by the 
justices of the Supreme Court. The catalogue is 
directed to be made to " conform substantially in 
method, as to system, form, and manner, with 
that of the catalogue of the State Library of 
California, by Wells, edition of 1886." The clerk 
of the Supreme Court is directed to have printed 
and bound 200 copies of the catalogue, and to 
distribute them. Ten copies are ordered inter- 
leaved for the use of the library, so that new 
books added may be catalogued in them (p. 91). 
An act (chapter 101) approved March 9, 1889, 
authorizes the State Librarian to sell such dupli- 
cates in the State Library as may be set aside 
for that purpose by the justices of the Supreme 
Court. The latter, however, are given authority 
at their discretion to reserve those of special 
value for the library of the State University, and 
to transfer them to that institution upon an appli- 
cation for them from the regents (p. 94). 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. [" Laws passed, June session, 
1889."] An act was passed July 16, 1889, fixing 
the annual appropriation for the State Library at 
$2,500, " said sum to be expended as the trustees 
shall direct " (p. 34). 

NEW JERSEY. ["Acts of the ii3th Legislature, 
1889."] On March 19, 1889, an act was passed 
supplemental to the Library Act of 1884, providing 
that at any election for municipal officers, the 
voters may place on their election tickets the 
words "for a public library " or " against a public 
library," and if the vote is in the affirmative then 
a free public library is to be established under the 
provisions of the act of 1884 (p. 75). Another 
act passed on the same day, seems worthy of 
special notice and imitation. This law provides 



that any public board, or any department of the 
government in any city where there is a public 
library, may turn over to the latter any collections 
of books in their offices or under their control, 
thus enabling public officers to place, where they 
may be useful, books which may have no further 
value for them or their departments (p. 65). 

NEW YORK. [" Laws passed at the i I2th session 
of the Legislature, January i-May 16, 1889."] By 
an act approved June 5, 1889, the mayor and com- 
missioners of the city of Brooklyn are authorized 
to designate and set apart certain parts of Pros- 
pect Park as building sites for museums of art 
and science and libraries, and to lease the land at 
a nominal rent and for a term of years, not to 
exceed one hundred years, to any corporation or 
corporations for educational purposes. No build- 
ings are to be erected until the plans have been 
approved by the mayor and commissioners ; and 
such museums and libraries are to be, at all 
reasonable times, free, open, and accessible to the 
public and private schools of the city, and to the 
general public on such terms of admission as the 
mayor and commissioners shall approve, and they 
are to be subject to the visitation of the Board 
of Regents of the State of New York (p. 497). 
Chapter 529, approved June 15, 1889, "An act to 
revise and consolidate the laws relating to the 
University of the State of New York," materially 
affects the State Library. According to section 
16, that institution is put under the control of the 
Regents of the State University as a board of 
trustees. Section 17 provides that the library 
shall be open not less than eight hours every week- 
day in the year, and designates the officials who 
may borrow books from the library. The Regents 
are, by section 18, given charge of the State publi- 
cations ; and there is established in the library a 
duplicate department, to which is to be sent, when 
published, five copies of every State document, 
and any remaining copies after completing the 
distribution directed by law. These duplicates 
are to be sold or exchanged under the direction 
of the Regents. According to section 19, the sum 
of $15,000 is to be paid annually to the Regents 
for books, serials, and binding for the State 
Library (p. 724). The general appropriation act 
of June 15, 1889, provides $6,000 for the several 
judicial district libraries (p. 764) ; $15,000 for books 
and binding for the State Library, with $1,500 for 
salary of clerk in charge of documents and 
records; incidental expenses, $2,000; salaries, 
$9,500 (p. 768). 



SOLBERG. 



57 



[" Laws passed at the H3th session of the Legis- 
lature, January 6-May 9, 1890."] By the general 
appropriation act of March 31, 1890, $15,000 was 
provided for the State Library, as required by 
chapter 529 of the laws of 1889, for the purchase 
of books and binding ; and for salaries of officers, 
etc., $6,500; for furniture, fittings, and other 
incidental expenses, $3,000 ; and for the duplicate 
department, $900 (p. 243). A deficiency appro- 
priation act of May 6, 1890, provides $2,500 to 
enable the Regents to carry out the provisions of 
the law of 1889 in the administration of the State 
Library and its duplicate department for the two 
fiscal years ending Sept. 30, 1891 (p. 568). 

NORTH CAROLINA. [" Laws and resolutions 
passed by the General Assembly at its session of 
1889."] By a resolution ratified Jan. 15, 1889, it 
was ordered that the record-room, formerly the 
library-room, be kept open during the session of 
the General Assembly ; and to effectuate this the 
State Librarian is authorized to employ a suitable 
person, at a cost not exceeding $i per day (p. 519). 
By another resolution of March II, 1889, it is 
ordered that the State Library is to be opened 
from 7 to 9 o'clock each afternoon, provided the 
expense involved is voluntarily paid by the Board 
of Trade of Raleigh (p. 530). On the same day 
a resolution was passed ordering the State Printer 
to do all the necessary binding for the State 
Library, provided the cost shall not exceed $100 
(p. 534). By an act ratified March n, 1889, the 
State Librarian is directed to receive all State 
documents sent from other States and Territories 
(P- 55)- 

OHIO. [" General and local acts passed by the 
68th General Assembly at its adjourned session, 
begun Jan. 8, 1889."] The Legislature of Ohio, 
on March 12, 1889, passed certain amendments of 
the law of April 12, 1888, "for the establishment 
and maintenance of public libraries in certain 
cities," whereby it is provided that if the library 
tax levy of four-tenths of one mill on the dollar 
shall produce a revenue in excess of $15,000, the 
levy is to be reduced so that the library fund will 
not in any year exceed that sum ; but it is not to 
be reduced below $13,000. The same act amends 
the section of the former law which relates to 
the providing of library buildings so as to provide 
for the selling of additional bonds to an amount 
not to exceed $35,000, the proceeds to be used for 
the purpose of making the new buildings fire 
proof, and to complete the buildings, furnish 



them, and grade and ornament the library 
grounds (p. 79). 

OREGON. [" Laws, resolutions and memorials of 
the 1 5th regular session of the Legislative Assem- 
bly, 1889."] By an act approved Feb. 25, 1889, 
the salary of the State librarian is fixed at $1,000 
per annum (p. 56). 

PENNSYLVANIA. [" Laws of the General Assem- 
bly, passed at the session of 1889."] The Gen- 
eral Assembly of Pennsylvania approved May 29, 
1889, an act making appropriations to aid in the 
establishment of a free war library and museum 
of the Military Orders of the Loyal Legion and of 
the Department of Pennsylvania Grand Army of 
the Republic at Philadelphia, and appropriated 
$50,000 for this purpose; the institution to be a 
sort of " memorial of the services and sacrifices 
of the soldiers who fought for the union in the 
War of the Rebellion." The above sum, how- 
ever, is only to be paid after $100,000 has been 
raised by private contributions for the same pur- 
pose (p. 394). 

RHODE ISLAND. [" Public laws passed at the 
May session, 1889."] By an act passed May 31, 
1889, the sum of $2,000 annually is appropriated 
for the purposes of the law library, to be ex- 
pended under the direction of the Supreme Court, 
this being an increase from $500 per annum 
granted by the act of 1882 (p. 4). 

TENNESSEE. ["Acts passed at the 46th General 
Assembly, 1889."] The general appropriation 
act of April 8, 1889, grants $900 annually for two 
years to defray the current expenses of the State 
Library (p. 183). 

TEXAS. [" General laws passed at the regular 
session of the 2ist Legislature, Jan. 8-April 6, 
1889."] The general appropriation act of April, 
8, 1889, provides for the fiscal year from March 
i, 1889, to Feb. 28, 1891, $3,000 for the purchase 
of books for the Supreme Court Libraries, and 
$1,100 for salaries of librarians, as follows : One 
at Austin, $500; one at Tyler, $300; and one at 
Galveston, $300 (p. 64). 

VIRGINIA. ["Acts and joint resolutions passed 
by the General Assemblyi during the session of 
1889-90."] In the recently codified laws of Vir- 
ginia, sections 254 to 258 contained provisions 
for the creation of a library committee, to be 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



appointed biennially, to have the direction of the 
State Library and the library funds. Section 256 
authorized the said committee to purchase books, 
manuscripts, etc., relating to the history of Vir- 
ginia, and to print such manuscripts, but limited 
the amount to be expended for such printing to 
$1,000 during any one year; while section 257 
restricted the amount to be expended by the com- 
mittee on the library, in any one year, to $3,000 in 
addition to the $1,000 mentioned above, the sum 
spent in the purchase of law books, and the 



amount paid for insurance. By an act approved 
March 4, 1890, these sections of the code were 
amended by striking out the limitations as to the 
amounts to be expended. 

WEST VIRGINIA. ["Acts of the Legislature at 
its i gth regular session, 1889."] By the general 
appropriation act of February 21, 1889, $1,200 is 
granted to pay the salary of the "Adjutant Gen- 
eral and ex officio Librarian, and Superintendent 
of weights and measures " (p. 55). 



REPORT ON READING FOR THE YOUNG. 



BY MRS. MINERVA A. SANDERS, LIBRARIAN FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, PAWTUCKET, R. I. 



T N preparing this report, librarians were very 
largely called upon for " methods, results, 
and book lists ; also any items of interest that 
would be helpful." The response was cordial 
and interesting. I give, as far as practicable, 
the replies, for it is encouraging to see such 
interest manifested in a subject which we 
are daily estimating more and more at its 
true value. 

From the book lists, which range from 
" Mother Goose Melodies " to " Marcus Au- 
relius," I have selected a number of books 
with the thought that a list so generally en- 
dorsed will be of interest. To this I have 
added a few series of books both instructive 
and recreative. This list may be seen at any 
time during the session, and duplicated, if 
desired. 

My special endeavor has been to call forth 
the various methods employed by librarians 
to inspire the young with a taste for good 
reading. By good reading is not meant the book 
which treats of the saintly " Die-young-and-go- 
to-heaven-sure kind," with a moral guide board 
for a frontispiece, and a tombstone for a finis. 
For a child is better for believing the truth 
that the good do not " always die young ; " 
and that it is just such laughter-loving, mis- 
chievous natures as its own, full of mistakes 
and sweet repentance, that are needed in the 
world, and who live to bless it. 

Neither is it the book, whether of fact or 
fiction, whose hero's sole motive is ambition, 



and whose every thought and action is im- 
pelled by a vision ever before him of the 
judge's bench, or the White House. 

Nor is it the book that deals solely with 
cold, dry fact, unrelieved by a single scintilla- 
tion of wit or imagination. The Society for 
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, should 
confiscate such books, make one grand bon- 
fire, and let the children dance around it. I 
have in mind a girl well grown, who has 
been fed on just such mental pabulum all her 
life; who has never tasted that morsel of 
gracious sweetness, " Little Lord Fauntleroy," 
or drunk from the pure stream of Longfellow's 
" Evangeline," or Whittier's " Snowbound," 
or feasted on the more substantial " Ben- 
Hur," because condemned by her parents as 
too imaginative, therefore unnatural and un- 
wholesome. The myths and legends which 
make so large a part of the beauty and richness 
of literature, both ancient and modern, fall 
under the same ban. What can be done in 
such a case to overcome prejudices so deter- 
rent to a healthy mental growth ? 

This is not an exceptional case, yet where 
there is one like it, there are hundreds of 
parents who are utterly indifferent to the 
character of their children's reading, from the 
neglected culture of their own literary tastes, 
generally from want of opportunity. 

To influence the children by judicious 
guidance, and help them to such reading as 
will awaken the imagination, sharpen the 



SANDERS. 



59 



observation, develop the humanities, and culti- 
vate in them a respect for the English lan- 
guage pure and simple, is the librarian's 
privilege ; and, as our personal influence is ex- 
erted, in just such proportion will our com- 
munities be uplifted. That this is the grow- 
ing sentiment of librarians, is seen in the 
extracts from their letters received for this 
report. 

As a bee strikes at the heart of a flower for 
its sweetness, so a child should be taught to 
extract the leading thought from a book, by a 
few simple questions either at home, at school, 
or at the library, which will lead him to think 
and speak about it. By this means, we may 
now and again get a brief summary of the 
conclusions drawn from a book that would do 
credit to an older head. For example, on 
every list of books received, I find " Castle 
Blair " by Flora Shaw, a book much admired 
by John Ruskin. This book is a special 
favorite with all young people. One of the 
pupils of our public schools, a girl of eleven 
years, on being asked her impression of the 
book, gave me this written statement, unaided, 
and without a thought that other eyes would 
see it. 

"The story of 'Castle Blair' impresses 
upon my mind the importance of kind, pa- 
tient, considerate, firm, unselfish, noble ac- 
tion, and the forming of a character com- 
manding confidence and respect." 

Those of us who have read the book will 
appreciate this. 

Let me refer to one case, showing the help- 
ful influence of the books read by the young. 

An Italian boy of thirteen years, who at- 
tends school but twelve weeks in the year, 
and is employed in one of our manufactories, 
has read, for the entertainment of his mother 
and invalid sister during the winter and 
spring, " Livingstone's Travels in Africa," 
Lamb's "Tales from Shakespere," and the 
" Life of Savonarola," from " The Makers of 
Florence ; " in speaking of which, his dark 
eyes light up, and he expresses the most sin- 
cere gratitude for the privilege of reading 
books of such character. 

Doubtless parallel cases can be supplied 
by every librarian. It was my hope to call 



out some of them when I asked for "results 
and items of interest." 

I presume that, if the subject were care- 
fully investigated, we should find that at least 
50 per cent of the books loaned on children's 
cards, and reported as children's reading, are 
read at home by the adult members of the 
family. This is the opinion of teachers 
whom I have consulted, and who give me 
assurance of the interest with which the 
parents both read and listen. Conversation 
with both parents and children at the library 
confirms this. 

Regarding the possibility of excessive read- 
ing, the fear of which was expressed by a 
librarian, in a letter received some months 
since, I would say: Except in a few cases 
we do not find excess of reading, since the 
novelty of a free use of a card is past ; nor 
do I think that we need fear it. While the 
forcing system of the public schools exists, 
which we deplore, and the interest in physi- 
cal culture, both in-doors and out, increases, 
in which we rejoice, the time for reading 
simply for recreation is too limited for alarm. 
When such danger presents itself, we make 
a limit of two books a week. 

There is not time to enlarge upon any of 
these points. As they have suggested them- 
selves, they have been noticed, with the hope 
that together with the interesting letters 
which follow, an interchange of thought and 
opinion may be called forth that will prove of 
mutual help in this growing work and respon- 
sibility of providing good reading for the 
young, and in assisting them to a wise and 
wholesome use of it. 

BALTIMORE, MD. Enoch Pratt Library. Louis 
H. Steiner, Libn. The librarian makes personal 
appeals to the clergy and parents, and addresses 
the Association of Public School Teachers, to 
secure supervision and cooperation in this branch 
of work. 

Personal attention is given to the young people 
by the assistants in the choice of books. 

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. Mellen Chamber- 
lain, Libn. About a year ago the trustees of our 
library opened the registration to all the inhabi- 
tants of the city of Boston above the age of twelve 
years. 



6o 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



The children have eagerly availed themselves of 
the opportunity, and our already large number of 
juvenile readers has been greatly [increased, not 
only by those seeking books for home reading, 
but also by those applying for reading matter in 
our halls and reading-room. By some good luck, 
the opportunity was given them in a time of 
need the season of the yearly school examina- 
tions and, as all who had held pupil-cards 
became regular card-holders, and their numbers 
were largely increased by the newly registered, all 
our books which are fitted for young folks' read- 
ing in American and English history, our books of 
travel, and elementary science were in steady 
circulation until the close of the school year. 

During the long vacation, of course the greatest 
demand has been for stories; but, as for years we 
have been selecting the best and weeding out the 
unsatisfactory, it is quite safe to let them browse 
at will. 

The fairy tale is, as ever, the prime favorite ; 
books of action and adventure suit the boys and 
girls alike, and there is a strong appreciation of 
books of historical fiction ; the basis of central 
truth answering the demand for reality, or real 
stories. 

When vacation was over, the call for books in 
connection with school work was resumed, and 
continued until the end of the school year. 

Our sets of books for supplementary reading, 
furnished by the generosity of the former Presi- 
dent of the Board of Trustees and our libraries, 
have been in steady use ; and many teachers have, 
after consultation with us, advised and assisted 
their pupils in their selection of books. 

One thing a little out of the usual line has been 
the introduction of a set of young girls to several 
of Shakespeare's plays. We were puzzled by the 
persistency with which these girls sought for 
certain numbers in the alcoves devoted to the 
drama, and found upon inquiry that they liked to 
read plays and to act them, as they called it. It 
happened one day that a copy of the " Tempest " 
was given to one of these girls ; she was very much 
fascinated by it, and told the other girls about it ; 
they all wanted the same story* Copies were 
furnished them, and for several weeks they were 
quite engrossed with that play reading it, acting 
parts, and enjoying it. 

Next they took " Midsummer Night's Dream," 
and then they ambitiously attacked the " Mer- 
chant of Venice." We have many books 
relating to and explaining the plays for young 
readers, which have been shown to them and have 



been read. We do not expect to make Shakes- 
peare scholars of them, but to elevate their 
tastes and set them on a higher plane. The 
demand made upon us for personal assistance 
from our young friends is greater than ever ; in 
spite of their increased liberty of choice, their 
tastes are epicurean ; they desire the best, and 
appreciate our efforts to assist them. 

So. BOSTON. Josephine Bullard, Libn. I 
devote from four o'clock to six to the young 
people, recommending and selecting books for 
home and school use ; often pointing out interest- 
ing portions, and asking an opinion of the book 
on its return. The result is very satisfactory. 

BROCKTON, MASS. Myra F. Southworth, Libn. 
I recommend books and authors, and make 
selections for the young people, calling attention 
to works where interest is evinced in a special sub- 
ject. In that way some of my boys have read 
nearly everything in the L. on birds, insects, 
mechanics, and electricity. New books, except 
fiction, are placed uncovered on book shelves 
accessible to the public. I encourage the children 
to examine and make selections from these, and 
many a book of biography, travel, and natural 
history is taken in preference to the story book 
which they would otherwise select. 

DETROIT, MICH. Henry M. Utley, Libn. Our 
work with young people is done mainly through 
the public schools. It is found to be a good idea 
to have a considerable number of the pupils of a 
school reading the same book at once. They dis- 
cuss it among themselves ; they are quizzed upon 
it by their teachers, and sometimes are required to 
write essays upon it, and thus their interest is 
awakened, and their acquaintance with it when 
finished is increased. Outside of this scheme, 
efforts are also made to direct the young to good 
reading by the publication of a brief finding list, 
and by personal advice. 

You will observe that the " Good Books " which 
I published last October contains no fiction. My 
purpose was to turn their attention away from 
fiction ; but my present opinion is that the useful- 
ness of the list would have been increased by a 
judicious selection of imaginative literature. 

DOVER, N. H. C. H. Garland, Libn. I begin 
my care for children's reading at the fountain 
head, by seeing that none but fairly good books 
go into the library. But I know very well that 



SANDERS. 



61 



there is a vast difference among books, none of 
which are positively bad. Moreover, I don't con- 
sider some books bad that other librarians do. I 
put Oliver Optic into the library freely. We have 
some of Castlemon's books, and I have found 
these will attract young readers when better books 
will fail. If they do not go from these to better 
reading, they have at least not been harmed by 
the brief time spent reading these little tales ; and, 
if they do drop them for better, we can score a 
point gained. 

The first time a boy asks me to select for him, 
I give him, not what I think would be good for 
him, but what I think he would like. And then 
he asks me again, and I do that same thing, until I 
have thoroughly the boy's confidence that I know 
what an interesting book is. Then comes better 
fiction, talk about books, a little travel, and then 
history and biography. 

Each year there is less call for fiction, and our 
happiest results are in the good, clean tastes of 
our young men and women readers. 

KANSAS CITY. Carrie W. Whitney, Libn. 
I take entire charge of the reference work, and 
talk with the children individually. While I be- 
lieve lists of books to be of some value to students, 
I think a better plan is to come in direct contact 
with each pupil, and discover, if possible, the read- 
ing he really likes, not the books he thinks he 
should read. 

One boy of twelve may read a book with 
pleasure, and derive great benefit from it, while 
the same book might give to another boy of 
similar age a distaste for solid reading that would 
take years to overcome. I have known children 
to waste weeks trying to read " Macaulay's History 
of England," simply because it has been recom- 
mended in some " Best One Hundred Books." 
Ten minutes' talk would have shown that these 
children were not prepared to read Macaulay, 
and a preparatory course could then have been 
recommended. I have struggled with this subject 
for five years, and these are my conclusions. 

LOWELL CITY LIBRARY. C. Burbank, Libn. 
No special effort is made to circulate books among 
the young people, except in allowing teachers to 
take as many as they choose, and keep them 
during a school term. A teacher reports Miss 
Farmer's "Book of Queens," as read thirty-six 
times. 

MIDDLESEX MECHANICS' Assoc., Lowell, Mass. 
M. E. Sargent, Libn. The young people very 



much delight in the alcove and table set apart for 
their use. I know of nothing that gives such sat- 
isfactory results as a personal though unaggressive 
interest in each young person's taste and needs. 

MILWAUKEE, Wis. K. A. Linderfelt, Libn. 
A special effort has been made this year to bring 
the public schools and library into close relation 
ship. 

The teachers have the privilege of selecting an 
average of 45 books each. The teacher acts as 
librarian for her class, keeping the books under 
lock and key, and delivering them to the pupils 
once in two weeks, supplying the kind of literature 
best adapted to the needs of the pupil. This plan 
has been in operation 14 months, during which 
time 6,000 books have been sent to the schools, 
which have been issued nearly 19,000 times. 

The teachers report increased interest in read- 
ing, language, geography, and history. The 
decrease in circulation of fiction is from 59 to 46 
per cent. 

A call slip with the titles of 150 best books for 
the young is placed in the pocket of each book, a 
check mark being placed after the number of the 
books desired. 

The benefits of any plan of teaching our young 
citizens the use of the public library are manifold. 

Aside from the elevation of the public taste 
which will follow careful guidance of children in 
the selection of their reading, there will be encour- 
aged in the community a feeling of interest in the 
public library, which will place this institution 
upon such a basis as will enable it to flourish, and 
continually enlarge its sphere of usefulness. 

NEWARK, N. J. Frank P. Hill, Libn. Our rule 
says, persons over fourteen years may use the 
library. I go beyond this, and extend the priv- 
ilege to any under that age whom I think will be 
benefited, provided they allow me to guide them 
in their reading. 

NEW ORLEANS. HOWARD MEMORIAL. C. A. 
Nelson, Libn. Among the gratifying features of 
the use of the library is the increasing use of en- 
cylopedias, historical works, and books of general 
literature by the pupils of the public schools in 
connection with their studies and literary exer 
cises. 

Full personal assistance is rendered in all in- 
vestigation when required. 

A pleasant incident occurred the other day, when 
three "sweet girl graduates" came into the li- 
brary decorated with three gold medals. 



62 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



They were unanimous in their cordial expression 
of gratitude to the librarian and assistants for 
directing them to the books they had used, say- 
ing that they would not have won their 
medals for English composition but for the li- 
brary, adding that the only other gold medal 
awarded in their school was given to another girl 
who had made use of the library ; these four being 
the only girls in the school who had been regular 
visitors to the library. 

N. Y. FREE CIRCULATING LIBRARY. Ellen M. 
Coe, Libn. One plan to assist children to good 
reading, is to select a certain number of the names 
of the best juvenile books, bulletin them, and hang 
the bulletin on the wall with a heading such as 
" Best books for boys," or girls, as the case may be. 
Or, place several books in such a position that 
the titles may be read by the young, standing on 
the other side of the desk, without trouble. This 
latter has been found to be successful in our 
libraries. 

A book like " Boys' and Girls' Plutarch," which 
had n't been circulated for over a year, went out by 
this method three times in as many weeks. 

NORMAN WILLIAMS PUB. LIBRARY, Wood- 
stock, Vt. Mrs. O. B. Jaquith, Libn. I try to 
interest the young readers in such travels, biog- 
raphies, and histories as we have, rather than to 
read all stories ; but when so many grown people 
prefer stories, what can you expect of the younger 
ones ? 

PAWTUCKET, R. I. Supt. of Public Schools, 
H. M. Maxson. I am well pleased at the cordial 
and intimate relations between the schools and 
the library. I find the teachers a unit as to the 
value and usefulness of school cards. About one 
half of the pupils of the four higher grades have 
cards, one school showing as high as 97 per cent 
who have them ; still more are in use in the lower 
grades. About 50 per cent of the reading is re- 
ported fiction; but I think most of it is such fic- 
tion as "Boy travelers " and "Zigzag journeys." 

I give a few of the benefits and results of the 
use of the cards as reported by the teachers. 

" Enlarging the pupils' fund of information." 

"An increasing tendency to look up details, 
thus acquiring accuracy of description." 

" Forming a habit of comparing authorities, 
enabling them to form correct judgments." 

"The sentiment of the school is much higher 
and nobler than it was a year ago." 



" The increasing interest of the parents in the 
books that the children read and the elevating 
influence in the homes." 

PROVIDENCE, R. I. W. E. Foster, Libn. Un- 
der the new registration, 750 of the school teachers' 
card are in use. 

During the past year $200 has been set apart 
for duplicating books for school work. In some 
cases 15 copies have been supplied. 

Among the books most profitably read are: 
John Fiske's " War of Independence ; " " Wash- 
ington and his country," E. E. Hale ; " Life of 
George Washington studied anew;" "Franklin's 
autobiography ; " Drake's " The making of New 
England," and " The making of the great West ; " 
Brooks' " Abraham Lincoln." 

A course of" Old South " lectures in Providence 
on American history, by E. E. Hale, Mr. Meade, 
and other masters of the subject, has been of 
great value. Printed sheets of references with 
the book numbers were placed in the hands of 
each pupil as he entered the hall ; these lists were 
also posted at the library. This course of lectures 
was of great value in stimulating interest in 
American history, and especially so in the direct 
impulse supplied by the references. 

The marked effect of intelligent training in the 
use of books was shown at the graduating exer- 
cises of one of the schools, which consisted of 
studies of the early settlement of the town of 
Providence its geography, settlers, government, 
social life, etc. " Some of these sketches em- 
bodied gleanings made by the pupils in the com- 
parison of 30 or 40 different volumes, mostly at 
the Public Library, some of them by no means 
well-known works." 

Two books recently published, Miss Burt's " Lit- 
erary landmarks " and Charles F. King's " M^eth- 
ods and aids in geography," were so exceptionally 
made up of citations of the titles of books suited 
for the reading of school children, that he has 
caused the book numbers of the works to be en- 
tered in ink on the margin, thus making them in 
effect catalogues of what the library contains in 
the line of school children's reading. 

The Librarian refers to the close relation of the 
library and public school, as shown by a large and 
intelligent class o,f adult readers who had their 
reading habits formed when school children. 

Of equal significance is a statement made by a 
grammar school principal during the past year. 
Speaking of the effect of good reading in crowd- 
ing out the desire for worthless reading, he re 



SANDERS. 



marked, that " now a boy who brings nickel stories 
to school, is unpopular with his classmates." 

QUINCY, ILL. Arthur W. Tyler, Libn. All books 
suitable for the young are grouped in one depart- 
ment. In my opinion, the young people can be 
induced to read books in this way that they would 
never select if scattered through the library. 

We make written lists of additions by both 
author and title. I am gratified to find that our 
clientele is rapidly discarding titles and preferring 
authors. 

Those in charge aid the children in finding good 
books; when they get on long skirts (and some- 
times before) and get to asking for " fiction," we 
are helpless. 

ST. Louis, Fred. M. Crunden, Libn. Year by 
year I see more and more clearly that all hope of 
social reform and advancement must lie in the 
education of the young. 

I go to the public schools and talk to the chil- 
dren about the pleasure and profit of good read- 
ing ; tell them a story, or read extracts from some 
interesting book; and urge them to save their 
nickels there is the rub and get a library card. 

This personal canvass is the most effectual of 
all methods, but it takes time. 

We limit the supply of inferior books, and sup- 
ply numerous copies of the best. 

We have a large supply of Miss Hewins' " Books 
for the young," and also of Miss Eurt's " Literary 
landmarks," which gives not only information, but 
inspiration. 

We procured last year fifty copies each 
of " Franklin's Autobiography," "Evangeline," 
"Stories of the Old World," "Grandfather's 
Chair," and loaned them to four grammar 
schools. 

The experiment proved a success, and this year 
we have added Scudder's " Folk lore," Scudder's 
" Tales," Lamb's " Tales from Shakespeare," and 
have included three more schools. 

TOPEKA, KAN. Olin S. Davis, Libn. I had 
little to do with at Topeka, either of time or 
money. It is the line in which I am personally 
deeply interested. At Topeka I tried to get the 
teachers to cooperate with me by recommending 
certain books and authors to their schools, and by 
bringing their school as a whole to the library. 
When this was done, I selected a truck-load of 
books and ran it into a reference room that I 
devoted for a time to the visiting school. The 



room would hold fifty readily. When they came, 
I talked to them according to the grade of the 
school, about how to get the most help and enter- 
tainment from the library, and explained in a 
general way the requirements and methods of 
procedure. I then selected books from the truck 
and told them about them. I encouraged them to 
ask questions, and some did so freely. I then 
handed books around till each was supplied, and 
also provided them with book-lists to be filled out. 
When they had examined a book, if they did not 
like it, they passed it on to their neighbor and 
tried another. When a book took their fancy, it 
was put down on their list. They thus obtained a 
list of good books which they thought they would 
like to read. Many became interested in this way 
in the library. At such times I urged them to 
come to me freely in my office for help in selecting 
books and in writing essays, or preparing .debates, 
or selecting a piece to speak or a subject to write 
upon. When the classes from the High School 
came, I explained to them the reference resources 
of the library, how to use the catalogue, where to 
look for information, the reliability of various 
authorities, and their special scope. When I went 
there I found that no one thought of getting any 
help from the library. If they knew of a book 
they wanted, or a friend recommended one, they 
put it on their list, aud then any other books with 
interesting titles. Before I came away, probably 
a full hour a day, perhaps two, on the average, 
was spent with scholars who seemed to come as 
freely as they would go to their teachers for help. 
I sent many a boy away with points for his debate, 
to have him come to me afterward and tell me 
that their side won, until both sides came to me 
frequently. There were few debates at the High 
School the last year that I was there that I did not 
have a hand in arranging or suggesting arguments. 
We did not have books enough to use teachers' 
cards, or to send small lots of books directly to 
the schools, as I hope to do here in a few years. 
We had no special list, as I had no time to pre- 
pare one, except that we purchased the books that 
we did not already have in Mr. Sawin's list for 
1888, and then obtained 2,000 copies with covers 
and our own title-page and preface. 

WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY. Samuel Swett 
Green, Libn. The only new feature of work in 
the interests of the young is giving cards to per- 
sons under fifteen years of age. 

The children are making a considerable and 
growing use of these cards. All the officers of 



6 4 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



the library are instructed, in dealing with young 
persons as well as older ones, to consider it a 
fundamental principle in library work to interest 
themselves in the wishes of users of the library, 
and take considerable time, if necessary, in attend- 
ing intelligently to the supplying of the wants, and 
in affording aid in making investigations. 

We prefer to have the whole force of the 
officers come in contact with seekers after books 
rather than to delegate it to a single person. 

The summing up of the whole matter seems 
to be briefly this : 

i. That a generous supply of reading 
matter should be provided for the young of an 
interesting and elevating character ; that fic- 
tion of pure tone and pure English the latter 
cannot be emphasized too strongly should 



form a fair proportion of the reading thus 
supplied. 

2. That in the free use of cards, irrespect- 
ive of age, books are introduced into the fam- 
ily, which, being read by its adult members, 
tend to raise the mental and moral standard 
of the home. 

3. That the librarians and the public 
school teachers should recognize the great 
need of harmonious systematic action in lead- 
ing the young people, step by step, to higher 
things; that, while book lists are of great value 
in directing their attention to good reading, it 
is only by the persistent, enthusiastic per- 
sonal interest and attention to the individual 
needs that the best results can be obtained. 



LIBRARIES AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 



REPORT ON THE LIBRARY WORK OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION, 
BY WESTON FLINT, STATISTICIAN. 



/ T"*HE work of the Bureau in reference to 
public libraries began in 1870, the year in 
which the first annual report was issued. It 
was in this year that the collection of statis- 
tics of libraries was commenced and the prep- 
aration of the material for the special report, 
issued by the Bureau in 1876. The work of 
the Bureau antedates the foundation of the 
Library Journal; and the librarian who looks 
back the past twenty years, and compares 
that day with the present, will be forced to 
admit that what has been done since that very 
recent period, is no small portion of the his- 
tory of library progress in this country. It is 
interesting to note that this special report, 
after giving a history of the first convention 
of librarians in 1853, called by Prof. Jewett, 
notices the call for the first meeting of the 
American Library Association to be held in 
Philadelphia in October in 1876, and then 
goes on to give entire the prospectus of the 
American Library Journal, with its list of 
editors, all familiar names, among them that 
of Dr. Harris, the present Commissioner of 
Education, whose interest in this part of edu- 
cation has not one whit abated in these six- 



teen years, and whose work in classification 
for the St. Louis Public Library was one of 
the earliest in the work, so much needed in 
library administration. Thus at the very be- 
ginning, this new factor in the administration 
of the educational affairs of the government, 
library interests were very prominent, perhaps 
more so than any other one thing, and with 
good reason. 

The Bureau of Education, considering the 
library as a most influential educator, and 
the founding and management of libraries an 
important element in the educational work of 
this country, at that early date undertook to 
give four distinct things : 

1. The history of public libraries in the 
United States. 

2. To show their present condition and ex- 
tent. 

3. To discuss the various questions of 
library economy and management ; and 

4. To present as complete statistical infor- 
mation of all classes of public libraries as 
possible. 

At that time these four points seemed to 
cover a great deal of ground, and they did. 



FLINT. 



Prof. Jewett, in his "Notices of Public Li- 
braries, " published by the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution in 1850, gave a summary of public 
libraries, amounting to only 694, and contain- 
ing 2,201,632 volumes. The census of 1850 
seems to give the number of libraries (exclud- 
ing school and Sunday-school libraries) at 
1,560, and the number of volumes 2,447,086. 
Mr. Edwards, in his summary in 1856, made 
a much smaller number of libraries only 341 
but the number of volumes was nearly the 
same, 2,371,887, and was based on the census 
of 1850. 

Mr. Rhees, in his " Manual of Public Li- 
braries, " printed in 1859, gave a list of 2,902 
libraries, and of this number only 1,312 had 
any report of the number of volumes they 
contained. Thus we find that all these re- 
ports vary but little in reality, giving about the 
same number of libraries and number of vol- 
umes contained, taking account of the changes 
in what was accepted or omitted as a library. 

The Reports of the Bureau of Education 
from 1870 to 1874 furnished meager statistics 
of a few hundred libraries ; but little was 
known, more than the fact that there were 
some 2,000 public libraries in the United 
States. After five years' labor in collecting 
material, the special report of the Bureau 
upon Public Libraries was printed in 1876, 
and gave lists of 3,469 libraries containing 
over 300 volumes, the total number of volumes 
being 12,276,964. 

The present number of libraries, as given 
in our report for 1884-85, is 5,338, an increase 
in ten years of 1,869, or almost 54 per cent. 
The volumes contained in these libraries was 
20,622,076, an increase of almost 66 per cent 
in the same time. Upon a suggestion of the 
Secretary the other day, that many libra- 
ries on this list were small, I took the pains 
to see what proportion were under 500 vol- 
umes, and found only 1,042 of the number, or 
not quite 20 per cent ; so that the list is fairly 
representative as to the extent of the libra- 
ries, and far better than had been supposed. 

Part II. of the Special Report of 1876 
was Mr. Cutter's Rules for a Dictionary Cata- 
logue, of which a very large number were dis- 
tributed in this country and abroad, and may 
be said to have popularized the system of 



cataloguing in this country. The importance 
of this part of library work has seemed suffi- 
cient to call for a new revised edition with cor- 
rections andadditions,which Mr. Cutter kindly 
prepared ; and late last year it was printed 
by the Bureau, and there is an increasing de- 
mand for this, especially from the smaller 
libraries, where such a work is needed. To 
make this great help still more practical and 
useful, Mr. Cutter suggested the need of an 
index to the Revised Rules, and this is 
already in preparation, and will be printed as 
soon as ready. The plan for this index is to 
have it very full and complete, with the rules 
so explained by examples and references, that 
it will aid the librarian practically in his work. 
It is proposed to have this index much larger 
than the Rules themselves, and so arranged 
than it can even be used by itself without the 
Rules. When this work is completed, it will be 
a step far in advance, in practical cataloguing. 

The dominant idea in Washington is to 
have great special libraries, different from 
those in any other city ; and we have the Li- 
brary of Congress, the Surgeon General's, the 
Patent Office, and other special libraries, and 
in this same line there is now in the Bureau 
of Education quite a fair pedagogical library ; 
and under the present administration of the 
office it is intended to make it, as far as possi- 
ble, entirely special, and to have it the most 
complete one in the whole country, as it ought 
to be a great reference library and so ar- 
ranged as to aid all investigators at home, as 
well as at the capital, by a plan of loaning books 
to special students ; a plan which has already 
been put into operation in a limited way. 

There is another question in regard to these 
reports upon libraries that I might mention. 
It is more for the purpose of throwing out 
this suggestion than anything else that in- 
duced me to attend this meeting. 

Part I. of the Special Report upon the 
Libraries of the United States, being the his- 
torical part, was exhausted long ago, there 
being not more than a dozen copies left ; and 
we lend one of them occasionally to some 
antediluvian librarian who wants to look over 
matters of twenty years ago and see what 
was, or was not, done then. It seemed to me 
about time that another report should be 



66 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



issued by the Bureau, similar in character to 
the former volume ; and with this idea strongly 
upon my mind, I wrote this summer to some 
of the members of this Association for their 
views, and nearly all were in favor of such an 
undertaking. 

The only question of doubt seemed to be 
in regard to the great labor and expense of 
doing the work. I am satisfied that if the 
librarians here are sufficiently interested, and 
will cooperate as they generally did in prepar- 
ing the former work, we can easily issue 
another volume much more complete than the 
first. My idea is that perhaps we ought not 
to make it as large as that of 1876, but to 
make it more complete, get more statistical 
and other matter in smaller space ; to make it 
a compilation of the history and statistics of 
the libraries of this country; in fact, a hand- 
book of American libraries. I am not certain 
that this is a practical thing, but I believe it 
can and will be done at an early day. 

There is another important question the 
administration of libraries in connection with 
the public schools in this country, but of this 
matter you will hear from the commissioner 
himself to-night. A few other things I can 
only suggest. One is that the Bureau has 
done something. It was the pioneer worker 
in these library schemes you have planned. It 
took them up as readily as possible, and it is 
just as willing to work now. And I think, in 
regard to the distribution and publication of a 
great many of these plans and work that you 
are doing, we can do considerable during the 
next few years, and that the library interests 
of America will not fall short of receiving the 
proportion due to them from the present man- 
agement of the Bureau of Education. 

Now there is no other point that I might 
speak of. It was suggested the other night 
by the Secretary in his report, that it is possi- 
ble that the Bureau might in some way publish 
quite a portion of the proceedings of this con- 
vention. That has not been discussed by the 
Bureau at all, but it is a matter to me quite 
suggestive. I think certain papers read here, 
and which have been discussed, are as impor- 
tant as many matters we publish and give to 
the country. The idea was that, instead of 
sending out a few hundred copies, as you do 



now, to the members and through the Library 
journal, we should insert them in our report 
or our circulars of information, or both, and 
put them out by tens of thousands. It might 
be a matter of considerable importance if our 
5,000 public libraries were all members of 
this Association,and all these librarians more 
than 5,000 of them had an active interest in 
the work ; we should then have a vastly more 
important work than we now have to do. And 
that is one of the things I think we are try- 
ing to carry out in meeting together as we do 
annually. And this is what the Bureau of 
Education will try to help you to do. I am 
not certain whether all this can be done. I 
am inclined to think something of that kind 
can be accomplished, and we may be able to 
assist this Association, and you may greatly 
aid us in the education of the people of this 
country into a more hearty cooperation with 
those engaged in library work. 

As you all know, Washington is not only 
the political centre of the country, but is fast 
becoming also the educational, scientific, and 
literary centre, and it may be easily claimed 
that it is soon to be the library centre as well, 
as statistics will show. The number of books 
in the public libraries of the whole countr} , 
according to our last report in 1884-85, was a 
little over 20,000,000 volumes, and of this 
large number Washington had 1,203,156, or 
about one twentieth of the whole of the library 
treasures of the United States. The popula- 
tion of the capital at that time was 198,000 ; 
and, according to its proportion of population, 
its libraries should have contained 67,000 
volumes instead of over 1,000,000; that is, 
Washington, with only 36-10,000 part of the 
population of the country, has, in fact, over 
5-100 part of its books in public libraries, or 
fourteen times its proportion ; and the above 
figures do not take at all into account the great 
increase in our libraries for the past six years, 
which would probably show the proportion 
still gre*ater than what is given. 

From all these facts as to what has been 
done, and what the possibilities are, I think it 
may be taken for granted that there has 
already been, is now, and ever will be, a very 
close relationship between the Bureau of Edu- 
cation and the American Library Association. 



For the discussion on this paper, see PROCEEDINGS (Fifth session). 



LINDERFELT. 



67 



REPORT ON CATALOGS AND CLASSIFICATION. 

BY KLAS A: LINDERFELT, LIBRARIAN MILWAUKEE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



/^vF the two subjects that hav been assigned 
to me for report at this meeting, the 
cataloging part was treated fully by Mr. Lane 
in an excelent report to the conference at the 
Thousand Islands in 1887, and that of clas- 
sification by Mr. Bliss at the St. Louis confer- 
ence in 1889. The latter report gave a crit- 
ical review of the last schemes of classification 
that hav come before us in publisht form, 
and, during the period embraced in the 
present report, the inventivness of librarians 
in this particular field has furnisht no new 
complete classification, to giv your reporter an 
opportunity for airing his own opinions on this 
vext subject. The only publications of this 
nature, with which I am acquainted, ar the 
Classification of Sion College library of Lon- 
don, the Classification scheme of Minneapolis 
Public library, which is almost entirely that 
of Mr. Edmands, H. Steinach's article on 
Cataloging technical libraries in the 6th vol- 
ume of the Centralblatt filr Bibliothekswesen, 
and the Arrangement of titles under countries 
with full scheme for the United States, pub- 
lisht in Cornell University bulletin. I am 
told, however, that Mr. Cutter has begun the 
printing of his elaborate system of classifica- 
tion, so fully and favorably reviewd by Mr. 
Bliss in his report. 

Intimatly connected with classification is 
the subject of notation, and I regret to say 
that no one, so far, has presented or devised 
a system of shelf marks that is simple, clear, 
and tractable, and I greatly fear that no one 
who is rash enough to attemt a new classifi- 
cation (and that seems to be the ultimat des- 
tiny of every ambitious librarian) wil ever 
succeed in solving this difficult problem, until 
your secretary and reporter hav finisht their 
revision of both the English alfabet and the 
Arabic numerals. 

In markt contrast with the lull in new clas- 
sifications is the activity shown, during the 
period coverd by this report, in efforts to 



reduce the work of the cataloger to a system 
of order and uniformity. Facile princeps in 
this work is unquestionably the second edi- 
tion of Cutter's Rules for a dictionary cata- 
logue, publisht by the National Bureau of 
Education, which has been thoroly revised 
and greatly enlarged, until it is impossible to 
see what could be added to it, in order to 
make it more complete or more helpful to our 
craft. Tho following the former edition in all 
essential particulars, the author has made a 
few changes, which, in the eyes of your 
reporter, are changes for the better. We hav 
too long been accustomd to follow a series of 
rules, apparently adopted for the express pur- 
pos of showing the erudition of the cataloger, 
or els so arranged as to sacrifice the conven- 
ience of the users of our catalogs to the 
Moloch of grim consistency. When therfor 
Mr. Cutter, in his second edition, breaks away 
from the leading strings of the British Mu- 
seum, and boldly announces that authors known 
by invented, titular, or original names should 
be enterd under their pseudonyms, their titles, 
or their maiden names, to the exclusion of 
their real names, it must be haild as a long 
step in the right direction. I cannot refrain 
from expressing my own constant sens of 
astonishment at the unanimity of opinion ex- 
isting between Mr. Cutter and myself on this 
subject, as shown by the singular fact, that in 
preparing the English adaptation of Dziatzko's 
Card catalog rules, now in press, every change 
of importance made in the second edition by 
Mr. Cutter, which falls within the limit of this 
work, was made and decided on simultaneously 
by us both, without previous consultation or 
collusion. This would seem to show, either 
that the innovations ar founded on common 
sens, or els that they ar, as the term goes, 
"in the air", and in either case it is the duty 
of the practical cataloger to follow the evident 
tendency of the times. 

The value of this second edition has been 



68 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



greatly enhanced by the addition of a supple- 
ment, containing reprints of the rules of the 
L. A. U. K. and of the Bodleian library, the 
report of the transliteration committee of the 
A. L. A., the paper of Mr. Edmands on alfa- 
beting, etc. The list of works most useful to 
the cataloger, however, remains substantially 
the same as in the old edition, and has not 
been subjected to the same thoro revision as 
the rest of the treatis. Fortunately, this 
omission has been, partly at least, supplied by 
the excelent account of the general biografical 
and other works of all countries, containing 
personalia, which Mr. C. H. Hull first publisht 
in vol. 14 of the Library journal, and has 
since reprinted in separat form under the 
title of Helps for Cataloguers in finding 
full names. It is to be hoped that Mr. 
Hull wil undertake to collect additions and 
suggestions for making this list practically 
complete and publish it again in an im- 
proved edition for the benefit of his fellow- 
workers. 

Mr. Dewey's Rules for author and classed 
catalogs as used in Columbia College library 
is a condensed statement of principles, with a 
series of illustrative sample cards, which can- 
not fail to be of great assistance to all cata- 
logers as a practical object lesson. The rules 
themselvs ar in the main those of the A. L. 
A., with very few changes, but occasional ex- 
pansion of details. 

In England, H. B. Wheatley has publisht, 
in the dainty form of the collection known as 
the " Booklover's library", his How to cata- 
logue a library. The author is to be congrat- 
ulated on having presented this usually dry 
subject in a very readable and entertaining 
form., Tho it is doutful if some of his con- 
clusions would find favor on this side of the 
Atlantic, his appreciativ account of the labors 
of Sir A. Panizzi and of the formulation of the 
famous 91 rules of the British Museum, as 
wel as his discussions of mooted points, de- 
serv to be carefully studied even by non-pro- 
fessional readers. It is a little remarkable, 
however, that with all the author's familiarity 
with the labors of his predecessors in the 
same field, he does not once mention the cata- 
loging rules of Dziatzko, of which it would 



seem that no writer on this subject can wel 
afford to be ignorant. 

Les catalogues de bibliotheques publiques by 
F. Nizet of the Royal library at Brussels 
treats of the comparativ advantages of alfa- 
betic and systematic catalogs, to the disparage- 
ment of both, and recommends the "catalogue 
ide'ologique ", in which books ar enterd under 
their most obvious subject, without attemting 
a very close classification. It has appeard in 
a third, improved edition. The French min- 
ister of instruction has issued rules for the 
uniform cataloging of incunabula in the public 
libraries of France, following the method 
adopted in the Bibliotheque nationale, and this 
subject has also been treated in a couple of 
German publications. 

But in no country has the modern library 
spirit made so much progress in late years, as 
evidenced by the careful and intelligent con- 
sideration of cataloging methods, as in Italy. 
Stimulated" by the wise policy of the Italian 
government of fostering library science and 
awakening renewd interest in the magnificent 
collections of books and manuscripts in that 
country, almost all treatises on this subject, 
new and old, hav been translated into the 
Italian language. To the translation of Cut- 
ter's and Petzholdt's works, which belong to a 
period antedating my report, hav now been 
added Dziatzko's by Angelo Bruschi, and 
Jewett's by Guido Biagi. Of original works 
ther ar Fumagalli's Cataloghi di biblioteche, 
ably reviewd by Kephart in the Library jour- 
nal 12:547, and Padiglione's Norme pratiche 
por la formazione dei cataloghi, both of them 
works of considerable merit, and showing an 
unmistakable tendency toward adopting prac- 
tices closely following those in favor among 
the bibliografers and librarians of our own 
country. 

The records of pseudonymous and anony- 
mous publications hav receivd several notable 
additions, first among which in importance to 
ourselvs must be counted a second series of 
Cushing's Initials and pseudonyms, and the 
same author's Anonyms. In the three vol- 
umes by Mr. Gushing, thus together forming 
a connected whole, this branch of American 
literature has for the first time receivd ade- 



LINDERFELT. 



quat treatment, and it is a source of gratifica- 
tion to be able to record the fact that the 
encouragement, without which the Anonyms 
would never hav appeard, was accorded him 
by American librarians. 

Of Halkett and Laing's Dictionary of the 
anonymous and pseudonymous literature of 
Great Britain, the fourth and concluding vol- 
ume has appeard and, while no one can help 
admiring the scholarly way in which this work 
has been carried out, and the extravagance 
with which it has been printed, it is to be 
hoped that some one wil be found, posessing 
sufficient knowledge and enthusiasm to con- 
tinue it in the same spirit and supply its 
numerous omissions. The indefatigable M. 
Brunei has publisht in one volume a supple- 
ment to Barbier's Dictionnaire des ouvrages 
anonymes and Querard's Supercheries litte- 
raires devoilees, carrying both down to the 
present time. 

C. N. Caspar's Directory of the American 
book, news, and stationery trade deservs men- 
tion in this report for its carefully selected 
lists of general and special bibliografies of all 
countries, and its complete lists of the period- 
ical publications connected in any way with 
bookmaking or bookselling. It also contains 
a valuable vocabulary of the terms, frases, and 
abbreviations in various languages, employd 
in literature, the grafic arts, and the book, 
stationery and printing trades, which, if not 
exactly the first attemt, nevertheless is by all 
odds the most complete compilation of the 
kind that has appeard in any country, and 
might easily be made the basis for a printing 
trades manual, indispensable to all who have 
anything to do with books in any form. 

A work which, it seems to me, has not re- 
ceivd the attention it deservs, is Drujon's Les 
livres a clef, publisht in Paris in two volumes 
of exquisit workmanship, both as regards the 
subject matter and the typografical execution. 
These volumes contain a list of books, in 
which real persons hav been described or 
commented upon under fictitious or disguised 
names, and, altho naturally more nearly com- 
plete as regards French works, includes a 
large number of examples from English and 
other literatures as wel. When it is remem- 



berd how frequently authors of the last cen- 
tury in particular resorted to the expedient of 
designating political and literary dignitaries 
by a puzzling array of initials, letters and 
dashes or stars easily recognizable, no dout, 
by their contemporaries, but mysterious and 
frequently undeciferable by the men of 
another generation and another place the 
value to the curious and the literary worker of 
such a publication, when as carefully and in- 
telligently done as that of M. Drujon, cannot 
be overestimated. Frey's Sobriqiiets and 
nicknames wil also be found useful some- 
times in the same direction. 

The present time has been aptly styled the 
"Age of biografies ", and if the same activity 
continues unabated to the end of the century, 
ther wil hardly be a country or a class of men 
that wil not hav its great luminaries repre- 
sented in a special biografical series. All the 
great works mentiond in Mr. Lane's report 
hav been steadily progressing at a more or 
less rapid rate. The English Dictionary of 
national biography is particularly noticeable 
for the speed with which it is being brought 
out and has now reacht to "Haighton" in 23 
volumes. The Cyclopedia of American biog- 
raphy has been finisht in six portly volumes, 
and another work covering nearly the same 
field, but greatly exceeding it in the number 
of persons included, is now in activ prepara- 
tion under the editorship of J. R. Gilmore. 
Several other important works hav been com- 
menced, among which some relating to litera- 
ture deserv special mention. J. B. Halvorsen 
has issued two volumes of a Norsk forfatter- 
lexikon 1814-80, bringing the alfabet down to 
Ibsen, which is probably the most elaborat 
undertaking of the kind ever attemted. Not 
only are all Norwegian authors of books, even 
the smallest and most insignificant, included, 
but also all writers for the literary and period- 
ical press, and full bibliografies of their writ- 
ings ar given, with quotations of and refer- 
ences to critical articles on their literary ac- 
tivity, including those in daily papers, as wel 
as other minute details of information. Of 
very much the same character is Vengerof's 
Critico-biografical dictionary of Russian writ- 
ers and men of learning, which has only 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



reacht the end of the letter A in the first vol- 
ume, and possibly errs in the too great length 
and fulness of its biografical material. De 
Molins has commenced a Diccionario biogr&fico 
y bibliogrdfico de escritoresy artistas catalanes 
del siglio 19, and Gubernatis is publishing in 
French a Dictionnaire des dcrivains contem- 
porains, which is in reality a second and 
greatly enlarged edition of his Dizionario 
biografico degli scrittore contemporanei of 
1879. Hirsch's Biographisches lexikon der 
hervorragenden drzte aller zeiten und vijlker, 
and the new edition of Meyer's Konversations- 
lexikon, both of which hav been finisht during 
the period embraced in this report, are very 
full in bibliografical details. 

In the department of select lists of books, 
Sonnenschein's The best books is a very valu- 
able contribution to a class of bibliografies 
which it has long been the dream of the A. L. 
A. to furnish, and on which considerable time 
and work has already been expended. Mr- 
Sonnenschein's catalog is admirably done? 
tho of necessity far from perfect, a defect 
which is inherent in the first edition of a work 
of such a magnitude. Arrangements hav been 
made, however, for a new edition, in the prep- 
aration of which the editor wil hav the assist- 
ance of specialists, so that the literary worker 
wil hav, for the first time, ready for his use, 
a view of the very best books obtainable in 
any department of human knowledge. The 
arrangement of the work is systematic under 
ii main classes, with a topical index. The 
cross-references to allied classes are quite full, 
but one thing, that is felt to be a most serious 
defect by those who use it, is the absence of 
critical estimates of the relativ importance of 
the books within each ultimat division of a 
subject. 

The attemt made a few years ago of deter- 
mining, by the consensus of opinions of 
English scholars and litterateurs, on a very 
select short list of the world's best books, 
has called forth a similar compilation in 
Germany, Die besten biicher aller zeiten und 
litteraturen, with the like result, the making 
of a list, with which no one can agree, but 
full of suggestions. Among other German 
select lists of books may be mentiond further 



Muster-katalogfilr vereins-, volks-, und schul- 
bibliotheken and a Fiihrer durch die deutsch- 
israelitische unterhaltende literatur, the for- 
mer in a second edition, which has its counter- 
part, in this country, in the Lists of books suit- 
able for the school district libraries^ author- 
ized by the laws of the state of Wisconsin, 
which hav been carefully prepared and pub- 
lisht by the State superintendent of public 
instruction. 

In national bibliografies, the usual annuals 
hav appeard with laudable regularity, and 
some works covering longer periods hav been 
finisht or ar in preparation. Heinsius has 
begun the publication of the new volumes of 
his Allegemeines biicher-lexikon for 188588, 
and T. O. Weigel has started a new series, 
called Systematisches verzeichniss der haupt- 
werke der deutschen literatur 1820-82, which 
wil in a measure serv as a subject-index to 
the author-catalogs of Kayser and Heinsius. 
Of this two volumes hav been publisht, one 
by Mollat, covering the branches of political 
and juridical science, the other, by Fromm, 
history and geography. The most serviceable 
of German bibliografies, however, is Georg 
and Ost's Schlagivort-katalog, a list of all the 
books and maps of 1883-87 enterd under 
their subjects, or more strictly their catch- 
words, in alfabetic order, with, on the whole, 
a satisfactory system of cross-references. It 
forms a volume of 1,074 pages in small, but 
clear type, and has been carried forward in two 
annual supplements, called Praktische biicher-" 
kunde, publisht in weekly parts, but now dis- 
continued. A unique work of great practical 
value is Reher's Titel-verzeichnis, a list of all 
German novels, including translations, and the 
principal works in history, biografy, and 
geografy, in the alfabetic order of their titles. 
This work has been very skilfully done, and 
in it, for the first time in German book lists, 
as far as I am aware, the rights of the first 
word of the title hav been recognized, in 
accordance with the principles with which we 
are familiar in our own catalogs. 

Francisco da Silva, or rather his continua- 
tor Aranha, has publisht the I4th volume of 
the great Diccionario bibliographico portuguez; 
and Lorenz has completed the three volumes 



LINDERFELT. 



of his Catalogue general de la librairie fran- 
gaise for 1876-85, in the last of which, the nth 
of the whole series and containing the sub- 
ject-index to the other two, the veteran bibli- 
ografer bids farewel to the public, and ex- 
presses the hope, that some one els wil be 
found, willing to continue the work wher he 
leavs it. In Sweden a continuation of the 
general catalog of publications, covering the 
period 1875-85, has been issued under the 
auspices of the Association of Swedish pub- 
lishers. 

Several new periodicals, devoted to the in- 
terests of the book trade, or of libraries, hav 
been started with varying degrees of success. 
Such are the Bibliographia brazileira, begun 
in 1888; the Revue bibliographiqiie beige, in 
1889, containing also foreign books; The torch 
and colonial book circular, in 1887 ; the Rivista 
delle biblioteche in 1888, the first number of 
which is favorably commented on by Kephart 
in the Library journal 13 : 205. J. M. Hickcox 
has publisht since 1885 a very full Monthly 
catalogue of U. S. government publications, 
each yearly volume being provided with a 
good index, but the usefulness of which is 
considerably impaird by its failure to appear 
at the stated time. Two notable periodicals 
started out with flying colors, ran a short 
career of usefulness, and died from lack of 
support, the Bibliographer and reference list, 
of which 8 numbers wer issued in Buffalo, and 
the Wissenschaftliche bibliographie der ivelt- 
literatur, of which n numbers appeard in 
Berlin. The English Library chronicle ceased 
with the end of 1888, and has been succeeded 
by The library, which, tho no longer publisht 
by, or under the auspices of, the L. A. U. K., 
continues to be its mouthpiece. The bibli- 
ofilistic Le li-vre was changed, at the begin- 
ning of 1890, into the less pretentious, but 
probably more practical Le livre moderne. 

That the first five-yearly supplement to 
Poole and Fletcher's great Index to periodical 
literature, comprising the years 1882-86, has 
been issued during the period of my report, is 
so wel known, that it needs only to be men- 
tiond. Another similar work, for which 
Poole's Index furnisht the inspiration, is 
Jones' Index to legal periodical literature to 



the end of 1886, a work of the greatest merit 
and importance, even outside its proper legal 
sfere. On the other hand an Index to en- 
gineering periodicals 1883-87, compiled and 
publisht by F. E. Galloupe, falls far short of 
the excelence of these two works, and is 
remarkably ill-arranged and vexatious to use. 
The Cooperative quarterly index to period- 
icals, edited by Mr. Fletcher, was discontin- 
ued at the end of 1889, but is promist to ap- 
pear again as an annual, a change that I, for 
my part, think in a great measure destroys its 
usefulness. The live library of to-day needs 
a general index to articles in the current num- 
bers of its magazines more than an annual 
one, and, as the matter now stands, we must 
rely for this on the partial subject-indexes fur- 
nisht by Book chat, Literary news, Current 
literature, etc., since a new monthly started 
in England for this purpos, the Periodical 
press index, reacht only a second number, and 
Mr. Griswold's contemplated new monthly 
series of his continuous index has too limited 
a range. While on the subject of indexes, 
attention must be called also to Griffin's 
admirable Index of articles upon American 
local history, originally publisht in parts in the 
Bulletin of the Boston public library, and now 
issued in independent form. 

Among the works in bibliografy proper, 
publisht during the last three years, ther ar 
many important ones, which wil appear in the 
list accompanying this report, but space for- 
bids referring to any of them in particular, 
excepting a few treating of bibliografical works. 
These ar Stein's Travaux bibliographiques de 
1878 a 1888, Ottino and Fumagalli's Bibliotheca 
bibliographica italiana, neither of which I hav 
as yet seen, and of which I am, therfor, unable 
to furnish an estimate. Of two others, Whit- 
ney's Catalogue of the bibliographies of special 
subjects in the Boston public library, and the 
third edition of the List of works of reference 
in the reading-room oj the British museum, it 
is impossible to speak too highly, but it is to 
be regretted that the typografical appearance 
of Mr. Whitney's catalog is not up to the 
usual standard of excelence in the publica- 
tions of his library. The absence of display 
type in the headings makes it somewhat diffi- 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



cult for the eye to follow its lines. The 
Library journal 15: 123 and 147 givs further 
particulars of both works. 

Among the catalogs of libraries that hav 
appeard during the period of my report, and 
of which a list wil be given, accompanying the 
same, I wish particularly to call attention to 
the publication by the Osterhout free library 
of a Class catalogue and author index, closely 
following the Dewey arrangement of classes, 
with a fine list of historical and descriptiv 
fiction, by the Toronto public library of a 
Subject-catalogue, by the Detroit public library 
of a General catalogue in dictionary form, by 
the Buffalo library of 2 parts of a Finding-list, 
which is a model of condenst information and 
excelent arrangement, by the Chicago public 
library of 4 parts of a new edition of its Find- 
ing-list, subdivided into class-lists. The 
Astor library catalog has been finisht, while 
the Peabody institute library has issued two 
more, and the Surgeon-general's office library 
three more, volumes of their great catalogs. 
Quite a number of libraries and associations 
in the country hav issued select catalogs of 
books for young people, as wel as class-lists 
of books in special classes or on special 
subjects. 

Three catalogs of libraries I hav reservd 
to be spoken of in greater detail, as they em- 
body some distinct features of advance in 
catalog making. The Catalogue of the Nevins 
memorial library at Methuen, Mass., in 2 
volumes, by Miss Ames, who also selected 
the books, numbering about 10,000 volumes, 
and the Alphabetic catalogue of the English 
books in the circulating department of the 
Cleveland public library, about 32,000 vol- 
umes, by the librarian, Mr. Brett, ar both 
dictionary catalogs, remarkably wel prepared, 
and similar in arrangement to other catalogs 
of the same kind, but differing from all others 
in a skilful use of their material for the pur- 
pose of guiding readers to all available infor- 
mation on any given subject, even when it is 
not obtainable in independent publications or 
essays. Miss Ames has done this by a system 
of notes, containing helpful hints and sugges- 
tions for reading, and references to general 
works that may be consulted with advantage, 



while Mr. Brett has followd the example first 
set by the catalog of the Queensland parlia- 
mentary library some years ago, but on a 
much more extended scale. All thru the 
catalog, under almost every subject, wil be 
found these analytical references to parts of 
books, indicating even the exact pages of each 
one, and in order to show by an example 
selected at random, of what immens advantage 
such a system of cataloging is to the users of 
the library, as wel as to others who hav access 
to the same books, I find that, while ther ar 
mentiond 15 independent works on Abraham 
Lincoln, ther ar no less than 25 references to 
books in which his career is treated incident- 
ally or in part, some of which would never 
hav been thought of in this connection. 
Another evidence of the careful workmanship 
of this catalog is, that after the name of each 
author ar stated a few facts of his life, suffi- 
cient for his identification, such as position in 
life, or degrees and titles, nationality, dates of 
birth and death, etc. It might seem invidious 
to find fault with a catalog, which, tho belong- 
ing to a type that I do not consider the best 
for a general library, offers so many manifestly 
good points ; but, considering the fulness of 
other details, it is certainly a strange omission 
that dates and places of imprint hav been 
given only under author entries, and not under 
titles and subjects, wher the date at least is 
frequently of the utmost importance. 

The same "endeavor to utilize all the re- 
sources of a comparatively small but valuable 
library of reference," thru systematic refer- 
ences to the contents of books, distinguishes 
in a stil higher degree the Contents-index of 
the Library of the University of California, 
prepared by its librarian, Joseph C. Rowell, 
and printed by the state in a volume of 519 
double-colum pages, with clear-cut good type. 
This volume is intended as a complement of 
the regular classified subject catalog and is 
just what its name indicates, an index to the 
contents of I don't know how many volumes, 
but, judging from an incidental remark in the 
preface, probably between forty and fifty 
thousand. In some cases, however, when the 
classificatio'n of the library was not minute 
enough to separate the books on a certain 



BEER. 



73 



subject, such as the names of individual cities 
and minor headings, as Gas engines, Idealism, 
etc., the names of books or works wholly 
devoted to a single subject hav been enterd. 
Otherwise, in general plan it is evidently 
modeld on Poole's Index, to which work it 
wil constitute a welcome supplement, since it 
includes quite a number of long sets of trans- 
actions of learned societies and foreign maga- 
zins, such as the Revue des deux tnondes 
Revue scientifiqiie, Deutsche rttndschau, Un- 
sere zeit, etc. When it is considerd that the 
entire work of the library, to which it forms 
an index, is performd by two persons, it be- 
comes a matter of considerable interest to 
know how time could be found for gathering 
the materials, and I therfor quote the 
librarian's own statement on this point : " To 
prevent the subject catalogue from attaining 
an unwieldy growth, and to retain its character 
as an actual shelf-guide, the experiment was 
made of writing the index upon sheets of note 
paper size, arranged alphabetically in boxes 
placed upon the librarian's desk, where it was 
centrally located for purposes of reference 
and available for the insertion of fresh entries 
at any moment. Fourteen years of trial have 



as a labor and time-saver in the daily assist- 
ance to readers ". I can fully concur in this 
opinion after six months' trial with the printed 
index at my elbow, and every librarian who 
uses it must be thankful to Mr. Rowell for 
the patience, energy, and intelligence displayed 
in the production of a work which would be 
deemd remarkable, even had it been the result 
of cooperation, instead of one man's industry. 
Finally I wish to call attention to the 
change in the make-up of the Bulletin of the 
Boston public library, which was made with the 
beginning of the pth volume in April of this 
year. The partial dictionary arrangement has 
been discarded, and the list of new books is 
now classified, the classes being sorted alfabet- 
ically, with author and subject indexes. The 
whole new arrangement is eminently satisfac- 
tory, but the author index commends itself 
especially to the librarian. In this full names 
ar given, and in so far as the Boston public 
library takes particular care in collecting 
these, and has unusual facilities for doing it 
thoroly, this index wil be of great assistance 
to all other librarians who ar so fortunat as 
to receiv this admirable list of new accessions 
to the foremost institution of its kind in the 
world. 



demonstrated the success of the experiment 

J^= The list of catalogs, etc., which was not read at the Conference, will be published by the 
Bureau of Education, and should be bound at the end of this volume. 



REPORT ON AIDS AND GUIDES. 



BY W: BEER, LIBRARIAN TOPEKA PUBLIC LIBRARY. 



AWHEN I accepted the invitation of the 
President to write the " Report on aids 
and guides " for the meeting of the Associa- 
tion at Fabyan's, I thought that it would be 
easy to find out just what was covered by the 
title ; but, to my astonishment, all my prede- 
cessors have differed in their treatment of 
the subject. 

Mr. Green, at Cincinnati, and Mr. Foster, at 
Buffalo, have taken the broadest, and, in my 
opinion, the correct, view. Subsequently Mr. 
Crunden and Mr. Lane have made reports 
dealing with what I venture to call side issues. 



I would suggest that in future the reporter 
should be selected as soon as possible after 
the annual meeting; and the preparation of 
the report should be by gradual accumula- 
tion, and not, as for some years, by a com- 
paratively sudden rush. , 

The technical periodicals relating to library 
work are few, our own Journal, the English 
Library, and the Leipzig Centralblatt fur 
Bibliotkekstvesen are the only ones contain- 
ing practical articles. They ought to be in 
the hands of all librarians. 

The following classified summary includes 



74 



FASYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



the more useful items noted during the 
period June, 1889, to June, 1890: 

On LIBRARIES in general have appeared the ad- 
mirable report of the President, on the "library as 
a factor in the intellectual life," on special libraries 
the " Annals of the Bodleian, " by Macrae, and 
the model bibliographical material contained in 
the collected papers of Henry Bradshaw, the Uni- 
versity Librarian of Cambridge, England. 

In the Centralblatt is a good article by V. 
Chanut on " Libraries in Belgium." 

The same publication, vol. 6, has papers on the 
regulations of the reading-room at Halle, of 
Italian libraries, of the reading-room at Na- 
tional library, Milan, and on Austrian library 
laws. The question of Sunday openings is very 
fully treated in Miss Cutler's paper. 

On the LIBRARIAN'S WORK, the Journal has 
published articles on the protection of rare vol- 
umes, on room fittings for cataloguers, on the Cole 
size card, and on check-lists for periodicals ; also 
reports of discussions of the New York Library 
Club on* BINDING and other subjects. The 
Library has a good paper on the Indicator, Mur- 
ray's Magazine a useful article on books and book- 
buying, and the Export journal, published by 
Hideler, of Leipzig, an excellent current list of 
the contents of all periodicals bearing on binding 
and book-making. 

Remarks on CATALOGUES are, perhaps, out of 
place, but I should like to call particular attention 
to one recently published at South Shields, Eng- 
land, giving contents of the longer sets of British 
government publications, to the new edition of 
Cutter's Rules, which is, in many ways, an im- 
provement on the original, and to the contents 
index of the University Library of California, a 
work admirable in design and execution. 

The following HELPS FOR READERS have been 
published in 1889-90: Berry: Good books, and 
how to use them. Burt, Literary Landmarks. 
Parsons, and others : the World's best books, and 



collections of papers ; books that have helped me, 
and books that have influenced me, written by 
persons of greater or less literary note. 

SCHOOLS. There is much to be learned from 
the practice of libraries guided by our more en- 
terprising fellow-workers. Providence and Mil- 
waukee and perhaps others are making the teachers 
of the schools distributors of good literature by 
issuing to them cards on which may be drawn 
from 10 to 50 books. The teacher assumes a 
qualified responsibility for the safety of the books, 
and is able to judge of the special fitness of the 
book to the applicant. 

Worcester issues cards of a different color for 
children. The Baltimore Mercantile Library 
has tried an experiment which deserved success. 
Persons interested in special subjects created 
by subscription a fund, and the books bought were 
reserved to the subscribers for 12 months, to be 
after that time merged in the general collection. 
If sufficient interest could be awakened in the 
more abstruse branches of science, this method 
should be the means of adding many useful books 
to libraries. 

As guides to the CHOICE OK BOOKS, the follow- 
ing may be named : a list of fiction for general use 
in Hudson's History of French literature, N. Y., 
1889, a hand list of 100 books of English fiction, 
and 50 of translated fiction issued by Mr. Linder- 
felt, of Milwaukee, for use as call slips, to be 
followed by similar lists of children's books and 
of technical books, the latter to be sent in quan- 
tity to large employers. 

The Cosmopolitan has an article by M. D. Wig- 
gin on what shall children read, and to the Catholic 
World Brother Azarias has contributed a series 
of articles on " Books and how to use them." 

I had prepared for this report a list of all the 
BIBLIOGRAPHIES of the period covered, but they 
will appear partly in Mr. Linderfelt's Report and 
partly in the next Bibliographical Contribution of 
Harvard University. 



e list of bibliographies mentioned in the last paragraph, which was not read at the Con- 
ference, will be printed by the Bureau of Education, and should be bound at the end of this volume. 



UTLEY. 



75 



REPORT ON LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. 



BY H: M. UTLEY, LIBRARIAN DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

PART II. DESCRIPTION OF BUILDINGS* 
(For Part I., see p. 12-14.) 



"DESIDE the building projects here de- 
scribed in detail, there are several which 
are still in their incipient stages, not far enough 
advanced to merit particular mention. Most 
notable among these are the public libraries 
of Providence, Detroit, Chicago, the Gros- 
venor Library in Buffalo, Young Men's Asso- 
ciation Library in Albany, and the John 
Crerar Library in Chicago. Doubtless, when 
the next report is presented, some if not all 
of these may be included. For the present 
I limit myself to the following: 

BAT A VI A, N. Y. Richmond Memorial Library. 
On the 12th of March, 1889, the Richmond 
Memorial Library, at Batavia, N. Y., was form- 
ally opened to the public. This was the gift of 
the widow of Dean Richmond as a memorial of 
her son, Dean Richmond, Jr., to School District 
No. 2, Batavia. The Library journal, which gives 
a perspective view and floor plans, says the build- 
ing has a frontage of 87 feet and a depth of 87 
feet, being T shaped. It is a modernization of 
the Romanesque in style, and is built of light 
gray Medina sandstone and red Albion stone. 
The roof is of red tile, the gutters and metal 
work of copper, and there is a liberal amount of 
carving. The interior is finished in oak. The 
stack-room has adjustable shelves for 20,000 
volumes, about half of which number is now on 
hand. 

BEAVER DAM, Wis. Williams Free Library. 
The offer of J. J. Williams to build and equip a 
library building as a gift to Beaver Dam, if the 
city would provide a suitable lot, has been 
accepted. The city has purchased for $12,000 a 
lot centrally located and large enough to provide 
a lawn on each side of the building. The con- 
tracts for the work, aggregating $25,000, have 
been let, and it is expected that the building will 
be ready for occupancy by February next. The 
Milwaukee Wisconsin of July 3 gives a descrip- 
tion of the building. The extreme exterior 



dimensions are 72x74 feet and the height two 
stories, with a tower and open belfry at one 
corner. The style of architecture is Romanesque. 
The material is brick, the walls on all sides being 
faced with stone, the basement and first story, 
Wauwatosa limestone, and the second story, 
Cleveland sandstone, rock faced. The roof is of 
slate, terra cotta crested. The windows are large 
and numerous, abundantly lighting the interior. 
The entrance is through a vestibule in the tower, 
a hallway leading to the public delivery-room in 
the centre of the building. To the rear of this 
and separated from it by the delivery desk and 
railing are the book stacks, with a present capac- 
ity of about 28,000 volumes. At the left of the 
vestibule a door opens into the periodical reading- 
room. This is separated from the public delivery- 
room by a glazed partition. At the left of the 
delivery-room and separated from it by a glass 
partition are the ladies' reading-room, and refer- 
ence study. The latter also opens into the book- 
room, so that students can have access to the 
shelves, it being the intention to have the books 
as open and accessible as possible. The libra- 
rian's office is conveniently located and there are 
work-rooms, toilet-rooms, etc., at the right of the 
main hall. All the rooms are finished in hard 
wood and there is tile flooring in the corridors. 
The second story is in one large room, designed 
for a hall for lectures and public gatherings. 

CHICAGO, ILL. Newberry Library. The trus- 
tees of the Newberry Library have selected for 
the new building the Ogden block, bounded by 
Dearborn avenue, Lafayette place, Clark and Oak 
streets, near Washington Park, toward which it 
will face, and comprising 68,000 square feet. The 
plans for the permanent building to be erected on 
this lot have not been approved at the date of 
closing this report. Mr. Poole informs me that, 
if there is anything to be said on the subject at 
the time of the meeting of the Association, he will 

* After the note on p. 14 was printed, there was a change 
of plan, and the matter there omitted is therefore given here. 



7 6 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



say it. It has been found necessary to erect a 
temporary building for the use of the library until 
the permanent building can be completed. This 
is on the corner of State and Oak streets, one 
block distant from the block selected for the 
permanent location. It is 60 x 160 feet in size and 
two stories high. The shelving capacity is 200,- 
ooo volumes. 

CLEVELAND, OHIO. Public Library. The 
Library journal of May last gives a sketch of the 
new arrangement of the Cleveland Public Library. 
The statement is made that the building, which is 
owned by the Board of Education, was not origi- 
nally intended to be used for library purposes. 
The second and third floors, each 63 x 58 feet, how- 
ever, are so occupied. These have recently bee*n 
enlarged by the erection of an addition, 40x58 feet 
in size. This increases the floor space devoted 
to book storage purposes more than 100 per cent 
and relieves the library from its greatly over- 
crowded condition. 

CRAWFORDSVILLE, IND. Wabash College Li- 
brary. The new building for Wabash College 
Library, the funds for which were given by Simon 
Yandes, is already in course of erection. The 
construction is fire proof. The foundation is of 
limestone, the walls of brick, the sills, girders, 
rafters, etc.. of iron, and roof of slate. The ex- 
treme exterior dimensions are 90 x no feet, height 
two stories. The building is in the form of a 
cross, that portion of the front projecting beyond 
the arms being semi-circular in form. At the 
northeast angle is a square tower, rising to a 
height of 90 feet from the ground. The entrance 
is by a broad flight of stone steps to a doorway 
7 feet wide in the tower. Inside is a vestibule 15 
feet wide. The angle between the tower and the 
projecting arm, being carried out in semi-circular 
form, affords a stairway 10 feet wide to the second 
story. From the vestibule opposite the main 
door is a doorway to the book desk and at the 
left is the doorway to the reading-room. From 
the vestibule a corridor leads to the librarian's 
office. The reading-room is in the semi-circular 
projection of the front, is 15 feet in height, and is 
abundantly lighted by 9 lofty windows. Its ex- 
treme depth is 35 feet, extreme width 40 feet, with 
one 12-inch column in the centre 20 feet from the 
walls. At the left, in a rectangular projection 
corresponding to the tower on the other side, is a 
writing-room about 1 5 feet square. The librarian's 
office is 15 x 17 feet in size, opens into the corridor 



and also into the book-room. It has a handsome 
fireplace, and at one side is the lift connecting 
with the unpacking-room in the basement and 
also a room of same size above, which perhaps 
may serve for cataloging purposes. The book 
stacks are two tiers in height and occupy all the 
central portion of the building and left arm of the 
cross, being separated from the reading-room only 
by a light iron railing. The stacks are 5 feet 
8 inches from centre to centre, and are arranged 
at right angles to the front for the admission of 
light. In the rear extension these stacks are 
arranged parallel to the front, the light being 
admitted through the windows in the side walls. 
The front of the upper tier recedes about 2 feet, 
to afford a gallery passage which rests on the top 
of the lower tier. The whole arrangement seems 
to be very compact and convenient. 

The second story contains an art gallery, a 
statuary hall, and a trustees' room. The building 
is of very pleasing effect architecturally and seems 
to be wisely planned to serve all the purposes for 
which it was designed. The cost was about 
$35,000. 

DENVER, COL. Public Library. This institution, 
organized about twelve years ago in connection 
with the High School, has grown into a collection 
of upwards of 5,000 volumes. Late in 1889, it was 
moved into the west wing of the High School 
building, on igth and Stout streets, which has 
been specially fitted up for the purpose, and has a 
shelving capacity of 100,000 volumes. It was 
originally a school library, but has now become a 
free public library, open to all, and has been 
placed in charge of Mr. J. C. Dana, as librarian. 

Beside the library hall, there are three reading- 
rooms, one of which is set apart for ladies. The 
new quarters are in every respect admirable, and 
the library has apparently started upon a career 
of great and extended usefulness. 

HAMILTON, ONT. Public Library. This library 
was organized in 1889, under a general law of the 
Dominion. This law permits the Board of Man- 
agement, upon the consent of a majority of the 
ratepayers once obtained to that effect, to levy a 
tax, not exceeding half a mill on the dollar, for the 
support and maintenance of a free public library. 
The citizens of Hamilton having accepted the free 
library act, the Board of Management immediately 
procured a very desirable lot, for which they paid 
$6,000. They also appropriated $50,000 for a 
building; and this has progressed so far toward 



UTLEY. 



77 



completion that its formal opening and dedication 
is announced for October, 1890. The architect of 
the building, Mr. Wm. Stewart, of Hamilton, 
promised me a description of it, but was not will- 
ing to furnish it until after the formal dedication, 
which is, of course, too late for this report. I 
can only say that the building is of stone and 
brick and is considered architecturally an orna- 
ment to the city. It has a frontage of 70 feet, 
and a depth of 125 feet, and is three stories in 
height above a high basement. There is a square 
tower at the corner, rising considerably above the 
roof, and a projection at the other angle is gabled, 
with pleasing effect. The entrance is at the cen- 
tre of the front, and over it is a very beautiful 
rose window. The entire ground floor is occupied 
by reading-rooms and library. The former are 
elegantly fitted up, and the latter is conveniently 
arranged. The upper floors will for the present 
be used for art-school purposes and picture gal- 
leries. A considerable number of books for the 
library has been already procured. Mr. Richard 
T. Lancefield has been chosen librarian and has 
been for some time hard at work classifying and 
arranging the books, the library having been opened 
with the first installment in temporary quarters. 

HARTFORD, CONN. Free Library. Through the 
labors and generous gifts of friends of the enter- 
prise, the sum of $400,000 has been raised for the 
benefit of the libraries of the city. The Athen- 
aeum building is to be reconstructed and enlarged. 
The work is in the hands of Mr. I. Cleaveland 
Cady, of New York, the architect who designed 
the new library of Yale University. At the time 
of closing this report the full details had not been 
perfected, but Miss Hewins has kindly furnished 
m'e a general description of the plans. Nearly the 
whole of the main floor will be devoted to the pur- 
poses of the free library. This floor will be en- 
tirely remodeled and the low wing in the rear will 
be torn down. In place of this, and also taking 
up a considerable portion of the old courtyard 
will be built the stack-room, one story high, but 
containing two tiers of stacks, capacity 90,000 
volumes, lighted from the roof. The delivery- 
room will be in the centre of the old building, 
where was formerly the statue gallery, and the 
passages from it to the stack-room are by two 
doorways through what is now the rear wall. 
Special pains will be taken to make the building 
as nearly fire proof as possible. At the right of 
the main entrance will be rooms for the librarian 
and cataloguers, and in rear of them and at the 



right of the delivery-room, will be the general 
reading-rooms. The arrangement seems to be 
very convenient for the public and also for the 
economical administration of the library. An en- 
tirely new wing, two stories high, will be built in 
the rear for the Watkinson Library ; and the quar- 
ters heretofore occupied by that library will be de- 
voted to the library of the Connecticut Historical 
Society. The art collection will be incorporated 
with the free library and will be placed on the 
second floor, in the front portion of the building. 
The entrance will be through the same general en- 
trance as to the library and offices. A very con- 
siderable accession to the number of volumes in 
the free library is certain, as soon as the new 
building is ready to receive them. The improve- 
ments of the building are to cost $75,000. 

HIGHTSTOWN, N. J. Lon'gstreet Library. The 
building, the memorial gift of Jonathan and 
Mary A. Longstreet, has been completed and 
dedicated. It has a very attractive exterior. 
The interior is both pleasant and convenient, 
with separate reading-rooms, book-rooms, and an 
office for the librarian. The shelving capacity is 
10,000 volumes, and about 4,000 are now on 
hand. The cost of the building was $12,000. 

JOHNSTOWN, PA. Cambria Library. The 
Cambria Library, in Johnstown, was completely 
wiped out by the flood which destroyed that town 
in May, 1889. Mr. Andrew Carnegie volunteered 
to restore the building at his own expense, and 
the work is now in a forward state of progress. 
The new building is 65 feet front by 85 feet deep, 
and its construction is intended to be fire proof. 
It is of salmon-colored brick, trimmed with free- 
stone, and is of good substantial appearance, 
though no special attempt at ornamentation has 
been made. The interior will be finished through- 
out in natural wood, and all the rooms are con- 
venient, pleasant, and well lighted. The library 
and reading rooms will be placed on the second 
floor. The first floor will be devoted to a large 
audience-room for lectures, etc., and on the third 
floor there will be a gymnasium and class-rooms. 
The library has now on hand about 1,200 volumes. 

KALAMAZOO, MICH. Public Library. The city 
has appropriated $15,000 for the purchase of a 
suitable and conveniently located lot, and Dr. and 
Mrs. E. H. Van Dusen have announced their in- 
tention to give $50,000 for a building. The plans 
are now under consideration, though nothing defi- 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



nite has yet been decided. It is expected that the 
new building will be completed by July, 1891. 
This library is a public-school library under the 
general laws of the State, and is managed by the 
Board of Education. It numbers about 17,000 
volumes, and employs a librarian and two assist- 
ants. It has always received generous support at 
the hands of the tax payers, and has proved very 
popular and useful. Dr. and Mrs. Van Dusen, 
by their munificent gift, have commended them- 
selves to the reverent affection of their towns- 
people. Their monument is more enduring than 
brass. 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Public Library. The new 
building erected for the public library was opened 
Sept. 2, 1889. It is of brick, two stories in height. 
It has a frontage of 50 feet and a depth of 140. 
The entire first floor is devoted to library pur- 
poses, including reading-rooms, chess and checker 
rooms, librarian's room, and book cases. On the 
second floor are the offices of the School Board. 

The building is on leased ground, and cost 
$10,000. On one side is a handsome lawn, sur- 
rounded by iron railings. The book cases are 
separated from the public by counters, at which 
books are given out and returned. To the right 
of these is a passage-way to the reading-room, in 
the rear. This is a well-lighted apartment 50 x 75 
feet in size, with high ceiling. Four small rooms 
adjoining are used for chess and checker rooms, 
which is something of an innovation. This library, 
which now numbers upwards of 15,000 volumes, 
was first opened in 1876, and had hitherto occu- 
pied rented quarters. Library journal. 

Thomas H. Swope has purchased a piece of 
ground 161 feet, on I5th street, by 265 feet deep, 
upon which he proposes to erect a magnificent 
library building and art gallery, to be presented by 
him 10 the city. 

LAFAYETTE, IND. Public Library. The new 
building was completed and occupied early in the 
present year. Its cost was about $50,000, and it 
was built by public taxation. The entire first 
floor is taken up by the library and reading-rooms, 
offices, etc., and the upper floor is used for high- 
school purposes. The building is of brick with 
stone dressing, and the general architectural effect 
is very pleasing. The library has the use of three 
large rooms one for a general delivery-room, 
with the book stacks in the rear and conveniently 
arranged; the others are used for reading and 
consulting rooms. The library numbers about 
12,000 volumes. 



LAWRENCE, MASS. Public Library. The trus- 
tees of the White fund have entered into a 
contract with the city government to erect a 
library building, costing $40,000, the city to accept 
the same for thirty years, keep it in repair, and 
pay an annual rental of $1,600. The plans have 
been adopted and the work is in progress. The 
architecture is the modern Romanesque, the en- 
tire exterior of brownstone, the trimming, same 
material hammered. 

The building has a frontage of 89 feet on 
Haverhill street, and a depth of 124 feet. At 
the northeast corner is a tower, first square, then 
octagonal, rising to a height of 70 feet. The 
entrance is through this tower into a vesti- 
bule, whence there is a passage into the delivery- 
room, 26 x 30 feet. North of the delivery-room, 
and connecting with it by an arch, is the reading- 
room, 30 x 70 feet in size. The octagonal end on 
Haverhill street admits light through six small 
windows and one large one 10 feet wide. 

At the northwest side is the reference-room, 
22 x 32, connected with the reading-room by two 
arches, between which is an open fireplace. West 
of the reference-room is the librarian's room, 
17 x 27^ feet in size, with an open fireplace. 
The book-room is a rear extension, one story 
high* 37 x 45 feet, with a basement 6 feet high. 
There are three tiers of iron book stacks, one in 
the basement, one on the main floor, and one 
above it. The estimated capacity is 75,000 
volumes. The library now contains 32,000. The 
entire woodwork, except that of the book-room, 
is oak. On the second floor is the trustees' room, 
15^ feet square, and a hall, 30 x 60, to be used 
as a lecture-room, picture gallery, etc. 

MAGNOLIA, MASS. Public Library. A hand- 
some building, costing $8,000, designed by Cum- 
mings & Sears, architects, of Boston, has been 
erected. The lower story is arranged for library 
and reading-rooms, and the upper story is used 
as a lecture and concert hall. The money for 
the enterprise was raised by private subscriptions 
and public entertainments. 

MEADVILLE, PA. Theological School Library. 
This library building, which was erected at a cost of 
$6,000, chiefly contributed by Alfred, Miss E. G., 
and Prof. F. Huidekoper, was dedicated June 4. 
It is a substantial fireproof structure of stone and 
brick. There are three commodious, well-lighted 
and well-ventilated reading and study rooms and 
one apartment used as a reference library. The 



UTLEY. 



79 



woodwork of the interior is native pine in its natu- 
ral state. The heating is by steam. The book- 
room is in a wing, separated from the rest of the 
building by a heavy brick wall. It has a capacity 
of 40,000 volumes. 

MEMPHIS, TENN. Cossitt Library. The con- 
struction of the Cossitt Library, now in progress, 
is required by contract to be finished by first of 
July, 1891. The building is irregular in outline, 
but has a frontage of 131 feet, by an extreme depth 
of no feet. The style of architecture is Roman- 
esque. The material is red sandstone, from Mich- 
igan quarries. The window courses, caps, gables, 
and columns are made quite ornate by elaborate 
carvings. 

The roof is of red tile. The building stands 
well up above the street, which relieves it from 
what might be otherwise a squatty appearance. 
It is two stories in height, and a circular tower near 
the centre of the front is carried far above the 
roof of the main structure, and is finished with 
open belfry and sharp-pointed tiled roof. 

The most striking feature of the fa9ade is 
the entrance porch and its treatment both above 
and below. From the plaza on which the building 
stands, the porch is reached by a flight of nine broad 
stone steps. It shows three faces, each pierced by 
a wide arched entrance. The arches are sup- 
ported by five polished marble columns. 

Each of the faces shows a gable and double 
arched windows in the second story. From this 
entrance wide double doors open into the vesti- 
bule, from which a door leads into the delivery 
hall. Near the vestibule is a cloak-room. Oppo- 
site the main entrance is a spacious fireplace, at 
the right of which is a door leading into the com- 
mittee-room, in the rear ; and still further to the 
right is the counter for the delivery of books. 
Between the counter and the book-room in its 
rear, is the librarian's desk. Conveniently placed 
are stairways and also a lift to the basement and 
to the work-rooms above. At the left of the deliv- 
ery hall is the ladies' reading-room, provided with 
a fireplace and convenient toilet-room. The 
magazine-room and the general reading-room are 
in front of and to the right of the delivery hall, and 
are connected with it and with each other by broad 
arched openings. They are admirably lighted, 
and so placed as to prevent disturbance of the 
occupants by the bustle and confusion of the 
delivery-room. 

The south end of the reading-room is rounded 
at the corners, and shows a handsome fireplace at 



the centre. In the second story is another reading 
or study room, the passage to which is from the 
delivery hall by a stairway in the circular tower. 
The book-room is in a rear extension, one story 
high, and so arranged that it can be added to as 
occasion may require. The windows are in the 
side walls and high, so as to permit the placing of 
book cases along the walls as well as across the 
centre of the room. The present capacity of this 
room is 40,000 volumes. The cost of the building 
is to be about $75,000. Mr. L. B. Wheeler, of 
Memphis, is the architect, and to him I am 
indebted for information respecting the plans, 
etc. 

MENOMONEE, Wis. Tainter Memorial Library. 
This building, the memorial gift of Andrew 
Tainter, has been completed at a cost of about 
$18,000. It was opened July i, 1890, with 5,000 
volumes. The property has been put into the 
hands of a corporation for management, but the 
library is practically free to the citizens. There 
are in the building, in addition to the library and 
reading-room, a public hall or lecture-room, and 
parlors and other suitable rooms for a young peo- 
ple's club. 

The building is Romanesque in style, and is 
constructed of sandstone. It has a frontage of 
80 feet and an extreme depth of 90 feet. Its 
height is two stories above a lofty basement. The 
library and reading-rooms are on the first floor, 
and the book stack is in a fireproof wing. The 
floor of the library is tiled with marble. The 
staircase and wainscoting are marble. The wood- 
work and furniture are mainly oak. The building 
is heated by steam and lighted by electricity. 
There are two large and beautiful memorial win- 
dows one for the daughter of Andrew Tainter, 
who erected this building in her memory, and the 
other designed to perpetuate the memory of Cap- 
tain and Mrs. Tainter themselves. 

MIDDLETOWN, MASS. Public Library. The 
people voted in town meeting to purchase a site 
and erect thereon a suitable public library build- 
ing. The town pays for the site, and will take 
care of the expense of maintaining the library. 
The Flint fund of $10,000 will be devoted to the 
erection of a building. The Emerson fund of 
$10,000 will be set aside as endowment, the income 
of which will be appropriated to the purchase of 
books. The new building will be a handsome and 
commodious structure, planned in accordance with 
the latest ideas on the subject. 



8o 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



MILWAUKEE, Wis. Public Library. The Legis- 
lature of the State, at its last session, authorized 
the city of Milwaukee to issue its bonds to the 
amount of $60,000 for the purchase of a site for 
a public library and museum building. In like 
manner it is proposed to ask the next Legislature to 
give authority to the city to raise the requisite funds 
for the erection of a building. Mr. Linderfelt 
writes: "A lot has been purchased, consisting of a 
piece of ground nearly 35,000 square feet, corner 
of Grand avenue and gth street, which I am 
pleased to say is one of the most beautiful and 
commanding situations in the city. On this ground 
a building will be erected large enough to accom- 
modate both the public library and our extensive 
public museum. I have every reason to hope that 
the building will be as good as it can be made, so 
far as construction is concerned, and imposing archi- 
tecturally. We shall probably require about a 
quarter of a million dollars for its erection. But no 
detailed plans have yet been made, nor can any- 
thing be done toward commencing it before next 
spring at the earliest." 

MOUNT HOLLY SPRINGS, PA. Free Library. 
Miss Amelia S. Given, of Mount Holly Springs, 
Pa., an heiress, has given the little mountain vil- 
lage where she was born a free library. The build- 
ing is of the modern renaissance style, while the 
rooms are finished in Moorish designs and fitted 
with modern conveniences and comforts. Har- 
per's Weekly. 

NEBRASKA. State Library. The library was 
moved into its new quarters in the second story of 
the south wing of the Capitol in August last. The 
library-room is 75 x 30 feet, and has one gallery 
extending around all sides of the room, reached 
by spiral stairways at the corners. Only the main 
floor has been fitted up, and this has a capacity of 
30,000 volumes. The gallery will be occupied 
when required. All the woodwork, including the 
furniture, book cases, etc., is of polished oak. 
There are six reading-tables. The ante-rooms, of 
which there are two, are used, one by the librarian 
as an office, and the other for storing Nebraska 
reports, having a capacity of 5,000 volumes. The 
library is heated by steam and lighted by electricity. 
There are two large open fireplaces at opposite 
ends of the room. 

NEWARK, N. J. Public Library. A full des- 
cription of the new building for the Newark free 
public library, with illustrations of the exterior and 



interior, and floor plans, is given in the Library 
journal for November, 1889. The new building, 
which seems to be a model of its kind and admir- 
ably arranged, was formally opened to the public, 
with appropriate dedicatory exercises, on the even- 
ing of Oct. 16, 1889. The capacity of the shelving 
is 60,000 volumes, which can be easily increased 
to 100,000. The present number of volumes is 
about 25,000. 

NEW HAVEN, CONN. Public Library. The 
city issued its bonds in the sum of $100,000, and 
takes care of the annual interest. The proceeds 
of the bonds amounted to $110,888. Of this sum, 
$70,000 was used for the purchase of the old 
Third Church property, opposite the green, and in 
a very convenient and satisfactory location. The 
remodeling and furnishing of the building are 
expected to cost about $30,000. The equipment 
is intended to be very complete, with steam heat- 
ing, electric lighting, and special attention to ven- 
tilation. The building will be ready for occupancy 
about the 1st of January next. The old church is 
of Portland brownstone, about 60 feet wide by 
about 1 20 feet in depth, with a two-story addition 
in the rear. The exterior will not be altered, 
except that skylights will be placed in the roof. 
The interior was divided into nave 30 feet wide, 
and aisles on each side 15 feet wide, with columns 
supporting the roof and galleries over the aisles. 
The plan is to leave the nave still open to the 
roof, from which it will be lighted by skylight, and 
to fill in the space between the columns with 
glazed partitions. The central portion of the 
building will be used as the library proper, the 
public delivery-room occupying the front for about 
one third of the floor space, separated by a counter 
from the book-room, which occupies the remain- 
der of the nave and the rear extension. The 
galleries will be reconstructed and used for book 
storage when required. The spaces under the 
galleries on either side will be used for reading- 
rooms. At the front and upon the right and left 
of the main entrance are small rooms suitable for 
librarian and assistants for work-rooms. These 
are so arranged that the supervision of the several 
rooms devoted to public use can be maintained 
with great economy in the employment of assist- 
ants. The catalogue is placed near the reference- 
room, and the card catalogue and the librarian are 
located conveniently to the public as well as the 
library employes. The city makes an annual 
appropriation of $10,000 for the maintenance of 
the library, and it is expected that the building as 



UTLEY. 



81 



now remodeled will suffice for its needs for twenty 
years to come, and additions can then be made 
which will provide for a much longer period. 

NEW YORK CITY. Mercantile Library. Mr. 
Peoples writes that the new building for the N. Y. 
Mercantile Library is now in course of erection on 
the site of the old building in Astor place and 
8th street. The lot is irregular, measuring 159 
feet on 8th street, 149 feet on Astor place, 52 feet 
on the end which faces an open square, and 98 feet 
on the opposite end. The building will be seven 
stories high. The first two stories will be of pink 
sandstone. 

Above this, the material used will be brick of a 
buff color, interspersed with sandstone. The 
library will occupy the sixth and seventh stories, 
and will be reached by two steam elevators. The 
other stories, from the first to the fifth inclusive, 
will be rented for stores and offices. The building 
will be heated by steam and lighted throughout by 
electricity. The sixth floor will be used for the 
reading-room and reference department, and will 
be 17 feet high. The circulating department for 
home use will be on the seventh floor. This room 
will be 25 feet from floor to roof. We shall have 
windows on all sides and a skylight in the roof. 
At present the book stack will be two tiers high, 
of 7 feet each. The storage capacity is estimated 
at 800,000 volumes. The cost of the building will 
be about $500,000. 

NORTH GRANBY, CONN. Cossitt Library. The 
Springfield Republican of April 26, 1890, gives a 
view of the public free library building erected at 
North Granby. Frederick H. Cossitt, of New 
York, who left $75,000 for a library at Memphis, 
Tenn., left also $10,000 for a library at North 
Granby, his birthplace. The people of the town 
contributed funds to include a public hall in the 
structure and leave $5,000 for the permanent 
support of the institution. The plans were drawn 
by J. D. Sibley, architect, of Middletown, Conn. 
The first story is of brick, and the upper story of 
wood. The library and reading-room are in the 
upper story, the centre of the room being devoted 
to reading-tables, and the book cases arranged in 
alcoves around the walls. 

The interior is lighted from above by a lantern 
in a dwarf roof. This lantern is supported by ten 
columns, and contains twenty-six windows of 
ground, plain, and stained glass, producing a 
pleasing effect. The whole woodwork of the 
interior is of light and dark colored cypress, 



finished in the natural wood. The building is 
heated by a furnace. There is a neat vestibule. 
The architecture is unique, and the general effect 
is said to be pleasing. 

OLNEYVILLE, R. I. Public Library. The citi- 
zens have undertaken to establish a public library. 
Sufficient subscriptions have been secured to 
assure the success of the movement. The town 
is to provide for the maintenance and for the pur- 
chase of books. Plans for the building have been 
adopted, and the cost is estimated at $30,000- 
They show a substantial stone structure of the 
modern style of architecture, two stories in height, 
with a high and well-lighted basement. The li- 
brary will be on the main floor, and there will be 
separate reading-rooms for ladies and gentlemen. 

PITTSBURGH, PA. Carnegie Public Library. 
Mr. Jas. B. Scott, Chairman of the Library Commis 
sion, writes under date of July 2, 1890: "The 
Carnegie Library project in Pittsburgh has not 
more than started. The enterprise is now await- 
ing a decision regarding the definite location of 
the principal buildings; and in consequence there 
are yet no plans, which will have to be adapted to 
suit the location when selected and secured. In a 
general way the project in Pittsburgh will have a 
central organization, which will include the library 
building, hall, picture-gallery, and museum. There 
will be, in addition, four or five branch libraries, to 
be located in as many several thickly populated 
districts of the city. Mr. Carnegie has definitely 
given one million dollars for this general enter- 
prise. He has also made the provision for a rev- 
enue at 5 per cent of another million dollars, 
said revenue to be specifically spent in connection 
with the art and museum features. The first 
million is given outright for building purposes, 
the second million being in the nature of an en- 
dowment for above purposes. 

PORTLAND, OR. Portland Library. This is 
an Association Library, established in 1864. It 
has about 18,000 volumes, a membership of 250, 
paying annual dues of $9. By the sale of per- 
petual memberships a book fund endowment of 
$25,000 has been accumulated. M. W. Fech- 
heimer, for many years a director of the Association, 
left upon his death a bequest of the value of about 
$5,000 for building purposes. A subscription to 
enlarge this fund was started, and it was increased 
to $45,000. Oct. i, 1889, Miss Ella M. Smith, 
of Portland, died, leaving, by last will and testa- 



82 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



ment, her whole estate, valued at $100,000, to the 
Association to aid in the erection of a suitable 
building for the library and maintenance of the 
same, or to furnish it with works of art. Plans for a 
building were immediately procured from Chamber- 
lain & Whidden, architects, of Boston, a half-block 
of ground in a central location was purchased, and 
the erection of the building, to cost $100,000, was 
begun, to be finished in 1891. 

The building has a frontage on Stark street of 
64 feet and an extreme depth of 144 feet. It is 
two stories in height. above a high basement. The 
material is stone, roof of slate. The entire build- 
ing will be devoted to library purposes, and will 
afford spacious reading-rooms for ladies and for 
gentlemen, as well as art-rooms, study or lyceum 
rooms, and ample book-storage facilities. The 
arrangement of the rooms is according to the 
latest approved methods, and is believed to be 
very convenient. The heating is by steam, and 
special attention has been paid by the architects to 
ventilation and lighting. 

RoCKTON, ILL. Talcott Free Library. A hand- 
some free library building was opened in Rockton, 
a suburb of Rockford, 111., on Aug. 22, 1889. 
The building was erected at the expense of the 
Talcott family of that place, and Mr. Thomas B. 
Talcott presented nearly 1,000 volumes as a 
memorial of his wife, so that the library has a fair 
start. 

ST. Louis, Mo. Public Library. Plans pre- 
pared by Isaac Taylor, architect, of St. Louis, have 
been accepted by the Board of Education for a 
public-school library building, to be erected at 
an estimated cost of $350,000. The location is a 
central one, being at the corner of gth and Locust 
streets. The building is designed to furnish a 
revenue from business uses of the lower floors, 
like that of the Mercantile Library in the same 
city. It is to be 127 x 112 feet in size, six stories 
high, and absolutely fire proof. The basement and 
four lower floors will be rented to one tenant for 
business purposes, probably a wholesale dry-goods 
store. The Board of Education will use the fifth 
floor for its offices, committee-rooms, etc. The 
sixth floor will be given up wholly to the library, 
and will be arranged in the most convenient man- 
ner. At the date of closing this report, July i, 
the details of this arrangement have not been 
settled. I am informed by Mr. Crunden that the 
plans will be exhibited at the conference for exam- 
ination and criticism The entrance to the li- 



brary will be at the west end of the building on 
Locust street. There will be an elaborate vesti- 
bule, the walls, floor, and ceiling of Italian marble. 
A marble staircase and three passenger elevators 
will land the visitor to the library floor in a com- 
modious lobby, from which doors lead to the pub- 
lic delivery-room. Back of the delivery desk is 
the stack-room. This is 92 x 43 feet in size, and 
runs the entire length of the building. It is sep- 
arated from the delivery-room by" a glazed parti- 
tion, which affords the public a glimpse of the 
resources of the library. The reading-room is 
also separated from the delivery-room by an orna- 
mental glass partition, 8 feet high. At the west 
end is a gallery for patent documents. There are 
convenient rooms for librarian, for cataloguers, 
for reference study, toilet-rooms, etc., etc. The 
heating, ventilating, and electric light plant are in 
the basement. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. Mercantile Library. 
The Mercantile Library Association of San Fran- 
cisco has sold its property for $157,000 to the 
Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company, with 
the privilege of occupying that part of the premises 
used by the library at a monthly rental of $500. 

A new site has been purchased for $70,000, 
1 20 x 109 feet, corner of Van Ness and Golden 
Gate avenues, running through to Elk avenue on 
the north. On this lot a five-story brick, stone, 
and terra cotta building is being erected, which 
will furnish admirable and convenient quarters for 
the library; while a large portion of the building 
will be devoted to business uses, from which 
sufficient revenue will be derived to take care of 
the indebtedness, maintain the building, and leave 
a surplus for the purposes of the library. 

SCRANTON, PA. Albright Memorial Library. 
The heirs of Joseph J. Albright, late of Scranton, 
consisting of John Joseph Albright, of Buffalo, 
and H. C. Albright, Mrs. James Archibald, and 
Mrs. R. J. Bennett, of Scranton, have given the 
homestead lot, situated in the centre of the city, 
on the corner of Washington avenne and Vine 
street, for the purpose of a library. John Joseph 
Albright donates the building, and is superin- 
tending its erection. The value of these gifts 
exceeds $100,000. It is to be known as the Al- 
bright Memorial Building, in honor of the parents 
of the donors. The citizens and the municipal 
authorities supply the books and maintain the 
library. This is tha first and only public library 
in Scranton. 



UTLEY. 



Mr. Albright takes very great interest in this 
enterprise, and has visited numerous libraries, 
and consulted the best-known authorities, with 
a view to make this building a model of its 
kind. It has been so planned as to admit of 
enlargement, as the wants of the public and the 
uses of the building require. The architects are 
Messrs. Green & Wicks, of Buffalo, who furnish 
the following description : 

The style of the building is the French renais- 
sance of the Chateau period. The lot being on 
the corner, we have adopted the "L" shaped 
plan, which gives in its re-entering angle a court 
to the streets, which we think will be very attrac- 
tive. The long side of the "L" is 36 x 132 feet, 
and this contains the entrance, with the stairs to 
the second story and reading-room, 32 x 50, open 
to the roof, with a gallery around it 8 feet wide. 
It is divided into alcoves, giving quiet places 
or retired nooks for special reading. Directly 
upon entering and straight ahead are the stairs. 
To the left of this, entering -directly from the hall, 
are the delivery desk and the card catalogues. 
These are so arranged that they can be used from 
the stack-room, the reading-room, or the librarian's 
room. To the right of the entrance is a news- 
paper-room, 32 x 32. Directly above this is a 
lecture-room, 30 x 40, combined with a trustees' 
room, which may be used as a small class-room or 
an ante-room for the hall in case of entertain- 
ments, etc. The book-room or stack-room is built 
in the " L " of the building, and is entirely inde- 
pendent of it, having a brick wall with fireproof 
doors between. Its capacity when entirely filled 
will be 125,000 volumes. It is thoroughly well 
lighted, the windows being the exact width of the 
aisles between the book stacks. Through a clever 
suggestion of Prof. Dewey's (and this is only one 
of a great many) the first floor of the stack-room 
is dropped 3^ feet below the delivery-desk floor, 
and the stacks, being 7 feet high, places the next 
one 3^ feet above the delivery floor ; consequently 
it gives great convenience in taking books from 
the stack-room to the desk, as a boy can be on 
each floor and hand books to the delivery clerk 
without making use of the elevators. 

The librarian's room is in one corner of the 
stack-house. Under this comes the bookbindery 
and the receiving-room, entered at grade directly 
from the outside. The whole building will be 
heated with hot water. It is to be entirely fire- 
proof throughout, with ample plumbing facilities. 

The material is stone for the foundation and up 
to the first-floor window sills. Above this the 



building is to be of Pompeian brick, enriched 
with terra cotta. 

Sioux CITY, IOWA. Public Library. The city, 
which owns a lot on the corner of 6th and Douglas 
streets, bought for library purposes, has entered 
into a contract with a private corporation to erect 
thereon, in accordance with plans furnished by the 
city, a building costing not less than $25,000. The 
city on its part agrees to pay an annual rental of 
6 per cent on the investment, and has the privi- 
lege of buying the building at its cost price at any 
time after completion. The upper part of the 
building is devoted to library and reading-room, 
while the city offices take up the ground floor. 

SKANEATELES, N. Y. Library Association. 
The new building was dedicated Feb. 7, 1890, with 
appropriate addresses by officers of the Association 
and others interested in library work. The build- 
ing is a model of convenience and taste, and there 
is much enthusiasm in the community respecting it. 

SOUTH DARTMOUTH, MASS. Southworth Li- 
brary. The Library journal of December, 1889, 
contains a view of the library building presented by 
John H. Southworth, of Springfield, Mass., to his 
native place, South Dartmouth, near New Bedford. 
It is 34 x 40 feet in size, one story in height, and has 
an ample porch. It is of rough pasture stone, 
trimming of brick, sills and belts of rock-faced 
granite. The public-room is 16 x 20 feet in size, 
book-room 12 x 20, and reading-room 20 feet 
square; ceilings, 16 feet in height, of Florida pine, 
divided into panels by ribs of California redwood. 
The woodw&rk finish is also of redwood. The 
building cost $5,000. Mr. Southworth also gave 
to the library 3,400 volumes. 

TORONTO, ONT. Public Library. A branch on 
Dundas street was completed and occupied last 
January. ' It is of brick, 30 x 90 feet in size, the 
front portion two stories high. There is a general 
reading-room, 77 x 30 feet, lighted by windows on 
one side, and by skylights, a ladies' reading-room, 
17 x ii feet, with two large windows, and book 
counter and shelves. The second story is occupied 
as a living room by the attendant, who receives 
$300 a year, with free fuel, gas, and water. The 
cost of the building was $4,500; fittings, furnace, 
etc., $2,000 more. The reading-rooms are abund- 
antly supplied with magazines, newspapers, etc. 
Books are delivered from the central library daily 
orders being transmitted by telephone. Plan 



8 4 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



have been prepared for an addition to the main 
library building, but work will not be commenced 
thereon until next year. The addition will be 
91 x 68 feet in size, and will be fire proof. It will 
be devoted principally to book storage. 

TORONTO, ONT. University Library. On the 
evening of Feb. 14, 1890, fire, caused by the over- 
turning of a lamp, broke out in the east wing of 
the main building of the University of Toronto. 
The library was situated on the second floor front 
of this wing, and was completely destroyed, not a 
thing being saved. The University authorities at 
once set on foot measures for replacing the library 
by appealing for assistance to its friends, both in 
England and America. After considerable con- 
troversy over the matter, it has finally been de- 
cided, in rebuilding, to place the library in a sepa- 
rate building, specially designed for it. Members 
of the faculty and governing board have visited 
the chief libraries in the United States, for the 
purpose of investigation. The result is, that the 
building of the Michigan University Library, at 
Ann Arbor, is to be taken as the model. The 
general characteristics of that building will be 
adopted, but the details will be modified somewhat 
to suit special needs. As there are to be no art 
galleries in the Toronto building, those portions 
so used at Ann Arbor will be devoted to the semi- 
naries, and the stacks will be arranged with refer- 
ence to their convenient use. This use of the 
second-floor rooms will give abundant facilities 
for special students, and also for conversation- 
rooms. The stack will also be so planned as to 
admit of indefinite enlargement. The librarian's 
quarters, and the work-rooms in conuection there- 
with, will be planned on a more liberal scale than 
at Ann Arbor. 

TRENTON, Mo. Public Library. Mr. Jewett 
Norris, for thirty-five years a resident of Trenton, 
made to the School Board of that city a proposition 
that he would give the sum of $50,000 for the pur- 
pose of establishing and maintaining a free public 
library and reading-room, on the condition that the 
board would procure a site, erect thereon a suitable 
building, equip it with furniture, fixtures, books, 
etc., and provide for its perpetual maintenance as 
a free public library. He stipulated that of his 
gift $30,000 might be used for building purposes, 
and, when the building is completed, equipped, and 
in running order, the balance of his gift may be 
invested as a permanent endowment. The board 
accepted this generous offer, and at once purchased 



a site and procured plans for a building satisfac- 
tory to Mr. Norris. The work of construction has 
begun, and the building is to be completed in 1891. 
It is a very handsome two-story structure of the 
modern Romanesque style of architecture, of stone 
and brick, with a square tower at one angle and 
large arched windows. There is a spacious deliv- 
ery-room, with a stack-room in the rear, and there 
are also ample reading-rooms, which will be sup- 
plied with periodical literature of th'e best class. 
The building will be one of the finest and most 
complete and convenient of its kind in the State of 
Missouri. 

WOLFBORO, N. H. Brewster Library. The 
late John Brewster, of Cambridge, left upwards of 
$1,000,000 to Wolfboro, his native town, to be 
spent for the intellectual and physical well-being 
of the people. Of this sum $50,000 was devoted 
to the erection of a memorial hall and library. 
The building is conveniently located, and is most 
substantial in its construction and imposing in its 
appearance. 

The upper story is used as a hall for public 
gatherings, while the ground floor is devoted to 
the purposes of a public library and reading-room. 
The building was dedicated Feb. 21, 1890. 

WORCESTER, MASS. Public Library. The 
new building, which is now being put up, is to be 
used in connection with the older building, being 
. on an adjoining lot, and united with the earlier 
structure by passages in different stories. It will 
not be finished until Jan. I, 1891, and will be fully 
described and illustrated before that time in the 
Library journal, and perhaps elsewhere. The 
basement is of granite ; the rest of the front is 
of freestone, Pompeian brick, and terra cotta. 
The basement is high, and is to be used as 
a great reading-room for newspapers. The three 
stories above this will be occupied by the 
stack for the reference (Green and intermediate) 
libraries, and, in the rear, a large room for 
use in consulting the books in those libraries, a 
lecture-room, a seminary, or directors' room, 
rooms for private study, a room for art publi- 
cations, a cataloguing-room, general room for 
librarian and assistants, librarian's private room, 
etc., etc. The circulating department, reading- 
rooms for magazines and reviews, scientific, art, 
industrial, and literary papers, will remain in the 
old building. The new building above the base- 
ment is to be kept very quiet. No books are to 
be given out there to be taken home. There will 



PROCEEDINGS. 



be stairs at both ends of the new building, a 
large elevator for the use of attendants only, 
generally, but so situated that it can be used by 
the public when necessary, a smaller elevator to 
be used in the stack, besides the stairs and 
elevator in the older building. 

Mr. Green, the librarian, from whom this infor- 
mation is derived, informs me that the plans of 
the new building were made to meet the particular 



wants of the library as they have manifested them- 
selves during the last twenty years ; and, as those 
have been somewhat peculiar under the man- 
agement which has existed in those years, the 
plans show some unusual features. No further 
description seems called for until a later time. 
The interior was sketched by the librarian. The 
cost of the new building, including the land, will 
be at least $135,000. 



THE PROCEEDINGS. 



FABYAN HOUSE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, TUESDAY - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9-13, 1890. 



FIRST SESSION. 
(TUESDAY 'EVENING, SEPTEMBER 9.) 

F: M. CRUNDEN, President, called the meeting 
to order at 9 p. M., and introduced the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, who gave 
the following address of welcome : 

Hon. JAMES W. PATTERSON. Ladies and Gen- 
tlemen of the American Library Association : In 
the unavoidable absence of His Excellency, Gov. 
Goodell, I have consented at the last moment to 
come here this evening, and bid you a cordial 
welcome to this high place of our small State. 
We do not boast of our acreage, but what we lack 
in latitude and longitude we make up in altitude. 
If any of you doubt this, you will please to climb 
some of the surrounding mountains. We do not 
boast, sir, of the multitude of our libraries or of 
their magnitude; but, if there are "books in the 
running brooks and sermons in stones," you have 
come into the neighborhood of one of the largest 
libraries in New England. At any rate, you will 
find here pure a'ir, magnificent scenery, and warm- 
hearted men and women to welcome you. 

Scattered through our State, there are many, 
though perhaps not largely represented at this 
meeting, who take a very deep interest in the 
establishment and maintenance of public libraries. 
The collection of books, especially the public col- 
lection of books, is the measure, the meter, I may 
say, of the scholarly spirit of the community, and 
determines its strength and its character. It does 
more than this. A library of books of good 
books is a creator of that hunger for knowledge 
which is the foundation of individual and public 
intelligence, alike essential to the maintenance of 



our institutions, to the prosperity of our business, 
to the happiness of our social and our domestic 
life. Therefore libraries should supplement all 
our schools of learning. Not many of the chil- 
dren of the land can enjoy the advantages of our 
higher, our advanced institutions of learning; but 
all children of the rich and the poor alike may 
avail themselves of the inexhaustible treasures of 
thought that have been accumulated in the public 
libraries of the country. Why, sir, the past pours 
its history, its customs, its science, its arts, and 
all the rich products of its thought down to the 
future ; so that civilization is a movement, not, 
as Landor says, in spirals, but in continuous prog- 
ress. It does more than this. It engenders 
an inspiration for learning. We are told that 
Goethe, by reading the " Vicar of Wakefield," 
was awakened to a sense of the mighty spirit, of 
the vast intellectual powers that he possessed; 
and, thus awakened, he afterwards breathed a new 
vitality into the German tongue, and shed a light, 
not only upon his own country, but upon all lands. 
And so our own countryman, Prof. Henry, to 
whom we are perhaps more indebted than to any 
other living man for the telegraph, the telephone, 
and all the practical uses of electricity, was turned 
into the main drift of his life by a little volume 
that fell into his hands when a child. And so 
other Goethes and other Henrys in other lands 
and other ages, inspired by some little volume 
that may by chance fall into their hands, will 
kindle a flame that will shed a light upon all 
succeeding generations and all countries. We 
are told that in this country the average age at 
which children leave our schools is fifteen, and 
that the average period of schooling is thirty 



86 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



months; that is, three years of ten months each. 
Now consider how brief the period which is given 
to the children of the republic in which to fit 
themselves for the grandest and most responsible 
duties that ever rested upon the citizens of any 
country, in any period of the world's history. If 
we are to maintain self-government, if we are to 
succeed in the competitions of business, then our 
children must secure intelligence as to the nature 
of government, the nature of business, and the 
sources of social and political happiness. With 
only thirty months' schooling, and with the age of 
fifteen at which the children leave the schools, 
we must do something to supplement the educa- 
tion of the people ; and, in my apprehension, the 
newspapers, and the magazines, and the collec- 
tions of books in the libraries in our country are 
the people's university, in which the children of 
this country are to be fitted for the political, the 
business, and the social duties which must devolve 
upon them, in the stirring times in which we live, 
and the more trying times that are to come. Sir, 
they cannot be educated as a whole, or any large 
fraction of them, in our universities and colleges. 
They must get that learning, which is to fit them 
for their duties, after they have left the school ; 
and where shall they get it, if they don't secure it 
from the thought, from the science, from the art, 
which has been handed down by the generations 
that have gone before ? 

It is a curious fact that most of the libraries of 
this country have come into existence in very mod- 
ern times. Before the Revolutionary War we had 
but few libraries in this country ; very few indeed, 
and for the most part they were connected with 
our older colleges or in the larger cities. During 
and immediately subsequent to the revolutionary 
period, the people were too poor to collect libraries 
for the use of the children of the country; and 
their number increased very slowly until within 
the last fifty years, no, I may say thirty years. 
Since then they have increased with great rapidity ; 
and this to my mind is evidence, notwithstanding the 
pessimistic views we hear on all sides, that the ad- 
vance of the people and the growth of civilization 
is constant. There may be corruption in public 
and in private life, but there is a growing intelli- 
gence among the people of this country, as well as 
of other countries, and in that we find hope for 
the future; in that I anchor my faith that our 
institutions will be maintained, and that the 
prosperity of our country will continue. 

In my own State in this little State, as it is 
sometimes called, sir we had perhaps five libra- 



ries before the Revolutionary War; hardly that 
number, I think, but we will call it five. Some of 
these were private libraries, or we might say town 
libraries. Of course the college library is the old- 
est, or one of the oldest. We had a library estab- 
lished at Exeter, one at Rochester, and one or two 
connected with old schools that have perished. I 
remember a small country town in which there 
was an academy in which Chief Justice Chase was 
fitted for college, and in which he laid the founda- 
tions for that education that made him the leading 
statesman of this country. That academy is dead, 
and the library connected with it is dead; but there 
is an odor hanging about the old town still that 
is good for one to realize when he goes there. 
There is another library, one of the old libraries 
that you will allow me just to speak of, the one 
established in the last century in the town of Wai- 
pole. There was, I think, one quite as early at 
Peterboro, but this at Walpole was started by the 
friend of Daniel Webster, Jeremiah Mason, the 
great lawyer. As a very young man he established 
himself in that little town ; and the first thing he 
did after going there was to get together some 
books, and lay the foundation of the town library, 
he himself acting as librarian. When his reputa- 
tion began to widen, and his business to increase, 
he went to Portsmouth ; and it was there that he 
came into that series of conflicts with the great 
Webster, which developed the powers of both, and 
led Mr. Webster to pronounce him the greatest 
lawyer that he had ever met. He was a man of 
massive intellect, as he was of massive frame. 
Well, sir, I apprehend that, among the many things 
for which Jeremiah Mason will be remembered, 
there will be nothing more pleasing, nothing that 
will fix the affections of mankind upon him more 
than the fact that, early in life, as a young man, he 
established that library, and undertook himself 
the labors of librarian. Why, sir, the librarians 
of the country, what are they ? They are the min- 
isters of a revelation fromjhe past to the future. 
Its thought, its study, its inventions, its discus- 
sions, all that it has achieved that is grand and 
permanent, has been revealed to the future through 
these books. And you, ladies and gentlemen, are 
the ministers at the altar of this revelation. God 
grant that the number of synagogues where you 
serve may be increased. Our own State, I be- 
lieve, was one of the foremost to pass the right 
kind of a law for the establishment and mainte- 
nance of libraries. I understand the librarians of 
the State now propose to form a State organiza- 
tion. I hope they may prosper in this. While 



PROCEEDINGS. 



technical duties of the librarian are not in my line 
of work, my whole heart is bound up in the estab- 
lishment of school libraries, not subservient to, 
but a part of the educational system of the State, 
wrought into the laws that establish our system of 
education, and guarded and guided by those who 
administer the educational affairs of the State. 

In conclusion, sir, let me again offer a hearty 
welcome to the librarians of America, to this 
blessed old State of New Hampshire. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. I have the honor to thank 
you, in behalf of the American Library Association, 
for your cordial welcome, and still more for those 
words of commendation and encouragement which 
you have uttered. Your encomium of the work in 
which we are engaged, frees us from the fear we 
may have had that we were too much given to 
magnifying our office. We are glad, sir, to meet in 
this picturesque spot, among these beautiful moun- 
tains of your Granite State ; a State whose impor- 
tance is not to be measured by her acreage or the 
fruitfulness of her soil ; a State that may say with 
pride that men, sturdy, self-reliant men and 
women who have gone through all this land to set 
an example of energy, industry, and enterprise, are 
the chief product of her rugged soil, and her prin- 
cipal export. We have among us some of the sons 
and daughters of New Hampshire, who have gone 
out on this civilizing errand, and we, strangers 
here, esteem ourselves fortunate to behold this 
scene, and to join the yearly throng of those who, 
like Antaeus, return to their mother to renew their 
strength for future contests. A stern and rugged 
mother she is, a mother with a Spartan disposition ; 
but her knowledge of her sons measures her dis- 
cipline, and her severities are merely those of the 
wise and far-seeing parent, who has more regard 
to her children's future welfare and success than 
to their present ease and comfort. Again I thank 
you for your cordial welcome. Your words of 
wisdom will be treasured in the memories of those 
who heard you, and will be preserved in our records 
for the inspiration of those who come after us. 

Now, to you, ladies and gentlemen of the Ameri- 
can Library Association, I have something more 
formal to say. 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 

Pres. CRUNDEN then read his address. 
(Seep, i.) 

Sec. DEWEY made extemporaneously his 
SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

The necessity for a secretary's report has been 
almost entirely done away with by our system of 



annual reporters. The title on the program, 
" Past, Present,. and Future of the A. L. A.," was 
put there without my knowledge. I will make 
only two or three points, for it is 10 p. M., and I 
think the immediate future of the A. L. A. should 
be in bed. We have spent fifteen years in this 
work. What have we done ? 

The report of a little conversation, of which I 
heard a day or two ago, may serve better than to 
discuss the point. A man who does not attend 
our meetings, though a prominent librarian, said 
to another : " What good is the A. L. A. ? what 
has it accomplished?" And the answer was so 
good and so true that I give it to you. He 
said: "For one thing, it has made you a great 
deal better librarian than you otherwise would 
have been." And it was true. For you could 
put your finger on individual cases where that 
man had waked up, and reached out, and done 
work that he would not have thought of but for 
the A. L. A. My friend said : " All your work is 
measured by new standards. You don't dare do 
work now that you thought satisfactory before. 7 ' 

The A. L. A. has already accomplished a great 
deal, but I believe that the time has come when we 
should go earnestly and rapidly forward. I would 
like to adopt the motto of the " Fabian Society." 
Some feel disappointed if they fail to get every- 
thing wanted at an early day. That society be- 
lieves it wiser, instead of pushing agitation with- 
out due consideration, to bide their time; and 
their motto applies thoroughly to our purpose : 
" For the right moment you must wait, as Fabius 
did most patiently when warring against Hanni- 
bal, though many censured his delays. But when 
the time comes, you must strike hard, as Fabius 
did, or your waiting will be in vain and fruitless." 
We have waited patiently these fifteen years for 
many things which ought to be done by this 
Association. Our iron is now hot. Let us strike 
hard. 

Now a word as to the scope and function of the 
American Library Association. Its field of work 
is very much like that of the public school society, 
or other societies that recognize some great good 
which the public is not yet ready to take up. It 
is as when some man believes a thing to be for the 
public good, e. g. opening a new street, and does 
it at his own expense. After a few years the town 
recognizes its value, and is glad to take it off his 
hands and pay for it. As a result of the early 
missionary work of the public school society and 
similar agencies, every State now has its system of 
public schools as much as its system of govern- 



88 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



ment. An entirely analogous process of educa- 
tion is going on, till the public library has its 
place as the necessary complement of the public 
school, and the A. L. A. has this work to do. But 
we cannot afford to do it always. Librarians, as a 
class, are underpaid. We are poor. It is absurd 
that this great work, of the highest public impor- 
tance, should be maintained at the cost of men on 
notoriously insufficient salaries. In the language 
of Emerson, we should " hitch our wagon to a 
star." I believe the public is now educated to a 
point where the States and the United States are 
ready to help in this work, if we are wise and 
do not undertake too much. The State Superin- 
tendent of New Hampshire, in his address of wel- 
come tonight, voiced the feeling of the best edu- 
cators of the country and of the world. It is not 
a local movement; it is not a matter of any State, 
or the United States alone, though I am proud 
to say that in this we lead the world. The sphere 
of our work is as widely extended as civilization. 
We have come to the recognition of a new and 
prodigious force, that must work side by side 
with the schools. The wiser ones of those who 
look after the education of the people, see that 
schools are only the first step in education. They 
are now laboring, not only for those who can go 
to higher schools and colleges, but also for those 
who must stay at home, and for those who, after 
leaving the institutions of learning, must come 
within our library field if they wish to continue 
their education through life. I know of no intelli- 
gent student of education who does not admit that 
the position is well taken that the library is the 
college for the people, that it reaches all classes of 
people, and that it reaches all through life. Edu- 
cation must go further than to give the little taste 
of learning here and there, as is done in the high 
school and college. Even at the best, those of us 
who look back know how little came from the 
college course, and how much from reading after- 
wards. The problem is to go on through life 
with one's education. If this is so, it is high time 
the State recognized it practically. The President 
has mentioned some very significant recent legisla- 
tion in New York. The work is going forward. 
The question before us is, What can we do? 

One of the things I believe essential is the 
organization of State associations. Of this I shall 
have more to say on Thursday, at our N. Y. 
Library Association meeting, to which you are all 
most cordially invited. We shall then confer as 
to the work such associations can do. Lest some 
fail to understand our motive, I may say that we 



hesitated to organize any new body. I often think 
I would like to join one more society; that is, a 
society to prevent the formation of new societies. 
I hesitated many years before taking the steps 
which led to the N. Y. Library Association. 

We want to see what we can do for New 
York library interests Thursday. Our New Hamp- 
shire friends will try to do something better for 
public libraries than New York. Nineteen people 
got together the other day, and discussed the 
same problem in Iowa. In every State, sooner 
or later, a little coterie will make such an associa- 
tion. If only three earnest men form such an 
association, they might do more good than 300 
members who are only half-hearted. Every news- 
paper is open to this work, as is every educational 
convention. Every man interested in public prog- 
ress is open to it, and ready and willing to hear 
our theory of libraries, and he will help if we give 
him a chance. These State Associations should 
lead in every State to a law that exempts all 
library property from taxation; that gives a 
proper distribution of public documents and vari- 
ous other privileges ; that requires a sworn report 
for public printing to the State librarian, or to 
some other officer who should correspond to the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction ; that pro- 
vides some central office, to do the work which 
the Regents' office in New York and the new 
commission of Massachusetts hope to do. The 
new law in New Hampshire points this way. 
The best library men in Massachusetts, the home 
of the library, say that most libraries in their State 
could do double the good they are now doing, if 
they could have the best guidance and help from 
the State. How far to go, we shall learn by trial. 
There is certainly a great field in the mere giving 
of information to those starting new libraries, or 
reorganizing old ones, and in doubt what cata- 
logs to make, what books to buy, what help to 
employ. All such would be only too glad if they 
could have the assistance of a central office. 

There is also a great work to be done by the na- 
tional government. We have a Bureau of Educa- 
tion, happily now in charge of a man in thorough 
sympathy with libraries ; for Commissioner Harris, 
when Superintendent of Schools in St. Louis, was 
intimately connected with the library over which 
our honored President presides. We have also 
with us tonight Colonel Weston Flint, one of our 
old members, and now happily the statistician of 
the Bureau. It seems an auspicious time to begin 
national library work at Washington. The Bu- 
reau of Education has no more important work 



PROCEEDINGS. 



89 



before it than to make a distinct library section. 
The best thinkers favor a library section that can 
devote its entire fostering attention to the library 
interests of the United States. We have over 
5,000 big and little libraries on the list. Some of 
our best A. L. A. material and some of the annual 
reports and papers, giving the best thought on 
certain subjects, should be printed by the govern- 
ment, and made available to all these libraries. 
Though we do now an admirable work, we can 
and ought to do a great deal better. Not one li- 
brary in ten ever sees our proceedings. There are 
not copies enough printed to give every fifth li- 
brary one. If printed by the Bureau of Educa- 
tion, that difficulty would be overcome by its 
edition of 20,000 or upward, which would supply 
every eager applicant freely. What is your judg- 
ment in regard to this ? As with the States, so 
with the national government we should "hitch 
our wagon to a star." The States and the gen- 
eral government not only could well afford to do it, 
but they cannot afford not to do it. 

We ought to double our membership next year 
and to double it again the year after. We are not 
strong enough. I shall move later that there be 
prepared for the usejof our members a little folder, 
similar to our small program, perhaps, containing 
a list of our annual meetings, the officers for the 
year, and other interesting facts, with a statement 
of what the A. L. A. aims and hopes to accom- 
plish, and a cordial invitation to join with us. 
People who know nothing of this association often, 
on learning its objects, say at once that they 
would like to join it. The number of our mem- 
bers who have made a distinct effort to secure new 
members is very small. Very few come in except 
through individual efforts. My proposition is to 
print a little folder, containing the statements in- 
dicated, with instructions where to send the fees, 
all in the compass of perhaps four pages about the 
size of a postal card, and to give to every member 
as many as he can use. 

Where shall we hold our next annual meeting ? 
This question in geography is a pretty serious 
thing. We have pressing invitations to go next 
year to San Francisco, which certainly offer great 
attractions. But I think the time is near at hand 
when we shall have biennially a general national 
meeting, and get all our best men together from 
all parts of the United States. The Association, 
except at this general meeting, could divide, and 
meet in four or five sections of the country; the 
North Atlantic States at some convenient place 
for that section, as would also the Lake States, 



the Pacific Coast, and, as interest and libraries 
increased, the South Atlantic and the Gulf 
States. These four or five meetings of li- 
brarians by sections would thus reach a large 
class of small libraries, whose officers think 
they cannot afford to travel long distances, yet 
who would like to come in contact with other 
librarians, and get new inspiration for their work. 

I have several propositions to bring up at the 
proper time at this meeting, for I believe we ought 
to make this week a point of distinct advance ; that 
the time is thoroly ripe for it ; that in the different 
States, the different departments of education, 
the national government, all the way thru, it is a 
singularly happy time, and we shall make a mis- 
take if we do not move now. We have waited 15 
years, and the "iron is now hot." Let us at this 
Fabyan House meeting, in confidence and strength, 
as did Fabius, " strike hard." 

Pres. CRUNDEN. Our Secretary began by de- 
claring himself to be a Fabian, but he concluded 
by showing that he held simply to the last part of 
Fabius' policy ; that is, striking hard. 

AMENDMENT OF THE ST. LOUIS PROCEEDINGS. 

On motion of Secretary DEWEY, it was voted 
that the following words be inserted at the end of 
page 277 of the printed report of the St. Louis 
Conference : The result of the ensuing ballot was 
the election of the five persons first mentioned on the 
above list. 

The printed proceedings as thus amended were 
approved. 

STENOGRAPHER. 

S: S. GREEN. I now move that in the future, as 
to-day, a stenographer be employed to report the 
proceedings of the Association. I am led to make 
this motion because I find it of great advantage in 
another organization of which I am a member. 
Within a year or two, The American Antiquarian 
Association has employed a stenographer. As a 
result, a great many things which are said in our 
meetings, which were formerly lost, are now re- 
ported in the proceedings. When a gentleman 
makes extended remarks, they are sent to him for 
revision. The committee of publication of course 
does not publish everything as presented by the 
stenographer; but the full report, thus obtained, 
makes the published proceedings much more inter- 
esting, and of greater value. 

Sec. DEWEY. I move that motion belaid on 
the table. That is the most obvious thing to do. 
We are trying an experiment this year. We have 
the stenographer of the Court of Appeals in Al 



PABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



bany, one of the best \ve could obtain. \Vc had 
two at our New York meeting in 1877, but the 
work was not a great success. It was my inten- 
tion to organize a little reporting staff of our own 
members, who could divide the duty and get a good 
report. There are other aspects to the matter 
with which Mr. Green will sympathize ; first, to 
get a good stenographer to report our proceed- 
ings, ought to cost us for the amount of talking 
we do here, over $200 for the notes transcribed ; 
secondly, this gives so large a mass for publication 
as to largely increase our printing bills ; and, finally, 
it is a very hard thing indeed for a stenographer 
who is not a librarian to make a report that will 
come out all right. As he transcribes his brief 
outlines he sometimes makes marvelous blunders. 
I am talking about good stenographers now. 

Motion to lay on the table was carried. 

Adjourned at 10.30 p. M. 

SECOND SESSION. 
(WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 10.) 

Pres. CRUNDEN called the meeting to order at 
9-35 A- M. 

W: E. FOSTER read the 

REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, 

which 'was received and placed on file. 

The Finance Committee* begs leave to report 
that, in accordance with the vote of the Associa- 
tion passed at the last meeting (at St. Louis, May 
9, 1889), $400 of the Association's funds was 
placed on interest at 4 per cent, in the Grand 
Rapids Savings Bank, Aug. 26, 1889, as a special 
" time deposit." 

The advantages of such a course are not only 
that funds derived largely from life memberships 
are in this way placed where they will be most pro- 
ductive, but that the taking of so large a sum from 
the funds currently drawn on relieves the Associa- 
tion from the temptation to enter inconsiderately 
upon large expenditures. 

WILLIAM E. FOSTER. 
CHARLES C. SOULE. 

W. S. BISCOE read the 

REPORT OF THE CO-OPERATION COMMITTEE. 
The report of the Cooperation Committee this 
present year must be brief, and in the nature of 
inquiry and suggestions rather than a record of 
accomplished work. From the discussion at the 
last meeting it is evident that its field of work 
and what it is proper for it to do, is not well de- 
fined in the minds of members of the Association. 



Its work in the past has been perhaps most 
largely in the way of recommendations of best 
methods and appliances, as a guide to the small 
libraries just beginning work. This phase of its 
work was most successfully accomplished when 
all its members were taken from one city and its 
vicinity, and could meet for frequent consultation 
and study of details. It seems to your committee 
that this branch of work, if continued, should 
again be placed in the hands of those who could 
thus consult and work together. 

The report on cooperative work, which had 
been done by others outside the committee, seems 
to belong to a yearly reporter, or perhaps is 
already largely covered by the report on cata- 
logues, and should not be done by the present 
committee. 

The remaining branch of work, viz. the biblio- 
graphical as distinguished from the library econ- 
omy, first spoken of, is a wide field, and admits of 
indefinite extension. It has seemed to some of 
your committee that this perhaps belongs to the 
Publishing Section, and should be turned over 
to them entirely. It seems desirable that there 
should be an expression of views by the Associa- 
tion, and that the duties of the committee should 
be more clearly defined. Does the Publishing 
Section aim, as a rule, to prepare material as well 
as to publish it ? or does it expect matter to be 
prepared and submitted to it either by individuals 
or cooperative work, which it will then print and 
distribute ? 

If this kind of work is expected from the Co- 
operation Committee, it seems to us that the work 
to be undertaken should be decided on by the 
whole Association rather than by a small com- 
mittee. 

We would suggest that the members of the 
Association hand in to the committee brief state- 
ments of such work as they desire to have done 
by cooperation ; that these be read and perhaps 
posted up for the information of the Association; 
and that then a written ballot be taken, each 
member designating his first choice of work, and 
signing it, and that the committee from this vote 
make its selection of work for the coming year. 

For this bibliographical work it is not necessary 
that the members of the committee be from one 
place, as the necessary consultation can be done 
by correspondence. If these two features are to 
be preserved in one committee, we would recom- 
mend that the committee be increased to five 
members, three of whom should be so situated 
that they can easily come together for consultation. 



PROCEEDINGS. 



E. C. RICHARDSON read Miss C. M. HEWINS'S 

REPORT ON THE LIBRARY SCHOOL AS IT IS. 
The first impression of a visitor to the Library 
School, in its present lofty and spacious quarters, 
is of unbounded light and air. Instead of the old, 
ill-ventilated room at Columbia, the school has 
the southwest corner of the third story of the Cap- 
itol, overlooking the steep streets of Albany, the 
Hudson, and the Catskills. The windows admit 
all the winter sunshine, and the room has no dark 
corners. A smaller room adjoining is used for 
lectures and the Bibliothecal Museum. 

Is the change of place a loss or a gain? A loss, 
so far as opportunities for visiting libraries, print- 
ing and publishing houses, and binderies are con- 
cerned. It is easy, however, to devote a week, as 
the junior class has done this year, to libraries in 
other cities. During the first year or two of the 
Library School's existence, there was a constant 
temptation for the pupils to listen to all the 
lectures on subjects connected with literature or 
history, freely offered them by the faculty of 
Columbia. The result was, in many cases, mental 
indigestion. It is better, as students and gradu- 
ates have found, not to attempt to listen to or 
make notes on lectures on subjects not in the 
direct line of library work while taking the school 
course, and it is therefore a gain to be in a city 
like Albany, which is not under the constant stim- 
ulus of metropolitan life and thought. 

The quality of the classes entering the Library 
School has never been allowed to deteriorate, and 
even more care is taken every succeeding year to 
select from the candidates who offer themselves 
only the very best of the very best. College 
graduates are preferred for the reasons stated in 
Library notes, knowledge of languages and habits 
of trained attention and methodical study, 
power of comparison, and analysis. Once 
in a while, as Mr. Dewey says, appli- 
cation is made by a candidate not college- 
bred, whose natural fitness for library work out- 
weighs years of training, but such an instance is 
not common. Searching inquiries are made into 
the scholarship, fondness for books, executive 
ability, health, and common sense of all applicants. 
They must have no serious physical defect, must 
be young enough not to have outgrown habits of 
study, and, above all things, must be full of en- 
thusiasm and the modern library spirit. If their 
references are satisfactory, and their own answers 
to questions sent out by the School show their 
fitness for library work, they are summoned to an 
examination in October. 



It is difficult to frame an examination paper 
which is a real test of the answerer's knowledge 
or capacity, but it is fair to suppose that a candi- 
date who knows something of the author of 
Lycidas, or the Faerie Queene, can locate Nydia or 
Puck, has a general idea of the anti-slavery ques- 
tion and its agitators, can name the present Pope 
and a dozen leading newspapers of this country, 
and has kept up well enough with current events 
to know at what colleges Greek plays have been 
acted in the last few years, will be more useful as 
a librarian or assistant than another who confesses 
to reading nothing but third-rate novels since 
leaving school. No test of familiarity with lan- 
guages is given, except the ability to translate a 
Latin, German, and French title-page with a dic- 
tionary. 

It is not worth while for any one to offer herself, 
or himself (for there is a small minority of men 
among the students) as a candidate for examina- 
tion, who has not already learned how to use 
common books of reference, or is not as familiar 
with English classics and their authors as with 
old and dear friends. The work in the Library 
School is so constant and exacting, that students 
have no time to spare in reading Scott or Shaks- 
peare, Motley or Lamb, all of whom they might 
have known years before, instead of the Duchess 
or the author of Mr. Barnes of New York. 

The junior class spends its first term chiefly in 
cataloging, but has also to vary the routine 
introductory lectures on the qualifications of a 
librarian, decimal classification, the order depart- 
ment, the oversight of binding, some phases of 
bibliography, etc. In the second month one week 
is devoted to the accession book, and another 
to shelf lists and book numbers. Information is 
also given on library agencies and the best 
reference books. 

Wednesday throughout the year is known as 
" book-day," one of the most profitable days in 
the week. AJ1 members of the school are ex- 
pected to read the Publisher's Weekly thoroughly, 
and decide what books are best to order from the 
list. Besides this, they must devote an hour a 
day to browsing on the library shelves, and keep- 
ing up with new magazines, while special subjects 
for hunting down and discussion are given out 
for every week. This supplies as nearly as possi. 
ble the lack of the professorship of library mind- 
reading which has been suggested, the holder of 
which can immediately decide that the reader 
who asks for Brown's History of Mexico means 
Bancroft's Native Races of the Pacific States, or 



FAZYAN ffOUSE CONFERENCE. 



that Hfftuis Hazards of House-hunting is merely 
another phrase for Howells's Hazard of New Fort- 
unes. Members of the School are expected to be 
able to give an intelligent account of famous 
books like Don Quixote, Frankenstein, or Pepys* 
Diary, and to refer to reviews of the important 
works of the year in English or American periodi- 
cals. One or two magazines are assigned to each 
student, for brief reports on their aim, editor, 
most valuable features, and make-up, and sugges- 
tions of improvements. 

In January Mr. Biscoe begins his lectures in 
general bibliography, and Miss Green her lessons 
in dictionary cataloging. The latter require sim- 
ple subject and author cards for eight out of fifteen 
books bulletined every day. These books are on 
all subjects, and in English, French, German, and 
Latin. 

The month of February is devoted to the deci- 
mal classification. 

In March and April Mr. Biscoe continues his 
instruction in bibliography, Mr. Johnston, of the 
State Library, gives lectures on periodicals, and 
visiting librarians speak upon their specialties. 
Last April, most of the students, under the guid- 
ance of Miss Cutler, made the visits to libraries in 
and near Boston which she has reported in the 
Library journal. In May and June, lessons in 
bibliography, reference work, and loan systems go 
on, with the lectures on library economy which 
Mr. Dewey has given through the year. After 
the close of the lessons in dictionary cataloging, 
the class has practice in cataloging for the State 
Library. Library hand is recommended for prac- 
tice before entering the school, but this year the 
feeling increases that printing is easier for all the 
students to learn. In June, examinations on all 
subjects studied close the year. 

Mr. Biscoe and Mr. Dewey continue their lect- 
ures on classification and library economy through 
the senior year, and during this year also seminars 
are held weekly. For these, subjects of more or 
less difficulty are assigned to one or two students 
for each week. In some cases, students have 
written to many of the larger libraries for facts to 
support an argument. I remember especially the 
different opinions collected on variety of work 
versus specialization for assistants in large libra- 
ries. The course in advanced dictionary cata- 
loging extends through two weeks. During the 
last year, members of the school have had valuable 
practice in the library of the Young Women's 
Christian Association, both in charging books and 
finding out the actual needs and tastes of readers. 



Some of the senior problems in bibliography 
show the useful and practical character of the 
instruction given. 

"Prepare a list of twenty-five best books on the 
history, religion, and literature of India. Give 
place, publisher, cost, and source of information. 
Record time spent on problem. Omit travel. 
Books may be either in this library or not." 

" Select $100 worth of books for a library just 
starting on the subject 420 English philology. 
Give full bibliographical details." 

" Twenty-five books of travel from the publica- 
tions of the last year, 1889." 

"List of fifty books for use of children, ten to 
fifteen years old, in a district school. . . . Mostly 
history, biography, and fiction, very largely fiction, 
written in a good style, with healthful tone. Give 
bibliographical details." 

All the students who visited the Boston libraries 
were expected to make a report on whether the 
stack or alcove system, gas or electricity, is used ; 
whether the library is open on Sunday, the loca- 
tion of books is fixed or movable ; whether a dic- 
tionary or classed catalog is used; with written, 
printed, or type-written cards ; if scrap books are 
kept; books covered; arranged by subject or 
author ; whether classification is broad or close, 
and the special collections and charging system of 
each. 

One of the lectures given last year was on the 
health of librarians, and it is perhaps in conse- 
quence of this that a Physical Culture Club has 
been formed among the students and graduates of 
the school. The members promise to practice 
simple gymnastics a given time every day, and to 
take a proper amount of out-of-door exercise. 
The danger of overwork in the school is less now 
than it was in the first year or two, on account of 
a case or two of breaking-down among students 
who undertook outside work in addition to their 
long library hours; but the tendency of pupils who 
undertake the course is to let their ambition and 
enthusiasm overcome their sober judgment as to 
hours of labor. There is now little of the fever- 
ish, unrestful atmosphere which was criticised in 
the first year of the school, and that little should 
be allowed to become less. 

Several of last year's students had had practical 
experience in libraries, and therefore were quick 
in understanding the needs of librarians and read- 
ers, and in noticing all the details given by lect- 
urers. I should recommend, as a preparation for 
the Library School course, as much volunteer 
work as possible in a town or village library ; not 



PROCEEDINGS. 



93 



necessarily one where the methods of the school, 
or of large libraries are used, but where an assist- 
ant can come into contact with books, and the men, 
women, and children who read them. Between 
the junior and senior years, a year's work in as 
many departments as possible of a large library 
will be a great help in grappling with the school 
problems. 

(Postscript to Miss Hewins's report.) 

A word should be added to this part of the 
report respecting the examinations which Miss 
Hewins simply mentions. They are in truth a 
most characteristic fact in the development of the 
school. They are rigid and as broad as the 
course of the school, and on the basis of them 
diplomas are now given. An examination of 
some of the papers shows that Miss Hewins's 
judgment of the quality of the students admitted 
to the school is not amiss, for the really searching 
examinations are admirably passed. 

E. C. R. 

Mr. RICHARDSON continued with his own re- 
port on 

THE LIBRARY SCHOOL AS IT SHOULD BE. 

It is a matter of personal as well as of official 
regret to us all that Mr. R. C. Davis, the chairman 
of this committee, was unable to visit the school 
this year, or to be present at this time. 

The report of those members who have visited 
was divided by agreement, so that the resume of 
what is being done at the school fell to Miss 
Hewins, and the less gracious task of criticism 
and suggestion to Mr. Richardson an uncour- 
teous division of labor that criticism should fall 
to the man in a matter where there is so much to 
praise and so little to criticise. 

Acting under the instruction of your resolution, 
the members of your committee inquired early in 
the year how they might be of service to the 
school, and were invited to offer suggestions. 
This has been done from time to time, and this 
doing will be continued in this report. 

The report is based on two personal visits to the 
school, with examination of examination papers, 
of individual teachers, and of individual scholars 
all of whom passed creditably, it may be said. 

The critical librarian, thus, acting in behalf of 
the Association, has studied 

I. The aim of the school. 

II. The apparatus for carrying it out. 

III. The present course of instruction. 



I. AIM. 

The aim of the school is to teach library 
economy. It makes little pretension to covering 
the field of library science. This is to be regretted, 
and it is to be hoped that the broadening, already 
carried to a considerable and gratifying extent, 
will be extended to cover all the branches in which 
an ambitious librarian needs to be grounded. 

II. APPARATUS. 

1. The rooms used for the Library School are two 
in number, beautifully located in the Capitol at 
Albany, one used for lectures, and the other for 
study and practice, the latter being also the cata- 
logue room of the State library, a condition of 
things which has advantages and disadvantages. 

2. The Board of Instruction consists of Mr. 
Dewey, Mr. Biscoe, Miss Cutler, and Miss Wood- 
worth, with more or less instruction from Mr. 
Johnston and Miss Jones, and more from various 
outside lecturers. 

Mr. Dewey's various duties have made his 
instruction for this year somewhat less, and per- 
haps more irregular than during past years ; but, 
on the other hand, the patient, determined, intelli- 
gent, and over-conscientious labor of Miss Cutler 
has been given almost wholly to the school, with 
marked results of practical improvement. Mr. 
Biscoe, whom all those of us who have had the 
advantage of being trained under him, know to be 
peculiarly fitted for his work, and Miss Wood- 
worth, who has proved herself to be almost equally 
so, have given a large amount of time and atten- 
tion to the school, and one can but wish that their 
whole energies might be devoted to the work. 

Altogether there is a compact faculty of well- 
fitted, enthusiastic teachers, which could be en- 
larged to advantage, but which is equal to good 
work for the small classes admitted. 

3. The Library^ that most fundamental basis 
for such a school, is the N. Y. State library, not so 
well adapted in some respects as the Columbia 
College Library, but larger and more varied than 
most State libraries. Its department of bibliog- 
raphy, admirable as it is, is not all that could be 
desired for such a school. 

The pupils also have charge of the Y. W. C. A. 
Library, which affords an admirable school for 
practice. 

4. The Museum is a most important adjunct to 
the system of instruction. A well-systematized 
museum of this sort will almost entirely do away 
with the need for a large class of lectures, and it 
is to be hoped that the present collections may 



94 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



find a more adequate place for exhibition, and be 
greatly enlarged. 

III. THE PRESENT COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. 

This has been fully outlined by Miss Hewins. 
It shows a marked improvement over past 
years in system, and covers a wide range. It 
shows very clear evidences that those in charge 
are not only open to suggestions, but adopt what- 
ever seem good to them with the same ready facil- 
ity for assimilation which is characteristic of the 
head of the school. It is, in brief, a broader, more 
compact, more systematic course than has charac- 
terized previous years. It is a credit to the zeal, 
the wisdom, and the patience of its conductors. 
The hours devoted to mechanical details have 
been reduced greatly, and those devoted to bibli- 
ography increased. 

Nevertheless the school is not destined to die in 
its fifth year of chagrin that there are no more 
worlds of excellence to conquer. There are two 
or three small imperfections, by virtue of which it 
still holds a lease on life. 

1. The "dangerous high pressure" reported as 
present in former years, but as absent last year, 
was distinctly present again this year, though in a 
less acute form. 

2. The conduct of the school is with decision, 
and commands respect ; but it may be questioned 
whether, in the evolution of the school, it might 
not gain somewhat in soberness and consequent 
force by eliminating all traces of the go-as-you- 
please, as e. g., in the matter of extra and irregular 
lectures. 

3. Great progress has been made in instruction 
in bibliography, but it is still disproportionately 
subordinate. The teaching of the school is still 
open in some slight measure to the criticism of 
teaching method without science, praxis before 
principle. It is of little use to teach how to order 
a book if one does not know what to order, or to 
collate a book if one does not know how to find 
what a perfect copy requires. Many will consider 
it an open question whether the great amount of 
time spent in learning the library hand and the 
printing hand is worth the while, and some will 
think it hardly an open question whether the 
subject of " Fountain pens" really requires a full 
hour for its exposition. This is, however, a matter 
of detail, and will doubtless be worked out with 
that same intelligence of adjustment which has 
already accomplished so much. 

Enlargement of the course, too, is a matter of 
judgment, and those in charge have shown them- 
selves alive to the possibilities of extension. The 



question of introducing instruction in the languages 
has been discussed and various other lines con- 
sidered. For my own part I still venture to hope 
that the time will sometime come when at least 
elementary instruction in the handling of mss. 
will be given. One of the certainties of the im- 
mediate future is that of the many thousands of 
ancient mss. which can now be acquired many 
will come to America as soon as librarians and 
givers are awake to the possibility and to the great 
value for scholars of mss. collections. 

Even now the vast ingathering of mss. relat- 
ing to American history, with their antiquated 
handwriting and the various puzzling questions of 
handling and classification, demand some careful 
instruction in the special problems of mss. col- 
lections. 

There is, therefore, in the school a rather defi- 
nite but somewhat limited aim ; an apparatus, ex- 
cellent in many respects, but with various needs 
which only more money can meet ; and a course 
of study which is broadening surprisingly from 
year to year, and gives promise of still farther 
improvement in the years to come. 

If one might suggest what seem the most 
practical things for the immediate betterment of 
this admirable school, he would mention, 

1. Such sober adjustment of work that students 
should not be subjected to the dissipation of 
hurry. This would include a probable reduction 
in hours of recitation, or at least in the number 
of extra and irregular hours. 

2. The laying out of a systematic coordinated 
curriculum, with a certain number of hours pro- 
portioned to importance of the subject assigned 
to each department. 

3. The publication of this early in the year, 
along with the calendar of the year, and such 
other information regarding instruction and appa- 
ratus as is customary in such schools. 

It is a matter for real gratitude that the Board 
of Regents for the State of New York has under- 
taken this work, which has such important possi- 
bilities for the future of librarianship. It is to be 
earnestly hoped that the regents may see their 
way clear to providing the necessary means for its 
enlarging needs and for future broadening. 

To Mr. Dewey, whose indefatigable energy and 
patience have originated and sustained the school, 
and whose enthusiasm and power of stimulating 
enthusiasm have contributed more than any one 
factor to the success which the school, under 
somewhat adverse conditions, has certainly at- 
tained, is due our thanks and renewed recognition. 



PROCEEDINGS. 



95 



Sec. DEWEY. Regarding the remark in the Li- 
brary School Report in reference to printing offices, 
binderies, etc., in Albany we have two or three 
of the largest in the State, and our facilities for that 
kind of work are perhaps as good as in New York. 
There are advantages in the great book-stores in 
New York and Boston, but we take each class for a 
week to both places. We have in Albany the Y. M. 
C. A. library, the library of the Y. W. C. A., the 
Cathedral library for the use of the whole diocese, 
the public library in the high school building, be- 
sides several society, school, and other collections. 
So there are numerous libraries in Albany outside 
the State library. Obviously, in building up the 
school, it will take some time to secure all the 
books we require. But the bibliographic collec- 
tion is being rapidly increased, and, as many of 
you know, is already one of the largest in the coun- 
try. The course of instruction in bibliography 
that has been mentioned has been enlarged sub- 
stantially during this vacation, and next year is to 
be still further increased. The curriculum was 
laid out last year'as recommended, and it is even 
more strictly laid down this year. It is to be 
printed withm a few weeks. Mr. Richardson 
speaks of the stud^ of mss., etc., and also of 
restraining enthusiasm. If you think a moment, 
you will see that we are trying to do in a two 
years' course, that for which, if we carry out all 
these suggestions, four years would be too short. 
We have the very best candidates the whole coun- 
try canjgive us men and women, often, who have 
borrowed money to pay their expenses through 
college, and who feel that they must get to earn- 
ing their bread and butter. Many say If I could 
come for one year, I could manage it ; but two are 
impossible. Others can afford to come only 
for one or two or three months. It is perfectly 
hopeless to think of getting enpugh candidates to 
take the long course. Many can't even come for a 
single week to the meetings of the A. L. A. 
Those people come to us, and can stay only the 
minimum time. Many borrow money, and exer- 
cise the greatest economies to get through, and 
are anxious to do all they can in the time. I have 
absolutely to order these people out of the build- 
ing. I have threatened to lock them in. They 
come the first thing in the morning, and stay till 
the last thing at night ; sometimes I shut off the 
electric light. One thing mentioned in Miss Hew- 
ins's paper, the Physical Culture Club is car- 
ried on successfully. Miss Cutler leads the 
movement, and secures from nearly every pupil a 
solemn pledge to take certain carefully selected 



exercises daily. We mean to improve the health 
of most our pupils during their stay. You must 
bear in mind that, with people who are borrowing 
money to pay expenses, and who are trying to do, 
in the compass of a single year, the work of four 
years, it is pretty hard to keep from being under 
high pressure. I confess I am not clear what 
ought to be done in such cases. I sometimes 
doubt if I am specially well calculated to repress 
their enthusiasm. And my experience has been 
that several prominent members of the A. L. A., 
who have come to lecture to the school, have been 
equally unsuccessful. They come and tell them 
in three or four lectures something of our great 
work and its possibilities. One of our pupils said : 
" I felt as though I must go right out and do 
some great thing for libraries, when I heard Mr. 
Crunden speak." If any one faces this prob- 
lem, reads the letters we receive, comes to the 
school and sees the enormous amount of work 
that is to be done, he will see that it is next to 
impossible to keep out all high pressure. 

For 15 years I have studied this general ques- 
tion of libraries. As you know, my interest has 
not been altogether with one library, but with the 
general library interest. My cool judgment is that 
the most important thing we have before us is to 
develop this Library School. We must train peo- 
ple to take our positions. Every well-informed li- 
brarian in this room knows the difficulty of se- 
curing the right kind of people, specially in the 
larger libraries, that want to do the best work. 
The men and women we know to be of proved 
capacity and are willing to trust, are needed where 
they are, and cannot be had. There is a dearth 
of competent men and women to take these best 
places. Appreciating keenly that dearth, it is a 
very hard position for me to occupy, to be sur- 
rounded by 20 or 30 pupils, all filled with enthu- 
siasm to acquire as soon as possible the requisite 
knowledge and skill, and then to be told that I 
must keep them from feeling a deep interest in 
their work ! You might as well put in one glass 
two different seidlitz powders, and then pour in 
water, and say, " Do be quiet." 

S: S. GREEN read the 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC DOCU- 
MENTS. 

Judging from remarks made by Mr. William 
Beer at the conference of this Association held in 
St. Louis, it would appear that he had not heard 
of the efforts made a few years ago in foreign 
countries, by Mr. George H. Boehmer (an officer 



9 6 



FAB Y AN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



of the Smithsonian Institution), with the purpose of 
securing for the Congressional Library the gov- 
ernment publications of those countries, and of the 
success of the endeavors of Mr. Boehmer and 
others. The late Mr. Spencer F. Baird wrote in 
his annual report as Secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution, dated July I, 1885: "By enactment of 
Congress of March 2, 1867, the Institution was 
appointed the agent of the United States, in an 
exchange of official public documents with foreign 
governments. . . The conditions of this exchange 
having been accepted by 38 governments, of 
which 19 are European, one box (the 23d of the 
series since the establishment of this exchange) of 
United States publications was sent to each of 
these governments in April, 1885." 

The returns having, for some years, fallen con- 
siderably short of expectations, Mr. Boehmer was 
sent abroad on a mission to look after the matter. 

He left this country " on the 24th of July, 1884, 
and returned on the 2Oth of February, 1885, dur- 
ing which time he visited consecutively nearly all 
the European states, obtaining satisfactory results, 
and securing large and valuable additions for the 
library, consisting mostly of parliamentary papers 
and compilations of the laws of the various gov- 
ernments." 

In reply to a letter addressed to Mr. Boehmer, 
inquiring where the documents of foreign govern- 
ments are accessible in this country, Mr. G. Brown 
Goode, Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, replied under date of September I, 1890 : " I 
have the honor to say that the only fairly complete 
collection in this country of the official publications 
of foreign governments is in the Library of Con- 
gress. Owing to the crowded condition of that 
library, however, the books themselves are prob- 
ably not now accessible, but I am inclined to think 
that the cataloging is carried pretty well to date." 

Mr. Spofford, Librarian of the Congressional 
Library, writes under date of August 6, 1890 : 
" All these files (namely, the blue books of Great 
Britain) are here (in the Congressional Library), 
back to 1816, with portions earlier. Also laws 
and documentary publications of nearly all Euro- 
pean and South American nations, catalogued in 
ms., but no printed lists." 

Mr. James L. Whitney, of the Boston Public 
Library, wrote under date of July 3, 1890, that, 
in addition to documents from Great Britain, that 
library gets "regularly the documents of the 
Assemblee Nationale and many publications of 
the French departments. The city of Paris 
sends " the Boston Public Library " many docu- 



ments." Mr. Whitney supposes, however, that 
the library does not get more than a small pro- 
portion of what it would like. 

Mr. C. B. Tillinghast, Acting Librarian of the 
State Library, Massachusetts, writes under date 
of Aug. 20, 1890: "We have a very fine col- 
lection of the Laws of Foreign Countries. The 
extent of it can be best gathered from the annual 
reports of the library for the past seven or eight 
years. They are also all catalogued in the lists 
of additions contained in the reports." 

In many libraries complete or partial sets of 
the public documents of Great Britain are, of 
course, accessible.* 

From what has been written in this report, it is 
also apparent that in Washington, and, to a certain 
extent elsewhere, publications of the other govern- 
ments of Europe and America can be consulted. 

As appears from the letter of Mr. Spofford, 
quoted above, no printed lists of the publications 
of foreign governments, excepting those of Great 
Britain, a"re to be seen in the Congressional 
Library. 

The same is the case in the Boston Public 
Library, as I learn from Mr. Whitney. 

In both libraries, however, manuscript catalogues 
of such publications as belong to the libraries are 
available. 

Mr. Goode writes from the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion that it " has, since the beginning of 1888, kept 
a list of titles of foreign official publications sent 
to the Library of Congress through the Bureau of 
International Exchanges; and to this list, which is 
on file in the Exchange Bureau, will shortly be 
added the titles of the official and parliamentary 
publications of the English government from 1882 
to 1888, which are now on their way to this 
country. This latter series is the only complete 
one received from any foreign government." 

This committee had intended to give some ac- 
count of such lists of the Public Documents of the 
United States as are obtainable. It has found, 
however, that it is unnecessary to do so, as the 
work in this direction, begun in the Supplement of 
the American Catalogue, is to be continued and 
added to in the second Supplement, which will 
soon be forthcoming. 

At the beginning of the present session of Con- 
gress, the joint resolution (see L. J. Vol. 14, p. 

* Had inquiries been made by the committee at other libra- 
ries than those already mentioned, it would undoubtedly have 
been found that portions of sets of the public documents of 
other countries than Great Britain are also contained in 
several of the larger libraries of the country. 



PROCEEDINGS, SECOND SESSION. 



97 



268), which embodies the wishes of the members 
of this Association in regard to the first steps to 
be taken by Congress in improving plans for the 
distribution of public documents, was again intro- 
duced into the United States Senate by Mr. Hoar 
of Massachusetts. It was referred to the Com- 
mittee on Printing. 

Later, Mr. Crunden of St. Louis sent a circular 
letter to members of the United States Senate and 
House of Representatives for Missouri, asking 
them to try to secure the legislation desired by 
this Association. 

This committee seconded Mr. Crunden's efforts. 
The result was that our resolution was again intro- 
duced into the United States Senate, this time by 
Mr. Cokerell, of Missouri, and again referred to 
the Committee on Printing. There the resolution 
still lies. 

Mr. John G. Ames, Superintendent of Public 
Documents, Interior Department, has had a joint 
resolution, similar to ours, introduced into the 
Senate this session. It was read twice, and re- 
ferred to the Committee on Printing. 

Mr. Ames has also had the following bill ($ist 
Cong, ist sess. 3341) introduced : 

BILL 

To provide for the appointment of an official 
indexer of public documents. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States of America in Con- 
gress assembled, That the Joint Committee of the 
two Houses of Congress on the Library be, 
and they are hereby, authorized and directed to 
appoint an official indexer of public documents, 
and upon the occurrence of vacancies in the office 
to appoint his successors, and said indexer shall 
be entitled to receive a salary of three thousand 
dollars per annum. 

SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the indexer 
of public documents to prepare an index of all 
publications of the United States Government 
issued subsequently to his appointment, upon 
such plan and in such manner as shall be approved 
by the Joint Committee on the Library. Said 
index shall be prepared as soon as practicable 
after the documents are published, so*as to be 
available without unnecessary delay for purposes 
of reference, and the index for each fiscal year 
shall be printed and bound and ready for delivery 
to Congress on the first Monday of December fol- 
lowing. 

SEC. 3. That the index for the second fiscal 
year shall be combined with that of the first, and 
that for the third year with those that have pre- 
ceded it, and so on, in one general index, until the 
combined index forms a volume of convenient 
size, the period covered by the same not to exceed 
ten years, to be succeeded in like manner by other 
volumes. 



SEC. 4. That the Public Printer shall, immedi- 
ately upon its publication, deliver to the indexer of 
public documents a copy of each and every docu- 
ment printed at the Government Printing Office, 
and the head of each of the Executive Depart- 
ments, offices, and bureaus of the ' Government 
shall deliver to the same office a copy of each 
and every document issued or published by such 
department, office, or bureau not printed at the 
Government Printing Office and not confidential 
in its character. 

SEC. 5. That the Public Printer shall, upon 
the requisition of the indexer of public documents, 
supply such stationery and do such printing and 
binding as may be required for his office, to be 
charged against the appropriation for printing and 
binding for Congress. 

SEC. 6. That such sum as is required for the 
payment of the salary of the indexer of public doc- 
uments for the present fiscal year is hereby appro- 
priated out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, and hereafter provision for 
said salary shall be made in the annual appropria- 
tion acts of Congress, and said salary shall be 
paid through the disbursing officer of the Senate. 

This bill was referred to the Committee on the 
Library. Mr. Ames's resolution and bill lie in the 
hands of the committees to which they were 
referred. 

Appended to this report rs a letter from Mr. 
Ames, written at the request of the committee. 
It contains an account of his recent efforts, and 
suggestions for the action of this Association. 

This committee had its functions enlarged and 
permission given it to add to its membership on 
motion of Mr. Bowker at the conference in St. 
Louis. 

It was wished by the gentleman who made the 
motion that the committee should seek for the 
passage of other laws relating to public documents 
besides such as refer to their distribution. Neither 
Mr. Bowker nor the other members of the com- 
mittee have thought it desirable either to seek for 
the passage of other laws or to enlarge the com- 
mittee, considering the fact that the committee 
has been unable to procure even the legislation, 
which is considered by the Association of primary 
importance, namely, our joint resolution. 

The committee would recommend that the 
American Library Association, through the com- 
mittee, again petition Congress to pass the joint 
resolution, and also to appoint an official indexer 
of public documents, in accordance with the 
provisions of the bill given in full above. 

The committee would also express its readiness, 
in so far as it represents the views of its successors , 
to cooperate with any committee of the Associa- 
tion of State Libraries in doing work which that 
branch of this Association desires to do in matters 



9 8 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



such as have been intrusted to this committee by 
the general association. 

In regard to the suggestion of Mr. Ames, that 
a committee of influential librarians, from different 
portions of the country, be appointed by this Asso- 
ciation to visit Washington at the beginning of the 
next session of Congress, to urge personally the 
passage of laws which we desire, this committee 
wishes that it were practicable to secure the ser- 
vices of such a committee, but fears that it is not 
so. 

It makes this suggestion, however, that, at no 
distant day, the Association might hold a confer- 
ence in Washington, while Congress should be 
in session, and at that time, through its members, 
try to exert influence by appearing before commit- 
tees of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
and by conversation with members of Congress. 
Still, it must be added that efforts of the kind con- 
templated, were, to a certain extent, made at the 
time of the meeting of the Association in Wash- 
ington, nine years ago. 

SAMUEL SWETT GREEN. 

WILLIAM I. FLETCHER. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

WASHINGTON, Sept. i, 1890. 
MY DEAR MR. GREEN: 

I have, as you see, returned from my sojourn in 
Ohio, and am at my old post again. I find that 
it will hardly be practicable for me to be present 
at the approaching Convention of the Librarians' 
Association, which I would be exceedingly glad 
to attend for the sake of meeting the librarians, 
and of presenting some facts and of making some 
suggestions regarding the matter of public docu- 
ments. As I cannot do this in person, I will, so 
far as possible, do it through you, as representing 
the cause before the Association. I regret to say 
that during the past year very little progress has 
been made toward accomplishing any reforms in 
the matter of publishing and distributing docu- 
ments, or in securing additional legislation in 
behalf of libraries. One thing, however, gives 
me satisfaction, and that is that the Committees 
on Printing of both Houses are at length, I think, 
fully committed to the establishment of a single 
Bureau of Documents, from which all distribution 
shall be made. If this is accomplished, it will be 
one large step made in the direction of simplify- 
ing the work and of promoting economy and 
convenience. 

It is the purpose, as I understand, of the com- 
mittees, having at this session secured an appro- 
priation for the site of the new Public Printing 



Office, to move at the next session, or very soon 
thereafter, an appropriation for erecting not only 
a printing office, but a building adjoining, which 
shall become the distributing centre of all docu- 
ments issued for gratuitous distribution. So far, 
so good. 

I had hoped that during the present session 
the committee could be persuaded to add to the 
list of documents supplied to depositories at 
least the following documents; viz. the Congres- 
sional Record, Statutes-at-large, all volumes of 
legal decisions issued by the different depart- 
ments, and some few other publications. This 
matter has been very strongly urged upon the 
Senate Committee, not only by myself, but by 
many of the Senators ; but they (the committee) 
have not yet taken any action in the premises. 

Another matter of prime importance in this con- 
nection is the Official Index of Public Documents, 
which question I discussed at some length in my 
last report. The suggestions there made have 
met with the warm approval of many of our best 
librarians. A bill providing for the appointment 
of an official indexer was early in the session 
offered in the two Houses and referred to the 
Committees on the Library. A large number of 
letters urging favorable action in the matter has 
been sent to the Senate Committee, of which Mr. 
Evarts is Chairman, and I myself have urged upon 
both committees the importance of some such 
provision, not only with reference to the conven- 
ience of libraries, but especially with reference to 
the convenience of members of Congress, who 
have constantly to consult public documents. So 
far, however, no action has been taken by either 
committee. 

I attribute the delay in regard to both these 
matters to the fact that the committees are exceed- 
ingly anxious not to increase appropriations at this 
session ; and they decline, so far as they can, report- 
ing measures involving expenditures ; in fact, the 
Chairman of the House Committee has several 
times told me that it would be impracticable at 
this session to get a bill through which involved 
the creation of any new office or the expenditure 
of money for the purpose of an index. At another 
session this might be done. It is, of course, in the 
main a politician's view of the matter, for every 
one acknowledges the great importance of having 
such an index, and wonders why it has not already 
been provided for. 

Referring again to the matter of adding the 
few documents indicated to the list of publica- 
tions supplied to depositories, I cannot myself 



PROCEEDINGS, SECOND SESSION. 



99 



understand the hesitation on the part of the Senate 
Committee to report favorably the resolution 
which is before them. The Chairman said to me 
that it would involve in the matter of the Record 
alone an expenditure of forty or fifty thousand 
dollars annually ; whereas I submitted a statement 
to him, based upon the actual cost of the docu- 
ments as sold by the public printer, showing that 
the cost would be only $8,000 per annum. When 
we consider the value to depositories of having a 
full set of government publications, and the relief 
that it would afford members of Congress in sup- 
plying depositories from their own quotas, it would 
seem that the committees of both Houses would 
without further urging recommend that adequate 
provision to this end be made. 

Under the circumstances, I beg leave to suggest, 
in the first place, that the conference pass a resolu- 
tion requesting and urging these committees to 
report favorably the resolution covering this sub- 
ject, a copy of which I herewith enclose, being Senate 
Resolution No. 70, and also the bill providing for 
the appointment of an official indexer of public doc- 
uments, a copy of which is also herewith enclosed, 
being Senate Bill 3,341.* This bill in its first section 
will probably need to be changed, in view of the 
objection that has been suggested, that the Joint 
Committee on the Library has not the authority to 
make appointments. That difficulty, however, can 
be very easily remedied if the committee is willing 
to provide for an indexer. 

In the second place I would suggest and urge 
the appointment by the conference of a committee 
of at least five prominent librarians representing 
New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and the 
Middle and Western sections of the United States, 
whose duty it shall be to visit Washington early in 
December, on the convening of Congress at its 
next session, to urge upon the committees imme- 
diate action upon these subjects, and upon others 
in which the conference feels a special interest, 
and thus bring their own personal influence and 
the influence of friends to bear upon these com- 
mittees, and upon their respective friends in the 
two Houses. I believe that if this were done action 
i n the premises would be secured. You understand 
fully that a vast deal more can be accomplished by 
such a committee coming in person and sitting 
down with the committees of Congress to discuss 
fully the whole subject, than by any amount of 
correspondence by the librarians in their indi- 
vidual capacity. I hope, therefore, that such a 

*See p. 97. 



committee will be appointed, and that it will act 
vigorously when the time comes. 

There are other subjects in which I feel an inter- 
est, relating in large measure to the comfort and 
convenience of those who handle public docu- 
ments, but with which I will not at present trouble 
you or the conference. One other point, however, 
I will allude to : I am in receipt of many requests 
from libraries for the Congressional Record, made 
under the impression that this depaitment is sup- 
plied with this work for distribution. The fact, 
however, is that not a single copy is published for 
distribution by any executive department, said dis- 
tribution being limited exclusively under the pres- 
ent law to members of Congress ; so that if our 
public and college libraries wish the work they 
must apply directly to their Senators and repre- 
sentatives in Congress. The only copies that 
come to me are those forwarded by libraries that 
have them in duplicate, which in the aggregate is 
a large number. These, so far as available, are 
used in supplying deficiencies in libraries making 
application for the same, but they go compara- 
tively a little way in supplying the demand. 

The work of re-distributing public documents 
forwarded to this office by libraries having them 
in duplicate is still carried on just as far as I have 
time to devote to the work. It is an entirely ex- 
tra and gratuitous service, involving, as you 
readily see, a large amount of labor, which I have 
been very glad to render in the interests of our 
public libraries. I am this week sending out three 
additional check lists, copies of which I also 
enclose, which I hope will reach many of the 
librarians before they leave for the conference. 
About 100,000 volumes of duplicates have come 
into my hands since this work began. 

I anticipate for you all a very pleasant meeting 
at the Fabyan House a more delightful place 
could not have been selected, which will in itself 
attract a very large attendance. 

Regretting very much that I cannot have the 
pleasure of joining you there, and trusting that the 
conference may be altogether delightful and satis- 
factory, and with kind regards to my friends 
among the librarians, I remain 

Very sincerely yours, 

JOHN G. AMES, 

Sttpt. of Docs. 

In this connection I would say that perhaps 
good results would follow if the attention of the 
conference were again called to the matter of 
exchange of public documents through this office. 
I hope, inasmuch as this work has been entered 



IOO 



FABYAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



upon, that all the principal libraries will cooperate 
with me to make it as largely successful as pos- 
sible; and to this end will forward promptly all 
duplicates that they may have for re-distribution. 
Very sincerely yours, 

JOHN G. AMES. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. I am glad to hear that Mr. 
Ames is still going on with that work. I suppose 
all of us have accumulated a new lot of duplicates 
for him. 

S: S. GREEN. Mr. Ames gives all the attention 
to this matter that his other work will allow. 

W: BEER. There is now appearing in the 
Review of reviews a list of British public docu- 
ments as they are issued. It contains some very 
valuable notes, especially on the reports of the 
English inspectors of mines and factories. I 
would call the attention of those receiving the 
reports of the U. S. Geological Survey to the 
valuable notes on the first page suitable for sub- 
ject and author cards. I wish such slips could be 
affixed to every volume issued by Congress. 
They cost little to complete, and can be easily 
transferred to cards. Cataloguing comes very 
hard on the small libraries. 

DINING BY STATES AND CLASSES. 

Sec. DEWEY. The Standing Committee, whose 
duty it is to arrange for this meeting, have agreed 
on a plan that we should like to put in operation 
in regard to one dinner. People often come here 
to meet those they are anxious to see, but fail to do 
so and go away disappointed. It was thought it 
would be well to dine once by States, all from one 
State to sit at one table. States having large 
delegations can occupy adjoining tables. To-day, 
if those who wish to conform to this plan will 
inform the head waiter as they enter the dining- 
room, he will place them accordingly. You can 
find from the registry summary how many are from 
your State. 

It might also be arranged so that people who 
come here to meet others working in the same 
lines need not go away without seeing them at all. 
We proposed to have a meal another day by 
types of libraries ; to have the college and school 
librarians at one table and the State librarians at 
another, and so with the proprietary librarians and 
the law and medical librarians, and also the 
trustees and other officers of libraries. Each class 
would thus have an opportunity to take a meal 
together ; they would meet, get acquainted, and 
exchange views. A third suggestion was to take 
another meal by positions occupied ; there are the 



catalogers, those who work in reference depart- 
ments, those in the accession departments, etc., 
and thus the Association for an hour would be 
broken up into sections formed by people in dis- 
tinct lines of work. One of the great objects of 
our meeting is to compare notes with the people 
who do the same kind of work. Of course this is 
entirely voluntary. Any one who objects to sit 
with the people from his own State or kind of 
work, is quite at liberty to go and sit by himself. 

B: P. MANN. If this rule is adopted, I suggest 
that the tables be labeled so that we shall know 
where to go. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I should like to inquire if 
this matter about dining in this manner has been 
fairly brought before us. Unless we are subject 
to dictation from our Standing Committee, a good 
many of us are disposed to kick, as they say in our 
town. It seems to me, if it is to be carried out at 
all, it should be carried out according to the 
wishes of the Association. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. The Secretary stated that 
there is no compulsion or coercion about this. It 
is only suggested that we dine in this way. 

W: I. FLETCHER. My remark was that the 
carrying out of such a plan at all ought to be at 
the wish of the Association. I wish to ask if this 
question is fairly before us for a motion. If it is, 
I move that it lay on the table. I don't care which 
table. The table of Texas will do as well as any. 

Voted that the Association dine by States, as 
suggested. 

W: BEER read his report on 

AIDS AND GUIDES. 

(Seep. 73 .) 
C: A. CUTTER, in place of his paper entitled 

SOME THOUGHTS ON CLASSIFICATION, 

which he had not been able to complete, pointed 
out some things to be avoided in preparing a 
scheme for classing books, as (a) too minute 
classification, where nature has not made the dis- 
tinction between different divisions clear, which 
occurs especially in abstract subjects, where the 
classifier would often be in doubt under which of 
two subjects a book should be put, and the public 
would be still more in doubt under which to look 
for it; and (b) too coarse classification, where the 
divisions are well known, and therefore a thor- 
oughgoing scheme is easily made and applied by 
the classifier, and easily understood by the public. 
This occurs especially in concrete subjects, partic- 
ularly in Geography and History. 

The classifier ought, in preparing his scheme, 



PROCEEDINGS, SECOND SESSION. 



101 



to try to arrange it so as to have a superfluity of 
room in all historical and geographical sections, 
so as to divide it to the very minutest extent with- 
out giving long class marks. Not merely should 
he present all books treating of a continent 
together, but all the books on a single country; 
and, not only that, but sometimes all the books 
on a single city. In my collection, for example, 
the books on London would fill as large a space as 
that window, so that it would be desirable to pick 
out even the books on single buildings of London. 

I have two announcements to make. 

Here is a class-list in Philosophy, printed in 
very large type, and provided with an index, 
making a pamphlet of ten pages, which is to hang 
up in the alcove devoted to Philosophy, and to 
be distributed to such of the users of the library 
as desire it. This will be the first of a series of 
such pamphlets, which ultimately will include the 
whole classification, each subject (as Religion, 
Law, Medicine, Physical sciences, Natural sci- 
ences, etc.) to be printed separately, so that it can 
be hung up in its appropriate alcove, the whole 
collected together to be also placed in every room, 
in as many copies as prove to be needed. 

When the Philosophy has been printed off, I 
intend to alter the notation from that used at the 
Boston Athenaeum to the one which I prepared 
for the Lexington Library (in which letters alone 
are used to mark subjects instead of a combina- 
tion of letters and figures), and shall print another 
edition. The classification, you will observe, is 
very full, suitable for a library having from 100,- 
ooo to many million volumes, or to a special 
philosophical library. When this edition has 
been printed, I intend to cut out the minuter 
subdivisions, leaving such as may be needed in a 
50,000 volume library, and print an edition ; and 
then to excise still more, to fit the scheme to a 
still smaller library, and print a fourth time. In 
place of the omitted sections I should insert notes, 
showing what sort of books were intended to go 
into the sections that are left. On the full 
scheme that information is given by the subdivi- 
sions themselves. For instance, under the head- 
fng " Ethology (Character)," the sub-headings, 
Genius, Habit, Psychical heredity, Influence of 
sex, Temperament, Eccentricities, show at a glance 
where to put and where to look for certain special 
books. When the sub-headings are out, that in- 
formation must be supplied by a note, "Here will 
be put Genius, Habit," etc. 

There is one other matter which it. will be 
appropriate to speak of now, because it relates to 



the gentleman who will read the next paper. As 
the funds of the Association were not sufficient 
to afford the publication in last year's Proceed- 
ings of Mr. Linderfelt's adaptation of Dziatzko's 
Rules for cataloging, I attempted to get the Pub- 
lishing Section of the A. L. A. to undertake the 
work ; but it was obliged to refuse for the same 
reason, want of funds. Being unwilling that so 
much good work should be lost, I am printing 
it myself. I am sure that it is not the foolish 
affection of a foster-father that makes me 
believe the book to be of the very highest im- 
portance to all catalogers. While I naturally 
hope it will not entirely supersede my own Rules, 
I see that it presents the subject under a very 
different aspect and in a new order. A cataloger 
who loves his profession, and wishes to broaden 
his views, will profit greatly by comparing the two 
treatises. Then again, examples are always inter- 
esting; Herr Dziatzko was profuse in examples, 
and Mr. Linderfelt has supplied still more. Besides 
this, Mr. Linderfelt has added, in an appendix, a list 
of Oriental titles, with their translations, some- 
thing that is not to be found, so far as I know, any- 
where else in literature. We hoped to have the 
book ready three months ago ; but the preparation 
of the appendix, and the necessity of cutting many 
matrices for the accented letters required in print- 
ing Oriental words and names, has delayed us. 
The appendix will be found worth the delay. The 
Library Bureau will be the selling agents, and they 
are ready to receive orders. 
K. A. LINDERFELT read his 

REPORT ON CATALOGS AND CLASSIFICATION. 

(Seep. 67.) 

On motion of R. B. POOLE, voted that the Com- 
mittee on Printing decide which list of titles of 
works on catalogs and classification should be 
printed, that of Mr. Linderfelt or Mr. Beer, or 
whether the two should be combined. 

J. EDMANDS. I should like to ask Mr. Cutter 
if, in printing the classification of his library, he 
cannot adapt it to libraries of different sizes, by 
the use of different kinds of type ? 

C. A. CUTTER. I use many different sizes of 
type, but for another purpose. 

Sec. DEWEY. I suppose Mr. Cutter uses his 
type as we do, with different sizes for different 
grades of subjects. We have adopted the plan, 
in some cases, of simply drawing a pen through 
the minuter divisions, leaving the type legible, so 
as to explain what was covered by the heads in 
larger type, though not used in the classification. 



102 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



This secures in a single copy that the user, when 
he sees a generic head, will also see the cancelled 
lines, and know what is included under the major 
head. Each library will use it differently. In a 
town full of manufactories, one would use most of 
the manufacturing heads ; in a college community, 
the heads under philology. It would involve 
printing forty different editions of the classifica- 
tion to meet this ; whereas, if you print a full edi- 
tion, by cancelling the small type not needed, each 
librarian can adapt it to his own use very easily. 

J. EDMANDS. An additional help is to indent 
the smaller subdivisions, so as to make a distinc- 
tion between the primary and subordinate classes. 

C: A. CUTTER. Mr. Dewey was right in saying 
that I use the variety of type as he does, to show 
the grades in the hierarchy of classification, and I 
cannot use it to give the relative importance of 
the different classes in different libraries. My 
reason for cutting out part of the classes, and 
printing a smaller edition, is that I find if a per- 
son, not an expert in classification, once looks at a 
system of classification drawn out minutely, he 
looks at it no more. You may explain as much as 
you please, he will not use the scheme, but will be 
frightened away. So I would rather go to the 
expense of printing another small edition, with a 
great deal left out, or thrown into the form of 
explanatory notes. 

Sec. DEWEY. Do you agree that, for the use of a 
classifier and librarian, the other form is better ? 

C: A. CUTTER. Certainly. 

Sec. DEWEY. Then would it not be better to 
print broadsides to^hang in the alcoves, as they do 
at Harvard ? As I understand, you propose to hang 
up a pamphlet of, say a dozen pages in the alcove. 
Tell us your opinion of posting a short summary 
on a placard. 

C: A. CUTTER. I posted such summaries in the 
Athenaeum twenty-one years ago. The indexed 
pamphlet is merely the development of the broad- 
side summary. The full apparatus is this: In 
each room one or more copies of the complete 
classification ; at the beginning of each depart- 
ment, a pamphlet of perhaps eight pages, the first 
page having a summary of the whole (this classifi- 
cation of Philosophy is an example) ; next, placards 
around the room, showing the separate subdivisions. 
For instance, at the alcove of Physical science, there 
would be one of the pamphlets ; then over each 
section of the shelves, such heads as Astronomy, 
Chemistry, Electrics, etc., so that a person, glancing 
around, Qould at once see where each division is. 
The fourth guide would be little shelf labels, just as 



wide as the shelf, one of them for each sub- 
division. But as some persons might not be 
sure under which of these general heads they 
would find the subdivision sought, we cannot dis- 
pense with a detailed classification and index. 
W: E. FOSTER read his paper on 

CLASSIFICATION FROM THE READER'S POINT OF 
VIEW. 

(Seep. 6.) 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Pres. CRUNDEN mentioned, to illustrate the 
influence of the Association in other matters than 
those purely technical, the receipt of a request 
from England for a copy of the A. L. A. singing 
book, and to show a lack of attention to the 
printed proceedings, a request for statistical in- 
formation respecting Sunday opening from one 
who would naturally have received Miss M. S. 
Cutler's exhaustive paper on that subject. He 
read the following extract from a letter of regret 
from R. C. WOODWARD, Librarian of the Warder 
Library of Springfield, O. : 

For with every librarian, I trust, the aim is to 
magnify our office and duties, not so much by 
doing and striving for some great thing that may 
add to personal fame, as to do the many little 
things so thoroughly well that the results attained 
will be for the highest good of the community in 
which we dwell. To my mind, our work is part 
of God's work; for are we not truly teachers and 
aiders also in helping others to secure noble and 
true characters that time cannot destroy? In 
this lies the secret of our best efforts, which can- 
not be remunerated by dollars and cents. The 
librarian or assistant who works mechanically for 
the pay only, has not experienced the highest joy 
and reward. The true librarian often needs, not 
so much an increase of salary, as greater freedom 
and enlarged opportunity for usefulness, that he 
may develop talents to the full in the execution 
of plans for the good of all. Sending my regrets 
but mildly and inadequately expresses my disap- 
pointment in not being present at the Fabyan 
council. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. I hope the members will not 
engage in any excursions that interfere with our 
business. I have been exceedingly gratified at 
the spirit shown so far. Attend as many sessions 
as possible. We have tried to arrange it so that 
those not interested in certain topics can omit 
some, but I hope most of you will attend all, tak- 
ing as your motto, Bibliothecarius sum : bibliothe- 
cale nihil a me alienum puto. 



PROCEEDINGS, SECOND SESSION. 



On motion of S: S. GREEN it was voted that 
Justin Winsor, LL. D., be a delegate of this 
Association to the meeting of the L. A. U. K. at 
Reading. 

The motion in regard to the employment of a 
stenographer having been taken from the table, 
the following substitute was moved by S: S. 
Green and adopted : 

Voted, That the Standing Committee be empow- 
ered, not instructed, to employ a stenographer at 
future meetings of the Association. 

REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

S: S. GREEN. The matters brought forward by 
the President in his address, and by the Secretary 
in his report, contain many valuable recommenda- 
tions, and ought of course to be attended to. At 
the meeting of the Association held in St. Louis, 
a committee was appointed, of which Mr. R. R. 
Bowker was chairman, to revise the present con- 
stitution and by-laws, and present them in print to 
every member three months before this meeting. 
That report has not been made. It seems to me that 
similar action ought to be taken by this conven- 
tion. I therefore move that a committee of five be 
appointed ; that this committee include Mr. Crun- 
den and Mr. Dewey, and, as soon as practicable 
after this meeting, present in print to every mem- 
ber a copy of the revised constitution and of the 
by-laws that they may think it advisable for the 
Association to adopt. I make this motion not at 
all with the purpose of preventing the Secretary 
or the President from getting the sentiment of the 
meeiing in regard to the matters which they pro- 
posed, but rather to evoke discussion as to whether 
it is desirable to make those changes. 

Mr. Green's motion was carried. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. That motion necessarily in- 
cludes the discharge of the former committee, 
which has made no report. 

Sec. DEWEY. Mr. President, as we are both 
named as members of this committee, I should 
like to say what I think will voice the sentiment 
of this Association. It was an experiment 15 
years ago when we drafted this constitution. As 
you remember, last year at St. Louis the sharpest 
criticism that was made on it was by Mr. Winsor, 
upon the section which Mr. Winsor drew himself. 
Now that was done when the work and functions 
of libraries were not as well defined as they are 
now. 

There is another committee that is really a ten- 
der to this committee, that is, the committee suc- 
ceeding Mr. Foster's committee last year. They 
were instructed to gather resolutions and by-laws, 



and print them ; and that committee should cer- 
tainly be merged in this committee of five, which 
covers the same field. I move that that commit- 
tee be discharged, and its duties transferred to 
this new committee, which shall cover consti- 
tution, by-laws, and rules. It seems desirable to 
revise a number of things in our constitution. One 
part of the plan was to elect an executive board of 
five, who should elect all the officers. I think it 
would be well to elect our President, Vice-Presi- 
dents, and perhaps one or two other officers, by a 
direct vote of all the members, and would like to 
draw out the sentiment of the Association on this 
question. Committees that could meet and work 
together, could be chosen by a board after execu- 
tive discussion, better than we can elect them in 
open meeting. 
The motion of Secretary Dewey was carried. 

COOPERATION COMMITTEE. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. I call up the report of the Co- 
operation Committee again, in order that it may be 
taken up section by section to see if any action is 
required. 

J. EDMANDS. I move that the whole matter 
be referred to the Committee on Constitution and 
By-laws. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I suppose our constitution 
defines, of course in somewhat general terms, the 
duties of the Cooperation Committee. I should 
like to see it so arranged that the committee on 
revision of the constitution and by-laws can have 
the benefit of these suggestions, in so far as they 
may affect the general statement to be put into 
the rules. Beyond that, it seems to me, the 
ground is be^t covered by referring it to the dis- 
cretion of the Cooperation Committee. Part of 
this plan suggested in the report is an admirable 
one; but I think it can be left to the wisdom of 
successive Cooperation Committees to devise means 
by which they can carry out views suggested by 
the members. 

Sec. DEWEY. (After reading section 6, article 
4 of the constitution.) The work of this commit- 
tee has never been closely defined. It has simply 
drifted on the strength of this simple statement. 
The committee do nothing in a case that is left to 
their discretion or wisdom. They simply wait. 
It seems to me it would be wiser to read this 
report by sections, and be sure how far it meets 
approval, so that the Committee on Constitution can 
take these references and notes, and go forward. 
We should, while this discussion is fresh in mind, 
have rules drawn up which would express the 
sentiment of the Association. 



IO4 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



W. S. BISCOE read the first recommendation of 
the committee. 

C: A. NELSON. I move that this still be con- 
sidered part of the work of the CoSperation 
Committee. Voted. 

W. S. BISCOE read the rest of the report. 

B: P. MANN. I move that all matter relating 
to bibliography be referred to the Publishing 
Section. Voted. 

C: A. NELSON. I move that the committee 
consist of three from the same section of the coun- 
try. Voted. 

STATE LIBRARIANS. 

Sec. DEWEY. I would like to say, on behalf of 
the Association of State Librarians who meet at 2.30 
P. M., that the meeting is not for State librarians 
alone, but we expect all members interested in 
developing State libraries to attend, and join in 
the discussions. We shall have up the question 
whether State libraries should lend their books to 
other libraries; the formation of clearing-houses 
for exchange of State documents, and a dozen 
other questions of interest to all librarians. I 
hope it will not seem unfit if I say, what many of 
you know, that many State librarians are ap- 
pointed to the positions they hold as a mere 
matter of form. Only the other day a friend told 
me of a certain librarian whom he never could 
find in his library, no matter how often he called ; 
but he never failed to find him outside in a 
saloon. We don't expect a man of that sort to 
come to a meeting of State librarians. We do 
not want him. He would want to go on excur- 
sions all the while, morning, afternoon, and even- 
ing. We would like to see our way to get better 
support from the State treasuries, and the way to 
do it is by doing in the State libraries certain 
useful things for all libraries in each State. All 
interested in this phase of the State library 
should come in, and see what can be done. Your 
right on the floor will be just as good as if you 
were a State librarian, and every one of us will be 
glad to hear what you think can be done. 

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 

S: S. GREEN. I move, in behalf of the Com- 
mittee on Public Documents, that our joint resolu- 
tion (printed in Library journal ', v. 14, p. 268) be 
introduced into Congress again. Voted. 

S: S. GREEN. I move that the Association 
recommend the passage of the bill offered by Mr. 
J. G. Ames for the appointment of an official 
indexer of public documents. 

W. M. GRISWOLD. I would like to ask how 



the proposed index would differ from the publica- 
tion of Mr. Hickox. 

S: S. GREEN. Mr. Hickox's is a list. This is 
an index. 

WESTON FLINT. I think it is better for our 
Association to pass a resolve in regard to the 
desirability of this work, and let the administra- 
tion of it be settled in Congress. 

W: I. FLETCHER. I move as a substitute 
that the Association memorialize Congress for the 
publication of official indexes to current public 
documents. Voted. 

J. EDMANDS. Is it not well to make a sugges- 
tion also in regard to title-pages and contents 
of books ? It seems to me that the documents 
issued by Congress are in this respect very bad. 

S: S. GREEN. I am afraid that would network 
well. It is not well to seek for too many things at 
once. We know we want this general resolution 
of ours. As soon as we have got that, we want 
a selection of government publications, those of 
the most popular interest, sent to the smaller libra- 
ries. I think that thing would come before even 
this important matter Mr. Edmands suggests. It 
is hard enough to get anything done, even when 
we try for one thing. 

I wish to express, on the part of the committee, 
a desire to act cordially in connection with the 
committee of the State Library Association ; also 
to remind the Association that ours is not one of 
the regular committees, and has to be appointed 
by the convention. 

Sec. DEWEY. We all feel that this question of 
public documents is one of the most important 
with which this Association has to deal. I 
should be glad to have light on the subject. We 
have been at work on this for 15 years. Some 
things have been accomplished, but we have not 
accomplished as much as we ought. I don't be- 
lieve we are going to accomplish much by passing 
general resolutions. The right thing to do would 
be to pick out the right man, and send him to 
Washington to find members of Congress and sen- 
ators who would follow this up. I don't think 
there is any real opposition to a reform. 

S: S. GREEN. There is a decided opposition. 
The Committee on Printing of the Senate is un- 
willing to spend any money. Mr. Manderson, Chair- 
man of that committee, has been favorable; but in- 
fluential senators especially Senator Hawley, of 
Connecticut are dead set against any movement 
for the expenditure of money, even for providing 
these few public documents which the depositories 



PROCEEDINGS, SECOND TO FOURTH SESSION. 



105 



require. We meet his opposition every time we 
make an effort. 

Sec. DEWEY. A great deal less money is re- 
quired to do what we want done than is now spent 
on public documents. Does any one bring up any 
specific argument except the expense ? 

S: S. GREEN. No, that is the argument. Mr. 
Ames shows them how little it costs. They will 
spend money for other things, but not for this. 

Sec. DEWEY. There are many people outside 
this Association disgusted with the wastefulness of 
Congress in this matter. There is more money 
spent by the Federal government in botching it, than 
is necessary to do the work well. We may get 
together and pass resolutions, write them out, and 
send them to Congress. It will do no good. All of 
you know that petitions go on there signed by 50,000 
names, yet they go into the waste-basket. I be- 
lieve we have had the Fabian policy in this long 
enough. After what cropped out in regard to the 
Senator from Connecticut, my suggestion is that 
we should try to send the right men there ; follow 
the matter up by individual effort till we get strong 
men to push it through. Another point of attack 
is through the State legislatures. Those who saw 
the address drawn up by the State Librarians' 
Association, will remember we laid great stress on 
this matter, and we had answers from governors 
of States and others of powerful influence, who 
were ready to cooperate with us. Would it not 
be well if we could get each legislature to pass 
strong resolutions, asking the passage of this 
measure, and then have strong men go to Congress 
with the requests of the legislatures ? That might 
carry our point. Our old way is like trying to 
drive a tenpenny nail with a shingle. 

S: S. GREEN. This Association is very much 
indebted to Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, for 
the manner in which he has worked in our behalf, 
and particularly to get this A. L. A. resolution 
through Congress. Not long ago he came home 
to Worcester and said to me, " Your resolu- 
tion is in Abraham's bosom." He said somebody 
proposed certain documents to be sent to the 
depositories, and he had that matter referred to 
the Committee on Library, of which he was acting 
chairman. " I am going to report your resolution 
as a substitute for the resolution which has been 
referred to us." He did so. Hawley and others 
immediately arose and attacked the resolution and 
killed it. Mr. Ames's recommendation to the 
committee is to have leading librarians go to Wash- 
ington and exert their influence by going before 
committees and talking with members. That is 



an admirable thing to do, but seems to be imprac- 
ticable. I would like very much if that suggestion 
of Mr. Dewey's could be carried out, of getting 
State legislatures to take this matter up, and to 
have somebody in Washington to represent us, 
who could be working all the time. Knowing as 
I do the fruitfulness of the suggestions which are 
likely to come from the State Association, I said 
it was with the greatest cordiality this committee 
desired, so far as it could bind its successors, to 
act in cooperation with the committee having 
similar plans to accomplish, connected with the 
State Library Association. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. In this connection I will read 
a question. How far are the printed catalog slips 
occasionally provided in government and other 
publications really useful ? 

B: P. MANN. I should use them if I found them. 

Of the 15 who had noticed these slips, 3 found 
them useful ; 12 did not. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. I have a letter asking how to 
use government documents. 

S: S. GREEN. There was a question asked me 
a week or two ago about a certain piece of ord- 
na^ce. I thought the most natural thing in the 
world was to refer to the report of the department 
of ordnance. There I found the information 
desired. 

Sec. DEWEY. This letter is a type of many 
written since the Association was founded. I 
move that our committee on public documents be 
requested to submit to the Association at its next 
meeting a paper on utilization of public docu- 
ments, pointing out definitely how to get the most 
good out of such collections. Voted. 

Adjourned at 12.45 p - M - 

THIRD SESSION. 

(WEDNESDAY, 2.30 p. M.) 

MEETING OF STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 

( The report is given after the report of the College 

Section.) 

FOURTH SESSION. 
(WEDNESDAY, 7.45 p. M.) 

Pres. CRUNDEN announced the following com- 
mittees : 

Resolutions. W : I. Fletcher, W: H. Brett, W: 
C. Lane, J: M. Glenn, J: V. Cheney. 

Social evening. Miss Mary S. Cutler, Miss T. 
H. West, Miss H. P. James, Miss Ada Bunnell, 
Mrs. M. W. Loomis, with A: W. Whelpley, C: C. 
Soule, C: R. Dudley, and G. M. Jones. 



io6 



HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



1400 



Reception. Miss M. S. Cutler, ex officio, Mrs. H: 
J. Carr, Miss E. M. Coe.Miss C. H. Garland, Miss 
F. E. Woodworth,. Miss L. S. Cutler, Miss S. 
Johnson and C: C, Soule, H. E. Davidspn, W: E: 
Parker, H: J. Carr, C: A. Nelson, W: I. Fletcher, 
and F. B. Gay. 

H: J. CARR read the 

TREASURER'S REPORT. 

HENRY J. CARR, Treasurer, in account with the 
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: 

1889. DR. 

May I. To balance on hand from last 
report (St. Louis Confer- 
ence) 

May 8 to Dec. 31, 1889. 

To 7 temporary member fees 
(St. Louis) ....... 

To annual membership fees, 
viz. : For years 1887, 1888, 
1889, I . $600 

For years 1888-89, 21 .8400 
" " 1888, i . 200 
" " 1889, 32 . 6400 

15600 

1890. 

Jan. 25. To interest on deposits (Grand 

Rapids, 1889) 1325 

Mar. 20. To interest on deposits (Con- 
cord, 6 months, 1889) . I 80 

July 23. To interest on deposits (Grand 

Rapids, 6 months, 1890) . . 3 52 

Feb. 10. To i life membership (Mrs. 

Moses Wadley) 2500 

Aug. 29. To sale i copy proceedings, 

1886 i oo 

Jan. 2. to Sept. 4, 1890. 

To annual membership fees, 

viz. : 

For years 1888-89, i . $400 
" " 1888-89-90, i . 600 
" " 1890. 1 66 33200 

34200 

Total $i,37340 

1889. CR. 

May ii. By R: R. Bowker, bill of 
Elleard Floral Co., St. 
Louis, May 9, 1889, cut 
flowers for Dyer testimo- 
nial $500 

May 18. By W: E. Foster, Providence, 
bill of April 30, 1889, envel- 
opes and stamps in mailing 
constitution and member 

lists 3 88 

By Snow & Farnham, Provi- 
dence, bill of April 30, 
1889, printing 500 copies 
of constitution and mem- 
ber list 28 oo 



May 29. By R. B.Poole, bill of Nixon- 
Jones Printing Co., St. 
Louis, May n, 1889, print- 
ing i oo copies Cooperation 
Com. report $7 S 

June 15. By Library Bureau, Boston, 
bill of May 28, 1889, circu- 
lars and expenses prelim- 
inary to St. Louis Confer- 
ence 74 22 

Aug. 26. By special deposit in Grand 
Rapids Savings Bank, in 
name of A. L. A. . . . 400 oo 

Oct. 10. By Library Bureau, 2 bills, 

viz. : 
July 10, 1889, for i attendance 

register 3 oo 

July 30, 1889, for i seal press 5 oo 

Nov. 19. By Library Bureau, bill of 
Oct. 22, 1889, for 350 copies 
Proceedings St. Louis 
Conference (160 pp.) . . 46933 
Also for envelopes, directing 
and delivery of 229 copies 

distributed 18 68 

($445 paid on account, Nov. 
19, 1889, and balance 
$43 01 paid Feb. 7, 1890) 

1890. 

Feb. 24. By Publishers' Weekly, bill of 
Nov. i, 1889, paper for 
Proceedings, St. Louis 
Conference ..... 20 54 

Apr. 1 8. By Library Bureau, bill of 
March 19, 1890, 1,100 let- 
ter heads for various 
officers of A. L. A. ... 9 oo 

May 18, 1889, to Feb. 11, 1890. 

By current expenses of Treas- 
urer's office, for postage, 
express, and printing, as 
per detailed account 
voucher 15 45 

Aggregate payments . . . $1,059 60 
Sept. 4. Balance on hand to be 
accounted for, on deposit 
at Grand Rapids, Mich. . 313 80 

Total $i,373 4Q 

B. 

The membership status, at the 6th of Septem- 
ber, 1890, is as follows : 

Life members 25 

Regular members paid to 1890, inclusive . . 167 

192 

Also owing for 1890 only, . . . . . 51 
" " " 1889 and 1890, .... 9 
" " " 1888, 1889, 1890, ... 38 

98 

Total ... 290 



PROCEEDINGS, FOURTH SESSION. 



107 



Proceedings remaining in hands of Treasurer : 

12 copies Milwaukee Conf., 1886. 

42 " Thousand Islands Conf., 1887. 

4 " Catskill Meeting, 1888. 
90 " St. Louis Conf., 1889. 

The special deposit of $400 has been made by 
the Treasurer, with advice of and under direction 
of the Finance Committee, with a view to carrying 
out the vote of the Association at the St. Louis 
conference, looking towards an accumulation of 
an interest-bearing fund to offset the paid-up life 
memberships which do not afford annual contri- 
butions. 

The deposit is at the Grand Rapids (Mich.) 
Savings Bank, at 4 per cent interest, compounded 
and added to the deposit each six months. 

By the terms of the deposit (which stands in the 
name of the A. L. A.) it may be added to at will, 
but is not subject to current draft, nor to with- 
drawal, except upon vote of the Association at 
a regular meeting, duly certified under its seal 
by signatures of the President, Secretary, and 
Treasurer. 

In conclusion the Treasurer urges that in any 
contemplated revision of the constitution of the 
Association, careful attention be given to the 
question of both increasing the current revenues 
and of reducing the expenditures upon the Pro- 
ceedings. While the latter publications are es- 
sential and of value to the library world (especially 
so to such members as cannot attend the con- 
ferences), they do absorb so great a proportion of 
the present income from membership fees as to 
really prevent the Association from obtaining that 
strength in a financial way which is really essential 
to a due growth of its effectiveness as a working 
institution. 

Respectfully submitted, 

H: J. CARR, 

Treasurer. 

Report referred to Finance Committee. 

H: M. UTLEY read his report on 

LIBRARY ARCHITECTURE. 

(See p. 12 and p. Jff.) 
W: I. FLETCHER read his paper on 

PROPER LIGHTING OF LIBRARY ROOMS. 



NEWBERRY LIBRARY. 

W: F. POOLE. Within the past week the 
trustees, in conference with the librarian and archi- 
tect, have decided upon plans which I will briefly 
explain. If any one, at this time, when the old is 



going out and the new is coming in, mainly in 
consequence of what has been done in this As- 
sociation, supposes that it is a simple problem to 
make the plans of a large library building, he is 
mistaken. There is no model structure which we 
could reproduce. Besides the inherent difficulties 
of the undertaking, it is not easy, when we step out 
of the beaten track, for a number of thoughtful per- 
sons to concur in adopting a design based on new 
principles, although each desires to avoid the 
acknowledged faults of construction in what is 
known as the conventional library building, of 
which the plans of the Astor Library of New 
York, the Baltimore Peabody Institute, the Con- 
gressional Library, and the Boston and Cincinnati 
Public Libraries are types. We have sought to 
avoid (i) the great loss of space in the middle of 
the building; (2) the difficulty of heating uni- 
formly the large rooms, 50 or 60 feet high, 
which, when the temperature is agreeable on the 
floor, is so hot in the galleries as to destroy the 
bindings of books, and injure the health of attend- 
ants. It is a fact not generally known, that, in a 
room artifically heated, the temperature rises one 
degree with every foot of elevation. We wished 
(3) to get rid of tramping up four, five, or six 
stories of galleries for books the most unprofit- 
able and injurious physical exercise a person can 
engage in. We wanted (4) a plan by which the 
building could be enlarged in harmony with the 
general design and without disturbing what had 
already been built. The common gothic structure 
can be enlarged skyward by taking off the roof, and 
laterally by taking down one side and spoiling the 
the original plan. We sought (5) to provide 
every possible protection from fire which may 
start inside of the building. 

If fire begins in the conventional structure, it 
has a free range through the whole building ; and 
the books which the fire does not destroy, water 
and smoke will. We have, therefore, arranged 
our building in compartments of moderate size, 
each of which is fire-proof, and is separated from 
every other by a fire wall, so that fire could not 
spread from the room in which it began. We 
wanted (6) to secure to readers the best facilities 
for readily procuring the books they need, and the 
opportunity to read them quietly and undisturbed 
by noise and visitors. The reading-rooms with 
which scholars are familiar do not furnish these 
advantages. We wished (7) to escape the un- 
necessary expense of erecting the usual gothic 
building with its columns, heavy girders, and 
lantern of iron and glass. If it be finished in 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



wood, it is a tinder box ; if in iron, it is very 
costly. These matters have been discussed in 
this Association for the past ten years ; and there 
has been a general consensus of opinion that 
these objections to the usual style exist and ought 
to be remedied. 

One of the methods devised for obviating these 
objections is the stack system, first constructed in 
the annex to the Harvard University Library. 
When I first saw that stack I was impressed with 
its resemblance to the interior of a model prison. 
I saw my favorite authors " in quod," and felt 
that they deserved better treatment. This ar- 
rangement does not contribute to aesthetic de- 
mands, nor meet the difficulties which have been 
mentioned. The heat problem is unsolved if the 
room be heated in winter ; and I am told that in 
summer the heat is terrific in the upper galleries. 
Then there is the old-fashion tread-mill exercise 
of climbing these four and five stories of galleries. 



Perhaps the greatest objection is the impossibility 
of lighting the narrow passage-ways in a stack 
uniformly. Mr. Fletcher, who has a stack in his 
(the Amherst College) library, has just com- 
mented on this fact from his own experience. 
The ends of the passage-ways are easily lighted ; 
but the light diminishes as one enters, and in the 
middle of the stack it is so dark that the titles of 
books can with difficulty be read. He says the light 
which gets in strikes the shelves vertically, and is not 
effective. I am told by employes in the Harvard 
library that in afternoons and in cloudy weather, 
the titles of books in the two lower tiers of that 
stack cannot be read. Students in their investiga- 
tions often need access to books upon the shelves 
and sufficient light to read them. The narrow, 
ill-lighted passage-ways of a stack are unfavorable 
conditions for such consultation. 

Our method has been very different. We have 
adopted a compartment system. The books are 




Q 



A Auditorium seating 450 persons. Over A, B, F, G, and P are book rooms ; over D, C, and E, one reading room. 
B Reception rooms and bibliographical exhibit. 
C Porter and cloak room. 
D Hall. 

E Business offices of the Newberry Estate. 
F Trustees of library. 
G Books on Bibliography. 

H, I, and J Library administration, librarian's room, cataloguing, etc. 
M Reading-room in second story, over C, E, and D. 
K, L, O, and P Book-rooms in second story, over A, B, F, G, and P. 

The third, fourth, and fifth stories will contain similar rooms, and also study rooms. The capacity of the structure 
when full will be 1,000,000 volumes; convenient working capacity, 600,000 volumes. 



PROCEEDINGS, FOURTH SESSION. 



109 



classified by their subjects into departments, and 
each of the departments has a separate room 
assigned to it, where the books are read, as well as 
shelved. Each of these rooms is fitted up with all 
the conveniences for study, and will have an 
attendant in charge who is familiar with the sub- 
ject and the books in the department. The fine 
arts will constitute one of these departments, and 
its shelving, fittings, and general arrangement will 
be different from those of the departments of hj^- 
tory or religion. An art student wishes to consult 
a volume of Piranesi containing views of ancient 
Rome. He goes to the fine art room, asks for the 
volume, and it is laid on the table before him 
immediately, without the delay of looking up its 
press-mark, and waiting for a runner to bring it on 
a truck from some remote part of the library. If 
the volume has not the point he is in search of, he 
can readily exchange it for another. If he does 
not know the book he needs, the attendant will 
assist him. When used the volume is carefully 
restored to its place. Fine books in fine bindings 
are more injured by runners in transporting them 
to and from a general reading-room, than by their 
legitimate use. 

This system is not adapted to a circulating 
library, nor to a reference library where the num- 
ber of volumes is not large ; but in a library which 
is likely to have half a million volumes in twenty- 
five or thirty years, and to go on increasing, at 
that or even a more rapid rate, the segregation 
of books into departments, and giving each classi- 
fication a separate room, seems to us a convenient 
method of treating this vast accumulation of 
material. At first, when the number of books is 
not large, the departments will be few, and allied 
subjects will be shelved in the same room. Later, 
as the collection increases, these will be separated 
and assigned to new rooms. When the depart- 
ment of history is becoming full, it will be divided, 
and American history made a new department, 
and later, English history another. 

It will be seen on this outline sketch that the lot, 
318x212 feet, containing 67,400 square feet, occu- 
pies a whole city block, and is bounded by Walton 
place, Dearborn avenue, Oak and Clark streets. 
The block, not shown in the sketch, south of Wal- 
ton place (a street 60 feet wide), is Washington 
Square, a public park, with trees, walks, and lawns, 
but no buildings. On Clark street is a cable line 
of street railway, which gives easy access to the 
business center of the city. The building will 
cover the whole south front, and there is space for 
extension on the east, north, and west fronts, leav- 



ing a court for light in the centre, as indicated by 
the dotted lines. The height of the first story 
will be 1 6 feet, the second 15, and the upper 
stories 14. 

A peculiar feature in the plan is the outside cor- 
ridor (Q), 7 feet wide, by which access is had 
to all the rooms above the first story. The wall 
on the inside of the corridor will have windows 
which will admit as much light as is possible 
through the corridor into the rooms. This fact is 
not made clear in the drawings above, as the win- 
dows in the inner wall are not as well indicated as 
they might be. Every room will therefore be 
lighted on two sides. The elevators and stairway 
are put outside the building and the corridor. 
Glass will be used in their construction, so as to 
interrupt as little light as possible. 

There will be a general reading-room (M), 61 x 56 
feet, in the second story, where the encyclopaedias, 
dictionaries, and bound sets of literary periodicals 
will be kept, and where persons who prefer to 
have books brought to them can read. The 
advantages of reading in the rooms where special 
subjects are kept are so great, it is probable that 
not many persons will use that room for study. 
It is the experience in all libraries, where the 
books and readers are constantly increasing, that 
the general reading-room in a few years becomes 
too small to meet the demands upon it. This con- 
dition of affairs has already been reached in the 
great reading-room of the British Museum. Read- 
ers who come simply for amusement or recreation 
are not admitted ; and persons must show that 
that they have some scholarly or important subject 
of study before reading-desks are assigned to 
him. In the system here exhibited, it is not 
likely that the reading-room will be crowded. As 
the readers increase, the number of book-rooms 
will increase, and they will take up what in the 
British Museum is the overflow of readers. If, on 
the other hand, it shall be found too small, other 
rooms can be taken for the same purpose. It is 
this flexibility of adaptation to different conditions 
which constitutes an important feature in this plan 
of construction. The increase in the number of 
rooms is limited only by the size of the lot ; and 
when in the remote future the entire structure 
covers the whole block, it will have a capacity of 
about 4,000,000 volumes. 

The arrangement of one of the department 
rooms, say th'at of political economy and social 
science, is shown in the drawing on next page. 

The room is 30 x 50 feet. The reader entering 
from the corridor finds a space for study 12x30 



110 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



feet, supplied with reading-tables. The books are 
shelved behind a railing in cases 8 feet high, 
so that a person of ordinary stature may reach 
any book without step or ladder. The wall cases 
are deep enough to receive folios and quartos. 
The central cases are double, or open on both 
sides, and will shelve royal octavos and smaller 
sizes. The capacity of the room is 27,200 volumes. 
There will be no galleries or upper tier of 
book cases, the space being needed for the distri- 
bution of light and air. 

There will be an auditorium, classrooms, small 
study-rooms, where authors may be alone and un- 
interrupted, as well as all the conveniences for 

I ^^ ^^ ^^ *^ E* 

C0PB1DOP 




TABLE 



1 




PAG 


(_ 















*-3 


e 


3 


- 






PLAN OF ONE 



carrying on the work of " University extension," 
which Professor Adams, of Johns Hopkins, is 
here to talk to us about. It is the intention to 
make the Newberry Library a live educational in- 
stitution, and not a mausoleum of dead books. 

QUESTION. You say this room 30 x 50 feet will 
contain 27,200 volumes. I would like to ask what 
proportion of the space is left for the consultation 
of books ? 

Dr. POOLE. About one fifth. In this room, 
which is smaller than the average size, a little 
more space for readers is given. Some of the 
rooms will contain 50,000 volumes, and the largest 



70,000 volumes when the shelves are full ; but they 
will not be worked to much more than half that 
capacity. Crowded shelves in a growing library 
are very inconvenient. The total capacity of the 
structure shown on the sketch, not considering the 
rooms used for administration and other purposes, 
will be more than 1,000,000 volumes, and the con- 
venient working capacity will be 600,000. 

Judge CHAMBERLAIN. How do you propose 
to get light into the rooms ; for instance, those on 
the court ? 

Dr. POOLE. From the outside and from the 
inside, through the corridor, which will be of glass. 
There will be no court (represented by the dotted 
lines) until the library has 2,000,000 volumes, 
which will be many years hence ; and, when there 
is a court, I have no doubt that the light will be 
abundant from the court. 

CHAMBERLAIN. Have you made experiments 
to see what the penetrative power of light is ? 

POOLE. I have been observing and making 
these experiments for the past ten years, and am 
confident that the views I here state are correct. 

CHAMBERLAIN. Will not the corridors obstruct 
the light ? 

POOLE. To some degree, doubtless. They cer- 
tainly will not improve the light ; but there will be 
an abundance of it, nevertheless. In this age of 
steel construction they can be made very light, and 
are only 7 feet wide. The wall on the inside 
of the corridor is constructed to admit as much 
light as possible. Still I am willing to give con- 
sideration to the doubt which my friend entertains. 
In the drawing of a single room, I have placed the 
reading-tables on the inside near the corridor. If 
on the construction of the building it shall appear 
that the light is insufficient, the reading-tables can 
be placed at the other end of the room, near the 
outside walls, where there will be no question as 
to light. 

CHAMBERLAIN. What will be the width of the 
court when the whole lot is built upon ? 

POOLE. Sixty feet ; and by building on the 
rear line of Oak street, instead of 10 feet from it, 
as indicated in the sketch, it will be 70 feet wide, 
and 190 feet in length inside of the corridors. 

CHAMBERLAIN. Why not experiment by put- 
ting up a portion of the building, and see what is 
the penetrating power of light ? 

POOLE. I have done a good deal of experi- 
menting, enough to satisfy me; and I recommend 
that the judge, if his doubts continue, do some 
on his own account. I think we should then 
agree. 



PROCEEDINGS, FOURTH SESSION. 



m 



DEWEY. The space from which the light 
enters the corridors is as wide as an ordinary 
street. 

CHAMBERLAIN. I still doubt whether you will 
get light enough through the corridor and the 
outside walls to light the inner portion of the 
rooms, even if the court was wider than it will be. 
This is an experiment which can be made by the 
erection of a temporary structure, or by testing 
it where buildings are being erected in the city. 

QUESTION. How high are the stories ? 

POOLE. The first story is i6feet, the second 15, ' 
and the upper stories 14. It will be seen that the 
first story is devoted almost exclusively to 
special and administrative purposes. The audi- 
torium (A) will seat about 450 persons. The 
next room (B) is a reception room for visitors, 
where bibliographical and typographical rarities, 
illuminated manuscripts, and incunabula will be 
exhibited. These are objects which visitors want 
to see, and when they have examined them think 
they have seen the library, and retire. Ordinary 
sight-seers wandering about among the book- 
rooms are a nuisance to readers, and the reception 
room will reduce the annoyance to a minimum. 
The four rooms on the east end (G, H, I, J,) will 
be used for administrative purposes. Catalogu- 
ing, and preparation of books for the shelves will 
be done in the large room (H); bibliographical 
books will be shelved in G ; and the librarian's 
and assistant librarians' offices will be in I and J, 
with windows on the north wall. The elevations 
are not yet ready, and hence they are not here 
shown. 

C: A. NELSON. How is the shelving arranged ? 

W: F. POOLE. In double cases 8 feet high, 
in rows running from the front windows to the 
corridor. 

B: P. MANN. Where are the windows placed ? 

W: F. POOLE. It is not yet fully decided, but 
the sills will be nearly if not quite as high as the 
cases. 

WORCESTER FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 

S: S. GREEN explained the new building erected 
for the Worcester Free Public Library. It ad- 
joins the old building, which is now given up to 
the circulating department and reading-rooms for 
magazines. It is so built as to be open to air 
and light on all sides. The basement, connected 
with the upper floors by a hydraulic elevator, is 
devoted to a large newspaper reading-room. The 
first floor has in front a large reading-room for 
students, into which opens the librarians' room, 



where several members of the staff are ready to 
aid inquirers. On the second floor are a cataloging 
room, a trustees' or seminary room, and a hall. 
The third floor is devoted to housing and display- 
ing books and pictures. The tower, which pro- 
jects slightly from the corner of the faade, 
contains the librarian's private room and rooms 
for the use of students making special or extended 
investigations. In construction the front is slow- 
burning rather than absolutely fire proof. The 
huge two-story box, which adjoins it on the rear, 
is absolutely fire proof, and protected by tin- 
covered shutters, to be placed, it is hoped, on the 
inside. It is arranged to have on each floor a 
two-story iron stack, capable of holding respec- 
tively 65,000 and 75,000 volumes, in all 140,000 
volumes. The heating apparatus for both the 
new and old buildings is placed in a low building 
between the two. The building has been planned 
with reference to felt needs, and in accordance 
with the experience and views of the librarian. 

B: P. MANN. What are the means of com- 
munication between the stack and the rest of the 
building? 

S: S. GREEN. Iron doors or else ordinary 
doors covered with tin. 

E. C. HOVEY. Mr. Atkinson, one of the most 
prominent of Boston underwriters, regards iron 
doors as dangerous, and has recently ordered 
them out of many mills in New England. 

T: L. MONTGOMERY. Philadelphia underwrit- 
ers required their use in a recent case coming 
under my observation. 

H: M. UTLEY. In Detroit they insist on our 
having them. 

C: A. NELSON. In a recent fire in New 
Orleans iron shutters kept the firemen out until 
the fire had done its work. 

F: H. HEDGE explained the plans of the new 
library at Lawrence, Mass., expected to accommo- 
date 75,000 volumes, and to be built for $40,000. 

EXHIBIT OF LIBRARY APPLIANCES. 

Sec. DEWEY showed the new shelf list, the 
arrangement cards, and the " best books " cards 
recently issued by the Library Bureau. (For 
description see " Illustrated Catalog," pp. 64 and 
68.) He also showed sample drawers for card 
catalog, intended to be removed from the case for 
consultation. The prospective growth of the card 
catalog in his library having made necessary some 
change from the usual methods, it was thought 
best, instead of reducing, as was possible, the 
thickness of the cards used, to utilize the wall 



112 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 




WORCESTER FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 




BASEMENT. 



SECOND STORY. 





f :. ,,'j j] 





FIRST STORY. 



THIRD STORY. 



PROCEEDINGS, FOURTH SESSION, 



space to the height of six feet with cases of these 
drawers, which are to be placed on an adjoining 
table for consultation. 

MIMEOGRAPH. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. The mimeograph is the best 
duplicating process I have yet tried. Here are 
samples of its work. 

HARVARD COLLEGE CATALOG BOOKS. 

W: C. LANE exhibited a new appliance for bind- 
ing catalog cards together so that they might be 
handled like a book instead of being kept in 
drawers. 

These " catalog books " have been recently 
brought into use in the Harvard College Library 
as an experiment. For the present they supple- 
ment, not replace, the general card catalog 
in drawers. The slips used for this are of a 
rather heavy manilla paper, 7x4 in., considerably 
larger than the cards in the catalog, and on 
each slip one title is printed. We are able to print 
these titles cheaply, because we can use the same 
type which is set up for the list of accessions in 
the Bulletin. The printer takes each title sepa- 
rately and prints it off for us on cards, as many as 
we want for the card catalog, and at the same 
time prints one more copy on the larger slips for 
these " catalog-books." 

This form of binder is made by Mr. Thomas 
Towndrow of New Rochelle, N. Y. Its advan- 
tages are that the book is easily and quickly taken 
apart at any point for the insertion of new slips, that 
it holds the slips very solidly when clasped to- 
gether, and allows no wear or strain to come on 
them at the point where they are held. The es- 
sential part of the binder is a pair of small metal 
tubes, 2 inches apart, fastened upright in one cover, 
and a pair of metal rods which slide into these 
tubes, fastened into the other cover, both rods 
and tubes passing through holes punched to cor- 
respond in the end of the slips. The two covers 
are then fastened together by a brass clasp, which 
is easily loosened when it is desired to take the 
books apart. Notice that the slips are bound to- 
gether at their right-hand margins, not by the left 
margin, as is customary, so that the books turn 
backward like an Arabic or Hebrew text. The 
object of this is to display the catch-word of the 
title on the miter- margin, not conceal it on the 
inner. The book should be held in the right 
hand, and the leaves turned or released by the 
left. 

Sec. DEWEY. Do you still continue to put 
cards into your drawers ? 



W: C. LANE. We do. These slips are simply 
duplicates of what goes into the catalog drawers. 
The system is purely an experiment. We mean 
to keep it up for a number of years, and see how 
it develops. 

Sec. DEWEY. Why do you have your slips so 
large ? 

W: C. LANE. They are easier to handle. 

Sec. DEWEY. Do you intend to put two or 
more titles on a page ? 

W: C. LANE. Only one. It is not practicable 
for us to do otherwise, as these slips are printed. 
If written or made in some other way, it might be 
done perfectly well. 

W: I. FLETCHER. Can Mr. Lane state where 
in Europe this system is used ? 

W: C. LANE. At the University of Leyden. 
Their slips are simply tied together, however. This 
binder is an American invention. 

Sec. DEWEY. The same place where they had 
an excellent system of lighting some years ago. 

W: C. LANE. The Society Library in New 
York also uses this system. 

In space we estimate that it saves about one 
third. In consultation it saves more than that, 
because a person using one volume does not 
prevent some one else from using the next, as 
happens continually with catalog drawers. More- 
over, fewer cards are in use at once. 

Sec. DEWEY. Your motive in using it is not 
so much to save space as for convenience ? 

W: C. LANE. It saves space for the same 
reason that your sliding boxes save space. You 
can build them higher and also bring your case 
nearer the floor. 

Sec. DEWEY. This indicates your purpose to 
abandon the drawers for this or something better 
if you can find it ? 

W: C. LANE. Possibly. I want to see how 
it will work. I think it is likely to be most con- 
venient for small libraries that have not a very 
large number of borrowers coming in at once. 

A MEMBER. When you throw away the draw- 
ers you will have to throw away all the cards you 
have written. 

B: P. MANN. It seems to me this is going to 
be a very expensive binding. Do you know what 
the cost of it is ? 

W: C. LANE. Mr. Towndrow asks about 75 
cents a pair for covers this size. This which I 
have our binder in Cambridge bound up, having 
obtained the sliding back from Mr. Towndrow. 

B: P. MANN. This seems to me a very expen- 
sive form of getting up the contrivance. Instead of 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



having these pins, which must be set into these stiff 
covers, perforated covers would be better, to be 
connected by cord or wire. When these books are 
arranged in a series on shelves, and persons freely 
consult them, they will soon get so mixed up it 
will be difficult to find what you want. Again, 
half that height of book would be fully as conven- 
ient to use. 

I have followed the suggestions which were 
made, I believe, at the Round Island Confer- 
ence, that we should have books gotten up in 
that way. I tried some for experiment with 
cards. I had to tear them apart after a while. I 
also use perforated sheets. I keep a great stock 
of Miller's sheets on hand, cut at stated intervals, 
so that I can select any lot and bind them 
together. 

It seemed to me, in looking at some of these 
blanks, that not sufficient attention has been paid 
to the distance apart at which the holes are made. 
The Library Bureau should establish a standard 
distance apart of any two holes intended to be 
used in the same work or kind of work, so any 
one can put any two things together and find the 
holes correspond and in proper position. Then 
when you have two sheets of paper, you can 
shape them on the bottom and front edge, and 
run a needle straight through, and it is all bound 
together. 

W: C. LANE. The objection to Mr. Mann's 
plan for fastening these covers together with wire 
is twofold it would take too long to unfasten 
the book, and the fastening could not be made so 
solid and firm. As to keeping the books in order 
on the shelf, some one will have to keep a con- 
stant eye on them. 

ZINC GUIDES. 

C: A. CUTTER, explaining an improvement in 
his zinc guides for card catalogs. I found that, 
although the platinic chloride lettering retains its 
blackness, the zinc gets darker and darker, so that 
the writing is hard to read. I have therefore had 
some of these enameled of a light buff color by a 
tinman. We write upon them with black paint and 
find the names much more distinct than before. 

G. M. JONES briefly described the bibliographi- 
cal cards with the public library shelf marks 
placed, at his suggestion, on specimens in the 
Academy of Science at Salem, Mass. (See Li- 
brary journal, 16: 307.) 

Hon. ANDREW S. DRAPER, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction of the State of New York, 
telegraphed : " Have delayed answering your 



letter in hopes of attending your meeting. Now I 
find it impossible. I can only assure you that my 
belief that the library may, and must be made 
more of a factor in the common educational work 
of the country, strengthens continually. I shall 
always be glad to cooperate with others to that 
end." 
Adjourned at 10 P. M. 

FIFTH SESSION. 
(THURSDAY, 9.30 A. M.) 
THORVALD SOLBERG read his report on 

LIBRARY LEGISLATION. 

(See p. 30.} 
WESTON FLINT made report on 

LIBRARY WORK OF THE UNITED STATES BUREAU 
OF EDUCATION. 

(See p. 64.) 

Sec. DEWEY. There were two matters of pri- 
mary importance brought to our attention by Col. 
Flint. One relates to the pedagogic library they 
are building up. I think an appropriation should 
be made to enable them to employ the best bibli- 
ographer in the country, and thus make the 
Bureau a place we could all go to as headquarters 
for all educational literature. They have a mag- 
nificent collection of works on this subject. We 
should have the best educational library in the 
world at our national educational library; we should 
all feel it a .decided gain to have a headquarters 
of that kind for bibliographical work in that line. 
We are trying to make as good a second-best 
educational library as we can in New York, 
where our State library is now made a part of the 
University. 

The other point is the publication of our best 
material by the Bureau. If it is possible to do 
that, it will popularize our movement. We have 
not money enough to put this information in the 
hands of i-io of i per cent of the people who 
would read it, if we could reach them. Our wild- 
est hopes have been to get the attendance of 1,000 
persons. I believe that for some years past there 
are more than 100,000 people, who would be glad 
to read a great deal of our proceedings, if they 
could get them. I hope, before we go away from 
this meeting, that some arrangement will be made, 
by which we can meet this want. It will do more 
than anything else for the Association. We 
should double our membership every year, for the 
men who read our reports will be prepared to ac- 
cept our invitation to join the Association. 

H: J. CARR. I wish to reinforce, if possible, 



PROCEEDINGS, FIFTH SESSION, 



what Sec. Dewey has said, and to urge that some 
steps be taken to relieve us from the printing that 
absorbs our limited revenues. If we increase our 
dues, we frighten out many of the small libraries. 
Carrying out these suggestions would not only in- 
crease our educational influence, but would also 
leave this Association in better shape to continue 
with the same fee we now have. 

W: I. FLETCHER. Two or three years ago, the 
Bureau of Education expressed a willingness to pub- 
lish suitable matter that might be suggested by this 
Association, but we learned that the state of the 
government printing-office was such that we might 
have to wait two or three years after the matter 
was ready, before it could be published. Is there 
a less congested state of the printing-office now? 

WESTON FLINT. That is a pretty large ques- 
tion. To answer it implies ability to manage Con- 
gress. We have tried to but cannot. We keep a 
good deal of matter way ahead. If you have no- 
ticed the Congressional record for the last three 
months, you will wonder we have got anything 
printed at all. 

Sec. DEWEY. What is your judgment as to the 
chances of getting the proceedings of this meeting 
out? 

WESTON FLINT. I sometimes think the Bureau 
would get them out as quickly as the Library 
Association does. We publish the reports of the 
department of superintendents of the National 
Educational Association only about six months 
behind time. The superintendents meet in the 
spring, and receive their proceedings in the sum- 
mer or early fall. 

Sec. DEWEY. The question is whether any 
advantages would accrue if we could have the pro- 
ceedings printed even a year late. We could go 
on with a summary for immediate use, till they 
brought out the full edition. 

T. SOLBERG. I think the Bureau favors the 
idea of issuing its report in sections, instead of 
waiting for a full volume. If that should be car- 
ried out, there would be no reason for great delay 
in printing our reports. 

Pres. CRUNDEN. It is very clear we must find 
some way of relieving ourselves of this great bur- 
den of expense, and of more effectively distribut- 
ing our publications. This is one way. Another 
suggested by Mr. Glenn is to collect a fund by 
private subscription. 

Miss C. M. HEWINS being absent, Pres. Crun- 
den read by title her 

REPORT ON GIFTS AND BEQUESTS. 
(See p. fj.) 



Miss H. E. GREEN read her paper on 

LIBRARY EXPERTS. 
(Seep, jj.) 

Pres. CRUNDEN. It is such papers as this 
that we want widely distributed throughout the 
country. I wish the Bureau of Education would 
send that out in pamphlet form by the hundred 
thousand. If the author could be duplicated in 
that number, that would be better still. 

Sec. DEWEY. Miss Green is one of the faculty 
of the Library School, and it is one of our aims to 
duplicate the author in her pupils, whom she 
teaches, not only by precept, but by example. From 
the beginning of the school we have emphasized 
these points, that our young graduates (and much 
less our pupils) have no more right to go out and 
pose as library experts than the student who has 
just entered a medical college has a right to call 
himself a medical expert. But sometimes it is not 
entirely the pupil's fault. People come to us and 
say, " We have one of your trained experts in our 
town." When we inquire we find that the expert 
had been in our school perhaps one or two weeks 
as a visitor or on probation. Then again some- 
times the local paper comes out with a notice that 
the new librarian has received a thorough train- 
ing as an expert, with no authority beyond hear- 
ing that she has been at the Library School. Any 
of our pupils that apply to you for positions 
should show you our certificate of just exactly 
what they have done, and you can give it what 
weight it deserves. It is impossible for us, as it 
is of any school, to compel our pupils to go out 
and give a just estimate of their own value. We 
now issue pass cards, certificates, and diplomas, 
which are explicit and may be relied on. They do 
not say that the holder is an expert, or will suc- 
ceed as an apprentice, but they do say all we can 
safely say that he has successfully completed cer- 
tain studies and work, under careful supervision. 
But, as Miss Green has said, it has oftener hap- 
pened that they have not given themselves enough 
credit for what they are able to do. 

O. L. Whitelaw read a paper by J. C. LEAR- 
NED on 

LIBRARY WORK FROM THE TRUSTEES' 
STANDPOINT. 

(See p. 23.) 
C: C. SOULE read his paper on 

TRUSTEES. 

(Seep. 19.) 



FAB VAN HOUSE CONFERENCE. 



S: S. GREEN read his paper on 

TRUSTEES OF FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 

(Seep. 24.) 

Pres. CRUNDEN. I regret that this morn- 
ing's session has been broken into by this excur- 
sion up Mt. Washington. It seems to me after 
coming several hundred miles to get together for 
business, we ought to put off the climbing of 
mountains till some other time. I hope all who 
intend to take this excursion will take it to-day 
and not forget to-morrow's session. 

REPORT OF THE PUBLISHING SECTION. 

W: I. FLETCHER. It is desirable for the in- 
terests of the publishing section that this report 
should be presented to the whole body. The 
meeting of the section will occur this afternoon. I 
hope those officers not compelled by arrangements 
to go upon a picnic will be present. 

Report read, received, and filed. 

Adjourned at 11.50 A. M. 

SIXTH SESSION. 
(THURSDAY, 2 p. M.) 

MEETING OF THE A. L. A. PUBLISHING SECTION 
(See p. 139.) 

and 

MEETING OF NEW YORK LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 
Reported after the Trustees' Section. 

SEVENTH SESSION. 
(THURSDAY EVENING, 8.05 p. M.) 

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 

S: S. GREEN. At a meeting of the S. L. A. a 
gentleman offered his services as a special com- 
mittee in the matter of securing a proper distribu- 
tion of public documents. That gentleman was 
Mr. Hovey, of Brookline. If he undertakes this 
work, it is very important that librarians in dif- 
ferent parts of the country should help him in 
getting the desired legislation. If one is asked, 
for instance, to write a letter to the congressmen 
of the State in which he lives, he should do it. If 
I understand Mr. Hovey aright, he would have a 
simultaneous movement of this kind all over the 
country. Then he would appear himself in Wash- 
ington, and urge the passage of such legislation as 
we desire. I move that we ask Mr. Hovey to act 
as special committee for the general association in 
securing such legislation as is necessary. Voted. 

E. C. HOVEY. Mr. Green has voiced my senti- 
ments on the matter. I think that action should 
come from the States simultaneously, and, coming 



so to the different member